Wednesday, December 17, 2003
just came back from the camp.. really learnt and reflected alot bout my walk with God, my commitments and my entire purpose for living. grinz..here goes!
day 1: the 30 odd leaders made their way to the camp site at kota tinggi.(the rest of the campers went the day after). it was a pleasant experience cos theres like only the few of us immersing into all the games and enjoying the beautiful scenery. later, what we did was similiar to the prayer retreat i had previously. that was when we got to spend time with God and meditate on His word. we were told to read Psalms 1. and God spoke to me, telling me to always focus on Him and His word by meditating on it day and night and to build them on firm foundation, ie. being a wise builder (Matt 7:24-29).
the food was surprisingly great.. we had steamboat for dinner! what a treat for a youth camp lke this! so we sat as a cluster cell and joking and laughing all the way, playing all sorts of nonsense games like "black magic"(not an occult, just a game), 3rd location, and some kind of food game edwin came up with. i enjoyed myself the most that day and it helped me to prepare myself to meet the pri 6s the next day.
day 2: it poured down the entire day, even when the rest of the campers came in. i must say alot of them complained bout the food, the place and the weather. it was no longer the comfy place we had last year. i must admit i didn't really like the place either.. opps! when i saw my p6s group, they don't seem to be willing to talk to me and that got me very scared. after lunch and during worship, i kept asking God to help me. and He simply said "don't worry cos I'm with you"
i can't remember what we did later on..haha..sorry ar..got short term momory..only knew we played "Murder she wrote" at night. it was fun, everyone enjoyed themselves.
day 3: we spent the whole day in the adventure site. we did abseiling. quite disappointed i didn't have the chance to try. but i wasn't alone cos the other p6s boys didn't have a chance too. by that time it was already raining and we continued with the shaking bridge. it was a good attempt for our group to strategize, though we didn't managed to get across to the other side after trying twice as our members fall into the pond. the most unforgettable station was the river rafting. our group was overconfident with our raft. it wasn't done well and the tyres we tied made it unbalanced. i was in the first grp that got on and we fell into the river half way thro. the grp got very discouraged already and they were all saying, 'lose already la.' i had to motivate them and encourage them to finish the race. i was quite upset myself too, cos the rest of the ppl on the land weren't really bothered with us...but..its alright..its over..grinzz
the night time was Jesus encounter. i must admit by that time i was already very tired and sleepy but thankfully i still made it thro.
day 4: the entire day was Jesus Encounter. i thank God that i could see the p6s getting so receptive. from the "bo chap" to the entu bunch, not for the games but for JEsus!!! i believe most, if not all were touched by God and their lives all never be the same again =) we asked them for their feedbacks and they all said "ok" or "good". but we know deep down in their hearts they mean more than that.
day 5: we had the last round of Jesus encounter that talked bout togetherness and the church mission. tears kept streaming down my face during the sharing given by ppl coming out. esp by James Seah from sunday sch and royston chiew. the end feeling was tired but gladful!
to sum up, i have to confess that during the days in camp, i didn't really enjoy myself cos i didn't like the grp leaders in muh group and the programmes that made me so drained. i didn't tell anyone cos i didn't want to upset someone else. but reflecting back,i was able to understand the grp leaders better, and everyone has different working styles so sometimes, this will happen too.
as for our grp members, they have been a lovely bunch. esp the guys, i could see their behaviour change for the better throughout the 4 days. for the girls, nothing to say bout them, they are simply da best! so funny and active, helped to brighten up my days. esp during the nights, i'm always an early sleeper and i will try to get to bed as early as possible. but becos they are so fun to play with, i can't resist staying up to play with them too! in all, thank God!!!
10:55 AM