National School Christian Fellowship Leaders' Camp

or NSCFL Camp for short. it was great! =)

basically there were three tracks going on at this camp: theme talks at night, to feed the campers' spiritually; plenary sessions, aiming to help them develop practical skills like program planning and problem-solving; and workshops which focussed on relational issues like 'who am i?', 'BGR', and 'my parents and i'.

some short highlights:

monday, 19 Nov
this was the first day of camp. 98 young people from all over peninsular malaysia converged at Seminari Teoloji Malaysia, Seremban. there was even a bunch of campers from Tawau, Sabah! =)

one of the things i really appreciated and enjoyed at this camp was my small group. small groups were named after old testament prophets, and my group was named Hosea. the group bonded quite well really fast, and we had great times together at the end of each day reflecting and laughing over things we had experienced and learnt.

on this first day, however, i was abit worried about one group member who did not have a good command of english. it was obvious that he was bored and detatched as he couldn't understand half of what was going on around him. i made special effort to help the group converse in BM as often as possible for his benefit.

tuesday, 20 Nov
the second day of camp. i did my plenary session, "Why The SCF?!?" in the morning. it's basically about why there should be an SCF in their schools, and why Christian students should be involved in their SCFs. i challenged the campers to see it's importance and hear the call to be salt and light in their schools, especially thru the SCF. though in some ways i could have been better prepared, overall the session went well and several campers gave their camp officers encouraging feedback. i'm thankful to God for using me as His mouthpiece in spite of my faults and weaknesses. =)

wednesday, 21 Nov
The highlight of this day has to be the garden lunch. it was a team-building project for the whole camp, in which they had about 2 hours to plan, organise, and put together a lunch in which we camp officers were the VIPs. this included choosing an appropriate venue [they chose the basketball court. it was rather hot with the noon sun beating on our heads!], arranging the tables and chairs, finding and inviting us VIPs [i wanted them to carry me to the lunch venue. should have insisted, but in the end i gave in and walked there myself.] serving the food, and providing entertainment [some pretty good hip-hop dancing, excellent musical performances, one guy sang and original worship composition which had me singing along at the chorus, and a hilarious piece impromptu acting.]

thursday, 22 Nov
in the late morning, a team from TCF (Teachers' Christian Fellowship) came to challenge the campers to consider teaching as a vocation. Dih Ting, a fellow sitiawanite who was my senior back in ACS, shared about her experiences being posted to Spaoh, Sarawak. she did a pretty good job of depicting the challenges and hardships of being sent into a very rural area, as well as the joy and fulfilment of making a difference in students' lives. close to half the campers wrote on the response slips that they would consider teaching as a possible calling in the future.

the final theme talk was also on this night. based on Isaiah 6:1-8, the four theme talks were: "I saw the Lord!", as it's important for a christian leader to have a correct vision of who God is; "Holy is the Lord!", talking about holiness as a characteristic of God and His people; "Whom shall I send?", challenging the campers to see the white harvest fields all around them and to consider missions; and "Here i am! Send me!". this was the final challenge calling the campers to respond to all that God had been speaking to them. many campers came forward requesting prayer, and we camp officers ministered to them as led by the Holy Spirit.

Friday, 23 Nov
this was a foot-washing day. every day we'd have a Leader's Assembly to start off the day, where one of the camp officers would take 15 minutes to give a short sharing or object lesson about certain components or qualities of leadership. on this morning, the topic was Humility and the object lesson had the campers in pairs washing each others' feet.

this was also a day of fasting. we didn't have lunch. after breakfast, there was a plenary session on Spiritual Disciplines and the Leader. the campers then had 3 hours to be alone with God; to pray, worship, meditate on the Word, listen or His still, small voice... and for some of them, purposely or not, to take a short nap.=P

after that we came together for a time of corporate prayer, where we prayed for our schools, for our non-christian friends, and for our nation. the time ended with more foot-washing; first the officers could choose campers whose feet they wanted to wash, and then it was the campers' turn to wash the officers' feet. it was an emotional time, with many people crying as we served each other as Jesus served His disciples so long ago.

the day ended with a special dress dinner where everyone wore their formal wear, and a celebration which involved rather 'syiok-sendiri' presentations. after all that was over, we had about an hour of free time before lights out at 1.00 am.

and this brings us to what was, to me, the highlight of the whole camp. during that one hour of free time, i went to a camper's room to chat with him. it's the same camper i mentioned earlier, the one who speaks mainly BM. in the course of our conversation, the Holy Spirit helped him to understand the basic points of the gospel. and before i left, i led him in the sinners' prayer. this boy had been going to church with his parents for as long as he could remember, but no one had ever systematically explained the gospel to him. and i am deeply thankful to God that i had the privilege of being able to connect with him and help him take that step of faith.

Saturday, 24 Nov
the last day. goodbyes, farewells, and 'see-you-again's. all good things must come to an end. but hopefully the friendships that have begun at this camp will stand the test of time.

so, that rather long post sums up NSCFL Camp. now, i have to prepare for ZMax Camp. i'm going off again thursday-sunday (29 Nov-2 Dec). there will be a fair number of non-christian kids at this camp, so do pray that their hearts will be open to the gospel. and thank you so much for supporting me in prayer. =)