Bukit Mewah CF Camp =)

the 24th of may found me at The Farm, Lenggeng with 42 young people from Bukit Mewah SCF! =)

the Farm is a really nice back-to-nature campsite. especially for kids used to the hustle and bustle of city life, it's an experience to be awakened by bird-calls in the morning. there are a couple of houses where campers lodge, surrounded by acres of greenery and fruit trees (it used to be an orchard). besides that, there are domesticated (caged) monkeys, a lemur, rabbits, tortoises, and dogs! =P

apart from being surrounded by verdant nature and exotic animal-life, the farm offered two other new experiences to our campers. there were a couple of fish-ponds at the campsite, and one of them was equipped with a boat and oars for campers to go boating with! this was a first-time experience that many enjoyed. the second one: we had to wash our own cups and plates for all meals, and we cooked our own eggs and ham for breakfast the next day. good training for those who've never had to lift a finger for themselves before! =)

Cooking Breakfast! yum, yum =)

apart from enjoying the campsite, i really enjoyed fellowshipping and speaking with this bunch of young people. although it was only a 2-day camp, i felt that i really got to bond with some of them. one major factor in this is that i already know many of them through previous year's combined SCF events, and also i've visited and spoken at their CF before a couple of times.

thanks for supporting me in prayer as i prepared sessions for this camp. my sessions were quite simple really; since 2 Timothy 1:7 has 4 key words ("for God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.") i just concentrated on 2 key words for the first session, and 2 key words for the second session. throw in a couple of activities/games to introduce key points, and a couple of group discussions for them to discover and apply truth on their own rather than listening solely to me; and voila! 2 sessions were born. =)

Me speaking... =P

i do hope and pray that they'll take the messages which God has (i hope) spoken through me, and apply them in their lives. to overcome their fears with God's help; to develop and use their talents and abilities for God's glory; to receive, be transformed by, and show others God's love; and to discipline themselves to live God's way. but that's the Holy Spirit's work; i'll just do my best in presenting His Word, and trust that it will not return void. may He build each one of them up to spiritual maturity in Him.

there were around 10-12 non-christians among the 42 campers; isn't that great? one of the signs of a healthy SCF, is that it's reaching out to those who do not yet know Christ. i got to know the guys (6 of them) and am praying for them that they might be open to the good news of God's love and salvation. do join me in prayer for this bunch of young people; "Again, i tell you that if two of you on earth agree on anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in Heaven."

here's a picture of all of us:

Pray for us! =)

in other news, BBBS CF Camp has been cancelled for lack of response! aiyoh. this problem is not restricted to SU camps, apparently! so, i'll be going for Kepong Baru SCF Camp (3-6 june) instead. i won't have to speak there; my main responsibilities will be to open a book-table, to connect with students and teachers, and to share with them about SU's work and ministry.

i may not be able to blog next week, as most of it will be taken up by Kepong Baru SCF Camp. so, i'll probably update again in a couple of week's time. 'til then, God bless! =)

camps... again... haha

yes, camps again. other ppl may think that it's fun to go for camp after camp after camp, but this is part of my work and it actually gets tiring after a while. still, the joy of the Lord is my strength! =)

IG camp went well, overall. i didn't have enough time for my youth session (the topic was God's presence, and half an hour just wasn't sufficient to discuss the 3 questions i wanted to cover: "what does God's presence mean to me?", "what have i done to hinder God's presence?", and "what can i do to welcome and cultivate God's presence?"), and the games session was as kelam-kabut as can be expected with 200 campers of all ages playing together... but overall most people had fun, and hopefully most people also learnt something from the camp.

Camp Chit Chat, on the other hand, has been cancelled with less than 5 campers. i'm convinced that this camp (for school-leavers) has an important role to play, in helping youth in transition to discern God's will and make good decisions as they stand at one of the first major cross-roads in their lives. in an age of noise, it may also help them to learn to "be still and know that I am God". however, with the gazillions of choices that youth have today, it's just not getting the response that it should. in the post-mortem i gave the analogy of us selling a line of really delicious, juicy, nutritious burgers; but people just ignore us and continue buying mcD's and Burger King.

nevertheless, since we do believe that this camp has something of consequence to offer school-leavers, there are some constructive suggestions of how to move ahead: perhaps with a 3-or-4-day retreat, rather than a long camp; or perhaps a one-day conference. school-leavers (form 5 and form 6 ppl) who are reading this, please leave a comment to tell me what you think would best meet your needs.

Sports Camp has been postponed to the end of the year (10-13 december) with about 10 campers. sad, no? but hopefully it will do better in that slot. this mid-year hols just seems too packed with church, yf, and school camps... no space for SU camps liao.

so, now i have two camps coming up, which are:

1. Bukit Mewah SCF Camp
- 24-25 May, at The Farm, Lenggeng
- Camp theme is "Arise a Mighty Warrior", theme verse is 2 Timothy 1:7
- i have to prepare 2 sessions based on this theme... please pray for me!

2. BBBS CF Camp
- 2-4 june, BBBS
- camp theme is 'Love of God', theme verse is 1 John 4:8
- as camp speaker, i need to prepare 2 sessions based on this theme...
i have some ideas, but nothing concrete yet... so again, please pray for me!!!

let me end this post with a pic from last weekend's IG camp... this is from the final night's Camp Special. =) the King is the guy sitting on his throne on the stage, while i am one of the lowly guards...


God bless! =)

Hadyai!

sorry for neglecting my blog! i've been trying to keep to a once-a-week update schedule, but i didn't post at all last week. =P

lots of things have happened since my last post. for one thing, my cough has been vanquished! thank God.=)

besides that, i did get to go to hadyai after all! =) i went up to penang on the 6.30pm bus on friday evening (2 May), had a joyful reunion with the wife at midnight, and went up to hadyai with her and The In-Laws early on saturday morning!

i had a great time with her and the In-Laws there. well, it was great because of the interaction, fellowship and bonding we had. hadyai is mainly about shopping, and that isn't really my thing. [understatement of the year...] oh, and the food was good, too. =D

here are a couple of pics from hadyai:

This is us in the Sky Restaurant, where we ate a pretty good buffet lunch
for just RM12-RM13. it's on the highest floor of the Lee Garden hotel
and has a pretty good view of hadyai all around! =)

And this is us on my first tuk-tuk ride! The Wife has been to thailand before,
but this was my first time =)

i got back to KL on the 8.30pm bus from penang on sunday night (4 may), arriving at pudu around 1am. my good, kind, generous sister picked me up from there and brought me to my office, where i stayed the night. i know it's beginning to sound like my office is my second home; this only happens when The Wife isn't around.

the next two days were taken up with staff meetings. but on tuesday (6 may), after the meeting was over, i was off to penang on the 6.30pm bus again! =P

i went there to accompany The Wife home on wednesday. otherwise, her father would have taken leave to do it. long-distance driving is usually safer and more fun if you have a co-driver with you. and now, she's home! yay! =)

all the travelling and meetings sum up my excuse for not blogging last week... heheh.

to end, here are some camps coming up soon:
1. IG Camp
- 17-19 May, Puteri Resort Melaka
- IG=intergenerational; the concept is to integrate the generations rather than fragmenting
them.
- my responsibilities:
- leading one IG worship
- conducting one youth session (not every session can be fully IG, it isn't easy)
- conducting a session of IG games (serious headache... 200 ppl of all ages playing together)

2. Camp Chit Chat
- 26-31 May, SUFES Campsite Tapah
- School leavers' camp; the concept is to prepare students for transition into tertiary education.
- my responsibilities:
- coordinate trasnsport
- coordinate music and worship
- one session on exams and stress
- at the moment we have less than 5 campers signed up. closing date is 15 may and cut-off
point is 20 campers, so... doesn't look good. =(

3. BBBS CF Camp
- 2-4 june, BBBS
- i'll only be there 2-3 june, as it overlaps with the next camp.
- camp theme is 'Love of God', theme verse is 1 John 4:8
- as camp speaker, i need to prepare 2 sessions based on this theme... please pray for me!!!

4. Sports Camp
- 4-7 june, MGS Ipoh
- concept is evangelistic, using sports as a bridge and a tool to share the Gospel.
- my responsibilities are unclear. this camp is coordinated by the ipoh office, and not much
communication has been made.
- camper recruitment is slow. pray that:
- christian kids will come and bring their non-christian friends
- the camp will have enough participants to run!
- kids who come will be blessed, enjoy themselves, and be kept safe in all activities.
- kids who come will go home with a better grasp of the Gospel than before, and some may
be ready to accept and believe in Christ for the first time.

alright, that's all for now. 'til the next post, God bless! =)