church camp 2007

this year's church camp will forever be etched in my memory as my FIRST BEST CAMP. (i think i should call it such since i will probably have some more BEST CAMPS in the future, heh.)

i think i was more caught up with working (being part of the committee) two years ago than really spending time with God and letting Him speak to me. and last year, i only went for the second half of the camp because of my internship so i didn't really get much out of it. but i know it was also because i didn't prepare my heart then to experience the camp for what it's meant for. it's just always so easy to place the people and the work over God.

this year, i think it was a much more balanced camp for me. on the one hand, being part of the committee and learning from such wonderful leaders were simply great. it's very very meaningful work (desiring to be used by God to make church camp a memorable one for everybody) and a lot of fun too.

well for the first time, i went up with the advanced party one day before, to prepare for the camp. [side note: we had dinner at bei zhan, one of the BEST chinese restaurants ever!!] six of us were in the same room and i really enjoyed the experience of "communal living", haha. everyone was just helping each other out! we planned stuff, they helped me with my nametags... and i remember one funny thing. i tried to take a nap four times in total that day but it turned out to be not very possible due to various interruptions, haha. and each time my sleepy reaction was the same: "huh?! how long have i slept?"... "15 minutes only AGAIN?!?!!"

haha ok and then camp began! the thing was, i woke up on the second day of camp somehow thinking, "sian...four more days to go." and then i was like, hey how can i think like that... better get it out of my head and ask God to help me have a more positive attitude towards it. and so... THANK GOD i had a really really good camp from then on! i was so ministered to by the worship songs, messages, group discussion and fellowship. a lot of what the speaker said also helped to prepare me for my future chiangmai trip. he spoke on the book of joshua:

getting our feet wet
i.e. stepping out of our comfort zones. what God wants to give you is already out there, you just must step out and claim it. certainly that requires lots of strength and courage, which will be provided as we obey God.

bringing down the walls
victory begins with personal surrender and is secured by worship.
"attempt something so great for God that it is doomed to failure unless God be in it." - john haggai

dealing with sin
there's no guarantee that victory today means victory tomorrow too, therefore we mustn't let self-pride get in the way. a good point: when we refuse to ask for forgiveness (because we're too proud to admit we're wrong) how can God forgive us?
sin is convenient, costly and contagious (it affects other people too).

choosing to serve
we often make a choice and then disguise it as a non-choice. e.g. trying to get out of something by saying we have to do something else, instead of honestly saying that's what we want to do. we have more control over our lives than we think we do - it's a case of how important we view it. we have a choice; the only requirement from God is honesty.

and so...that was church camp 2007! i don't know if i'll be able to attend next year's camp so that's another reason why this year's was extra special for me. i also enjoyed rooming with geri =) and the games and the final night (performances and such), which got everyone (adults, youths and kids) so excited and so it was really funny and fun. one of the games we played was tug of war on the beach. people had STRATEGIES. wow. it was a lot of fun! =) and of course, taboo on the last night... haha... and once again, doing the camp booklets and nametags was another amazing and humbling experience... lastly, five out of nine of us from the CG came to this camp, which was great!!! =)