Talent Time #2

Dear Camp Blog readers, to thank you for faithfully stopping by, we present to you Talent Time #2.

...To keep your faces smiling.

-Youth Camp 2006 (Only One Life)

Why I go for camp

Youth camp is held each year, around late November or early December. Note the phrase “each year”. Many people do ask me why I go for camp every single year, even if it means missing out on things like family excursions to Penang (oh, the food!) or something like that. Even if it means forking out about a hundred ringgit. Even if it means skipping pre-prom shopping trips. Even if it means that I have to stand up to people and firmly say that this is something that I want to do.

Let me tell you why.

Someone once said this to me; “Going for camp ignites the fire for God, but when you come back, after a few weeks or so, it fizzles out, so I don’t see much point of going.”

While this may be partly (or very) true, I really do believe that camp is a time that we put aside for God. To inject a boost and a zest in our walks in Him, to renew this relationship, and maybe even to begin it. It’s like hitting the ‘refresh’ button on your browser. Camp is a few days that we specifically set aside to have ‘quality time’ with our Father in Heaven, away from the ‘real world’. Believe that this is a time that God can directly minister to us individually, and that He has something for each person who comes with expectance, genuinely seeking Him. Away from our other responsibilities, away from distractions, we can soak in His impartations, and even let it rest in our hearts so we’re ready to return to and tackle the ‘real world’.

Ah, then there’s fellowship. I mean, what other time do you have the opportunity to hang out with your church buddies for so many days at a time? When else can you meet super and amazing new people? The awesome experience of dwelling in God’s presence, exhilarating (though sometimes lame and hilarious) games, concentrating on learning His Word, and sometimes even breakthroughs, when shared with friends, can bring friendships to a deeper and more meaningful level.

We’re always encouraged to invite our non-Christian friends for camp. Personally, I invite my friends who don’t attend church so they can experience for themselves this vital part of my life. So I can show them that youth camp, or my faith in general, is not about long and boring irrelevant lectures, stringent rules, pious facades, and what not. This also includes creating an opportunity for them to meet those Christian friends of mine that I mention so often.

All in all, I’m all for going for camp. (No, I’m not saying this just because I’m part of the camp committee!) And I’ve been to more than enough camps to know for sure that indeed, God does work through and in them.

~Su-lyn.

PS: Itching to sign up yet?

Hopes

It's exactly 6 months to Youth Camp '08 :) and this is a short (or not so short) personal reflection on my hopes for this year's camp.

What do you expect when you go to Camp?
When everyone starts talking about it and everywhere you turn there always seems to be someone wearing a camp t-shirt, or in the midst of last-minute packing and ticking off on the checklist, do you wonder what will happen in those anticipated days? Do you make a mental list of what you'd like to see happen?


I do.
Just as I have my hopes for Youth Camp '08.

I hope in the birth of something extraordinary.
No one should go to Camp and expect nothing to happen, for God loves to make things happen. I want to experience something great, something that leaves me standing speechless in amazement at the awesomeness of my God. I hope that for you too.

I hope great friendships will be made.
With every Camp I attend, I make more friends. My circle becomes wider, and I once again realise that there are other people outside my own little world. This year, I hope for nothing different. I hope I'll form new friendships and strengthen old ones, and that I'll see that there are other people that need encouragement, a hug or even just a smile.

I hope that I will learn more of myself.
At the end of Camp, when the bus rumbles down the road, bringing me back home to once again settle into the daily routine of life, I hope that I'd have learnt something about myself: the admittance of my need and dependence on a living God, an area I can improve on, a friendship with fraying threads in need of repair, or the simple knowledge about something I was unable to see before. I want to come back a better person.

Of course, there are the little snippets that make Camp fun. The games, talent time, the free time for us to laze on the bed and laugh about something that happened that day, the conversations where we learn a little bit about others.

It's these things that make Camp memorable, that make it 4 days and 3 nights of meeting God, others, and ourselves. I hope you'll expect something great from this year's Youth Camp, and that you'll attempt something great upon your return.


Michelle

Friendships...

We have heard of tons of 'talks' about how camps will boost one's self-esteem, confidence, and so forth. Little has been heard of what it does to our social lives; it builds friendships. Funny how we uncannily find ourselves understanding certain individuals more, or attached to others more after the camp. We find a great deal of jokes funny - those that will not seem hilarious when explained to others not from the camp. All these precede the boosting of one's self-esteem and confidence. This is why camps do a great deal in building friendships in our lives.



Paul