Lets Go Academy

This year's youth camp was held from 6-8 Dec.

I could only go after the CO combined practice.. even so, I left the school later than intended because of some score matters... which explained why I only arrived in church at 4 plus, in the midst of worship. That was session 2.

I didn't have to wait till Holy Spirit Night to see God move mightily among the youths.
I stepped into the L4 auditorium and I could feel God's presence, almost immediately. I was just singing and the tears were making their way out of my eyes... It was very different from any other service. I knew at once that this camp was gonna be unique.

It was.

Unique, because the first night's accommodation was not in church. All the campers were split into groups then further split by gender into homes of various church members in Hougang. Others stayed at what they call the church's 'satellite centres'. The 17- and 18-year-old girls slept at the centre with the gym and cafe (forgot which block) which was, according to our youth pastor, one of the best and most comfortable. (: Sophia and I were the last to sleep.

Unique, because the next day we did not go for main service or have another session with a pastor/young adult leader standing in front of us with a mic, but we watched a video with Pastor Daniel telling us the story of how we acquired the different void deck spaces and shophouses. Here's a summary: each time a door closes, another one is opened for us. Each time something impossible bothers us, God changes that to make it possible. I'm sure we all remember the MCYS part. Haha, it's like He sends the grant to us through them.

Unique, because the groupings this time was not like putting random people of all age groups together. My group was my cell group (: and we had Doreen and Joe as leaders. They're awesme(:

Unique, because this camp focused on community penetration (CP). Each group came out with a project of their own and was given $50 to aid the carrying out of the project.
To do CP we need a soft heart, one full of compassion for the lost souls out there. (Which brings me to something that bothered me a little. I wouldn't refer to the residents as 'poor' because I live within the CP area as well and a lot of families here definitely do not fall into the 'poor' category. So that word stirred up some form of uneasiness.)

Unique, because how often do you see community work being incorporated into a camp?



In view of that decision, that promise to try to be nicer to some friends, I had to ask God to take away the pride and prejudice (lol Austen) I had in me. Start small, though in this case small is challenging. So imagine my surprise at how during the week I actually found myself defending the name of someone who wasn't around physically, someone people preferred to shun. It wasn't that difficult. I can do this. I can sit out of gossips too. I can I can I can.

I will accept people the way they are, and remind myself that everyone has a place in God's kingdom. They don't deserve hostility from us no matter what kind of impression they may leave on us, no matter what kind of explosive reactions they may trigger.

I'm going to display the right level of enthusiasm for the new J1 recruitment next year. Suddenly it feels as if I'm made to contact all those who're interested and ra-ra them into joining CO. Instead of becoming weary, I shall turn it around.. I'm not doing this simply because it's a duty, I'm doing this out of love. I'm helping whoever I can, even the new girl who's about to join my section.. suddenly I feel like a senior all over again, giving advice and sharing my experiences. Oh wait I will be one in less than a month.


I thank Joe and one other female leader for praying for me.. it's always nice to have someone pray for you, something I can't really describe...

BFC was very very very united in all aspects (spiritual included), which made it so touching I wanted to cry. We have to be on our guards now, because the stronger we are, the more likely it is for the evil one to make us a target.