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Church Camp 2008 - A Leaf from My Diary by Deaconess Alen Low The long awaited and much anticipated church camp has finally come and gone. This is one church camp that we had lesser pax than usual. Nevertheless, thank God for those who could come and be blessed as we feasted. DAY ONE After so many years and times of traveling, I was still plagued by "last minute stuff" and rushed to finish packing and getting ready. Aimed to reach meeting point before 10am but had to detour to IMM to get Jagabee for Isaac (who happens to be addicted to Hokkaido no. 1 finger-food product). Almost made it at 10.05am not for my wrong directions to taxi uncle, we ended up going towards Woodlands on KJE. Haha....made a U-turn and finally arrived. Deffrey, the travel agent who assisted us in the coordination and camp site, text me that our people were very early, as in most of them (except me) arrived before 10am. LOL.... learned from Dn Poh later on that during briefing, he actually told congregation "the bus will leave at 10am sharp". So much for misinformation. This is also the first time we put on wrist bands (like inpatients) with colour codes. Those who self-drove were there to see us off... hmmm... perhaps they were there to follow us to the restaurant (seeking for directions to lunch). Anyhow, was glad to see Amozie, my brother, Marcus and some others. Immigration clearance was a breeze. Bus ride was uneventful except for Coach No. 3 which experienced problems with the cooling system and passengers were practically in "hot soup or oven" during the journey up. Poor people... thank God none fainted or else I would have been busy fanning. Lunch was not too bad...feeling famished, very in fact. Sat next to Lynn (FEBC student, also my good friend) and told her I could eat a horse, only to have her commenting at the end of the meal that the rightful description should be a teeny weeny pony. Oh well, horse or pony, it had been well-fed and by 2pm we began the next leg of our journey. Eld Boon was very diligent, took out his bible and I saw him turned to Nehemiah. But it wasn’t long before i found him slummed at his seat, still at chapter one.... hee hee.....Heh, don't we all do this kind of stuff? :) There were many first this year and one of them was the speed at which we all checked in. Firstly, there was a staff from Deffrey's company, a lady named Quinn, who had assigned the rooms with all the special requests like who to be next to who and who gets double bed and such. Initially, thought I had to double check before I allowed the people to check in coz I didn’t know if she understood the remarks in my file. Secondly, I requested my coach driver to speed all the way from Yong Peng and he did.....haha.... Anyhow, it turned out she was very competent and everything worked out smoothly. Thirdly, the coaches arrived one at a time which was good so there was no jam at the lifts (witnessed one church group checking in during my recce on 31 May and it was really a nightmare). The rooms were fantastic... to me. It was very good except for poor workmanship. The premise is only 3 months old and things are beginning to fall apart. Can you imagine my toilet seat cover was actually a child's size? And the rod in front of my sink, it was broken and I had no place to hang my hand towel. Some people had to change room because the sliding door at the bed area rolled off track and could not be repaired. I guess the most "stupid" fault was the safe in the room. A few of the rooms’ safe were locked when new guests checked in....had to call this maintenance guy with a gadget that resembled the ones carpark attendant uses in Singapore to book errant drivers in parking lots. Hmmmm….this year was also the first where the synthesizer was not there during singspiration. Haha.... it was left in Eld Goh's car boot and he was uncontactable and unreachable. Met him at the lift lobby at 6.55pm and things started happening. No extension cord, this and that... got it all working by 7.20pm or so. Eld Seah exhorted us from Psalm 27 with the acronym W.A.I.T. Watch unto prayer, Acknowledge Lordship of Christ, Instructed in His Word and Take God at His promises. Had a round of prayer and everyone was ready to retire to the soft cuddly beds in the rooms. I had the whole room to myself…was thinking should I sleep on one bed for first 3 hours and the next for later half.....why? Because I always wake up in the night and so no harm switching beds for the fun of it. My eyes were itching and rather painful but I had to finish some camp stuff before retiring to bed. Thought of listening to the news while I worked on the file but couldn’t locate the TV. Thought to myself: "Where is it? Don’t tell me my room has no TV?" I knew I couldn’t have missed out this "BIG" detail, a MUST to have TV in the room for our people. Found the remote but just could not spot it. Tiredness or blurredness??? When I almost gave up and looked up.....aha... the huge black plasma screen of 29" or 32" size was right before my eyes. So stupid of me trying to locate it on table top....hahahaha... I had a good laugh at myself for being so forgetful. Here's a pic of it taken during camp recce to show how darn tired I was to have missed such an object. Oh yes, missed out one information. This year was also the first we had 5D4N camp....and everyone wanted MORE! DAY TWO Morning devotion was scheduled at 7am instead of 7.45am and so, this was another first we had it soooooo early. Could you believe it was still rather dark when I walked from hotel suite to the meeting room? Definitely a first for me. Sun was peeking out from the horizon of clouds and it was an amazing sight to behold. Time was almost 7am and I thought I would be the last few to arrive. Turned out I was 2nd. Gave me enough time to prepare myself and the keyboard. At 7.05am, people streamed in. Eld Seah exhorted us from Colossians 1:9-14, entitling his message "The Christian Walk". We were reminded to walk worthy unto God and be fruitful. Couldn’t remember which day Eld Seah made the mistake of calling Dn Poh as Elder Poh for prayer... perhaps it was this day. Giggled to myself when I heard that... our elderly Seah always "prophesying". Headed to Traders' Shop (dining area) for sumptuous breakfast. Erh... took two slices of bread, fruits and one omelette. Queue for omelette was very long and Dn Poh was there. Asked if he could queue for me and he willingly agreed, with the consent of one or two behind him. Then I did a cheeky thing and said, "Thank you Elder Poh". He returned with a punch on my arm.....ouch..... :( Papa Khoo delivered a strong message from Nehemiah chapter one. I learned that Nehemiah has a heart for his people, likewise we ought to and start from within the church and move outwards. He saw the needs and fasted, prayed and wept for it. Remembered one sentence very clearly: "The more we say to God we love Him, the more we are aware of God and our love for Him". How true it is! May we always tell God our love for Him in praise and thanksgiving and not treat God as our "dispensing machine" for our list of items we need. Nehemiah brought the problem before God in earnest prayer and we are thus reminded that our God is all powerful, true and living, plus a covenant-keeping God. I read in my QT today of Acts 4:23-31 of how the early church were united in praise and prayer. Verse 31 "And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness." After the prayer, there is POWER! Who do we trust? Who do we depend on? Do we show we depend on God or just empty words on our lips? I quote from Dr A.C Dixon of Spurgeon's Tabernacle: "When we rely on organization, we get what organization can do; when we rely on education, we get what education can do; when we rely on eloquence, we get what eloquence can do. I am not disposed to undervalue any of these things in their proper place - BUT when we rely upon prayer, we get what God can do!" Nehemiah showed us what prayer can do....let us not be a people with much activity but little spirituality and no power. I love this quote especially "Prayer moves the Hand that moves the universe" Had to stay back after lunch for song practice (presentation on SGBF night for Pr Chee who was to be ordained). Went back to my room and had to finish checking the song file for singspiration. Didn’t have time to check all before camp started. Waited in my room for Dr Lowly and Rachel to arrive and I went to play tennis after that. Played with Kah Poh, Deffrey and Quinn. My right hand had not really recovered but I wanted to play badly. It was Deffrey's first try and he was powerful, with his left hand, though he "struggled" to play minus badminton style. On hindsight, am thinking besides Nadal, he is probably the other person i know who is able to do a back hand without the help of the other hand. His service was powerpacked and I feared taking his ball. Hmmmm, didn’t think I can take the ball even if my right hand is not hurting. Oh well, it was a good game, Kah Poh teaching him and I learned too. During dinner, heard from the girls that they played volleyball at the beach. I was "in tears" coz no one called or informed me of YF game or activity. The girls apologised and poor girls....hands red from volleyball game and wrists hurting. Hmmmm....volleyball fever is in now and CtYFers are crazy over this game. Yeappy! It is about time! Aaron later on also said sorry to me. Hmmm.... seemed like my "tearing" story was retold. Hahaha.... I miss volleyball...would have skipped tennis to play that. Look at them playing and practising hard.....probably in time for year end BDC sports day challenge..... I strongly think so :) And Chiang Rai girls, watch out for our CtYF girls in December!Had the first session of Since You Asked and back to cuddly beds.... only to be greeted by "flooding" in my shower cubicle. Hmmm... the water just collected there. Too tired to call the maintenance people...bathed and added more water to the "flood". Surprisingly, it was gone the next morning. Not sure what the YFers did for the first night... heard there was UNO and.... :) Oh yes, some took supper.... some as in Iz and JJ coz he brought some instant noodles and drinks to camp. My eyes began to swell and I turned in early.....zzzzzzzzzzzzz DAY THREE The most hilarious day......I cried for that matter. Read on and you will know. This morning devotion was to Walk as Jesus Walked, text from 1 John 2:1-6. Humility and obedience evidently seen in the life of Jesus...may God help us to abide in Him and obey His commandments. Nehemiah's lessons were that of Pray and Plan, seek help from God and never doubt Him. I remember the one liner in Spidy movie, not the exact word but something to that effect "With more power comes more responsibility". Papa Khoo's version is "Knowledge comes with responsibility". How so true it is. Head knowledge is never of any use if it is not put to practice, giving God the glory and blessing lives as we manifest and be like Jesus. All of us are guilty of making haste decisions and always planning but no prayer. Nehemiah exhibited the exact opposite of us and what a powerful example to learn from him. All in all, he prayed and planned for 4 months and was ready when the opportunity came for him to speak to the King to allow him to rebuild Jerusalem. Church Family Interactive Time... aka CFIT came after lunch. I went a little late only to realize there were 3 in my group. Not sure if it has everything to do with my group number... 3!!!!!! LOL.....I made some calls and pushed for more in my group to turn up. But before that, when Anthony called out to various groups if we were ready, all gave a loud and deafening YES while our group gave out a tiny "Meow".....by Ren Muh.... Haha...maybe it would have sounded more convincing if Beng Kheng did the meow thingy.....heehee.... The first game was making paper aeroplane and flying it. Every group had to send 8 representatives to fly and there were markings on the floor. Full marks for plane that flew beyond the last line. We were told in our group that Ren Muh knows everything about making a good paper aeroplane. All of us followed his way of folding, pressing the paper against the wall to get the evenness (did i spell correctly) so that it can fly far. We dutifully obeyed and to my horror, it didn’t work as planned and my plane kept nose-diving. Beng Kheng's one too. Without delay, I took another piece of A4 paper and folded the only way I knew as a small girl. Tried to fly it during practice but it didn’t make it beyond the 3rd line. Anthony called for the competition to begin and wow... Eld Boon's group.... number 1.... really came out number 1. Nearly all the 8 members flew their plane beyond the last line. When it came to my turn, I flew without much hope because I didn’t think my small girl knowledge of plane making would be of much use. Amazingly, it flew past the last line and I was exhilarated.... thrilled.... I surprised myself.... or rather, the plane surprised me. It couldn’t fly during practice but did so well now. Suddenly, I felt like a small girl who could fly or do anything. I didn’t hide my joy but screamed and jumped. Each group had to choose the best pilot and the best plane. Wong Ci represented us coz his plane flew the longest distance. Neither he nor the plane failed us and we scored points for the last round. Next game was Working Together... with a towel and a ball. Each team had 4 pairs with hand towels (from the hotel) evenly spaced out. A team member will start by putting tennis ball into the first pair, which then had to fling it over to the 2nd pair and so on and so forth. The last pair catch the ball and another team member will take from the towel and put into the basket to count for points. Our team started out poorly but we changed strategy quickly and repositioned ourselves and it was quite a feat we did, achieved 19 points with less than 2/3 or perhaps half of the time remaining. Eld Boon's team was really ON. They were so serious and so "never gonna let the ball drop"....choked up 30 over points for this section. Clearly, they were ahead of all the other groups. Here is supposed to have a pic of Sharon and Karen's group and their last catch was 1 second before the game was up. These girls are powerful! (webmaster said no photos in the articles and so i am not able to post it up here). Oh boy, next came the last game... Guessing Game. 6 members in a team to play. 5 actions were acted out from the 1st member to 2nd, and 2nd to 3rd and so forth. The 6th member to name all the actions that will enable him/her to guess the occupation of this person. While one is acting to another, the rest of the members had their backs turned so they never know what was going on. Our team had the hairdresser job. Actions were: cutting hair, blowing hair, washing hair, curling hair and head massage (I think so). Rachel had no problem acting to Charity and Charity to Ci. But Ci had a big big problem. He has no long hair to demonstrate and was scratching his head what to do. It was a comical sight and even more comical to see Beng Kheng messing up her hair to act out (watch the video during camp echo to fully understand). The most entertaining one came from Aaron & Benjamin's group. Oh my.... Dn Poh was the first to read what he needed to act. He dutifully acted out the 5 actions... very clearly seen by all of us and we understood. Farmer was the occupation. Actions were weeding, trimming, watering, plucking fruits and planting. The watering action was pretty clear...as in took water from a tap and bringing it to water. Plucking fruit too, raising of hand and putting it into the basket on your pouch or something like that. Esther couldn’t understand some of the actions and it got messy and distorted when it reached Aaron. He did the planting thingy like a fish swimming in the water, the plucking fruit like he was in a disco in the 70s.... kind of reminded me of Saturday Night Fever. I laughed till I teared and stomach muscles cramped up... jaws aching....thanks to Aaron. And this Benjamin, who was in line after him, took to these actions and they were sooooooo hilarious, turning the place upside down. It was really good fun and sadly, the afternoon had to end. But the day didn’t end here... it went on to the night of 2nd series on Since You Asked and the DURIAN PARTY! Deffrey & Quinn sourced out a malay durian seller for us. They agreed to come to Avillion to let us choose and pick, open and clear for us. We asked for RM $7 and $12 durians. Half way thro our session, they arrived at the hotel and a few of our in-house durian experts went to choose. Who were they? Make a guess......Alan Yap, Ren Muh, Susan & Peggy. I went with only one mission, to see that the selection process was done and to make payment. Eld Goh couldn’t be there because he was the chairman for the night. I am not a durian lover, neither a durian hater. I don’t crave for one but I don’t mind eating. I don’t eat alot, just one or two. So you get a pretty good picture of what is to come? The durian experts picked up durians, shook and smelled their way to select the best ones for Tengah. I watched with amusement and before long, we had 3 baskets of durians for our people. Weighing was done and value put to it. Bargain took place and deal closed at RM $600. The durian seller was very nice to let us try two or three durians without paying. First it was the sweet type. Our durian experts said NOT NICE but I thought it tasted good. Next came the bitter type and from what I heard, bitter durians are the best. Same thing happened and my taste buds told me Very Nice this time. Conclusion of the whole matter from Tengah experts....I cannot be the durian taster or cup bearer for Tengah because my taste is so "lousy". Honestly, I thought the durians tasted so good... sigh....what to do? Our people were satisfied after a durian meal and it was no wonder it reigns as King of Fruits as I watched the number of people eating, some with eyes closed and the "heavenly" look on the faces. Serious durian addicts we have in Tengah! Avillion hotel management agreed to Deffrey’s request to allow us to use a section for this feasting. They even prepared cold drinks for us and a bowl of salt too. Since I didn’t eat much, stood behind the table to dispense the salt as they filled up water from the dispenser. I was surprised a lot of our durian eaters didn’t know about the salt effect... hmmmm....... DAY FOUR What an aching day! My arms were slightly sore from aeroplane flying and the tossing of balls and catching with towel. It was good to be able to wake up from sleep and still have the breath in my nostrils.....God-given....thank You, Lord! This morning, Eld Seah exhorted us from Hebrews 12:1-3, to look unto Jesus and to live with eternity's value in view. One lesson from Nehemiah rang loudly....human responsibility and God answers prayers. We often do not remember to pray and sometimes when it is beyond what we can do, we don’t leave it to God but take matters into our own hands. Nehemiah exhibited courage and human responsibility besides taking necessary steps to overcome the threats of the enemies. Sometimes difficulties and problems come from within and we need to be watchful unto prayer. Nehemiah has done faithfully all that God had entrusted him. I have learned "Courage is fear under control". I know Meekness is strength under control but never see courage in that light before. Completely random here....don’t think I will ever exhibit courage for my Cockroach Phobia..... argh..... ewe.... Today's lunch was the last buffet meal (not including breakfast) we were going to have because we had Sit-Down Dinner tonight. Many people were complaining the food was being "reused" and everyday were the same dishes but cooked differently. Hmmm.... I know the chef was not fantastic at all and we did have better food in other camps. The breakfast bread was always "soggy" or not fresh but heh, I toasted it anyway and it tasted quite alright to me. James and Lemuel were on this crazy bread gulping with 7-8 or even 10 slices on their plate at one go. Wonder which adult can beat them? Once again, we had the football challenge of the adult and youths. They formed their own teams to play futsal (hope correct spelling). Our faithful supporters year after year award goes to Melissa, Beng Kheng & Angela! Some injuries occurred during the game and one of them was Rachel. She had a bruise on her forehead.... the ball slammed onto her face. Poor girl :( I had appointment with CtYFers to play volleyball but couldn’t make it at 2pm because of a song practice and thereafter needed to go to nearby supermarket to get gifts for Deffrey and Quinn (to show our appreciation). They did a lot of things for us, like sourcing the birthday cake, durian and arranging the hotel for the durian feast, etc. Bought some chocolates and quickly went back to my room to wrap them. By the time I was done, it was almost 4 plus. Went to the beach and saw YFers playing volleyball at a distance and the futsal challenge still going on. Felt like playing but spotted Lynn and Peggy walking back from far end of the beach. Chatted with them and asked Lynn to play volleyball. She didn’t know there was recreation in Tengah camp and so didn’t bring any shorts or pants except for long skirts. Decided not to play and asked her to walk with me to the front of the sea and had fellowship with her. Wished I had longer time but needed to go back and check that the banquet hall was properly set up for the evening's programme. Oh yes, I forgot to mention another first! I had the privilege to use a Walkie Talkie throughout the camp. It was for Deffrey to reach me and vice versa. Cool huh? Stella said I looked cool with the thing clamped onto my jeans. Haha.... it wasn’t that bad actually but it proved a little nuisance one time. Church session had this short meeting after a morning session and were kneeling down to pray when I heard Deffrey's voice in the still silence "Alen, are you there?" Testimony night went on smoothly, except that William came late and we couldn’t sing any songs because we were waiting for the church laptop to come....only to realise it was hidden under one of the tables all along..... if only we knew it.... singing would have started much earlier...haha. We had the birthday celebration for June babies. Guess what reaction I had from our people? “Perhaps we should have church camp in March or September... so that we can celebrate other people's birthday that fall during those months.” LOL! Tengah folks can really joke. Maybe we should have one big birthday cake for everyone in Tengah... so all go to the stage and leave no one sitting down as audience... hahahahahhahaha One by one testified how blessed they were and Jinder even led someone to say the sinner's prayer during this camp. Yes, this is another first.... a hotel staff came to believe in the Lord. What a rejoicing in heaven and on earth! The night didn’t end there. Children and toddlers sang their items and I must say our Preschoolers of 4 did a fantastic rendition of Deep and Wide and Read Your Bible. Their angelic voices were clear and crisp and Gloryz.....what powerful vocal! Lynn sang one of her favourite hymn after she testified of her calling. She was terribly nervous but she did alright. Jordan people also sang their hearts out. I am heartened to see Alan Yap sang in Chinese. It was a great challenge for him and certainly an encouragement to me. I wanted to do the overnight thingy this year but felt physically drained. Could still remember vividly last year when a lot of Ctyfers stayed up the last night to play volleyball, guitar and lazed around. This time, I was not physically and mentally prepared. My eyes for one started to feel painful and uneasy and increasingly itchy. But I was able to end my night with some singing.....accompanied by Mandy and Cassandra. They were so sweet to sing with me and they sang without hesitation or shyness. Come next camp, we do it again, k? Who will join us? Went to bed at 12 plus. Thank God for good sleep....... DAY FIVE Today is our last day in Avillion... and time passed by like lightning speed. I wasn’t in the morning devotion when Eld Seah exhorted. It was to have Knowledge of God's Word. Something happened to Anthony.... Beng Kheng came into the meeting room to ask if anyone brought a Blood Pressure set to camp. Then she revealed Anthony had fainted and needed medical attention. Dr Lowly wasn’t in the meeting hall yet and so I followed her back to his room. Along the way, she told me he fainted twice and fell down in toilet. It sounded real bad and I thought he needed to go hospital if we couldn’t find a B-P set to check his pressure. Called Deffrey to ask if he can and arranged for standby. Expected to be greeted by a bad scene when I entered his room, only to find him joking away and getting ready to brush his teeth. Whew.... thank God.....it wasn’t as bad as I thought. He did fall and had bad scratches and marks on his shoulders. Thank God too he didn’t hit his head during fainting. All I knew was he fell and injured his back during the futsal challenge and was nursing his injury. Perhaps he woke up in the middle of night and rushed to toilet too quickly and blood flow greatly reduced. Anyhow, Dr lowly asked him to seek medical treatment when he reached Singapore. It was decided that both Anthony and Angela could not drive their vehicle back (hardly slept well the night) and so lowly would drive them home. I needed to take the coach to ensure things are taken care of and I opted out of the car ride. We proceeded to the meeting hall but was told it was halfway thro morning D. So for the very first time, I had breakfast before the rest of the people....took my time to eat and we had fellowship round the table. Anthony seemed well enough and my, he sure could eat :) Our camp ended and we had a sumptuous meal at a restaurant sourced by Eld Goh. It was 5 mins drive from the camp site and we had LALA and fried little crabs and squids. Deliciously good.... Everyone was treated to soft drinks too. You know it was so good that none of the cameramen whipped out their cameras to take any shots? Even Jamesy and Norman glued their butts to the seats for a delightful meal. Need to mention about the coach guide in my coach. His name is C.K. His English was horrendous but he tried his best and we could understand him. Sometimes he spoke in Chinese. As the coaches drove out from hotel, he told us the midway stop after lunch was at Malacca and we will go to a Malaysia food product store to get our goods like otah and some local products. I dutifully informed all the drivers of the cars where we were heading so they could join us to get the products too. To my horror, as we got onto the coach after lunch, he said it wasn’t Malacca but Yong Peng. I asked him how he could make such an error. Also lamented that I have informed all my drivers to go to Malacca and now I have to reinform. He smiled sheepishly and said sorry. Sigh.... I began to sms all of them and thank God they got my messages loud and clear. The YoYo store proved to be good value for money and C.K. has sort of compensated for his error.... haha... he even personally pointed to me specific goods to buy. Besides this, C.K. seemed "handicapped" to timing. Why would I say so? On our journey to Avillion after lunch at Yong Peng, he announced in my coach that it would take 3-4 hours to reach. Nonsense! Deffrey and I looked at each other.... because we knew the max time was only 2 hours. I began to wonder if he knew his stuff or just couldn’t tell or estimate time. My suspicion was kind of confirmed on our way back to Singapore. Once again he announced the estimated time to reach Malacca was 3-4 hours. Haha.... Deffrey and I had our secret laugh. But somehow C.K. proved me wrong just before we reached the checkpoint. Our group probably drank too much at the YoYo store and needed an extra toilet break. C.K. asked the driver to let us down at some point (couldn’t remember the name but I knew it was near....very near to Singapore). He announced that we were 40 minutes away which was correct! LOL... I couldn’t help commenting in Chinese to him in a gentle tone: "Whoa, this time estimation of yours is the most correct so far." I knew I was being naughty.... couldn’t help it....even Deffrey grinned at me and we laughed. Yup, there was another first and probably the last first for this church camp. I met my dad in that YoYo store!!!!! Rachel called out to me that gong gong was there. I didn’t believe my ears and true enough, he was right beside me. His Pandan Chinese group had their camp at Malacca and they too were on their way home to Singapore. Our family had a short reunion with him... Rachel, Isaac, Joanne & Cassy. It was really unbelievable to meet someone in Malaysia, not to mention your loved ones and staying with you! An excitement indeed. Custom clearance was speedy and queue was not long. It was a profitable and blessed camp and right now, camp committee has started sourcing for next year. God willing, we should get a place not too far away. So pray for provision of a suitable place. Signing off here for Church Camp 2008! Oh yes... you can go to http://www.mytengah.com/ to see all the photos taken during church camp. |
