After four days of praising and worshiping God, learning about His word, making new friends, hanging out with new people, playing awesome games... I'm back to reality.
Wow, what can I say. Varsity camp 2013 is (by far) the best camp ever!!
I've only been to two church camps in my life. The first was YC (youth church)'s The Advancement in 2011, and now varsity's Anchorage. I enjoyed this camp much more than YC's, probably because:
1) There is lesser amount of people - only 80+ campers, whereas there are 200+ campers in YC camps
2) Bigger location - it's in MBS (Malaysia Bible Seminary) Rawang instead of the usual Peacehaven in Genting
3) I'm surrounded by people of my age group - college/uni students and young working adults
4) Games are more fun and challenging!
Initially, I was hesitating to go for camp. Firstly, I didn't know people from varsity as I don't join the services on Saturdays. Then I had a research essay (50% weightage) due on the third day of camp. I was afraid I couldn't finish it in time.
However, after much promoting from the church and the camp commandant, and much encouragement from my CG leaders and parents, I decided to give it a go. Also, I might not be able to join next year so it might be a long long time till I get to go for the next camp.
The theme Anchorage really appealed to me (I have a strong affinity for ships and the sea, probably because three of my favourite movies - all a must-watch - have something to do with ships and/or the sea) so yes I was interested, but was shadowed by doubts and fears.
I even asked God to give me a sign to tell me if I should go or not.
Remember the research essay that I mentioned earlier? I got HD (high distinction) for another assignment under the same unit. Praise the Lord!!! I was so elated because the unit is not easy, and to unexpectedly get a higher mark than what I predicted... I can only say that it's all God's work. THAT moment, I knew it was a sign from God.
Then I realised that I should not prioritise my assignments over God. It also occurred to me that if I manage my time well, I can actually finish the research essay before camp - a few days even. Turns out that I was just giving myself an excuse to not go for camp..
Well, I AM SO GLAD THAT I WENT IN THE END :")
The camp verse is Hebrews 6:19, "This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls".
This verse really speaks to me because I know that in whatever situations I come across - no matter good or bad - God is my permanent source of hope that I can hold onto. Like how an anchor firmly secures the ship to the seabed during a storm.
DAY 1 (Saturday, 2.11.13)
I arrived at church about 7am. The camp committee said to reach at 6:50am sharp, but Malaysian timing is always the 'best'. Campers only start coming after 7:15am and we left a little before 8am. About one and a half hour later, we arrived at our destination, a 10-acre land!
After putting our bags and stuff aside, we had our first ice breaker called The Human Chain. Boys VS girls and the boys won. I think it's because of their longer arms and legs ha ha ha.
We had a short briefing, then we were required to come up with a name for our vessel (group) and design a flag (identity), which we had to carry with us at all times otherwise we would lose points. I was in Group 6, together with Nixon, Sam, Felicia, Ashley, and Adrian.
I also found out that I was the dorm leader of room 307, and had a short freaking-out moment (dorm leader? what do I do??). My dorm was one of the smallest ones with only 6 beds.
(I didn't take a lot of pictures so the ones here are quite random.)
After lunch, we went back to the hall for a talk on money and finance. Felt quite sleepy after the food. The speaker said, "If you don't remember what I said today, it's okay. Just remember the power of 72."
...I remember 72 but I don't recall what is it for. Umm.
Then we had games, in which my team only won 2 out of 6 stations :P All the games were so tiring! Felt like an old woman after all those running and jumping around haha. After that we had some free time to bath and freshen up for dinner and the first session later.
Oh by the way, MBS has a swimming pool! But sadly it's off limits, so we can only admire it from afar (wah so dramatic). But I did went in the pool, the shallow part that is, during games :D
The lights and everything during the first praise and worship session were really, really cool! Wish I have pictures to show :( Elder Dorai, our camp speaker, spoke after that. Each session (including praise and worship) lasted for two and a half hours. We had five sessions throughout the whole camp.
Supper followed, and they provided Maggi Hot Cup and Milo. As I was too tired, I skipped supper and went back to my dorm to sleep. Really needed a rest after a day of intense games man haha. Also, I could feel the aches slowly coming, which is bad.......
DAY 2 (Sunday, 3.11.13)
The next morning we had devotions at 8. I'm a deep sleeper, so thank God I managed to hear the alarm and wake up in time :D
I woke up in pain. Lol the aches were real after all! Both my arms hurt especially my left arm. I could feel the muscles pulling whenever I move my arms. The weird thing was, none of the games that I played the previous day required any intense use of the arms.... My back and butt hurt too :/
I don't know why I keep taking pictures of the pool.
Here's Ashley with our group flag. Looks like it's the work of a kindergartner right :P Actually it was a last minute kinda thing coz we spent a lot of time brainstorming over the name, the shape and the design of the flag... and came up with nothing. So in the end we just tore pieces of colourful paper and made a collage. Quite creative also right!
For your information, echad means 'unity' in Hebrew :)
After breakfast, it was session 2, lunch, and then followed by a talk on personal development. We were supposed to proceed with games, but it was raining heavily at that time so we discussed our presentation for Monday night instead. Then we had dinner, session 3, and supper.
The girls stayed back for a relationship talk by Nicole, Pastor Jeremy's wife. She told us about how she and Pastor Jeremy got together (which was really sweet) and how, as godly women, do we have a godly relationship with our partner.
Everything she said was so true, from finding a righteous man, to waiting for the right time for different stages of intimacy between each other. She also reminded us that in a Christian perspective, it is ONE + ONE = ONE. It is never about the other person completing you.
I decided that I will wait patiently for the right person, according to God's will :)
DAY 3 (Monday, 4.11.13)
Our schedule in the first half of the day was repeated: devotions, breakfast, session 4 and lunch. Then it was games time! It was a treasure hunt and each team started out with a clue. The clue will lead us to the first station and after completing a task, we get a clue and a key. We had 2 hours to get all 5 keys.
And my team got sesat (lost) right at the beginning of the hunt. Lol coz we went to the wrong station eeeek. But then we were still so chill, walking instead of running like everyone else. Except after the second last station coz we almost ran out of time hahaha. We got stuck at one point, but luckily another group (who had finished the hunt) were willing to help us :D
And guess what! We were the last team to arrive at the hall, BUT WE WON 60, 000 ANCHOS!!! So it's not about who reached first after all :') And 60, 000 anchos is a lot of points! The second biggest prize man. We got so surprised and excited that we jumped on the spot (okay maybe just me) and high-fived each other :')
Because some of us were drenched in water (including me: I went into the pool to pick up mahjong tiles and got sprayed with water during a quiz), we headed back to shower and rest before practising our sketch for the night.
Our group teamed up with Group 5 for the presentation, and each group had different themes. Ours was 'The White Witch (yes the one from Narnia) and pride'. This was what happened at the dining hall before dinner...
Ida (diva mom) and Felicia (White Witch).
Tim, our director, helping the
makcik (aunty) with her dress hahaha.
Pracci = Prada + Gucci
Sam, Nixon, and Eunice (the beggars).
Huge thanks to Joe for bringing the costumes from home! We were the only group to have 'proper' costumes for the presentation hahaha. I was one of the White Witch's maids :P Soo nervous having to act in front of people, even though my role is only a minor one.
I think every group put in a lot of effort for the presentation and everyone did great :D While the judges (yes we had judges) were tallying the marks, we had high praise and session 5.
And what came after was a surprise: they called out those whose birthdays fall on October, November, and December to come to the front! Then three birthday cakes were brought out while everyone sang the birthday song for us. Whoa. Quite paiseh (shy) but so touched at the thought :')
As it was the last night of camp, we were allowed to hang out/play in the hall however long we want.
While walking back to my dorm (look at the night sky!).
I was initially planning to go to sleep, coz I was very tired and also having sorethroat. But it was the last night of camp!!! ...Then I went to look for my friends (in another dorm) and we all went back to the hall at 12 midnight.
We played The Resistance, a card game which is something like Mafia, for more than two hours. Surprisingly I did not feel sleepy during the game - guessed it was too mentally challenging to feel physically tired :P
I slept at 3 something in the morning (which only happened about 4 times in my life lol). There was another group who played until 7! So basically they did not sleep AT ALL since devotions are at 8.
DAY 4 (Tuesday, 5.11.13)
After breakfast, we went to pack everything up and brought our luggages to the hall. Couldn't believe the last day came so fast D:
We had a short worship session, soaking in God's presence for the last time in MBS. Then it was time for prize-giving! Our group got consolation prize for the sketch AND we came in third for overall performance! Hallelujah! :D The points we got from the treasure hunt seriously helped a lot.
When they announced Group 6, all of us were stunned and didn't move for a few seconds. After the awkward silence and silently confirming that we are in Group 6, we slowly walked to the front one by one. I didn't even know what prize we were getting lol.
Here's our huge hamper! Congratulations to all of us man! Teamwork!
My group members and some from Group 5 tearing away at the hamper. So much goodiesss.
Actually, everyone was busy tearing away at their hampers.
Crazy gurl :P
Me with one of the anchors.
I really had a great time at camp. I didn't think that I would enjoy myself as much, but I did :)
When Elder Dorai prayed for me during the altar calls, he asked God to help me seal the commitment to follow Him, and that I would turn away from darkness and look to Jesus.
I hope I can consistently do that. I know it wouldn't be easy, but I want to have a strong and stable relationship with Him - not one that is bad when things are good, and vice versa.
We just have to remind ourselves that we have an IMMOVABLE, UNSHAKABLE, NEVER-CHANGING, FAITHFUL and STEADFAST God who will see us through.
"God sometimes takes us into troubled waters not to drown us but to cleanse us."
