Thursday, December 06, 2007

NSCFL Camp 2007 Review - I Want 2 B The One

National Schools Christian Fellowship Leadership Camp 2007 Review by Khristy and [Joel]

[the words in square brackets are written by Joel]

Disclaimer: This is a somewhat long post with a lot of pictures.



The ppl from SMKDU who went are


[Khye Yuen, Daniel, Kah Hoe, Joel, Phebe, Jasmyn, Khristy, Sunshine and Joanna]



Hey guys!! Khristy here... nice to see that the blog has finally awakened after a looooooooong sleep. [yeah man]

DUCF's Blog

anyway, some of us just got back from NSFCL camp, and those who went had a memorable time there!

so, on the prez's request [uh uh], i'm supposed to write a little review bout what happened...
so here i go...

Pre-Camp


i have a confession to make.
i never wanted to go for camp.
in fact, i was ready to do anything i could to skip it.
maybe i was lazy, or i just didn't want to spend a week at some camp where i only know 8 other people... either way, i was reluctant to go
[=(]
BUT mr joel lee kept 'encouraging' me, dropping 'hints' and other things for a while, until i got tired and finally gave in [=)]



[Yes, i literally had to do this -_________-]

Anyway, even after i agreed to go, i have to admit that i was dead set in NOT having a good time so that i could go to joel right after the camp and go 'i told you so!' (i know, selfish, selfish) [just you wait =P]


For the first 2 days (ok, maybe 3) i hardly interacted in my group, answering only when someone called me. (guys, if you're reading, i'm so sorry! =[ ) and i stuck like glue to some DU people.

[ -________- ]

but as we progressed on in the camp, we were learning about how your walk must match your talk. makes sense?

In one of the talks, the speaker said 'if we are Christians, we HAVE to change our attitude'. and my attitude definitely did NOT reflect Christ, and is NOT pleasing to God.
[spoken like the speaker himself =)] (thank you.. =)

I mean, i was supposed to be at camp to learn more bout God, and how we can improve cf, and here i am acting like a spoiled brat.

So anyway, i learned how to step out of my comfort zone and communicate with the people in my group.. =)

And as far as the camp was concerned, it really was one of the
best camps i've gone to.
but it really has helped me learn a lot..

[ok, enough pre-camp stuff. Let's go through the whole thing =)]

Click me for the Camp Agenda

Click me for info on 'How to do Quiet Time'


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Day 1



After shrieking "i don't wanna go!!!!!!" countless times to my best friend, miss Joanna Ho, (and vice versa), we FINALLY made our way over to the SU office, the pick up point of the camp.



and the rest was kinda normal... you know, going to STM on the bus, wishing the bus would break down... and registration and all when we arrived.

Entrance to the grand ball



First impression - WOAH !!



Check out the kopitiam. Favourite hang-out spot by lots of ppl. 1 buck per drink =)



so let me introduce you to my fantastic group members from ZEPHANIAH!!



First of all, we have Aunty Peh Lan, our group leader with plenty of experience to share with us..

Chee Meng - the 'assistant' leader & the only form 6 guy in camp..
Zhenbon/Matthew - the other f4 person in the group, who has the ability to er stand on his head.
Louis - the guy all the way from Tawau who was artistic enough to come up with the idea for our group banner..
A.J - the fashionista with plenty of bright ideas.
Phoebe - the sweetest gurl with a fantastic voice..
Pit Inn - the quiet BUT witty guy from Johor.

and last but not least,
we have Cang Yet, the guy who tried to steal my camera from me at least half a dozen times.



[me? i had
1) Runa Wan Eng - the absentee group leader, or so she claims. Cause she's
the camp coordinator too [Group AMOS is the first group =)]. She shared great experiences.
2) Sze-Harn - my co assistant group leader. yeah, we shared the title cause we're both 16. Had loads of fun with this buddy who fell on the 2nd day during BB and bruised his knee BADLY - bleeding non stop.
3) Celina - the hyper/emo girl of the group. Always smiling in front of sadness. Claims she wants to be single for life.
4) Noelle - i thought she was 17!! turns out she's 15. nice girl.
5) Mariel - the outspoken one with a personality.
6) Jeremy Lim - nice buddy. shared a lot of experiences.
7) Johnson - little bro 1. was sick for the first day. prayed and he got healed =)
8) Azlin - form 1 girl who was super quiet for the first 3 days. can hear pin drop one. she opened up a lot starting 4th day and she started talking like a waterfall.
9) Nicky - little bro 2. Nice F1 guy from kelana jaya. Turns out that he's a scout [whoohoo!] and he's a PL. Did a lot of 'scout' things with him =) ]

ok, so after all the formalities, and checking into the room and all that (apparently form 4 people require lots of privacy or something cuz we all got single rooms) or maybe we're just old.

All this lead to dinner... then worship... and our
first theme talk of the camp, entitled 'I saw the LORD!', by Mr Koh Earn Soo, the camp speaker..

Basically, what we learned is that God is sovereign, God is in control of everything, and we do not have to earn God's acceptance, because He has already accepted us, and done it on the cross.

We also watched a short clip, even though it was from a Russian movie or something, the message stood out :

" It was about this guy manning the railway tracks. Just before a train came, his son fell into one of the operating stations, so he had to make a choice.

He could either save his son, and let all the passengers on the train die, or the opposite. Anyway, he made the 'right' decision, saving all the passengers. But the people on the train never knew what he had sacrificed that day for them.. "

So in the same way, God was just like that.. He saved us, even though He had to give up His only Son. and some people still don't know how much He sacrificed for us!!!

So, people... start spreading the Gospel.. =)



[the vid was probably the most significant part of the message cause i've always heard of the story but never got to actually see it. the vid was very dramatized and good. Check out my notes for details.]


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Day 2

Woke up at 5.30 a.m, (YES, 5.30- joel woke up at 6.30) wanted to go home. haih.
anyway, we had
leaders assembly at 7 am, and this time we learned about TRUST.
yup, we played that falling game, where you're supposed to fall, and your partner's supposed to catch you... (i got it only at my second attempt- lol, sorry AJ)

[sze-harn is heavy -___________-]

That morning we had our
1st plenary session, 'Why the SCF?' conducted by Mr. Kiew Sieh Jin..
anyway, he asked us to list down WHY we have CF's in our school

(or er in a house for our case)..
so we had DOZENS of reasons on the white board after that...
but we missed the most important and basic of all.....



FOR GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[we had about 2 responses for this category -___-]

and next is for OURSELVES... cuz this is OUR chance to serve, and grow as a person..
[about 20 here]
and lastly, for OTHERS.. [about 15 here]

when we love God enough to love other people, and when we love people enough to reach out to them..
and that, my friends, was only the first real session of the day.



[This session was a real eye opener to a lot of facts that Sieh Jin shared with us]

After that we moved on to our
2nd plenary session, 'Making the SCF Work 1', done by Mr. Jason Fong..

Well, basically he started out by asking what are the possible problems faced by the CF, making our SCF not as awesome as it can be. Plenty of answers were shouted out, including 'psycho headmistress' by someone we know very well.
[hmmm?]
so anyway, the objective of this session is to help us to know what to do when we face a problem.
first, we IDENTIFY the problem.
next, we ANALYZE the problem. (just like a science experiment)
finally we SOLVE the problem..
~ to solve a problem we also should identify the 'symptom' and 'cause' of the problem.

for example,
SYMPTOM- people don't enjoy the activities in CF.
CAUSE- the committee doesn't plan the events properly.

so now we all know what to do when we have a problem at committee meeting....



[Note that Uncle Jason Fong is hilariously funny. Laugh until got stomach ache xD One of the best sessions. Symptoms are stuff like feeling itchy. Ppl mistake this as the cause of them scratching themselves. The real Cause is the MOSQUITO's BITE!! =P so you should be attacking the problem instead of the symptom =)]

Next on the agenda we had our
1st workshop, 'Who Am I?' by Mr. Samuel Kurian.. and we learned that in order to acknowledge our identity, significance & purpose in Christ, we have to:

-KNOW ourselves
-FOCUS on ourselves
-CARE about ourselves

and...

TALENT = STRENGTH + KNOWLEDGE + SKILLS

after that all of us took an 80 question questionnaire (no joke.. at first i thought he meant 18) to see the type of person we are... are we activists? reflectors? (yours truly is in this category)
[me too =)] theorists? or pragmatists?

[about 3/4 the camp were reflectors btw -____ - and only 4 ppl were pragmatists]

After dinner, we had our third worship session, this time co-lead by our very own Phebe with Daniel Tong from MBS, and backed up by Joanna!

And i have to say, they did a good job, despite a little confusion earlier... so good job, guys!!! =)
[the confusion is actually the singers forgetting to switch on the mike -________- Great job anyway =)]
[In NSCFL camp, they open up slots for you to worship lead and play guitar/piano or support sing. That means that the entire Praise and Worship is manned by us campers xD]


Next we had our
2nd theme talk, 'Holy is the Lord!' this time the speaker had a sore throat, so we couldn't hear him perfectly... but i have to say, this sermon was better than the first night's one!

Anyway, we learned all about holiness.. Holiness is actually
being set apart (Joshua 3:5), and changing out attitude, our moral conducts, or habits to minister to other people. [consecration]

How?


Well, we should faithfully read God's Word, and also have accountability - meaning having someone to watch over us... sms or call us to encourage us and make sure we're doing out quiet time..

we also learned that Holiness is a
choice, a decision you have to make, as well as the work of God.

we had an alter call/ prayer time after the sermon, where everyone was free to come up, pledge to try to live in a more holy way thats pleasing to God..
personally, i'm trying to control my language. so that was my prayer that night... and i'm sticking to my vow..!!!
so that was a nice ending to the first full day at camp...



[Great message. Glad that most of the DU-rians went out =)]

[We all sat by the first row every night so can support the worship leader =)]

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Day 3

woke up at 5.30 AGAIN. [some ppl are just crazy =P]

Next we had our 3rd plenary session, 'Making the SCF Work II'..

Ok, basically we learned the 5 important steps to having a good CF.

-
Loving Community (so that the members will come, stay & fell belonged)
-
Capable Leaders (ahem..) [lol]
-
Growing Members (in a spiritual way, not numbers... STRONG members = STRONG CF)
-
Meaningful Programs (leaders to plan & prepare... ahem again..)
-
Spiritual Ministry



[it was a very good troubleshooting session]

woohoo! we actually had our prayer meeting during the break!
[a good one =)]

[Meet Emily and Sieh Jin (camp officers) =P]


-photo courtesy of Joshua Teng.

Next Emily (one of the officers) surprised all the campers...!

By saying that we have to plan the lunch that day as our team building project.

All the campers had to work together to plan the venue, the entertainment, inviting and making sure ALL the officers show up, and basically 'taking care' of the officers.
In other words, holding the umbrella for them to shade them from the sun.

Teamwork? erm... kind of.
Considering there were so many of us, it was kinda hard to get things organized.
But in the end it worked out pretty well, with everyone carrying the tables to put at the basketball court, and the entertainment was, well.. entertaining!

Saw a lot of talent there- there were future singers, musicians, stand up comedians, and break dancers. so great job guys!!! =)


Check out the
Garden Lunch!!


Moving Furniture



Boo Lim Breakdancing



Joanna and Sunshine



Joanna, 'Daniel and his air guitaring'



Joanna and Daniel in proper-er pic =)



Daniel Tan KK and Joshua Teng performing "Love never compares"



Joshua and Joel Yong acting as Sieh Jin and his new wife May Chen



Phebe, AJ from Seafield and Phoebe from Alor Setar



Videos!!

Check out Terence, Boo Lim and Zhenbon dish it out on the floor with their breakdance. Zhenbon does the beat box at the start.



Next in line was the BGR workshop. nothing much to say bout it, except the definition of dating.
Listen up.

Dating is a social activity between 2 people of opposite sex in a romantic relationship with the ultimate purpose of exploring marriage.

Dating is upgraded to courting.
Courting restores the sanctity and beauty of dating. s
So replace the word 'dating' with 'friending', because by friending you'll get to minus the pitfalls of dating! so when do we start 'dating'?
First of all, roughly estimate the age you'd like to get married. say 26. then estimate the number of years you'll like to spend courting. say 2 years. so then you start seriously dating at bout age 23/24.
Until then, enjoy your 'friending' years!! '
[I shall summarize the whole thing as = Dating is like that trolley in the supermarket that won't go straight =P]

After dinner, we had what everybody [i hope] had been waiting for...
DU band leading worship!!

So, we had Daniel as the Worship Leader
Joel on the keys,
Khye Yuen strumming his guitar,
and the rest of us- Joanna, Phebe, Sunshine, Kah Hoe and myself as the backup singers.

[We sang Majesty, Open Up The Gates, Hosanna, Through It All. Easily one of the best worship sessions (perasan) =) great job, Daniel and team! (that's us -_____-)] -______________-

again, nice job guys... it was the first time we had praise songs that everyone was jumping to...
and daniel had his 'moment' with that jumping off the chair stunt... (guys...)
[during the break between the pre-chorus of majesty and the chorus]


Our 3rd theme talk was entitled 'Whom Shall I send?'

In short, this talk was about how we shouldn't just live for ourselves, instead, we should live for Christ & for others.
Our basic purpose on earth is to be ambassadors for Christ, and to be a servant to others. and of course... NEVER underestimate the power or prayer!!! =)



[
Check out the notes for the details. Never ever live for yourself.]

confession #2
erm... hehe... you see that night... i had visitors by the name of Phebe & Joanna in my room. after lights out. until 5.30 the next morning. it was by ACCIDENT! (really..!)

[right..........]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day 4

As mentioned earlier, i woke up at 5.30 am. again. [refer to comment on day 3]

Leaders assembly this time was in the hall, a game to see how well we can maintain our focus and not get distracted.
We were all supposed to keep our eyes on the Bible the camp commander was holding, while the other camp officers go around 'distracting' us.

So yea, one by one people sat down because the officers managed to get to them... by messing up their hair, laughing like a maniac, saying silly things, and tempting us with Seremban siew pau. [wah de liao]
i'm glad to say i survived that- did you? [i didn't -_____- Siew Pau.........]

Anyway, the moral of the errr game was that we should also be focused on God's Word and not get influenced by the things and temptations all around us.



Word spread to the camp commander that Joanna was leaving that night [to go to Aussie], and Mr Jason Fong prayed for her... =) [goodbye Jo]


4th plenary session- 'Salt & Light in School' was conducted by Edwin & Priscilla Tan (with their adorable baby boy!)

OK, what are the functions of salt and light?
salt- taste in blandness,
light- breaks the darkness; both make a positive difference!!!

If both don't fulfill their purposes, they are useless. Thats why we need to make a positive difference, no matter where we are..

DO WHAT JESUS DID!
Be different in conduct, speech & morals...
In short, we gotta walk the talk...



[Great workshop. Great cute kid =)]


the 'parents & I' workshop, by Mr Dexter Ng..

It was short and to the point, but it really allowed me to be grateful for the parents i have. i definitely don't have THE perfect family, and this workshop really made me realize that we just have to forgive and forget our parents mistakes.
NOBODY was born perfect. and after we forgive, we really need to throw it out of our minds, and not keep it there to dig up again in the future.
the reason? when we sin, and ask God to forgive us, He does- and does not hold us against it anymore after we repent! and as long as we're living under our parents' roof, and their protection, we need to show them the RESPECT they deserve.
wonder what their reaction will be next month when they receive that card i wrote them during camp..

[the game when the session started was somewhat~ fun. sitting on each other's laps if the statement is true -_______- (boy boy) (girl girl) eg) Have you argued with your parents over the last two weeks? Have your parents told you to clean your room over the last two weeks?]

Meet the camp commander - Jun Yi =)



that day we also had outdoor games...
with several 'stations' around the campsite, it reminded me of the TNT Race at Teenstreet camp last year.
anyway, we had to go through a bunch of different games, from coconut bowling, walking 'caterpillar' style under the 'rain', leading the lame, blind, & dumb people to respective places, and aging about 50 years in 5 seconds looking for sweets in the bowl of flour!! oh, and lets not forget the water balloon fight...
my opinion on the games?
fun..! good way to generate teamwork.. haih, i just wish i managed to hit joel in the water balloon fight... on the bright side... he didn't hit me either... =)
[-_______- the monster game was the bomb =P sweat like a dog doing mad stunts]
[no pics cause it was a big rush]

That night, we had joel* as our WL! (Phoebe & myself as backup..)
again, good job! you actually managed to get them to go in front.. very good, very good...
[we sang Hari Ini. Let Everything That Has Breath. The Time Has Come. Hosanna. Lord, I Give You My Heart and Here I Am, Send Me - in accordance to the night's session. We had a smashing time.]

*thats 3 nights in a row someone from DU worship lead, and they ALL sang Hosanna. [someone even asked if Hosanna was the theme song for the camp. I sang it last so everybody knew the song already.]

our final theme talk was called 'Here I Am!' [haha]
what we learned:
God works wonders through 'nobodies'. yep, even you and me! so it doesn't matter if you think you're not pretty, popular or talented enough, it doesn't matter, cuz God's looking for people who are just WILLING to serve Him and who are F.A.T. ok, before you go crazy thinking I'VE gone crazy,
F.A.T stands for Faithful, Available & Teachable. isn't that great??

and we need these 4 keys; courage, enthusiasm, perseverance, & a heart of compassion..



[mr koh said that if we meant what we sang in the last song, he wouldn't need to give the last theme talk. he probably sensed hypocrisy]

Joanna left during supper time... =( [emo moment here -photo above]
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Day 5
woke up at 6. Yipee! [six is still early -______-]

[the committee met up after breakfast, sang hot songs and prayed for DUCF]

the main event for that day was fast & pray..
ok, this is where we had 3 hours of total silence, where we were supposed to spend time praying, meditating, observing and hearing. we were also supposed to rewrite Psalm 139 in our own words... here's a little of what i wrote..
'when You hem me in, i'm grateful for Your close contact, because wherever i turn, i find You, and i'm comforted by Your care and protection. You are omnipresent, and Your sovereignty extends to even the grave and beyond. You are deeply and personally concerned for each human life- even before birth.'

there's more, but you get the general idea..
the 3 hour period was definitely a refreshing time, because it was 4 days of hectic events planned one after the other, and that time was just right for all 98 campers, and the officers to just be still in God's presence and focus on what He wanted to say to us..

[I just realised that almost everything from the song 'At The Cross - Hillsong' comes from Psalms 139!! - (starting verse) - O Lord, You've searched me. You know my name]

[I lost my translation paper =/ It was used from top to bottom and it had everything i wanted to say -_______- Anyway, the gist of 139 was basically about no matter how many times you fail Him, He will always be there for you. Tell Him you hate Him and He will still love you. The song
'From the Inside Out' is also somewhat on par with Psalms 139 - A thousand times I've failed, still Your mercy remains. Should i stumble again, I'm caught in Your grace.]

After we met up after the 3 hours, we were asked to write a pledge; anything that we vow to change in our lives and drop in in a box.


Right after that, we had a Washing feet event.
this wasn't one of the planned events, but it may just have been the most powerful of all.. this is the opportunity for the campers and officers to experience what Jesus did with his disciples.
its also a reminder to us that the Messiah came to serve and not be served, ultimately giving Himself on the cross. (John 13:1-17)
this definitely was a humbling experience; almost everyone went to participate and washed each other's feet, and almost everyone had major waterworks going on.


[mega emo session. probably the best of the camp. seirously]

Matthew 23:12- for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

- got asked by Sieh Jin if i was in form 1 or form 2.. (HAIH) [lol]


to end the camp, we had a celebration.. a mini 'Prom'..
and it definitely was a fun way to end camp! yea, we all had to 'dress up' (saw some unique dressing there- i mean, daniel in a tie??!! and of course... the guys in flip-flops- don't think i can tell who... he'll probably kill me)
we had to perform something, ANYTHING that had to do with the theme 'I want to be the ONE!' that was kinda fun, even though half the groups had the same idea... (i'm never attempting to sing in public again!)
and we also had to present our group banners... after that they announced the winners for that night (everyone won =), as well as the winners for the group outdoor games... (woohoo! ZEPHANIAH!!)
not to mention a little act put together by the officers themselves, (with table banging and pictures with a fake time stated there...)
and after that was picture taking & autograph signing time!!

[super duper mega ultraman fun time man. you had to be there to know what we're talking about]

First we had dinner served by the officers



We also had special performances by officers like Sieh Jin here



Khristy, AJ and Phoebe



We then had the banner march





Group Micah



Zephaniah



We also had performances by each group. Here's one from group Amos/Hosea = Danial Tan KK's audition.



your prez and vice prez -________________-



Everybody from DU by the front



Phebe and Khristy



Getting 'teguran' by Emily and Anna



[*i know the pictures are disappointing cause they don't even show 30% of how the whole event was but then again, i couldn't find anymore pics. so yeah =/]


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Day 6 =( it's ending.

woke up at 6.45 am. (wow) [i woke up at 6 this time xD chit chated with ppl outside]

Group Zephaniah



More Zephaniah - Zhenbon doing his 'boogie-man thingy and Daniel Tong acting like James Bond -_________-



every group took time to write something to their leaders

(girls took bout 10 lines each, guys took bout 5) to appreciate everything the leaders have done for us...
sadly, aunty Peh Lan and Jun Yi (camp commander and leader of Joel- the group), left the day before, but no matter! we sent the letters anyway...

as part of our closing, Mr Jason Fong did a little summary & what happens after camp talk..
thursday night's band got the opportunity to do one last song- 'the time has come'. [that's us]
so what do we do after camp?


HEAR!
REMEMBER!
OBEY!

keep God as No. 1, do our daily QT, have commitment, humility & intelligence in our leadership while serving in CF, and to forgive others, honor our parents, and of course... do friending meaningfully... =)

We also took a few pics

Phebe, Khye Yuen and Kah Hoe on poser overdrive -___-



One last look at the banners and everything



Camp Commander closing us



after that it was bye-bye to all our camp friends! and on board the bus back to
PJ... and i must say... the bus ride back was FAR more LIVELY than the ride there.


so all in all, i would say it was an awesome way to spend the week.
despite the rocky start, i think i can speak for everyone who went that we're all fired up and ready for the next amazing year of CF! so stay tuned for that!!
my only regret is that i can't go back next year... [yeah man]
oh well, there's always camp chit-chat i suppose..

Trip home - loading things into the bus





and btw, joel...
you were right...thanks.. =) [xD]

(sorry lar my blog post so cha...)

[i still miss camp =/]

(so do i... =( )

God bless and Take Care ppl =)

Khristy xD

Joel xP