Zmax Camp - review by Jen Wei
In case no one noticed, I'm not in even one of the pictures in NSCF Leadership Camp 2007 =(
Well, I guess that's probably my fault because I wasn't able to attend the camp. I am so regretting now.
Anyway, I did attend another Scripture Union Camp - Zmax Camp! Living life to the maximum (Heard that some people were promoting about zmax in nscf. lol =p)
It is an evangalical camp, open to all christians and non-christians.
There were 30 campers all together, 7 non-christians, 8 camp officers and.... 9 GIRLS!
I got to know about this camp from my cousin who was also the camp commandant, Sara Kwong or Aunty Sara as the boys called her later on in the camp. (I don't know why xp)
Aunty Sara
The origin of the name ZMax is from ..
Z = 'Zoe' the Greek word for "Life"
Max = Maximum
So...ZMax = Life to the Maximum!
The Scripture theme for this camp was from John 10:10 (my favourite verse!!)
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly."
So on Day 1 (29 Nov 2007) - Quiet Day
Made my way down to Scripture Union office before going to the campsite in Infant Jesus Convent, Cheras.
After reaching the Convent, we checked- in and had a little ice-breaker. While waiting for the other campers from Batu Pahat to arrive, the rest of us went to check out our dorms.
the girls' dorm =p
Later on we gathered at the hall and played some ice-breakers and games. We broke up into our groups after that : Group Hidup!!!, Group Life, Group Vita and Group Zoe.
As usual, there would be worship before any other activities.
The Worship Team...from Full Gospel Assembly. =D
Elena and Levina worship-leading with James (also Samuel) on the guitar and Jasmine with the lyrics.
Erm, Carmen and I were back-up singers.
And right after worship was the first theme talk of the day by Pastor Sern Wang
"You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan."
Basically the talk that night revovles around the Samaritan woman who was drawing water from the well where she met Jesus who later on set her free from her sins (adultery).
The thing is why was she rejected from the society?
It says here from John 4 :4-9 that the Samaritan woman was drawing water at the sixth hour ( 12 o clock in the afternoon) where noone would notice her.
And it was also said in the Bible that Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans because they were "mixed-blood" (not pure).
Why are we sometimes rejected?
Reason
1) Physical appearance
2) Academic achievement (peer pressure from friends and parents)
3) Bad behavior or sin
However, Jesus accepts everyone just the way they are (with sin or no sin).
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Day 2 (30 November 2007) - Sg. Congkak Day !!!
Lol. Everyone was really quiet on the first day but things started to get hyped up once we reached Sg. Congkak!!!
Group Vita having Quiet Time...
Three noisy musketeers
From left : Jason Yee, Yuan Yang, Kodie
(On the way to Sg. Congkak)
Sg. Congkak...! A very very clean river
The guys chilling out....with ice-creams..
David and Yong Kee (with the ice-creams) were trying to get away from the camera -_______-
Another ice-breaker.
This was where everyone got hyped up!
A little Singspiration before the day began.
Next, we were told to built boats as our team-building project.
Boats that can float on Sg. Congkak.
So we were given very random stuff, like ice-cream sticks, rubber bands, celophantape, newspapers etc.
But that wasn't enough. We had to find other stuff from the forest, like leaves and branches.
So ya, the guys went to find the leaves and branches while the girls worked on the boat.
Group Hidup's boat ! The nicest-looking boat of them all. =D
And the other group's boats.
Note the first boat (Group Vita's) where there are ice-cream cones and rubber-bands tied on the branches which is supposedly guitar strings.
Well, it was said to be the ugliest (joking) but it won the boat-racing competition.
Boat-racing competiton. Don't worry. Nobody's getting baptised here.
Moral of the story:
Don't judge a boat by it's appearance.
Lol.
At about 11.30 am, after building the boats, we had free time! which means it was the opportunity to go play in the river..
Yea man.. this was like a natural jacuzzi.
And the guys ended up splashing each other -.-''
After lunch, we had very interesting games.
This is the ChuChu Ball Game. Trust me. You wouldn't want to know how to play it.
Some of them played BeachBall instead.
We went back to the Convent at 3.30 pm.
Really really sad =( to leave this river with so full of lovely memories.
Upon arriving back at campsite, we had some free time before the 2nd theme talk.
So some of us played beachball again and some of us played indoor games like UNO and Jenga!
Later on at night...
The second theme talk of the camp was
"I have no husband".
It still revolves around the Samaritan woman who hid her secrets (having five husbands and living with somebody who was not her husband).
In John 4:17, she told Jesus she had no husband. She tried to hide her "messy" life.
Same like us, we have done a lot of things or sin in our lives we don't even tell our loved ones or closest friends. SIN is where we don't put God in our lives through our thinking, speech and actions. But Jesus knows our sin and he is willing to forgive us just like He forgave the Samaritan woman.
In addition to this theme talk, it says in 1 John 1:8
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."
During alter call, we had to write down our confessions on a piece of paper and actually nail them on a piece of wood in front of the hall. It was the best and most meaningful part of the night.
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Day 3 (1 December 2007) - Forum and Gila Punya Malam !! =D
It started off with worship first and then to the 3rd theme talk of the camp.
"Please, give me this water".
What Jesus meant when he said, "Please give me this water" is the living water of God. And this living water will become a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. Sin separates us from God.
Sometimes we feel very empty in our lives and we try to do many things to be able to feel full or happy, like earning MONEY. But Money cannot give us peace, it cannot buy joy and happiness and it certainly can't buy God.
God has specially placed this void in our hearts that only He could fill.
And then we went deeper into who Jesus really is and it says in the Word of God that
1) He is the Son of God
2) He came to pay for our ransom (sin)
3) He is the way, the truth and the life
4) As he took our sins, he took on His life
Jesus never rejected anyone, not even the Samaritan woman who had sin. But many Jews (his own people) and other people have rejected him. Why do we reject "no" to people then?
1) Humans are proud creatures.
2) We think we are good enough.
3) We have big egos, full of pride.
4) We don't need others to help us.
In the end, we still are dependent on people. We have to be dependent on people to obtain success in life. So, humilty is a virtue everyone and every Christian should practise.
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Next was also one of the highlights of camp...the forum of Life and Faith
It was one of the most interesting events in camp. A lot of questions were asked (written on a piece of paper) , like
~ Can we put tattoos on our body?
(States clearly in Leviticus 19:28 "You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord".How would tattoos benefit you in any way?)
~ Is God in control of our lives but still gives us free will?
(Yes. God guides us everyday. He knows what you are going to say or do and He even knows your future. But in the end, we still make the final decision.)
~ Why did God create human?
(God created human for his own pleasure. He also wants human to take care of his creation (Genesis 1:26) and to be able to communicate and worship him.)
~ Is Santa Claus real?
(No, he's not. He's just a fictional character created by mankind. Started off with this fellow called Sir Nicholas who gave presents to the orphans every Christmas Day. After he died, people followed this tradition and created this fictional character Santa Claus)
~ If fortune-tellers aren't from God, how can they predict the future?
(Fortune-tellers predict the future and makes the future happen. Sometimes they call upon the evil spirits to trick people.
In 2 Corinthians 10:13, it says "Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light". Satan (fallen angel) has spent milleniums and centuries on earth and has study the ways of mankind. He can easily trick human into sinning, especially when their soul and faith in God is weak.)
Talking about evil spirits, one of the camp officers shared a testimony about his friend's daughter who is a Christian. Whenever she enters a room with other students playing the spirit of the coin, the coin would immediately stop moving. The presence of Jesus in that girl was so strong it drove away the evil spirits in the room. (wooooow!)
and many other interesting questions...
Bonding during worship. Whoohooo...
Forum speakers : Sieh Jin, Chen May, Ps. Julie and Ps. Sern Wang
Next in line was the preparation of Gila Punya Malam.
We were then told on the spot that we had to dress up as superheroes. -________-
Every group was also told to make a sketch according to the information they were given on a slip of paper.
Group Hidup practising for the sketch...!!
Yea that night went well. Didn't take much pictures though.
We had spontaneous performances after that with Edrik, Jerrel, Kevin and Simon shuffling and crumpling.
They were good. =)
The Last night was the best night man...we slept almost at 1 am (lights out at 11.00 pm, by the way). Had fellowship (Girl Talk! ) with the 8 other girls in the girls dorm. Even though it was only three days we got to know each other, we managed to bond and share our problems willingly and they turned out to be really nice and fun people.
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Day 4 (2 December 2007) - Last Day (*sob*)
The last day started off with the last theme talk of the camp
"Come, see a man who told me all I ever did."
Basically, the Samaritan woman just left her water-pot, went her way into the city and told people of Jesus's goodness to her. People saw the change in her attitude and believed in what she told them about Jesus. Many of the Samaritans believed in Jesus because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did." [John 4: 39]
Pastor Sern Wang, our camp speaker then wrapped up the details about all four theme talks.
He told us to make friends sincerely and try to improve ourselves. If people still reject you or they just simply don't like you, then it's their problem. Maybe they have sin. Confess our secret sins, and God is willing to forgive us.
Lastly, the Samaritan woman made a choice to listen to Jesus and repent on her sins and began spreading the word about Him.
We have made hundreds of choices everyday (whether to brush our teeth every morning when we wake up, or to do our homework) but
What are our Choices in our lives? Are they the right choices?
After that, we had the Speakers' Corner where anyone could just stand in front and voice out anything bad or good about camp.
Well, everyone had superchunted comments about camp though and we started to get a bit camp hang-overish. Almost all the boys went out to the front and encouraged everybody to come back for the next zmax camp next year( in march) because it was just superchunted and amazing!
Right before everyone made their way back home, we took the one and only Group Picture.
wheee ~~~!
Random pictures
The Punk Group...or wait! is it the Gay Group..lol
Younger boys from age 12-13. They are just so adorable >.<
Oh, and I think the Worship Team wanted to wish everyone a very early Merry Christmas. =p
This camp has literally opened my eyes for once about our world, how much sin in this world there is today. How much secret sin we have in our lives.
This camp also made me realize that Jesus is coming very soon, and there are still many lost souls out there who haven't heard about God's Word or is not living the life a Christian should be living. All they could think is about themselves and about being the best.
The law and act of humility is very important in our world today and we should continue to practise it in our lives starting from this very second....
Good Day and God Bless
