A youth camp inspires young ones to live life to the fullest.
Contributed by Caleb Lee, Audrey Ng and Tan Bee Leng
A group of 90 youths in City Harvest Church, under the care of district pastor Wu Yuzhuang, ended 2010 with a camp that was specially organized to re-ignite their first love for God. Dubbed Inspire, the event was held from Nov. 24 to 26, 2010 at the Singapore Civil Defence Force Pasir Ris Sea Training Centre and proved to be an exciting one.
The participants were divided into five teams, each named after Greek adjectives that represented the core themes of the camp, namely, Phileo (brotherly love), Oneiro (dreams), Dunamis (power and capability), Entheos (God within us) and Zelos (zeal). Building on these five premises, the campers were full of faith and expectancy to receive a new vision and fresh anointing from the Lord as the organizers worked hard to ensure these aims were met.
Brotherly Love And Unity
Throughout the camp, phileo was displayed during the team-building games and the talent competition as members learned to work as a team in supporting one another. It was heartwarming to see members encouraging one another during the games and comforting one another during the gruelling Night Walk, which had five different levels of difficulty. During a banner-making session, campers combined their creative juices and transformed a plain piece of white cloth into a lovely banner that had colorful handprints of every camper plastered all over it.
Dreaming Big Dreams
To prepare the campers for the New Year, sharing sessions were targeted at inspiring one and all to receive a new dream and vision from God in 2011. At all four meetings, many hearts were touched as the people heard the preaching of the Word that challenged them to rise beyond their potential and achieve their dreams with strength in God.
In one session, zone supervisor Kelvin Tan talked about the principles of keeping the fire burning in one’s life even in the midst of distractions. The message was a timely one for Lim Jia Xin, 16, who shared, “That second morning session was one I will always remember. I really felt the presence of God around me and I accepted Jesus in my heart. I felt that the message spoke to me and after the altar call, I feel much closer to God and now I want to know Him more.”
Using Gifts And Abilities
The Greek word dunamis stands for power and capability, from which the English word “dynamite” is derived. The third aim of the camp was for members to recognize their God-given gifts and abilities and to harness them for His glory, whether through leading others, performing, sports or a musical talent. To help them discover their skills, there was a talent competition, an extreme sports event and opportunities to lead their peers in serving as team leaders. Many rose up to the occasion and what ensued was an impressive display of talent and leadership capabilities as each one was released to do what they felt gifted to do.
Being Christ-like
The fourth aim of the camp was to inspire the members to cultivate Christ-like attitudes in their lives. During the night devotions, campers learned to depend on God for strength as they sacrificed their sleep time in order to seek God in a time of prayer. In other day sessions, the members were also encouraged to rededicate their lives to serve God in ministry.
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| PHOTOS: James Chua Wei Ming |
Being Zealous For God
The fifth theme of the camp—zeal—was exemplified through the characteristics of the youths who were present: excited, enthusiastic, full of faith and on fire for God. During the camp, the youths had to wake up early in the morning and contend with little sleep. In spite of limited rest, the campers remained joyful and energetic throughout the three full days of non-stop activities, with shouts of encouragement and constant cheers being heard sporadically. Motivation was high and evident among them all.
The camp was a huge success. According to camper Debra Lim, “The camp is not only about making new friends and having fun, but about igniting the fire for God, and growing closer to God. After this camp, I not only feel closer to God, I am less shy around people and am more sociable.” Fellow camper Caleb Lee added, “Attending this camp was
the best decision I made as I was changed for the better.”
