The Polytechnic students of City Harvest Church recently gathered for a time of fellowship, games and barbecue.
It was a great start to 2023 for the Emerge Poly Society as it kicked the year off with a barbecue cookout at East Coast Park on 8 Jan. It was a time of fellowship, games and feasting.
EPS is a cluster consisting of students in the local polytechnics who are CHC members. This barbecue cookout provided a chance for new students to make friends with their seniors.
Ezekiel Lee, 19, from Temasek Polytechnic, told City News that he felt great seeing both old and new faces at the gathering. The session started with icebreakers to help the participants from the different campuses warm up to one another. Winners walked away with prizes specially prepared by the Emerge committee.
One of the games was Heads, Shoulders, Knees, Toes, Cups: participants had to stand in two rows facing each other, with a plastic cup in the middle. They were instructed to place their hands on either their head, shoulders, knees or toes.
It was a tricky exercise that required the players have to be attentive to the instructions. At any point in the game, when the game master yelled, “Cup!”, the first pair in the row to grab the cup could proceed to the next round while the rest were eliminated. The game master repeated instructions until there was only one pair of players left, resulting in a showdown.
Elizabeth Lee, 19, from Nanyang Polytechnic, was the game master for the game. “Everyone was really game and excited. It was nice to see everyone having fun,” she shared.
GOOD FOOD, GOOD TIME
The main highlight of the event was, of course, the food. The barbecue area was stacked with food and drinks, and the air was filled with the sound of chatter and waves of laughter. Even though everyone present had little experience cooking, many volunteered to man the barbecue pits and cook what turned out to be a scrumptious meal for all.
“The part of the event I enjoyed the most was definitely the cooking and the fellowship,” shared Jeremiah Chin, 19, from Temasek Polytechnic. “Each of us took turns to cook and we all had a chance to fellowship with many others. We had many meaningful conversations and got to know each other more while cooking.”
Ernest Cheng, 19, from Republic Polytechnic, was part of the planning committee. He shared that the main challenge the committee members faced was preparing enough food for everyone.
“Initially, the signup for the event wasn’t that great, hence we had to reduce our order of food,” he said. “However, there was a sudden influx of signups on the day before the event!” While that was a nice surprise for the committee, they were worried that there would not be enough food for everyone.
“Thankfully, we had God’s favour on our side as He multiplied the food, allowing us to feed everyone sufficiently, despite the shortage of drinks,” laughed Ernest. “There were challenges, but God was always on our side!”
Besides their concern for the food, the committee members were also monitoring the weather closely as the sky was overcast. “But thank God, we were blessed with really good weather—there was not even a single drop of rain! We prayed very hard for clear weather, and it was clear that God did answer our prayers,” Ernest added.
Karis Khoo, 19, from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, wanted to encourage those entering or ending their journey in polytechnic to find a community in EPS. To those who may be hesitant to join the events, thinking that they might not know anyone, Karis said, “If you just step out of your comfort zone and join us, you wiill find a whole new community here to support and encourage you along this new season of your life! To those entering or ending your journey in Polytechnic, EPS wants you!”
In two months, EPS will be holding its highly anticipated RAVE Camp, which promises many exciting experiences and wonderful encounters with God. Follow EPS on Instagram @emergepolysociety for updates.
