Battlefield 2007

wad can i say?
God seriously is amazing..and life seems so much less boring with Him around..
haha..sweet..
this year's youth camp is really memorable not for the activites itself but for all the things i received from it.
my 1st time facillitating as well as being the 2nd or 3rd youngest facillitator there.
wow..ive really gotta say not to let other's look down on ur youth cos u can do great things that no one else can do..

the amazing thing abt serving and sacrificing is tt somehow in the process u really are the one who benefits. i went into the camp struggling with motivation and therefore perseverance. in the street soccer comp final 2 weeks ago, i just let go and stopped playing from frustration at my teammates etc which was very untypical of me. i was just thinking how pointless it is to try when u know u arent gonna be able to single handedly make a difference. well..i found myself answering my own qn during the camp..how ironical..

my grp finished last during the telematch games out of their batch.. and they looked really defeated and demoralized. jasper and i tried processing with them at 1st but they were broken to the pt tt they totally went silent to our qns.. jasper gave them a 5 min break and while they on the benches i asked yi sheng, whom im proud to say won best male camper, which was tougher, ncc camp or this church camp. he said both around the same except church camp not tt boring..but he said tt he doesnt see the pt in them doing some acitivities like passing the hula hoop thru the circle 10 times and tt the only purpose for tt is to get them frustrated. and i shared with him and later the rest of the grp when the 5 min break was over my opinion. u see..in life we try so hard to succeed with the purpose of being satisfied and happy with ourselves, as well as to make others proud of us. that's our motivation. but hebrews 11 which i did for quiet time that same morning with the grp was so applicable. it speaks abt faith and the consequences of faith..

some of the bible characters conquered kingdoms by faith, glorified in front of nations for their faith..and u look at others.. some were stoned for their faith, cut in half, persecuted, jailed, executed.. u get the idea. the consequences for faith can vary tt much! so why try so hard and have so much faith when it might lead to our own destruction? the chapter ends with the answer: "and all these, having obtained a good testimony thru faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us"wow.suddenly it all makes sense doesnt it?we arent here to enjoy life 24-7 and not suffer at all.. we are here to serve others and to try our best for the glory of God..and even if no one recognizes us, and even if we are hated by everyone else walking on the face of earth, and even if we fail so badly in everything we attempt to achieve, we shd not be discouraged.. for God has a better plan. and our motivation for working so hard shd not be earthly results, but the results and rewards that are stored in heaven for us.wad a comfort it is..and i was very happy when yi sheng looked happy after tt and the rest of the grp looking less defeated.

i'll pause here to once again congratulate yi sheng and thank him for being so helpful to the other campers like always taking the initiative to help them pitch their tents when he sees them struggling. well done bro..proud of ya..

but ive also gotta commend everyone else like jie han everett weng yew and company for also doing the same thing and being so helpful..u guys may not have been acknowledged officially for ur helpful and compassionate spirit but i just wan u all to know tt God is pleased with u all and so am i..
=)
well done guys..

the most memorable thing for me abt the camp itself was none other den sleeping under the stars on the beach with weng yew, yi sheng, jie han and shawn on the 1st night. perfect night with no clouds and all the stars were simply beautiful..a once in a life experience and to be able to do that with my dear brothers in christ was just so special..
haha..damn romantic..maybe i'll bring my gf there on a date in the future..
dun wry ppl..not gonna be anytime soon..
=P

grp 6 was normally-unnormal. hahaha..timothy! cheyl soo thought tt was my name..
come on! anthony sounds like how much nicer den timothy..
sry all those whose names are timothy!
anw timothy was the grp name.. nice grp..alot of decent fun ppl..
the guys i dint know at 1st gabriel and ben turned out to be really friendly and nice ppl to be around..i like them!
thank God also that only ying zhi was older den me..cos it'll be quite weird leading ppl older den u..heh..
im sure weng yew will agree..
im quite proud of the ac guys also..tzer wern yi sheng and everett. well done.

ee ling was enthu and i can already see her being a leader in the near future.
the rest too! all the gals and guys have lots of potential..

haha..now back to my experience, it was not easy leading ppl with the lack of slp..
haha..im sure u will realize tt when u actually experience it urself. i got abit blur and irritable after awhile..gd thing i dint screw up too big time..
kinda brought my grp to the wrong station for the station games..
damn pai se.. but the list schedule was complicated and unclear! not entire my fault..
=P
also i wished the wrong person happy birthday on the phone! ahahaha.. was very very embarrassed.. hope i gave the impression of being cute more den silly.. gark.

anw i gotta appreciate jasper and dun ling for being such gd fellow facillitators for the same grp..
they really inspired me to wanna continue leading..
thx guys!
oh yeah.. and wayne also!
thx bro! he was very helpful on the last day as dun ling was at a wedding and jasper was busy with i cant rmb wad.. hope to see u facillitating the nx camp! i wanna be under u if im not facillitating!
haha..

for the camper's info..the waking up at 5am thing was really smth huge in my eyes..
it nearly brought me to tears when ju lee told us abt the indian lady..
u know y?
it so wasnt planned..it wasnt in the schedule..it certainly wasnt made up..
the part that hit me hard was tt the facillitators did not even know wad the true reason for waking up at 5 am in the morning. forget the facillitators..ju lee and the camp committee even did not know the real reason y we had to wake up at 5 am in the morning..
if u were in my shoes, u wld have seen ju lee at 4.45am in the morning b4 we woke u all up flipping thru her bible looking for an explaination to give to the campers for waking them up so early..
to give the campers a feel of the "battlefield" theme was part of the idea..
but the rest was simply God's..

i mean really..
taking the effort to wake up at 5am in the morning..for the facillitators and committee members as early as 4.30.. in spite of our lack of slp already the previous day. for those who dint go.. the 1st thing we did when we woke up was gather together on the pavement..
and thank God for jasper and his "silly ideas"..
WE SANG..
WITH CHRIST IN THE VESSEL WE CAN SMILE AT THE STORM SMILE AT THE STORM SMILE AT THE STORM..
my gosh..brings back fond memories of my childhood..
and its the simple songs like tt which move the spirit and the heart..
there's no need to sing songs from hillsong or planetshakers..
reflecting on the lyrics of this one is already able to shake the heart of ppl.. like the indian woman..
who was probably jogging at ecp at 5.30 in the morning..needing to hear an answer from God.. needing to escape from all the problems in her life..
she was a christian who had fallen away..
and now the prodigal's daughter has returned..
y?
cos abt a 100 ppl bothered to wake up at 5am in the morning to sing smth we all occasionally take forgranted..
now tell me which is better?
sleep? or being able to do smth as a body of christ and touch someone with God's love.
"wad wld Jesus say to a crying lady?" were the words tt came out of her mouth..
ju lee said "i love u daughter..so much"
now i'll add my own words..
"so much that i bothered to wake my people up at 5am in the morning and sacrifice their slp just for u"
whoa!
do u sense abit more of God's love now?
or do u think ur so unloved and so unnoticable and insignificant in this world?
i really dont think so..
the lady was in a storm alright..
and Christ returned to her vessel that morning to calm it so she cld once again smile..for the 1st time in months or smth according to her..

if God can use us just like tt i wonder how we at times have so little faith..

now u see wad church camps are for..
not to have fun..
but to touch others..
and be touched in the process

wad a blessing it is to serve!
oh and pls read hebrews 11..really..u'll be so blessed to know ur hard efforts will nvr ever go to waste no matter how small the results are..

-tzup