Monday, June 27, 2005
It was GREAT!!
Let me take time reflecting on this whole camp experience...
Monday - I had a bad start coz i was sleepy and we came just on time at 8.20am. I felt really rush and confused the entire day with lots of worries on my mind. There was AV to set up and my workgroup was the first to serve at morn tea. Then there was the very first vespers... But at the end of the day, I determined to commit all my responsibilities to the Lord. Worrying does not help one bit but learning to engage and disengage my mind at the right time is very important. Managed to be less self concious and got to interact more freely with the kids. Its so fun leading a group during games.. haha swee chuan does all the cheering while I be the last man..
F - Good or bad feelings which affect your actions.
Tuesday - Woke up really excited for the outing to Marina City Park. BUT it was POURING!!.. A real test of cultivating the right feelings of joy rather then disappointment... So Pastor Charlie made a major decision to swap Tues and Wed program!! The officers doing Sunshine Kids started to panic but thankfully it was cancelled too.. heh.. So we all (kids included) looked forward to the water games in the afternoon.. =D
Day 2 is learning to move out of my comfort zone in AV to talk to the kids more. Its a privilege to be at the frontline with the kids. I enjoyed talking to Alina, Siao Hui, Cai yin & Sherlyn today.. Teri is so sweet.. she always hugs u and greets u once she knows u.. =D Needed to work on my vespers badly...
A - Actions which determine your outward conduct. This is what others perceive of u and where we shine for the Lord.
Wednesday - Outing day!! Thank God that the bad weather did not persist. It was a fun and tiring time. The bOys in my group were so impatient and always walking so fast.. But Naomi was so nice. Poor Annabel had a "heart atack" at the first station. Thankfully she recovered after resting in church. The boomerangs were fun, something we hardly ever get to try.. =D
Back in church was time for me, edlyn and swee chuan to prep for our evening chairing. I'm always nervous as usual and feeling unprepared. It was really God's grace that kept me feeling calm and steady as i spoke. And it was amazing how big an impact the puppets made on the kids and even adults. Praise the Lord!!! Even sharing about my ophir trip was better than expected. Always trust the Lord to help me speak!!
Lastly, vespers was so challenging because it was so difficult to get thru to the 4 kids.. all with diff needs. Managed to challenge them to work on their laziness and study hard for their PSLE. THe challenge now is to keep in touch with them weekly. =D
T - Thoughts which very often affect your feelings and actions.
Thursday - I think 4th day was the most challenging because i seemingly had nothing to do coz there was no games, no workshop yet i had to do the certficates which is actually quite stressful. I'm lousy at handling my time!.. sigh.. but got the help from the senior camp officers and everything worked out well.. Learn to start earlier next time.. =P Hope the kids are proud of their little award they got.
Most important thing that happened on day 4 is during vespers. I got the chance to share with Melanie and Dawn about God. It was tough knowing wat to say but the Lord gave me the words to say. I don't know how many percent was accepted by the kids coz they are sooooo quiet but i think they nodded and looked keen. I prayed for them.. yeah!! Hopefully they'll come for Sunday School and will continue to be interested.
S - Spiritual. Without faith, it is impossible to build the character that God planned for us to have. Faith is a crucial aspect because it is impossible for humans to change ourselves. We need the forgiveness of God and His saving grace.
Friday - Last day! I don't know how my body did it but it did. Anyway i gave away all my stickers and sweets and gave stamps to some kids. Managed to get a few emails as well. =D
O - Outcome. The outcome of our character will be a result of the good faith we have. Shine for the LORD!!
Monday, June 20, 2005
Looking forward to see how Junior Camp will turn out..
Service: I'm not indispensable.. Am i making myself available to the Lord? Am i ready when the Lord wants to use me?
How do you explain to someone when she says she believe in God but is not be a Christian? I need to think... I need to pray...
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Wow! Many things to thank God! We had great weather at the beach and the turnout was quite good. Heh.. and my greatest concern.. Thank God there was sufficient drinks and food and snacks.. heh.. Thank you so much food comm! The games were really fun and challenging.. Great work games comm!! The singspiration was fun too though my arm was tired from being the "stand" -holding the songsheet.. Great work worship team!!
This is my 6th year in Bethany already.. wow.. i've NEVER regretted a moment.. Its so much God-centred.. and Bethany is always so updated, organising many events, singing new songs, finding new ways to build the BONDS.. I LOVE BETHANY!!! =D
**muz go zhihui's blog and see photos..
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Day 2 - We set off from Segamat on Cepat Express and arrived at the foot of the mountain.. This is the Legendary Gunung Ledang.. It was such an achievement looking back at it now..
After walking 1 km in to meet our guide, we climbed 432 steps just to reach our 1st checkpoint. Poof.. it was tough.. trekking up a continuous flight of steps made of tree roots, mud, plants and sometimes climbing over fallen trees.. Yet the sight of water rapids and huge rocks constantly awed me along the way.. The Lord's creation was magnificent!! Finally we reached the Square Pool where we pitched our tents for the night.. Thankfully rain fell only after our tents were pitched so we could snuggle cosily in our tents.. The coolness in the air and the sounds of the forest are rare and a beautiful experience.. ha.. but that night i felt like i was wild boars was roaming around.. scary it definitely was..
Day 3 - My "tent" mates woke up early at 4.45am.. amazing fresh and ready to start our day.. our summit day!! We ate the simple biscuits and tuna with milo.. yum! and off we went.. The initial part was similar to Day 2 till we arrived at a series of 3 rock obstacles.. this is my favourite part of the trek..
This is the picture of me climbing the 3rd one.. heh.. its tougher than it looks but its really satisfactory!! Look at my smile!! =D There are many more photos of the trek but its really tough to upload..
This is the summit view.. unfortuately it doesn't look the best here.. but it was so good being in the clouds.. And please dun compare this is Genting!! And know wat!! My sole came off from my right shoe.. ha.. it was unable to withstand the tough ordeal..
The rest of Day 3 was travelling back down to the camp site.. i found the journey down tougher than the journey up.. It was scary coz the footing must be good otherwise its really tiring on the feet.. Almost slipped a few times too.. Yet the best part was abseiling down all those ropes on the rock obstacles!! SUPER DUPER AMAZING!!
And FINALLY.. Day 4.. This is the beautiful waterfall the guide brought us to "sight-see" on the journey down.. it was a different route.. We climbed down n took many photos near it.. could feel the water splashes.. ha.. this final climb down was really tough coz we (e gals) were so tired and our legs were wobbly.. i felt like tumbling down.. ha.. unfortuately i didn't try.. The slope was steep but we made good timing n reach the base in 2 hrs..
Well this is the end of my first trekking experience.. A great one no doubt and more to come i hope.. Maybe Mt Kinabalu.. any takers?
Uploading the photos is taking so long.. but i so enjoyed this trip i really want to put this up.. well this is the group i went with.. 11 pple in total.. Finally setting off on 23 May 2005..
(From top left: Ruina, Fu Xiang, Jasmine, Kelvin, Meiyu, Me, Serene, Zila, Michael, Terry, Arman)
This is the big bag that poor meiyu has to carry..
I apologize to those who dun like cats but this is really cute.. we saw this cat at Taman Sentosa where we ate seafood dinner on the first day..
