coy camp; God strikes again
Monday, November 22
heh yes yes, it's like more than a week since coy camp ended, and i'm horribly slow at writing down my after-camp thoughts post. admittedly i sorta didn't want to write it after delaying it for so long, you know like, everything's not fresh anymore. but i guess a testimony's still a testimony, and i'd want to look back on my blog, allowing all these words to stir up the memories of coy camp, or even refresh me anew with words of the wonders that God performed (:
so, here goes.
coy camp, coy camp, oh coy camp. i'm nothing but amazed seriously. the success we found could only have been through God's hand.
going into coy camp, i had the interesting and unique (yes, not just distinctive, unique!) position and perspective of being an ordinary camp participant, who had sat in during the planning meetings leading up to the camp, and even had access to many of the documents being sent between the exco members. honestly... it wasn't exactly a very administratively solid camp (sorry shauny...). i mean, yes it did have the basic stuff out like a programme, proper AIs, and stuff like that. but i guess there are lots of things that are usually done to take administration to the next level, and those things weren't exactly there. i shan't bother giving examples, cos that's not important. i guess some people saw through it, some didn't. either way, God still worked in spite of it.
even in the days leading up to coy camp itself, i think we had many events that foreshadowed that greater things had yet to come, and greater things were still to be done. i've shared some of these with a number of people already, but i think it deserves to be shared again (: for example, our camp theme only came weeks into the planning, but yet the QT materials that had been written earlier still came nicely in line with the theme! and even for our theme song, chosen days before the camp, eugene had it included in his set list, with the vibe of the entire set list in the same line too! of course the theme song got hijacked by fires of revival lah... but still! so cool! :D
for choosing the primers group leaders too, relying on God while making the decisions throughly made the process and outcome God-blessed. it's a practice that perhaps we should be more mindful of, so that God will help us in our decisions, and guide us to choose the ones that can help Him to grow the campers, as well as allow the leaders themselves to grow! it was like, muttering a prayer under my breath, the suddenly go, "OH! tricia's excuse for parade was for leading church p6 camp! okay she's down." it really was like the random loose threads of memory just came down into my brain!
i think perhaps the one group leader that i think really hunted after was david sim. for some reason, his face just kept pounding in my mind to ask to become a group leader. it's not like i had any conceivable reason for it, but the idea just kept nagging at me. he initially said no to it, unsure whether he'd be able to lead such a huge group of over 16 people for QT sessions, so he asked me to use him only as the last resort. i prayed about it, and felt like, you know, this is a perfect opportunity to let someone grow. and i really thought it would build his confidence. soooooo, the next day, even though he wasn't my last resort, i asked him again to be a group leader. and being the nice cooperative guy that he is, he agreed! yippee!!! so i attached toj to his group to mentor him too (: and well, from what i heard from toj, he really did get better in his QT leading over the days! the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. and so this single step was perhaps a very large one, having to lead such a huge group! but i truly hope it'll get him going to lead in more stuff too :D of course, this is just one example. i've heard/read the testimonies of other group leaders, and i'm just blown away at how God had everything planned out so nicely in His mind already!
i truly learned a lot from observing the group leaders throughout the camp. seeing them playing their clap clap games like the animal game, the tuki tuki game, and all sorts of other games which have no names, seeing how they shouted above the crowd to gather their groups, seeing how they went through the exact same activities as each one of us and yet still mustered the energy to rally their group together, and seeing how they poked themselves awake each QT session and let their energy spillover to those around them, keeping the rest of their group alive too... wow. i was just blown away. i really really respect these people (:
one thing i've always thought about is, how do games help to further the message of Christ in our camps? and how do we incorporate the Christian element of camp in the fun activities! after all, we keep saying that God should be at the center of every activity, so how do we do that for games? for a long time, i'd always just thought of the conventional stuff. like putting a cheesy "the moral of the story is..." thing into the theme of the game, or say stuff like the games built teamwork and unity. sure, these things help to give a focus for stuff and makes sure things don't get frivolous. but yet, often these just appear as a "by the way" kind of thing, and isn't really in the center of the activity, as it doesn't trickle down to the campers. it was through this camp, and through a group leader, that i finally found my answer. it's all about the attitude.
why don't our games ever reward the winners? i mean, yes, we do have our point systems for the games, but in the end, what does the winner get other than points and the knowledge that they won? the answer is, nothing. they get nothing more than the other teams. i previously found it stupid, like come on, where's the incentive! but i think it's important that it's kept that way. when there's a prize at the end, the game is focused on the end result. however, when there's no prize at stake, the focus is on the process. games aren't about winning. they're about the game itself. enjoying the games that are planned, enjoying the stations from point to point. i guess it's just like what people say about life. if you rush through life, sure you might get to the end point faster. but if you slow down and appreciate the places you pass through, you still get to the end point, and you get to enjoy the scenery while at it. the same holds true for games.
i must admit that i got caught up with the thoughts of winning the games. we roared with delight whenever we won, and spared little thought for the other team. or at least i didn't... when we lost, yes we'd shake hands, but in the end we'd still console ourselves with stuff like, "ah they won through underhanded means," or, "we'll trash them at other games lah." having taken on this mindset for so many years now, it seemed merely like harmless competition and being enthu. but enthu at what cost? i was soon to find out.
our final station game was against a group of DINGnitaries, the game where a group of blindfolded people were led to play catching. when we won, once again, we were delighted with ourselves. but then, to my surprise, the voice of a lady rang out crying,
"THREE CHEERS, AND THREE CHEERS, AND THREE CHEERS FOR GROUP 8! HIP HIP..."
"HOORAY!"
"HIP HIP..."
"HOORAY!"
"HIP HIP..."
"HOORAY!!!"
i went red. for it was then that i realised the point about games that i'd been missing. to us, winning was like smugly pinning a medal to your chest while depriving your opponent of getting one for themselves. and yet, in this case, our opponents had taken the medal and pinned it on for us. this is what games should be about. it's about winners and losers alike being happy for the success of the winners, and the winners and losers alike appreciating the efforts of the losers. and it's about everybody enjoying the games planned, giving of their best; laughing at their own mistakes, admiring those that figured it out.
it's the same thing for stuff like night games with station actors. it's all about enjoying the stations and the performances the people put up, rather than just focusing all the way on solving the puzzle. i always find that the ones who have fun with the actors are the ones that get the most fun out of those night games, rather than those who can only think about the puzzle they have to solve.
ultimately, i think the thing that impacted me the most was seeing so many lives changed through coy camp. seeing all the people praying for one another and blessing each other, reconciling with one another, it was such a joyous sight to behold! and even getting home to see all the nice notes slowly trickling onto facebook, it really surprised me so much. and that night, a dear friend started smsing me just to talk --- just like we'd used to. when i got the first sms, i honestly thought he was gonna ask something like whether i needed a lift, but i was found to be wrong, and the outcome was better than i'd expected :D and even another friend, i may not have talked to him, but just the look on his face could tell you he was a different person. it was like the friend i knew had shed his mask and started to show again who he was deep down inside.
there are numerous people, that through this camp have rekindled that warm crackling fire within, and others too who have pledged to turn from their old ways. it's rather refreshing to hear, and i'm excited to see what the future holds. the road ahead may be long and arduous, but my dear friends, i'll be there for you (: for both these groups of people, i have one last thing to say.
"Do not put out the Spirit's fire" (1 Thessalonians 5:19) it's always a joy to have the fire flickering alive inside of you, and it's a tragic loss to have it snuffed out. it's perhaps easier said than done, but all the same it is essential that the Spirit's fire is never put out. times may get tough, and your flame may battle the wind. but by guarding it well, the flame won't be snuffed out. if we continually stay close to God, He'll keep adding to our gas supply, such that no matter how strong the wind, our flame will always remain.
"being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6) when God wants to change us for the better, He won't just change us partially and leave us hanging like that. no, instead He'll make sure the change is complete no matter how long the process may take (: as long as we make the commitment to change and keep working at it, He'll definitely make it easier to handle (: work together with God to make yourself a better person, and make the world a better place (:
God is truly amazing.
AMEN;
1:40 pm
