Firstly, sorry for the inept post before and thanks to all those who comforted me in one way or another. Much appreciated (:
Just back from Confirmation Camp 2009. Have to say, despite it being the 2nd year I'm mentoring and facilitating, and it being the 3rd con camp i've been to, it has once again surprised me and affected me in a totally unexpected but really meaningful way.
On hindsight, I suppose even though it was put in a really inconvienient timeslot - starting on the day the first part of BT1 ended and all, was really God's way of solving the problems I encountered preceding this camp. The restlessness, the stress, the vulgarities and all the other problems... he really lifted them up all.
This year's camp was really something different. I went in, on the first night, with only two confirmants having shown up and Kenneth Yap, another confirmant showing up later. For one, I was shocked and speechless, truly, I might have deep within me, judged their batch. I mean, for me, I took the effort to sacrifice my sleeping and resting time after my exams as well as the preparation time I would have over the weekends for holiday lessons and there they were, only three out of a total of 7 having turned up. There were so many facilitators in comparison to confirmants and honestly speaking, I felt betrayed, which only added to the problems and frustrations I already had.
However, seeing them change, seeing them open up, seeing them actually making a commitment to want to get to know God better and understanding their circumstances, I was actually ashamed because they stood through such adversity. Most of them came from broken families and the problems they had were far from being trivial. But when I saw them smile and share their experiences, deep within I just tore up. Seeing Lynette smile as she affirmed her fellow friends, seeing Ranne share his story in deep contemplation, seeing Richman open up to us and becoming more engaged, seeing Gabriel thinking back on his 'paradigm'. It really struck me that the story about the starfish, that each one saved made a difference to that one starfish, each change we, as a group, changed, would go a really long way.
I learnt alot, and I am indeed spent. However, worthy mentions include the fact that I managed to stay through the entire 3 day 2 night course of the camp, to have sufficient energy to complete my tasks properly and still engage in the activities. And apart from the multitude of stories, on the last day again, God revealed to us all as a group in his own way. We were at Fort Canning Park today for our activities and as it became late noon, the sky becoming threatening yet the program was not over. However, we managed to complete all the required segments that were planned and quickly headed back, the sky at this time being completely overcast. However, despite stopping periodically to take group photos, sharing laughter and capturing still moments, we managed to walk back to church dry. Just as we all gathered back together in the p&w room, it poured. Indeed, God is above all.
The lessons I have learnt from this camp will remain, the problems gathered the past few days healed. But "like a rose trampled on the ground", I too, would have to take "the fall".
