EMERGE: A New Generation

Yep, I'm back from IGNYTE camp and the title of the camp is- EMERGE: A New Generation! We had a AWESOME time worshiping God, loads of fun and games and yummy food! It's open for ALL, so even if you aren't christian, you CAN go and have fun with us! =)

I brought along my blog substitution diary, so I'll just copy over whatever I wrote inside. Okay?

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-10 Dec

2.45pm- Yay! I'm at church now, waiting for my group's bus to be announced. It's my FIRST IGNYTE CAMP! I'm sure it'll be exciting, but this wait is boring (note: this was the ONLY boring bit of camp)... I'm gonna be buddies with Nina, who's 13. The other 2 girls are Lenice & Jasmine, who are 14 & 16 respectively. There's also our leader, Jeannette (15) and 5 gigantic guys (including assistant leader Samuel- 16, Ming Yang- 15, Asaph- 13, Joshua & Lawrence- 14). Jeannette's dad is the camp doctor, so my mum can stop worrying about me getting ill xP Everyone in my group seems great, very cooperative. I'm sure we'll do great in the games!

3pm- Finally we're on the bus! I think very soon I'm gonna doze off. It's quite sad that our group was split into 2 buses so there's only 2 girls, Jeannette & I on the bus. Yawn...

4.30pm- Ah... Finally cleared customs and all the other crap. Feels good. But we'll arrive in Malacca only at 7pm! Shared my bag of candy with the guys.

-11 Dec

12.30am- Hehe. I know it's late. No, it's EARLY IN THE MORNING! We arrived at Makota Hotel, Malacca, and had a sumptuous dinner to fill our hungry tummies. After that we went for a very sumptuous service to fill our souls, hungry for God. Experiencing God is something that doesn't come in words, so I won't EXPLAIN... Now Chloe, Jeannette and Sis. Joanne are my roomates in this condotel 7051 (living room, kitchen, dining room, 2 bedrooms & 2 toilets) but right now Sis. Joanne is at the sisters' briefing, and there are also the people from 7054 because they can't open their room door! Ah I'm tired... Gonna sleep... NOW. BYE. xP

-12 Dec

12.35am- Wowee. Yesterday was GREAT. Just that I didn't get enough sleep because we forgot to raise the room temperature from 15 degrees celcius! In Malaysia, it's super cold (especially when we were WET and wearing T-SHIRTs & SHORTS!)

It was a FUN day (we played games the whole day.) Well nearly... We also had a wonderful spirit-led service. And the sermon was one that left the GREATEST IMPACT on my life. Pastor Gary preached about building God's house, and using our gifts to serve Him in the respective ministries. "Okay", I thought, "This is FOR ME", because even before that, I was thinking about my future, and what I do with my gifts. You see, my gifts are very different. God has blessed me in the area of music, academics and human relations. These are all very different in nature, so I always wonder, "What does God want me to do? Why all these different gifts, and how do they go together?" And this is the scary bit. Pastor Gary said, "I know some of you are talented in singing, -pause-, ... ... ... Yea I know that the sermon was very direct to me in the first place, but why this special emphasis on singing? Okay actually that was a brainless chicken question, I already know the answer. My voice is my greatest gift from God, so I'm gonna use it to serve Him, to glorify His name. But even so, the fact that out of the blue Pastor Gary said that was a great shock to me and it touched my heart, and I CRIED. YES, METAL HEART (yours truly) CRIED. But I didn't respond to the section of the altar call which called for those who wanted to build God's house, but the one to receive the gift of Tongues (baptism in the Holy Spirit), which means that you can speak direct to God through the Heavenly language which is spoken and only God can understand. If you go for camp you'll hear most people speak it. Anyway, I chose the tongues altar call because most people who responded to the 'serving God' altar call were seeking revelation as to which aspect of church ministry they should serve in. I already know, thought about it for a long, long time, I'm gonna step out of my comfort zone and be a vocalist. Then again, joining the worship team isn't going to be easy. It's going to be time & energy draining, but worth it all the same. I told Jeannette about it, and I found out that when anyone from the worship says something or plays/sings something, it's guided by the spirit, it's from God and is occasionally prophetic (if the situation calls for it.) Still, when IGNYTE splits into Adam & Paya Lebar, they will need vocalists. If it's His plan, I will take a step of faith, join the worship team and I believe God will give me the annointing to lead.

Now I'll go on the the games we played. I remember all the games, but there are just TOO MANY, so I'll just share my favourite- the Night Experiencial Workshop. Sounds boring? NOT AT ALL. Basically we were blindfolded and led as a group to different rooms to do quests. Then we slowly split up so we took turns to lead and be led around, one-to-one. I remember there was a torture station at the Tennis Court where the guy there kept telling us, "PUSH-UP POSITION, DOWN! DOWN! DOWN! NOT TOGETHER, START FROM ZERO! ANYONE WANTS TO GIVE UP? -NO SIR!- SURE? GIRLS? -NO SIR!- COME ON, YOU ARE BLINDFOLDED, NO ONE CAN SEE YOU! -NO SIR!- OKAY DOWN! DOWN! DOWN! NOT FAST ENOUGH, SIT-UP POSITION! ANYONE WANTS TO GIVE UP? NO? PUSH-UP POSITION DOWN! WHY DO YOU KEEP GOING ON LIKE THAT? HALF-SQUATS!" At that point in time I couldn't take it. I actually yelled back at that guy. I said, "We're a team." That guy didn't expect it. He was so fierce, so no one talked back. Then there was a room where we were supposed to spot 2 differences and it turned out that there were 2 t-shirts folded differently. ARGH. After the whole thing, we were told to go for de-brief and we ended up doing hour long worship! Yay! The spirit of God was there. It was amazing. Uh-oh. The ceiling is leaking onto our bed, where our pillows are. I'll get Jeannette.

1.50pm- So the problem was solved, the four of us shifted to 6031. By then it was about 1.30am I think, but at least we got a room! But we got a little worried because we were supposed to wake at 7am and the whole day would be service! I love service, and feeling that touch from God! We had one service this morning and again, it was awesome. Actually now it's supposed to be nap time, but Jeannette, Chloe & I were waiting outside our rooms for Sis. Joanne to come with the key. Now that she's here, I can write on the bed! Yay =) We waited 50min for her! But we can't blame her, she's busy with all her sisters' duties and all. I prayed for strength because we slept little at night. In the Bible it is written, "Those who hope in the Lord will renue their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Because tonight, we are having night service, and it's gonna drag as usual. Oh no, it's 2.30pm already. I need to go for games. WITHOUT NAPPING.

-13 Dec

1.30am- The game was this uber-fun evangelistic game which simulates real-life scenarios and showed us the importance of sharing the Good News to our oikos as well as the urgency to spread the gospel ASAP before times runs out for our friends and ourselves.

After that we bathed, and had Group Dynamics over dinner before we proceeded for service. To be frank, I was rather disapointed with myself that I couldn't really focus on God and kept getting distracted. During that service we asked God to reveal His plan for us and we were warned that the greater God's plan for us, the more obstacles the devil will try to place before us. This is quite telling: I don't know what His plan for me is, but I know it's something great, since God gives great things. But because I got distracted easily, I didn't manage to hear from God. No matter what, I'm gonna keep faith, press on and continue the work He has begun in me!

Just done packing my bag for tomorrow. I'm so sad I've gotta go back! I just wish I could stay here with my friends, pastors and leaders and praise God forever. But no, I've gotta go back and SAVE MY OIKOS. Yep.

-13 Dec

8.10pm-I've reached Singapore! We rushed the whole day to have breakfast, service & lunch. The sad thing is, I MISSED RECRUITMENT for the different ministries. I know now that it isn't time. I will wait 'till it's time, of course. Actually I know why I missed recruitment. I've been trying to serve Him out of OBLIGATION, not out of LOVE. Jeannette wrote each of us a note, and I found mine really relevant. She said in one of the lines, "I look forward to the day I can see you serving God out of your love for him. She even UNDERLINED the italic-ed bit. She knows where my problem lies!

Over lunch we filled in each others' contacts. Seriously, seems like nearly everyone in IGNYTE uses MSN! =)

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This camp has a wonderful experience for me (though discipline is STRICT and we have to pumping if we're late for stuff), I had lots of fun and at the same time found my own personal relationship with God. It's amazing that nearly EVERYONE in IGNYTE can pray very very fast, which means they don't think. They just pray what God tells them to pray. Praying is just humbling your heart to ask from God although he already knows what you want!

I also found out that our group leader Jeannette has actually been called to be a missionary in Tibet where there are many cults and lamas. I really have to pray to God to guide her and protect her because it's really dangerous!
Anyway, I will DEFINITELY go to camp next year, if I'm going for holiday at that time I will cancel it (if I can) to go to camp. There will be a few things I would do next year. 1. Bring ALL black t-shirts (and less clothes). 2. Bring a water-boiler. 3. Bring more candy & chocs (M&Ms also).

There were many amazing miracles that happened during camp, many accepted Christ, many were baptised in the Holy Spirit, many were slain, many (like me) found their own personal relationship with God and many were healed by the healing power of God. Let me share with you one of the testimonies that happened during camp...

There was a camper who couldn't hear well in her right ear, and when she was slain, she God touched her heart, she cried and her tears FLOWED TO HER EAR and she was HEALED miraculously. Praise God!

Okay there're another two from me. 2 years ago, I went to this church for a 5 day workshop with my maternal extended family. My grandfather is schizophrenic, and he has tried several times to kill my grandmother and her maid. So we brought him to the church to deliver him and to heal him. After attending the workshop, he no longer tries to kill my grandmother, becomes more gentle in nature and very, very friendly and normal. Amazing isn't it? =0

I also went to this seminar in Singapore and there was this lady whose legs weren't equal in length. What the pastor did was, she told her husband to put his hand where the longer foot was when she prayed. When she finished praying, HER SHORTER FOOT TOUCHED HER HUSBAND'S HAND!

There are tons of miracles that God has done in this world, most of which I don't know of. These 3 are just some of the miracles I know God. GOD IS REAL. VERY VERY REAL.

I won't be missing my group members from Uriah because I have their MSN addresses! It's sad that some of us are going to IGNYTE @ Adam and some are going to IGNYTE @ Paya Lebar! But we'll keep in touch anyway, and we will see each other during 'Celebrate!', an IGNYTE Xmas dinner on 18 Dec. This year it isn't open for all (we have to pay $20 as well.) But I'm already looking forward to IGNYTE service on Saturday, party on Monday, and CAMP NEXT YEAR!!!!!

Is this post long? =)

IGNYTE CAMP!!!

Yesterday I had IGNYTE service. Nothing much. Just a normal service. But for cell we just played games. It was quite fun but I can't stand that 'Rachel' girl (not Rachel Lim my darling, or Rachel Ang or Rachel Wang)! So stuck-up bossy and mean.

I'M GOING TO MALACCA IN HALF-HOUR'S TIME!!! I'm not bringing my phone though... =(

Last night was SMSing Can Xiang. He likes to dish out a lot of tips. Like choosing a channel with least people (for noobs)

GTG bye! Cya will update you with the latest info when I get back!