Church Camp (1)

This year's annual church camp was held from June 16-19 in Batam, an island of Indonesia--the first time in 20 years that the camp has been in Indonesia instead of Malaysia.  We gathered at the ferry terminal in Singapore and took the ferry about 45 minutes to Batam.

On the ferry

On the bus from the ferry terminal to the hotel

The other two buses of church people in front of the ferry terminal

Here are a few sights of Indonesia:

View from the rooftop of our hotel

I think Jason (our 3-year-old) commented on this 

sign every time he was in the bathroom. :-)

No 4th floor--a Chinese superstition, because the 

Chinese word for "four" sounds like the word for "die."  

A small sample of the breakfast foods available

The theme of this year's camp was "Are You Ready to Meet Christ?"  The speaker was Prof. Gritters.  He chose as the camp text II Timothy 4:6-8 and had us work on memorizing that throughout the week.  The basis of his speeches was the final phrase of that text: "all...that love his appearing."  He gave five excellent speeches, which can be heard here: https://sites.google.com/site/cercaudiobackup/home/church-camp/2015.

Discussion groups followed four of the five speeches, and during those times there were also classes and crafts for the children.

Daisy teaching the older kids

Matthias with the older kids during another session

Ah Moi and Dorcas with the young ones

On the last night of the camp there was a workshop led by my husband.  He gave a concluding speech for the camp, using Revelation 22 and the prayer of God's people, "Come, Lord Jesus." After his speech he had us get into our discussion groups and write out II Timothy 4:6-8, then choose among ourselves one highlight of all of Prof. Gritters' speeches and present that to another group.

"For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand..."

Our group coming up with the highlights of the speeches for us

Another group's list

One more group's list

I will end this post with the annual group photo, and write more next time about some of the other activities, Lord willing.

Youth Retreat

This past weekend the youth had their annual retreat.  During the December school holidays they have a longer youth camp; during the June holidays they have a two-day retreat--sometimes with an overnighter, but not this year.  This year the retreat was held at church, with one activity off-site.

The retreat began with some games, including trying to get teammates to guess a word--giving the clues while their mouths were full of marshmallows!

There was also a group word search and a balloon popping game.

The theme of the retreat was "Before God's Throne of Grace."  This theme was developed in two speeches, and there were also two discussions.

Isaac Chan led the singspirations before the speeches.

Friday night speech, "Calling On the Name of the Lord"

 

Saturday morning speech, "Let Your Requests Be Made Known Unto God"

Discussion group

The retreat ended with an outing to play bubble soccer.

 

 

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Phil. 4:6).  

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16).

Clay Studio Outing

Monday was Vesak Day, a Buddhist holiday and a public holiday in Singapore.  As usual, we used this holiday for a church outing, this year to Jalan Bahar Clay Studios in western Singapore.

Arriving at the studio

We began with some singing and an exhortation by Elder Chan.

Next we were given a tour of the pottery studio.

Seeing some of the pieces artists have made

The kiln is very long!  It is called a dragon kiln.

Notice the altar on the left--for offerings to the 

pottery gods as artists put their work into the kiln

Walking inside the kiln

Pottery-making demonstration

Working with the potter's wheel

After the tour, we had some time to work with the clay ourselves.

Looking at some of the finished pieces

Next there were games for adults inside and children outside.

I was outside with the kids, but the adult games 

had something to do with working with clay.

Isaac and Joshua explaining their team's piece

The kids lined up in order of height

Jason was supposed to put his hands on Jael's shoulders, 

but why not wrap his arms all the way around her?  :-)

Relay races--Jochebed and Jason starting off

Charis and Jessica

A game of Captain's Ball after the races

The outing concluded with dinner.