CAC CONNECT! CAMP

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Tuesday, July 1, 2008

CAC CONNECT! 08 - the photo report

Yes! Got the pics from dancia, and can finally embark on my extensive photo-blog post on my CAC CONNECT! Camp experience.

(Before I start, if I use any photos that might be embarrassing to you, and you would like me to take down, please sms me at 96734513. Apologies in advance and please trust that I did this with the most good hearted intentions)

Alright! We (the CAC camp com) met at 11am at St Francis for our final briefing. I travelled light, carrying only a haversack, shoe bag and sleeping bag.
Rev Poh briefed us about the camp and what we should expect and we opened in a word of prayer. Everyone was really upbeat for this, and I couldn’t wait for it to start!

Was initially quite “awkward” as I really didn’t recognise anyone at all! So I just sat on the bench which my group was allocated to and talked to my churchmate Edwin. Thankfully, John (the guy from the publicity video) was also in our group and he really became the “rarrr rarrr” guy!

We stood up to introduce ourselves and found out that my group was really really cool! Hmm.. let me try to remember..

My group leader was the quiet but rock solid Tiffany Lim from Sengkang, who a week before called me with such a soft voice that I couldn’t really hear her! But found out that she was really a good and responsible (and funny!) group leader!

The other group members were really unique and wacky as well! Caleb Mah from Changi was the youngest but thrilled us with his often sarcastic wit. Really glad that he, Edwin and I formed our unofficial “triad”! He’s also a genius at understanding how to play card games!

There was Zhewei from Sengkang, the livewire of the group always bringing us energy and laughter. He never failed to wow us with his rippling biceps!

Jiawei from Sengkang was cool and sensible at all times, was really touched by his devotion to God throughout the camp. He’s also my fellow Guardsmen Warrior! RARR!

For the girls there was Dorcas (Hui Qi) from TPMC, whom I got to talk to quite a bit during lunch! She was quirky but very matured for a girl her age and found her complaints about her guy churchmates teasing her rather amusing!

Vivien (or Hui Shi) from AMK was another chatterbox who brought much joy and spirit to the group! Haha had a great time miscommunicating with her coz I only speak English and she only speak Chinese... But still we became very good friends and photo taking buddies! (except she still haven’t send me the photos!!!)

Last but not least there was Evonne from BPMC, who was the arthouse of our group, constantly sketching on her camp booklet. Her serious demeanour masked a very godly character (and skilful card player!).

Edwin and John were the twin boulders of our team and really enjoyed their presence too!

So many cool people in one group? I.M.POSSIBLE!

Ok! Now to the camp proper!

Started out with orientation. The dynamic Kum Yan team were back and thrilled us with their creativity and spontaneity in the games. The blindfold game was a action-packed one even with a moral behind it! Truly did we experience first-hand how blinding it is to live a life without God being drowned out by all the distractions in our life.

"Where am I?" 3 blind men hurdling together

Norman in total helplessness "Straight all the way!"

"BOO!" Trying an alternative route...

Yelling at the top of their voices Cephas and Constance can't believe this madness!

Double Whacko started out a bit awkwardly, but after a few rounds of non-stop laughter we finally got into our groove! There was obviously some inner feuds which could be easily detected by the gross amounts of hysterical screaming done by the girls of a certain church starting with “S”… But we all played along and had a very good time indeed!

"Come and get me!" "WHO???"

Edward (rumoured to have the secret identity of a zookeeper) em-ceeing brilliantly

Next it was round to our Group time! We were tasked with the very hefty task of creating a group name, a group emblem and a group cheer, which needed to include the words “bing bang banana yada…erm.. what the???”…

In view of the nature of our mission, we aptly named our group “I.M.Possible”! Within minutes our group emblem and cheer surfaced. All that remained was to take it outside!

"I AM POSSIBLE!"

GROUP PICS!

IMBA! CHEEEESE FRIES!

JIGSAW! WU!

MUMMMMIES! erm.. what's their name.... Oh Yeah!

Meet the SPARTANS!

The first dinner would be a nerve wreck and taste bud tingling affair. The question on everyone’s lips were, “Would the camp food this year suck?”

But all our doubts were quashed once maestro caterers Anthony and Zhiyong (is that how you spell?) from Sengkang whipped out a feast for every meal. I felt that it was really good that every group took turns to serve, as we are all following the example of Christ who came to serve us!

MMM... MMM...

Jieying organised a worship that was totally in Chinese! :( But that didn’t dampen my spirits as I’m sure the speaker understood as much as I did.

We were introduced to Matt Piland, and found him to have a very thick Atlantan accent. But this was one barrier that was easy to overcome. Despite his sexist and straight-faced jokes, his message of forgiveness was down to earth and really struck a chord with the whole congregation. Giving the example of Jesus, who was able to forgive us unconditionally, the message brimmed with a challenge to forgive… no matter what.

"Hey you! Answer my question!" "No prob" says the enthusiastic Isaiah

Over the night the boys slept like logs while the girls logged less than 3-4 hours average. Complaining of cold rooms and hard floors, it must have been a challenge to have the strength to stay awake the next day! But thank God everything worked out!

Headed back to the WOW! Hall for our second theme-talk. Matt talked about acceptance and how we need to have unconditional love in this conditional world. It was a radical idea for such a morning but still we soaked it in.

John leading worship

Massaging each other Group Discussion

Tuck does something which makes Zheng Kang frown and Zhiyong cover his nose...

Next up was the series of workshops. I actually wanted to go for the Zouk out one, but ended up going for the Smoke & Drugs one due to lack of people. From there heard Sam Kuna from Teen Challenge share about common forms of addiction, and his 30 year abstinence from Coke. Even though we endured numerous sleepy moments, we grudgingly applied what we learnt and refrained from getting the “harmful” but much needed coffee.

Group photo time! Was almost late for it, coz needed to change my pants. So ran down with my new “always have to go back to bunk” buddy Clement from TPMC. But thankfully made it in time!

Clement my "go back to bunk to get stuff" buddy

One big CONNECTED! family

say "CHEESEFRIES RULE"!

From the group photo we embarked on our 15min bus ride on bus 67 to South View Primary for our afternoon games.
Despite a blazing hot thurs afternoon, we were still geared up for the games session. Split into 4 groups, Group 1 and 2 combined to form the new entity, the I.M.Possible Spartans! Adorning our green headbands (which gradually transformed into wristbands as the sweat built up), we tackled challenges such as “Mai Tu LIAOOOOOOOO!!!!”, Waterbomb Volleyball, blindfold maze game, and blow-the-pingpong-ball-through-obstacle-course-game.

Green team did well earning the 2nd most point total when it came to the auction. During the auction, thanks to certain trigger happy members, we quickly splurged a few thousand dollars on several pieces of newspaper in various sizes. These would form as little protection from the later game of “defend the ping pong balls”. As a defender, I put my body on the line (literally), and absorbed (literally again) any attacks the enemies could muster. However we were defeated by one cruel pail of water.

Despite being soaked to the toes, I felt that the afternoon’s games was one of the most creative I’ve ever participated in! Kudos to Kum Yan! Plus all the water was a refreshing end to the sunny afternoon!

GAMES DAY PHOTOS

Table-ing another victory Water Bomb leaves devastation in its wake

A dedicated guide Go PURPLE!

CELEBRATIONS!

John can fly! Another use for the thrash bag...

Rachel attempting to swallow a bowl... "MAI TU LIAOOOOOOOOOO!"

Eric imitating Mary Poppins.. :P

Went out for group dinner in our sweaty and soaked state. We laughed and chatted all the way, oblivious to the stares (and nose pinches) or the public. Thought that it was the best group bonding time of the whole camp. Really enjoyed ourselves especially when we blew a collective $15 on some dumb fun fair game (and won 5 packs of magic stix which I think are lost) but the laughter and fun that we gained was priceless.

So that ended a really fun and eventful day.

The third day started the same way as the 2nd, with many yawns and head scratches.
Matt shared about Tiger Woods and how as Christians we should have the same single-minded determination towards God.
The Workshops took a more “service orientated” look, and I went for the “Me? A Pastor?” choice. The workshop was held by Pastor Andy Goh from Charis (from same church but not related to a certain Sharon Goh!). And I learnt many important insights about life in God’s service.

Torsten learining the ropes Jiawei browsing at TTC's library

After lunch it was Group cheer time! All the groups presented their cheers with much gusto and enthusiasm (and hoarse throats) but in their end there could only be one winner. I still blame our loss on John and I losing our voice.. (actually prob wouldn’t have made a difference coz we were still shouting very madly.

Free for all games marked the end of the afternoon.. Started out with basketball with speaker Matt doing his best impression of Kobe Bryant. Unfortunately we had to stop for big Vincent from Sengkang to take out some sharp thing which stung him. So we moved on to soccer with Norman doing a Torres and scoring 2 vital goals to lead us to victory. Clement mesmerised with his dribbling, while I did my part by leaning on the goalpost in a rather lazy manner.

After the soccer diehards retired, we moved on to Captains ball with a man (or should I say woman) of the match performance by Jieying, who stood tall and strong on the bench. Saw the powerful aggressive side of the CAC girls erupt as they dived for balls and dug many an elbow in my poor ribs. But overall had a wonderful time!

3 point shot from Zheng Kang John launches an improbable attack

Matt: "This guys's good" Norman played like Torres, bagging 2 goals
Rev Sim: "Tyco only lah!"

The Camp com decide to pit their wits against each other

After a nice long shower, we got ready for the finale worship service! Alethea led us in a creative and action filled worship which I enjoyed very much! Matt also delivered his final words to us.
But the part that touched me the most was the Sharings by all the campers. Wow it would be too long for me to describe every single one, but I’ll just let the pictures do the talking…

Retro dance steps Shaking to the beat!

Torsten accuses Eric of another bad joke. Eric pleads his innocence.

Yup we stayed up all night to play board games and talk cock, until I dreamily fell sleep on 2 chairs (waking up with a staggering back ache!).

The last day marked the end of this wonderful camp. And we closed with a memorable Holy Communion Service. It was really great to eat this sacred meal with all my newfound brothers and sisters. Really appreciated Rev Khoo’s instruction for us to serve each other the wine and bread elements. I feel that as a CAC body we must learn to serve one another, no matter what church we represent.

We are ONE in Christ

Standing ovation for our speaker

Really enjoyed this camp, just thank God so so much for making it possible. All honour and glory be to God!

K guys watch this blog, I'll be posting up the best of Dancia's 1000 photos of the camp.
If you want to post your experience and show off your photo-blogging skills, please feel free to contact me!

Posted by prayerdinator at 10:29 AM