OKAY,
Time to jump on the notewagon.
First, the thankyous:
Occifers: Thanks for all the guidance you've provided us! Thanks to everyone who endured soooo little sleep to help make sure everything went awesome. Thanks to all the occifers who were present here and there to ensure our safety and well-being. Special mention to Mr Gareth Tan for making sure that all the planning went well!
Year 3s: In case I haven't made this clear enough, I'm really thankful that you guys came to help out. Your enthusiasm was much needed, especially when we were all stressed out and tired from everything (NIGHT PATROL...!!). You guys really have been a blessing over this camp, not only to us but also to the year 1s I'm sure. They really seem to like you guys, and we as admin also really really really really really really really appreciate what you've done for them (and us). Kudos! and all the best for LTC :) Special mention to Kieren for being buff, James for being cute and Dom for being Dom.
ADMIN! YOU GUYS MADE THIS A SUCCESS. Thanks for all your suggestion [sic]! Thanks to all the wing commanders and group leaders for making sure the Sec 1s were entertained and managed properly :P Thanks to all the games ICs who made sure that they had lots of fun! Thanks to the food people for making sure we were all well fed. Thanks to the logistics team for.... logistics! Special mention to my design and publications team for your effort and commitment to the camp booklet and camp shirt! Also special mention to Ting Yu, Gordon and Jon Lee for being awesome. Special mention to the amazing musicians who provided music and accompaniment for my terrible singing. Last but not least, Keng Gene from whom all adventure flows.
Sec Ones: haha you guys are the best! Watching you guys learn and grow so much over the few days was truly an amazing experience for me. Thank you all for your participation and enthusiasm. Thank you to the hyper people for being hyper and cheering me up. Thank you to the ICs for managing your cohort well! Thank you to my hike group for making it back to school before 10pm :P Thank you to Galatia and Philippi for allowing me to slack in your rooms with you. Special mention to Ryan Ong for being tall, and for encouraging me when I was down. Special mention to my buddy Boyang for finally remembering my name and sharing lame jokes :) Special mention to Ryan Teh for coming for BB late but still managing to catch up and learn so fast!
Now for the reflections...........
TA for me really began somewhere in end-October when staff Ting Yu asked me during Company Camp if I wanted to be a DY Chairman for TA and I said yes. Actually, I said "uhh but I suck and I don't know how to do camps". I think he inferred that to be a yes.
Good inference.
So there in late October began our five-month journey to TA. We started going down to the admin room week after week to discuss matters ranging from sweet potatoes to the usage of soap. I shall not elaborate. I think the thing that kept us going down was our desire to see an awesome TA camp where our future sec 1s would be touched and impacted not only physically but also spiritually.
One thing I was particularly worried about for TA was CE. I have always seen BB as not just being a UYO. I saw it as being a ministry. All the things like drill, games, and other stuff were just a means to an end. If you look at it, our entire life is a means to an end. Our entire life is a mission field where we work toward our goal of bringing people to Christ, and our final destination is in Heaven.
The weeks and months flew by without us deciding on a spiritual blueprint. I was getting doubtful. Maybe we wouldn't end up with one (Brian Wong told me that last year's TA didn't). Maybe God simply didn't want this? Couldn't be. Our CE comm prayed harder than ever before....
I think the devotions, camp booklet and shirt design were the only things that were stressing me out as TA drew near. Everything else was taken care of by the respective heads of the activities. It isn't like I could have done more, either. I was bogged down by Blaze training commitments, leading my club for Life Sciences Symposium and of course schoolwork that seemed to pour in endlessly.
The latter part of February was one of the most stressful periods of the year for me (the common tests didn't help either). The only time I could squeeze out of my day was used to pray. I think this was God's way of making sure that I remembered to seek Him and pray for our sec 1s and the camp. Time and time again I was told by God that what our sec 1s needed was love. And these things stood out in particular: a love for 1) each other 2) their seniors 3) BB, and most importantly 4) God. These prayer sessions would prove helpful when we finally decided on our spiritual blueprint 10 days before camp and I had to write devotions.
When I sat down to write the four days' worth of devotions, the clock was ticking. I had only 24 hours to complete them, get the camp booklet done up nicely, write a foreword and send it for printing. By the grace of God, my team and I managed to get it done in a little less than 48 hours, and with minimal nuking from Mr Gareth Tan and the fellas on top.
As TA drew closer and the numbers on Mr Gareth Tan's little countdown thingy on facebook grew smaller, I was filled with anticipation. After four to five months of planning, our hard work would finally culminate in a fiery explosion of awesomesauce and suggestions.
And it did. I swear, I never expected everything to go so well. The camp ran like freaking clockwork. God was really exercising his awesomeness here! He calmed the storms (literally), and even healed my left knee enough for me to participate in hike on Sunday (though it hurt like crap halfway through). I think what really got to me was seeing the sec 3s praying with/for the sec 1s at 11.02 pm on the second night. Without me even realising it, God was at work in our camp, touching hearts and transforming lives.
During our (intense) dinner on the last day, Gordon dragged me away from my fried chicken to remind me that the sec 1s hadn't really been impacted by God (or at least not that we knew of), and we had less than 2 hours left of camp. I was convicted there and then that we had to make this last worship and sharing session the best and most impactful one of the camp. I took the worship team aside and told them about it, and they agreed to help.
Worship was spent praying desperately that God would come and really touch the hearts of the sec 1s. I kept telling myself that if they just left TA having had lots of fun and smiling all over but not having known God better, the entire camp had no significant meaning. As I stood up, I heard the words "there must be more than this, O breath of God come breath within." I took this to mean that there was really more than what we've had thus far, and that God would come and leave an impact on all of us.
While Staff Samuel and William shared their experiences on love, Mr Chow reminded me through Mr Liew that we had less than half an hour left. At that point, I was rather upset because I had wanted more time for this final session of worship and word. Reluctantly, I told Euan to cut short the sharings and proceed into closing.
As I bounced up and down to the company theme song, it dawned upon me that our camp had ended. These five months of planning and prayer had ended with the camp itself, and now it too was over. I thought back to the night before when we discussed the discipline of the sec 1s. I wondered what we could have done differently to instill more respect and discipline in them.
Nothing, really. I personally felt that we have done our jobs well as admin. We have planned an amazing camp for them, we have led them through it, and most importantly we have done this all out of love for them.
Yes, I was a little disappointed in them for not treating us better in spite of all this. I didn't mean to scare them with the sudden outburst of emotion, but I said what I felt and I believe that everything happens for a reason. I trust that they will go through some self-reflection and one day they will learn to appreciate what we have done and will continue to do for them.
I hope that through our love they will be able to find someone who loves them much much more than we do. Someone who loved them so much to the point of dying for them. And this someone, oh, how great is His love for all of us. I hope that someday they will come to know that person intimately. That someday they will be willing to lead their lives according to that person's will. That someday they will be able to love that person with all their heart, soul and mind.
And until that day comes, I shall not rest.
-Jont
No comments:
Post a Comment