YPG Camp

Dear Bethelites,

Praise be to God that we were able to have our annual Young People Group camp which was conducted from 7th to 11th July 2024, at Heritage Holiday House. We were privileged to have Rev Reggor Galarpe, Pastor of Gethsemane Bible-Presbyterian Church (Cebu), who was invited to preach on the theme, “But The Greatest Of These Is Charity,” based on 1 Corinthians 13.

Rev Reggor faithfully delivered a series of seven messages to help the youths to have a better understanding of biblical charity (love), and how to exercise this love in our Christian walk. Below is the outline of the seven sermons;

1. The Preface: A Scriptural Perspective On Charity (1 Corinthians 13)
2. The Pre-eminence Of Charity (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
3. The Practice Of Charity I (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
4. The Practice Of Charity II (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
5. The Practice Of Charity III (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
6. The Permanence Of Charity (1 Corinthians 13:8-13)
7. The Pursuit Of Charity (Selected Scriptural Passages)

The camp sermons were followed by workshops whereby the youths were divided into groups to discuss questions designed to help them apply the spiritual lessons they had learnt. I was tasked to preach in the morning devotions, of which I prayerfully decided to exhort on the parables of Christ, namely; the parable of the rich fool, the parable of the unjust manager, the parable of the ten virgins, and the parable of the sower. Based on those parables, the main emphasis was to teach the youths lessons about preoccupation, stewardship, preparedness and love.

Thus, the morning and nights were scheduled for a time of spiritual teaching and learning, and the youths were encouraged to do their own personal quiet time and dormitory devotions. Hopefully, the youths would learn this healthy spiritual habit to begin and end each day with God and His Word (not only in but also after camp)!

As the old proverb said, “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy,” the afternoons were set aside for games. It was truly encouraging to see how the youths were able to apply the spiritual lessons learnt as they engaged themselves in games interaction, applying brotherly love one to another.

Thank God for sisters En Long and Yuan Cheong, and Dn Jeffry Chua, who laboured in love to prepare the meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was most wonderful to savour hot sumptuous home-cooked food. Our palates were blessed by the “bak-chang” (Chinese dumpling) and “char siew” (barbequed pork), which were lovingly pre-prepared by sister Gek-Choo Nah. Indeed, we were not only spiritually but physically fed as well!

The Lord was good to provide us with this campsite, Heritage Holiday House, which was beyond our expectation. Allow me to explain. Actually, we had pre-booked another campsite, but that premise had some maintenance issues, so the same owner graciously offered us this place at the same agreed price. A church member who visited us, made a remark saying, “This place is equivalent to a 5-star hotel.”

It was a huge mansion with six-rooms fully furnished with ensuite restrooms, two additional caravans, a huge sitting room which was used as our main meeting place, a large communal kitchen and dining room, and just to name a few amenities, snooker-table, indoor heated swimming pool, tennis court, etc. We all knew that this campsite did not come by chance or coincidence, but by God’s providence! Everyday, we were being visited by troops of kangaroos, and the scenery of hills and lakes were simply breathtaking.

Indeed, praise God for a wonderful YPG Camp and His bountiful blessing! Psalm 8:1, O LORD, our LORD, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

In Christ,

Pastor Paul Cheng