Derick Cheong & Sasha See
Praise and thank God for a blessed YPG Camp for 2008! This year the camp was held at Grantville Lodge from 28th September to 2 October. The theme for this year was ‘Aboard the disciple-ship’, with the central verse being Luke 9:23 – ‘And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.’
We thank our Lord for the youth who had the opportunity to attend the camp, either on a full time or part time basis. Each camper was placed into one of four groups, whom they would remain with for the duration of the camp for various duties and activities.
Our speaker this year was Brother Dominino De La Cruz from the Philippians and a student of FEBC. We thank God for allowing Brother Dominino to be our camp speaker given that he needed to apply for a visa on short notice. Six messages were faithfully delivered by Brother Dominino this year:
- How to aboard the disciple ship (Following Christ)
- I must work the works of God (Service)
- Be a spiritual sharpener (Accountability/Caring)
- Get our priorities right (priorities)
- Wake up from your spiritual slumber (complacency)
- Guideline for the church (Ownership)
The messages helped the youth by reminding them of the way to be a true disciple for Christ. The first step was to be a disciple; they must first deny themselves, take up the cross and follow Jesus. Furthermore there was strong emphasis on the importance of prayer in our lives and in churches today which reinforced the need for us to have an intimate relationship with God; putting God first in our lives; understanding the importance of agape love to one and other and the importance of our personal service for God being a true disciple following Christ. The messages were all recorded and are available for download from the church website.
Each day began with morning devotions in assigned groups followed by a time of personal devotion and reflection, and ended with dormitory sharing and prayers before bed. Along with the six messages there were 3 workshops with an emphasis on agape. Thank God for the nice weather that we had for the duration of the camp, and also for the opportunity gather around the camp fire to singing praises unto our Lord on the final night.
We also thank God for the younger ones who attended the camp for the first time, this camp was the first in which those who are not currently in the YPG (But were considering making the transition in the coming year) were given the chance to have a sneak peak at what we do as a fellowship group. Praise the Lord that they were able to fit in and integrate well with the rest of the YPG, and praise God that a number of them have already made a smooth transition into the YPG.
Overall, praise and thanks be to our Lord for a truly blessed camp in 2008, and the time of fellowship and learning that we had over the duration of the camp. Given the success of the camp this year, the 2009 YPG camp will most likely be held again in the spring timeslot, during the third term holidays. We pray that we will see the youth at camp again in 2009!
Derick Cheong & Sasha See YPG Camp Masters 2008