#junehols2014 [14 June 2014] Camp Kadash Day 2

Joel Kindiak

Date: 14 June 2014

Topic: #junehols2014 [14 June 2014] Camp Kadash Day 2

Part 1: Morning Introductions 

Arise and shine! It’s Camp Kadash Day 2! Woke up at 0710 hours with the help of some snoozes and Justin switching the lights on. Since toothbrushes and toothpaste was not provided, mouth was the next best substitute. And an efficient one too. My other 2 roommates, however, were zonked out until Justin forcefully woke them up. 

Brekkie at 0800 hours. I was quite shocked because they told us to be done with breakfast by 0800 hours…only to witness the floodgates of Megalifers open to see everyone slowly taking their time to chomp on their food. Then a leader dawned it upon us: we were to meet at 0845 hours and not 0800 hours. It was definitely a relief to know that even if we’re late, everyone else were later than us. Met our partial camper leader and onto worship and prayer. 

During worship and prayer, there was another strong prophecy for freedom. Then I asked the Lord, “Not meaning to be rude, but didn’t I prophesy this last year at Kingdom Call?” There was prayer for the 14–15 year olds who would be attending a workshop on release of destinies, and I’m praying that my close friend would have a strong affirmation of her destiny, no longer wavering with the world but be set apart.

Part 2: Kadash Boot Camp

Then comes the horrendous part of my day. Yes, I still feel peeved writing this. We had Boot Camp, which is the Camp Kadash language for station games, and people who know me for a long time know that I hate station games. I hate any game that requires intense or at least reasonably decent physical calibre, including coordination, accuracy and my weakest weakness of  them all: teamwork. For the first few games, we decided to bend the rules a teeny-bit, which got me peeved because I feel that the fun is in the challenge, and by bending the rules and illegally lessening the challenge, our satisfaction out of it is severely reduced. Furthermore, even though I’m the only one who is having his final Megalife Camp, nobody wanted to YOLO with me and give their all. Hence, I decided to just give up on District 15, resigning to the idea that there is no hope for us to ever step out of the ordinary and be distinct, something I have always loved to do. Yes, I should be considerate to think for them, but are they ever considerate to think for me?

I’ve always been competitive by nature, and as I see every other Districts gaining points and victories in other games while our District sticks to the status quo (not to mention Faction), it irks  me more and more to realise that my groups are unable to attain victory. Considering my usually over–competitive spirit, I just gave up. Stop trying. Just lose. Whatever. Lose for my last Megalife Camp. *sigh* Furthermore, we played Volleyball. Now, I am the biggest loser in the realm of sports, being unable to strategise and think, and so when people take it for granted that I know how to play Volleyball, which I didn’t, I got incredibly peeved, at every step of the way tempted to blurt out the F-word to silence my unenthusiastic group mates once and for all. Yes, they know how to play Volleyball and I don’t. Just, for once, could they spare a thought for me? 

They did, by leaving me alone to cool down before proceeding to our final game, where things got much, much better, as I repeated simple actions free from the stress of being unable to accomplish them. Unlike sports, which are very, VERY complicated by nature and are something I can never be able to comprehensively grasp, simple tasks in repetition are activities in my favour. Sometimes, I just don’t want to think but mindlessly complete an activity by repetition. And when games come into play, I stick to that. Fortunately we redeemed ourselves on the last game due to simplicity. Thanks for relieving me of the stress that you probably first gave me, District 15.

We ate lunch, sharing about memoirs of how we woke each other up, then retreated to our rooms to rest and relax a bit before heading off to our next location.

Part 3: End–Times with Elder Freddy

We then headed off to the Amansari Hall where we received a talk by Elder Freddy Boey about how the Bible fore–recorded the advent of technology and its quintessential place in modern life, as well as gave some accounts and evidences of how science backs up the Bible. During the talk, he affirmed some age–old conundrums that Christians struggle with, such as the age of the earth and the co–existence of dinosaurs and man. He also elaborated on some information on the Rapture, believing that it is a pre–tribulation Rapture and that amongst believers there are those who are ready to be raptured and there are those who need a bit more testing through the fire (aka the Great Tribulation) before glorification. He also talked about salvation for those who were born before the time of Christ. All in all, I am really grateful for this session as it has allowed my faith to grow, to have my salvation assured (refer to Sidenote).

Sidenote: Elder Freddy did differentiate between Judgement of Sin and Judgement of Works, while a cell leader, Benjamin Leow, explained to me even more clearly that difference, allowing me to interpret judgement of works as positive marking (good works: 1 ‘plus’ point, bad works: no points) and salvation as passing or failing (faith in Christ: “pass”, do not  believe in Christ: “fail”)

I’m excited for dinner as well as tonight’s service. Dinner should not be too eventful, so I doubt that I’ll actually include it in the blogpost.

Part 4: The Penultimate Night Service

Well, it’s night two, and before it, I took the chance to take more selfies with more people whom I know of in church. I’ll load them up on the blog as with yesterday’s entry. Today for worship service, Pastor Ernie taught us different ways of free worship, since many of us do not even have a grasp of what we “can” do during free worship (simply put: anything decent), Pastor Daniel Paikea  then shared with us about the importance of connection and honestly, I felt that the message was quite disengaging considering that he shared from his experiences that are not entirely relatable to a Singaporean context. That said, we were challenged to think of an accountability partner to get connected with, and this is where I, for the first time, deny a request to do so. 

I’ll be leaving Riverlife Church in approximately 10 weeks’ time, and I don’t know anyone spiritually mature whom I am willing to entrust my life into that comes from another church. These 10 weeks will definitely be a time where I can hopefully slowly detach myself from Riverlife Church. Anyway, I highly doubt that I would really have an accountability partner over the next 10 weeks until I can settle down in a local church nearer to Clementi, where I will eventually live in. Nevertheless, I probably would with no doubt miss Megalife (Youth Ministry), my All Stars (People who love God passionately) and ML27 Shnameless (Cell).

Conclusion

I’m human and I still feel. It feels good to just let go of my flares every now and then, let people feel my wrath, muahaha…Also, the presence of God in service need not be like that of altar calls…it’s a heart and mind transformation, and I believe in this service that many people have repented in the sense that they have their minds changed. When it’s time to sleep, it’s time to sleep, and I’m going to do so…right after I shower. Lailah tov! (“good night” in Hebrew)

P.S. Here are some of my favourite selfies from today (excluding the others already pictured)    

 

Reflections:

1. I’m human and I need my needs. As I do to the best of my ability to think for others, I really hope (though I cannot expect) that they reciprocate my efforts.]
2. I like to win, but sometimes I should just let go and lose. Just stop trying and lepak.
3. It’s interesting and a joy to just listen spiritually more mature people like Elder Freddy Boey talk about theology and explaining concepts that used to be stumbling blocks to me. My faith grows and I am assured about my relationship with the Lord. Bit by bit, I know more and more that I know the Lord, partly thanks to the wisdom of my spiritual leaders.
4. The Lord’s presence need not be accompanied by supernatural acts, but could more probably be repentance, a change of mind, which, unlike supernatural acts, actually help Megalifers in the long run rather than just an emotional high.
5. A great adventure is filled with ups and downs. Though today may have been a down, it’s just part of my adventure in the June Holidays and in life.