Family Day - Royal Rangers Way!

One RR Family Day 2010 was successfully carried out despite our initial struggle to carry out this event. Amidst parental fears for school exams, denggi and what not, the commanders of RR Melaka # 1 pooled our resources together to carry out a great day of fellowship and learning. There were about 40 of us getting together for a time fo great activity, fun and food. One of the objectives of this event was to get the children and their parents to bond in a some quality time over a series of activities in the setting of a secondary jungle in Ayer Keroh Botanical Park. I must say that God in all His Glory granted us great weather despite a looming fear of a heavy downpour which finally occurred after we had finished our programme for the day. Thank you, Lord!
That day, we started out with a briefing laced with witty quips and humour by our Senior Comdr. Steven Chia. Then, Comdr.Stefanie Sim got the event going by carrying out the first activity which was setting up of a camping tent. For many years, we have taught the children on how to put up a camping tent and it was rewarding indeed to see the children teaching their parents to put up the tent. Laughter, good helpings and even bonding between parents and children were tremendous. Then the excitement ensued with telematches stating with two legged tag race. It was fun to have parents pairing up with their children to do the race. For me, the competitiveness and the fun were really bridging a lot of gaps between the adults and the children. It was an amazing time. Then, the fun continues with the egg throwing activity. Certainly there were a number of broken eggs at the end of the day but it was all done in the spirit of fun. What comes next was rather physical which was Capture The Flag activity. Again, there was a lot of heart in the game and at the end of the day, there were plenty of t-shirts with luminous stickers and some very sweaty t-shirts!

They then took a short walk to the Obstacle Course area and overcame the obstacle sets. It was again a time of great fun and learning for the parents. I guess, parents would have a great picture of what the ministry is trying to instill in their children - discipline, overcoming of fear , fun, building confidence and character building through outdoor activities. After a short rest, Comdr. Steven took over and explained to the parents that the next activity was tin foil cooking which is another essential lesson for any Rangers boy or girl but with a catch. The catch was to start up a small fire. Again, some parents are quite apt at starting a fire while some were steadily getting the hang of it. Soon, everyone was pitching in with their recipe for chicken in tin foil cooking. Again, their makeshift kitchen was Comdr. Errol's car which doubled up a a store for handbags, backpacks, bags, wallets, kitchen stuff and a place to slice, dice and cut up chicken and ingredients. It was fun seeing everyone doing their part to make this event a success.

As all these were on-going, Comdr. Errol , Jessica and myself fire up the make shift kitchen section of the event. We cleared one section of the ground and started out our works. You see, we were assigned for the lunch section and the menu was a list of goodies that would simply be the best of backwoods BBQ. We lined up a pit of fire with good fire and get ready the goodies of lunch namely BBQ lamb cuts, chicken wings, sausages, tau kee and BBQ eggs. As we started out the BBQ, the aroma of ready meats smell aroused a lot of adults and children! We had to ensure that the timing was correct for us to serve lunch. Soon, the heat from the pit and smoke can be quite unbearable at times but we were happy to serve. There were approximately 7.5kg of lamb shoulders and 80 pieces of chicken wings which were beautifully marinated by Comdr. Errol & Comdr. Jessica. The taste......heavenly,man! We managed to get the all the lunch goodies ready on time. It was truly satisfying to be able to work with Comdr. Errol & Jessica in preparing the food. Soon, we had Comdr. Ivy, Comdr. Bryan, AR Josephine and Comdr. Steven helping out at the BBQ pit.

We then gathered everyone around and after a short prayer, they were ready to tuck in. You could hear a pin drop as they savour the lunch planned for them. I guess, they must be happy with the lamb, chicken wings, salad with French dressing , the sausages and the rest of the food on the list. It was at this time that we shared experiences, fielded questions and do explanations on the purposes of the day's events and have another good round of fellowship. I must say that I am blessed with the parents support and their commitment for the Royal Rangers ministry. But more than this, I want to thank the commanders teams namely Steven, Errol, Jessica, Jason, Stefanie Sim, Stephen Raj, Ivy Wong , Bryan Lee and JWee for making this event a really success. This event was just not another feather in the cap for all of us in the ministry but a commitment by dedicated, hardworking and very supportive team of commanders. I am so proud to be in the same ranks as these fine leaders. As for the parents, I hope the events had helped them grow a special bond with their children and see how much they have learned. It is also a joy to my heart when parents commented how much change they have seen their children had gone through. At the end of the day, there was one scene which brought a lot of happiness and joy in my heart. It was a scene of parents walking with their children holding hands, talking about the events and telling each other how good they were. That is what the ministry is all about when God is the head of the ministry.

Thank you, Lord for your blessings in great families, great fun and terrific commanders!~