The Word, Starbucks & La la Camp..... What a great camp !

SLing and me ...our room

Last weekend, my family and I thoroughly enjoyed our weekend at Selesa Beach Resort, P.Dickson, the very venue for our church camp. I must confessed though that I am not a fan of church camp due to some experiences in the past and they say that if your first experience is not that nice, you'll tend not to attend any more. That's what I did for many years until my family and I joined our present church, City Community Church (CCC) Melaka church camp. I must also confessed that this is only our second church camp in our entire life and I must admit that my family and I truly enjoyed the experience. All we were missing as family was the presence of our son, JWee who is in Penang finishing up his studies. 

Dinesh,Kelvin, On Tin, SLing, Caitlyn, Abby, SYuen & Xin Yi

I remembered the time I asked SLing if we want to sign up for the camp. We deliberated for such a long time and when our friends, Dinesh & Abby plus BLing & On Tin signed up, that clinched the deal for us. I mean, you've gotta have familiar faces to be with to feel at ease or else, it can be quite a time to adjust with new people around. You don't want to slip up, say something wrong or even be too outstanding lest you'll be made to look like a fool or even make anyone uncomfortable for that matter. I must admit that I am like that in new surroundings and I really don't want to be awkward or be a fool for that matter. So, it was really nice to speak and share great time of fellowship with FM & Joo Li, DL & Siew, Alvin & Annie, Terence & Michelle, Sharon, Auntie Andeline, Thomas & Annie, Vincent, John, Kelvin , Sullivan and a great host of new and familiar people. 

Vincent, Dave , Caleb, Terence & John....

Actually, SLing and I really looked forward to spending some much needed time together and also, to receive a touch from the Lord through the Word. I guess, in many ways, SLing and I felt so privileged over about a year or so now that CCC Melaka had indeed been a real welcome to our spiritual, mental and social needs. The genuine care and warm friendship really made SLing and I felt at home. I may not be the most holy person ever walked on this earth nor a man devoid of any humanistic sin but I have come to appreciate life in a more meaningful manner despite my whole load of anger, shame and pain. I must also confessed that if you have hit rock bottom with hurt and basically your heart  is bleeding profusely  as  I was , this place, CCC Melaka is a great place to get your bleeding heart mend up, stitched up, allow it to heal and attended to by some really good "doctors" of the Lord. The most important thing is to come to this place with an open heart, an ever-willing will to serve and do good. 

Alvin, FM and me...enjoying the coffee & fellowship

This is not an advertisement for sheep stealing or even to get anyone across from any churches but a fact is a fact and this opinion of mine is entirely mine lest you people will "brand" people like me all over again. Like I have said so many times before, you first have to have life before you can revive a life or else you'll drown no matter how good a swimmer you are. My family and I found a sense of purpose and what meaningful works could be done. It is not a popularity nor fame seeking contest. It is always about the lives of our community and we are part of that community. When we serve the community, we serve the Lord effectively even though people make a "transit" stop at our place or "touch and go" for that matter. The important part is we play a part in blessing these precious lives with our love and goodness as God would have wanted it. I think, that is important and I believe CCC Melaka is doing just that! Praise God for that!

With SLing for the night sermon...

Anyway, the message from Pastor Leroy as as usual - full , meaningful and definitely a challenge to all of us. I used to listen to Pastor Leroy's sermons before and I would laughed - probably fall off my chair with laughter as it was always filled with humorous quips and ideas. This time, humour is still there but the impact of the message packed a knockout punch indeed. Simple story about David & Goliath but the principle of David and the Son of David significantly left people like me simply in awe of the greatness of the Lord and the message.The expounding of the Word and what an impact it made. However, I truly enjoyed the summing up by Elder Wong FM during the morning devotion. Truly was blessed by FM morning devotion who not only summed up the Word aptly but with great understanding. I am truly blessed by all the messages

Alan, DL Tan and me! 

I think, the one thing I will always remember about this camp is the time spent at Starbucks Coffee outlet at PD Waterfront. I love the ambience and the decor of the place but it's the company you have that made it all special. Well, the company we had on those nights were truly awesome group of people. As we share freely of our thoughts , ideas, truths and a knocker of jokes plus monstrous laughters, it was the most enjoyable evening as always. Now, I must confess that it would be quite difficult to revert to Aik Cheong, Cap Tupai or even Cap Budak Sekolah coffee after this. Hahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! Seriously, this is a rare treat, actually but it was nice while it lasted. Drinking coffee like that each day will koyak my wallet and my mind , most definitely! I really treasure those moments as the spontaneous ways, truthful and open conversation helped a long way indeed.

The Blue Team fun people.......

The games and banters between the groups during team building games were also awesome. Thanks to Dennis Kok, Terence and the team, we all had a great time at the beach. The level of competition was high but casual, loads of fun and a great dose of laughter. Of course, the banters between the group were never far away and what fun it was especially our group huddle and inspiring "prayers" before our dodgeball competition! Of course, being in the Blue Team, our team members prevailed and won the competition albeit plenty of sweat, sand, fun and prayers of mercy and grace!! Many thanks to all the wonderful Blue Team members who made the competition such a fun thing indeed. To me, there weren't any losers except winners coz' everyone won that day.

The estasy of winning the Dodgeball game!

Then it was off to the beach to get to my next favourite thing to do - digging up for baby lala or bivalves. We learnt this from the Chinese congregation pastor, Pastor Chung. SLing and I caught quite a fair bit of lala that day. I have had the experience of digging up for them when I was younger and it brought a load of memories to me when I started digging up for them. The trick was to pile up the sand at the edge of the waves and let the waves do the "clearing up " for you and viola! The lala are ripe for pickings! SLing learnt this fast enough and soon, we were picking up quite a bit. The smaller ones were thrown back for them to grow to a better size and that's sustainability for the lala stock.

Picking out the lala with the help of the waves.

Anyway, we picked about 2 bottles of mineral water worth of  lala and they brew nicely in the pot after coming back from PD. The way to keep them alive is to soak them in the sea water and change the sea water each day to keep them fresh. They should live for 3 days and by then, they would have been ready for the pot. I am already thinking of  Lala clam chowder with mushroom and herb infused croutons and probably, kum heong lala dish! OK! OK! Don't salivate!  

Joyful me, Siew, DL Tan, FM and On Tin

As I drove away from the resort, I took away wonderful and cherished memories from this church camp. Time spent here was priceless not just the Word that was preached/shared but the wonderful bond we made as a family and sharing moments with friends - familiar and new ones. It is always about the lives that were impacted whether through the Word or that palm of hands that was extended in friendship and in fellowship. I am thankful, I truly am......................