Pastoral Letters

Church Camp – A Spiritual Pit Stop

June 19, 2016 Author:Elder Liu Kerh Li
During school holidays, many families would go for vacation overseas.  Besides getting to learn about cultures of a foreign lands and getting close to nature in ways not really possible here, having vacation overseas also offers us a good break from our busy schedules.  Casting aside our cares and worries and spending time with our friends or family for that couple of days or weeks is really a pleasure of life!  Today, we have this pleasure to travel overseas together as a church family for the much awaited church camp!  Although our destination is just across the causeway and we do not have much sightseeing, you can rest assured that you will experience good rest in the next four days.  What is more important is our spiritual rest.

As we pack our luggage for this church camp, what do you expect of it?  To have fun?  I am sure with all the nice amenities in the resort and with each other’s company, we will have fun together.  To have your gastronomic desire satisfied?  With every buffet meal, good food, and not forgetting the Durian Feast, I am sure you will not be disappointed.  To hunt around for good bargains using our strong Singapore dollar?  We do have one afternoon for you to shop around in a nearby shopping mall but I think the time might be a bit short.  Having said all these, coming to church camp, we should be looking forward to God’s Word and fellowship amongst brethren.

We have a total of six messages in this church camp, each exquisitely crafted by Pastor.  Please get yourself ready for them!  Even if you had all the fun your asked for, had your appetite satisfied, got all the bargains you wanted, this would be a wasted trip if you had not learned anything from God’s Word!  What you have gotten is only temporal enjoyment but what you have lost is the eternal blessing that God’s Word endows upon you: “The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.  The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous.  They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb” (Psalm 19:9-10).  Hence, do yourself a favour:  pray for appetite and understanding of God’s Word; get ample of rest so that you can concentrate on the messages; make good use of the camp booklet which also carries the message outlines for note taking; be attentive and participate actively in the discussion sessions, and give some thoughts on how you can apply lessons learnt in your own life.

The other aspect of the church camp that we should look forward to is the time of fellowship with one another.  The next four days present excellent opportunities for us to build up and strengthen our relationship with one another.  During meal times or refreshments as well as games, besides hanging around with people whom you already know, you may also want to try interacting with others.  Even though we are a small church, I am sure that there are some whom you have not talked to.  I encourage you to take the first step and at the same time be open to others.  To make such an endeavour more light hearted, we are having a game of “Sheep and Shepherd” throughout the camp.  All of us will be a shepherd for someone else and our job is to take care of our sheep: get your sheep a present, help him/her to get food during meal time or tea break, etc.  It is a time for us exercise our love and forbearance for one another, to accept the person for who he/she is and learn to serve one another: “not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:4).

With this, may the camp be an encouragement to all of us and serve as a much needed pit stop for us as we journey heavenward.   May we also experience God’s presence through His Word and fellowship amongst the brethren.  “Emmanuel, God is with Us”!