After 4 days of rain, rain, and more rain, it was a very hot Friday that greeted the 71 Sec 2s who turned up at church for the long awaited camp! A number were looking forward to the camp, some others were still not convinced why they needed to attend this camp and a handful were just not sure what to expect.....
The "chief disciplinarian" aka Fr Brian was clearly the man in charge, assisted by Kenny and Colin from Mustard Seed and their "merry" team of youths from facilitators, to junior catechists, logisticians and musicians (all trained by Fr) . From the word "GO", Fr Brian spelt out clearly the objectives of the camp, ie for the teens to find out where they stood with Christ and to get closer to Him; to know their friends better, and finally, to have fun at camp.
Kicking off the 3-day camp was the ice-breakers....and soon the Parish Hall was filled with much laughter and merriment.
After tucking into a scumptious lunch, the teens soon settled down with Praise & Worship (P&W) followed by sessions/testimonies. In between, the teens would also
break into their assigned smaller groups where they would share with their facilitators and others in their group their take of the big group sharings. The youth facilitators would also have "touch time" with the teens in their groups (which took place throughout camp). Mass preceded dinner; and after dinner, the teens had the opportunity to show off their acting skills as they gave their interpretation of the parables in today's context. The catechists had the unenviable task of guessing the parables...which luckily we "passed" cos' most of the acting was superbly and hilariously carried out. The first nite ended with Stations outside out on church grounds. Promptly at 11.30 pm, lights out as all the teens settled down to sleep (or tried to) in the Parish Hall, under the watchful eyes of no nonsense Kenny, while Fr, the facilitators and catechists did a debrief of the day.
Saturday again dawned bright and sunny and just after 7 am, the teens were all roused awake to get ready for prayers (Divine Office). After breakfast, it was back to SFX Room for P&W and an interesting hour with Edwyn de Souza and his wife, both of whom are missionaries (and parishioners of SFX too). Using mime to illustrate how much Jesus loves us, and how He is always extending His hand for us to hang on to, even tho' we tend to ignore him and let His hand go, the teens were clearly captivated by Edwyn's sharing. A number were touched too when Edwyn extended an invitation to all for Jesus to enter.
What's camp without games? And that's what the teens had for the rest of Sat morning - good "clean" fun organised by the junior catechists.
After lunch it was an afternoon of Reconciliation followed by Mass. And the evening session saw the teens being invited to commit themselves to Jesus, with each catechist and his/her facilitators praying with them. At the scheduled bed-time, the teens "kuai kuai" went to sleep, with Kenny keeping a tight rein on them.
It was a wet Sunday that greeted the teens when they woke up at 6.30 am to get ready for mass at 7 am. After breakfast, it was back for the last session for the day where the teens were urged to consider how they could live a more Christ-like life after camp.
It was certainly heartening to see the spiritual high and exuberance in each and every one of the teens at the end of camp. In fact, many of them were reluctant to leave by the end of it all. What a difference it was from the first day of camp. And throughout all these 3 days, we had so many parents who volunteered to help out during meal times that their overwhelming support was equally heartwarming. Thank you parents!
Now to look forward to next year's 4-day confirmation camp, which will be held from 12 to 15 Jun 2009. Block off those dates!
Members of BASIC, gearing up, to assist in the final Sec 3's canteen. Armed with a camera, all ready to capture some moments.
The "Sales" pitch .... getting ready for the crowd from the 9:00am mass.
and the sales of all the yummy stuff, begins.
Whilst the food are being sold, washing, in the back room is also underway to make room for all the used pots & pans.
Mee-Siam preparations in progress.
Freshly squeezed oranges with a dash of "sugar water" from a .... " " bottle.
Business looks good. All oranges were gone before the 11:00am mass.
Lots of food to go .... certainly a happy problem to resolve.
The interval : between the 9:00am and the 11:00am mass.
Father on a food tasting mission.
Under the watchful eyes of the Pope, coffee and tea were certainly, the HOT favourite.
Taking stock of all the happenings of the day. Thank goodness, its the last one.
A bashful Fr Brian who initially avoided the cameraman finally had a shot of himself. On the whole, the entire food selling mission to fund the forth-coming Confirmation Camp, went quite well. Perhaps a "SOP" will be drafted soon to document the positive experience.
