encounter camp was over the weekend, and this one was definitely one of the best church camps i've been to. as usual i'm always lagging behind so i missed the one in june. the one which had less pri6/sec1 and 2 kiddos. so yup had to go to camp with a multitude of young uns to my initial disappointment. thankfully yunde and mabel were there to cushion the embarrassment. sigh...but pastor yo kept reminding yunde and i that it was our encounter with God and no other...and it's very true i gues though i'd have preferred if i didn't have to sleep with gawky sec 1s who were inseperable from their transistor radios and handphones. "mummy"s constantly smsed them to ask "darling what time can i come and fetch you".bleurgh. haha but yeah i guess once again God's placing me out of my comfort zone like He did for camp phileo. so met up with yunde to go together and she overslept! leaving me stranded at commonwealth with my large rip curl bag and this huge paper bag with 2 jackets one for me one for mabel and a sleeping bag for mabel. finally we found our way to the GB headquarters where we checked in and rested at the canteen. as the canteen filled up with children i could only shake my head in resignation. but well thankfully my group consisted of sec3s...who were all quite nice. timid but harmless..and it was really touching the way they could connect with God so easily.We had our 1st session that night.....played icebreakers and watched a video to get us in the mood.Later some of us had to transit to the BB headquarters to spend the night. BB headquarters. synonymous with creaky bunk beds, too-small-bedsheets, furry friends like bats and moths and lizards. and i had to complete the icing on the cake by sleeping in the top bunk closest to the aircon and a mysterious hole in the wall.barely slept that night so fell asleep next morning during the 2nd and 3rd sessions..then that afternoon we had games. Think the night activity was the most meaningful and poignant part of the camp....we were blindfolded and led around the compound....and finally left in the carpark. Mabel told me to sit on the ground. After 15 min or so Sally took to the mike....and told all of us to kneel on the ground, and it hurt as hell. The rough asphalt made indents on my knees and palms and the pain was excruciating. After some guys reenacted sounds of the crucifixion, that sounded more like a beng gangfight, Sally started saying, think of the pain now. If you think what you're going through is painful, think of the pain Jesus had to endure for you. and then she started singing Above All like 6 times over i could have fainted there and then. ahha then later i heard that some kids had taken out sheets of paper to kneel on them..there were some who had to wear bricks around their necks cuz they talked while they were blindfolded..ouch. But it struck me....that yes all the pain that Jesus had to go through...imagine being nailed to the cross alive and breathing for 6 hours..and that 15 min on the road was already too much for me to take. What more the pain he endured. for us all.
After we removed our blindfolds...we burnt sheets of paper that we scribbled our sins and generational curses on. Then sang songs of victory...and i never felt such liberation. like i knew that my sins were really truly cleansed and i could be upright in the Lord...

i need God.