SHARPENING OUR SPIRITUAL SENSES

A Report on True Life BPC Camp 2014

The True Life Bible-Presbyterian Church Camp this year was held at the Turi Beach Resort in Nongsapura, Batam, from June 16 to 20, 2014. We thank the Lord for a most wonderful time of studying His Word and fellowshipping with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, 240 of them, morning, noon and night, during those five days of blessed spiritual retreat. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Ps 133:1).

The six sermons based on the camp theme—“Sharpening Our Spiritual Senses” (Ps 34:8)—were delivered by the Rev Dr Das Koshy. He preached on how we must live a godly life for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by cultivating (1) our spiritual senses and sensitivity (Ps 34), (2) our spiritual sight (Isa 6:9, Luke 8:10), (3) our spiritual hearing (Mark 4:24, Luke 11:28, Rom 10:17), (4) our spiritual smell (Ezek 20:41, 2 Cor 2:15), (5) our spiritual taste (Ps 119:103, 1 Pet 2:2-3), and (6) our spiritual touch (Eccl 9:10, 2 Cor 6:17). Pastor took the morning devotions and taught the five points of Calvinism (TULIP), namely, (1) Total Depravity (Rom 3:9-18), (2) Unconditional Election (Eph 1:1-14), (3) Limited Atonement (John 10:11-18), (4) Irresistible Grace (John 6:35-44), and (5) Perseverance of the Saints (Rom 8:28-39)—with an emphasis on their practical goodness and usefulness.

In one of the afternoons, the campers paid a visit to Calvary Batam Bible-Presbyterian Church which was located near the town centre. Calvary Batam BPC celebrates her Silver Jubilee this year. The Rev Kiantoro Lie, pastor of Calvary Batam, introduced the history and ministries of the church to all who attended. The teaching ministry of the church is prominent. The church translates the RPG (Read, Pray, Grow) into Bahasa Indonesia and prints 11,000 copies each time for distribution all over Indonesia. The church also operates a Bible College. They do so to fulfill the teaching aspect of the Great Commission.

On Tuesday night, the campers heard missionary reports from (1) the Rev Judah Pallangyo, academic dean of the Bible College of East Africa (BCEA) in Arusha, Tanzania, (2) Rajan Shrestha, resident preacher of Kathmandu Bible-Presbyterian Church in Nepal, (3) the Rev Nguyen Gia Hien, pastor of Brisbane Bible-Presbyterian Church and the Vietnamese Bible-Presbyterian Church of Brisbane, Australia, (4) Thangno who manages the New Life Orphan Centre in Yangon, Myanmar, (5) Dr Wee Tiong Soon, deacon of Kemaman Life Bible-Presbyterian Church, Malaysia, and (6) Dr Jose Lagapa who shared about his recent Vacation Bible School (VBS) and Bible Camp ministries in Mindanao, the Philippines. The reports show that children are keen to hear the gospel and study the Bible. True Lifers, especially the fellowship groups, can play an active role by organising mission trips to reach out to the children and youths in these countries. Our Lord said, “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 19:14).

In order to encourage members to think about missions and evangelism, the film on the life and work of Hudson Taylor in China was shown on Wednesday night. Besides Hudson Taylor, the children in their day programme also learned about the life and work of William Carey and Mary Slessor. We pray that some young men and women would answer God’s call to full-time service. Already a few of our doctors and nurses are praying about medical missions in Kenya and Tanzania at the end of the year. May the Lord make a way for them.

We are thankful to the Lord for the physical and spiritual blessings we have received from this year’s camp. We should all bear in mind the insightful counsel from our Campmaster Dn Tan Beng Lee as found in the camp handbook,

As I ponder on the camp theme, “Sharpening Our Spiritual Senses”, it struck me that our physical senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch develop from birth and then deteriorate as we grow older. I am sure many of us now require either transition or reading lens to see or read when once we could do so effortlessly. For some like myself, our sense of smell may have been affected by some allergy or sinus problem. The list could go on but there is no denying that our bodies grow weaker as the days go by and there is no way we can stop this ageing process.

But for a Christian, the opposite should be true. The older we grow in the faith, the more spiritual we should be. The more we read and hear God’s Word, the more our spiritual senses should be sharpened. Our spiritual eyes must be more discerning of right and wrong, our hearts quick to hearken to the wise counsel and commands from God’s Word and our lives a “sweet savour of Christ” to touch those around us.

The camp CD with all the camp messages will be ready soon. For those who missed the camp, you will want to get a copy of it for yourself. If the Lord were to tarry, please do not miss the church camp next year. The Session is already starting to pray and plan for next year’s camp theme and venue. Do pray with us. JK