Knowing the Will of God
Church Camp Thanksgiving Testimonies
Praise the Lord for a blessed camp we had in Penang. The Sevenfold Will of God—preceptive, directive, cooperative, permissive, punitive, desiderative and decretive—as systematised by the Rev Dr Timothy Tow was taught to the people with the hope that the lost would find salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, for the very first step to knowing God’s will for our lives must be knowing His salvific will, “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:4-5). It is only when we are born again, a child of God, and a citizen of His kingdom, that we can know for sure His specific will and purpose for our lives—what He wants us to be and what He wants us to do in fulfilment of His good plan and purpose all for His glory.
Here are the thanksgiving testimonies of some of the campers:
Tan Mui Mui
Thank and praise our LORD God Jesus for a blessed church camp in which we dug into the “secret of the LORD”, yea even His will! (Ps 25:14).
I thank our God for one greatest blessing received and one most important lesson learnt. I learnt that the No 1 will of God is for “all men to be saved” as expounded by Pastor in 1 Timothy 2:4. That taught me to love and be benevolent towards all men as God is.
By God’s divine arrangement, at Changi Airport when we were taking our lunch before our onward flight to Penang, Pastor Jeffrey Khoo sat at the table next to where my sister-in-law and nephew sat. My nephew had the greatest blessing of Pastor laying his hand on his head and praying for him. I am most glad that Pastor did not pray for my nephew to be a good boy or to study well, but Pastor prayed for my nephew’s salvation! This is a greatest blessing for the angels of God will rejoice over one sinner that repents! (Luke 15:10).
“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thess 5:18). Thanks to Dn Beng Lee and the camp committee for their tireless work to organise this overseas camp. The camp was good with spiritual and physical food and fellowship with old and new saints.
Eric Chin
I want to thank God for His grace and provision that enabled my family and I to attend our third consecutive church camp. I want to thank God for His Words shared during the camp. The theme was no doubt the answer to my prayers. A week before the camp, I was burdened with searching and trying to understand God’s will for my life, especially my career. Praise God for messages that were so plainly delivered through all the speakers and especially our pastor. It was very clear to me what God’s will for me is and what I should pray for.
I also want to thank God for the time of fellowship with other likeminded brothers and sisters in Christ. I’m especially thankful for the extra time of fellowship provided due to the delay in the Airasia flight back to Singapore. The gathering of families in this camp also clearly testified of God’s grace to parents who believe and had brought up their children according to the teachings of Christ. That gave me great confidence that God will help me bring up and nurture my young children to be godly young people that we have in our church today.
Lastly, I want to thank God for the great effort and time that the camp committee had put into this camp. My family and I are truly grateful for our third tasting of heaven on earth.
Roland Tay
I would like to praise and thank God for making it possible for my whole family to come together for the church camp. The messages were very appropriate in these perilous times. The knowing of the will of God has enlightened our lives and we are much blessed. His guiding hand and direction will always be good for my family and towards our favour when we trust and obey our God and Saviour. I would also like to share that by coming to prayer meeting, God has blessed those who have come to seek and pray to Him. I heard many testimonies that God has answered prayers. I would like to quote Psalm 20:7, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the LORD.” God bless!
Esther Chew
I want to thank God that I am able to come for this year’s church camp. I was not able to go for the previous camps due to work commitments. The messages on the theme “Knowing the Will of God” have taught me precious lessons about God’s will for each of us which is unique and personal. I also benefited from the morning devotions by various speakers. The film show, “Candle in the Dark”, which tells of the life of William Carey (“the father of modern missions”) brought back memories of my going to Bangalore, India for missions in 2005, 2006, and 2007. I also want to thank God for the opportunity to make new friends and get to know other friends better. I pray that I would be able to go for future camps. All praise and glory to God almighty.
Dr & Mrs Wee Tiong Soon Kemaman Life Bible-Presbyterian Church
Mrs Wee and I are very thankful to all of you for inviting us to your church camp with all expenses paid. We really do not deserve so much blessing. We were blessed with such good spiritual food and earthly comfort. It was a good opportunity to meet friends who had in the past visited us and to make new ones. The beautiful sunrise was a reminder to me of God’s love and care for us. He gave us beautiful views to start our days at the camp. Each sunrise is different. Praise be to God who dearly loves us. May God continue to bless and protect you all.
Rev Hien Nguyen Pastor of Brisbane BPC
I really thank God for His goodness, grace and mercy and for the kind support of True Life BPC that I can join True Life Church Camp this year with brother Michael Benjamin. I have been much refreshed and blessed by the theme messages on “Knowing the Will of God” by Pastor Jeffrey Khoo, the morning devotion messages by Rev Stephen Khoo, Rev Errol Stone and Rev Biak Lawm Thang, and the blessed fellowship with likeminded brethren and friends. Thank God and praise the Lord!
Rev & Mrs Errol Stone Faith Presbyterian Church, Perth
Robyn and I praise God for the absolutely blessed time of fellowship at the Rainbow Paradise Beach Resort, Penang, Malaysia. We give thanks to God for the blessing of the spiritual feeding from our beloved pastor, Rev Dr Jeffrey Khoo, as he taught the sevenfold will of God. Also for the campmaster and committee, devotional speakers, durian feast for myself and mangosteen for Robyn. Praise God for your Christian love and for Elder Harold and Georgina Watkins being able to join us, also Benjamin and Leanne. All glory to God for the first-time campers and visitors (Heb 13:15).
Anthony Lau
I am Anthony Lau from our group of eight from Calvary Tengah B-P Church and we thank God that we are able to attend the True Life B-P Church Camp. We also thank you for accommodating us in your church camp and for your kind hospitality and fellowship.
Church camp has been an annual affair for all of us in the past decade and we have always been blessed in many ways. This year’s church camp, though with a sister B-P church, is no different and we have been tremendously blessed and enriched by the messages of Rev Dr Jeffrey Khoo as well as the morning devotion speakers. Thank God for the exhortations.
Please allow me to testify on how I have been taught out of God’s Word. As I sat through the seven theme messages, I now better understand the sovereignty of God in my life as manifested through the seven aspects of God’s Will. In order to help me remember the entire series of messages, I decided to come up with something that I could take away from each theme message: just one sentence with two key words from each theme message:
- Preceptive Will: READ and REMEMBER the Word of God.
- Directive Will: OBEY and PRACTISE the Word of God
- Co-operative Will: SEARCH the Word of God and PRAY.
- Permissive Will: TRUST the Word of God and PERSEVERE.
- Chastitive Will: FEAR the Word of God and REPENT.
- Desiderative Will: SPREAD the Word of God and SHINE for God.
- Decretive Will: TREASURE the Word of God and SURRENDER
Yes, this church camp has brought me back to the fundamentals of being a Christian, that even while we seemingly become more mature in our walk with God, we must not forget the “milk for babes” that we have been nourished with. Let us read, obey, search, trust, fear and spread the Word of God so that we will remember, practise, pray, persevere, repent and shine for God.
Thank God for this timely reminder to be a living testimony for God; “that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, Will of God” (Rom 1:1-2).
