WHAT A BLESSED CAMP!

Praise the Lord for such a blessed church camp this year. What a glimpse and a taste of heaven! A church camp is a foretaste of heaven when it is filled with all these heavenly activities: (1) sincere worship of our God and Saviour, (2) sweet fellowship with fellow brethren, (3) serious study of Holy Scripture.

I thank the Lord for helping me with the eight messages I had to prepare for the camp. The theme “Living for His Coming” was based on the two epistles of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians. In my revisit and restudy of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, I found myself reminded of the Lord’s soon return and the great need for His people to be ready for His return. In preparing my sermons, I needed to make sure they fulfil these four criteria: they must (1) expound the Scriptures, (2) exalt the Lord Jesus, (3) edify the saints, (4) evangelise the lost.

We studied 1 and 2 Thessalonians chapter by chapter. The eight chapters were covered in eight messages: (1) Living for His Coming (1 Thess 1), (2) Our Crown of Rejoicing (1 Thess 2), (3) Establishing our Hearts (1 Thess 3), (4) Caught Up! (1 Thess 4), (5) Sanctified and Preserved (1 Thess 5), (6) Worthy of His Calling (2 Thess 1), (7) Not Deceived! (2 Thess 2), (8) Be Separate! (2 Thess 3). You may order an audio copy of all the messages.

Our morning devotional messages were delivered by our guest speakers: (1) the Rev Stephen Khoo, “As the Days of Noah Were” (Matt 24:37-39), (2) Pr Park Jung Il, “The Preconditions of True Revival” (Neh 8:1-12), (3) the Rev Dr Park Seung Kyu, “Solomon’s Glory” (1 Kgs 10:23-11:4), and (4) the Rev Dr Mark Kim, “Let Us Go with Our Whole Life” (1 Thess 1:5-8). All were well received.

It is always a privilege for us to have the Rev Lee Kim Shong and the Rev Koa Keng Woo minister to our Chinese congregation. The Rev Lee is pastor of Calvary Jaya BPC. He and I were classmates as well as room-mates at FEBC 30 years ago. We had forged a strong friendship during our college days and we continue to help each other in the work of the Lord after all these years. The Rev Koa at 87 years of age is still going strong pastoring Muar and Rawang BPCs and teaching at FEBC.

This camp also saw Mrs Jemima Khoo and her team of singers and musicians present the many wonderful stories behind Christian hymns and hymn-writers like Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, William Cowper, Francis Havergal, Lina Sandell Berg, and Fanny Crosby. The Lord has given to us a rich collection of spiritual songs and music composed by godly men and women during great periods of revival. They are so different from the worldly and whimsical pop and rock songs of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) that plague so many churches today.

After the final message, there was a time for Q&A. A total of 82 questions were fielded and it took nearly two hours to answer them all. I am glad for the good questions that were raised. One of the questions led me to think of the theme for next year’s camp. God willing and if the Lord tarries we shall have our camp in Bangkok next year.

Our Bali camp concluded with a time of thanksgiving and testimonies. From the testimonies, I could see that the Lord has caused His people to realise how they must live for Him in these last days, and brought seekers nearer to faith and His kingdom. One of them was Eileen’s father who said he was appreciative of the Word preached, and was determined to quit smoking and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He also said that he would be attending Calvary Pandan BPC where his son Edison is a member, and would give his thanksgiving testimony soon. I was also glad for Mui Mui’s nephew Joel now 10 years old. Mui Mui has been diligently bringing her nephew to the Sunset Gospel Hour, VBS and church camps. I can see God working in his life. I sat with him at dinner one night, and asked him what he knew about the Lord Jesus. He said Jesus is God’s Son and died on the cross for his sins. He said he would seek baptism when he reaches 12.

During the Missions’ night, we heard reports of the Lord’s work overseas by Dr Wee Tiong Soon (Kemaman), Pr Park Jung Il (Korea), the Rev Hien Nguyen (Brisbane), the Rev Errol Stone (Perth), the Rev Dr Park Seung Kyu (Tanzania) and the Rev Dr Mark Kim (Kenya). We were encouraged by the reports and the labour of love of the Lord’s servants. We should continue to support them and their work in prayer and in kind. An offering was taken for the Bible College of East Africa (BCEA). The campers gave IDR5,873,100, MYR420, AUD80, USD127 and SGD7482. This amount will be disbursed equally to BCEA Kenya and BCEA Tanzania.

The highlight of the camp for me was the Ubud “trekking” trip on the last day before we headed to the airport for our flight home. This short trek ended up being a two-hour trial of endurance (it would have been four hours if not for the Lord’s timely deliverance in answer to prayer). The trial of endurance was also a time of endearment because I had a friendly and chatty walking companion in little Faith (9-year-old daughter of Wayne and Jeam). She talked about catching butterflies and even showed me how it was done by catching one with her hand without hurting it. I also found out that she likes to draw. She says she draws from imagination and from images she has captured in her mind. I then gave her an assignment, “When you get back home, draw for pastor a picture of something you have seen in camp.” I have two other drawings presented to me by our children—one by Timothy (Rev Hien’s son) and another by Eliezer (Sie Boo and Evelyn’s).

We had a total of 259 participants and we thank the Lord for journey mercies to Bali and in Bali itself. The camp-master Dn Tan Beng Lee and his committee comprising Dn Wilson Tan, Dn Charles Kan, Dn Chan Kay Heem, Mrs Jemima Khoo and brother Samuel Goh, and the PA crew headed by brother Edmund Wong did all they could to ensure that the camp ran smoothly. Although a few fell ill during the camp with fever and stomach flu, all recovered in good time. We are thankful for the ready help rendered by our team of medical doctors—Dr Chan Kay Heem, Dr Han Mei Lan, Dr Tan Ming Wei, and Dr Maurice Chew.

I am also very thankful for the love of True Lifers who took special care of our elderly members especially those on wheelchairs. The staff of Harris Hotel (Sunset Road) were also friendly and cooperative. We thanked them with a good tip. We are mindful to maintain a good Christian testimony before non-believers for our show of courtesy and appreciation to them can go a long way in opening their hearts to the gospel.

Praise the Lord for another blessed camp. May the spiritual lessons learned in the camp not be soon forgotten but always remembered until we see our Lord and Saviour face to face. Let us not live for our selfish ambitions or for this sinful world but for His glorious coming and eternal kingdom. “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess 5:9). Amen. JK