CF Camp: Are You Ready?

CF Camp: Are You Ready?

It’s been 2 days since camp finished. Having said that, I still have to sit down to jot down the memories and experiences I went through during the camp. They said that we shouldn’t leave the “camp” at the camp, well, I can’t disagree with them on that.

Everything was the usual same ol’, same ol’ for the trip to the campsite, if you still refer it to a campsite. My jaw dropped the moment I stepped down from the bus. WHAT? THAT IS THE CAMPSITE? A HOUSE? This is new. I’ve attended camps in apartments, SU camps, hotels, hostels, but a house? Yeah, it’s the first. Anyway, I gradually got used to it, ( as if I had any choice) and settled myself down for a 3-day stay.

I will save you the time and the redundancy by not going into details of the camp, but there were many highlights and thoughts that bombarded my mind during the camp which I would like to point out. If I were to sum up the camp in one sentence for me, I would rather put it in a question form : “Why am I Christian?” Know what? Sometimes we boldly and as-a-matter-of-factly claim that we as Christians want to come out of our comfort zone, we need to combat complacency. During this camp, yes you guessed right, we were rocked all right, and by the last session, I really felt burdened by the teachings of each session. I will get on to that later.

My observations of everyone were up to the max throughout the whole camp. I found out something. I find that from their actions, many people will reveal what’s important in their lives. I find that some people will indulge themselves in worldly things, example as studies, engineering, machines, etc. But when it’s time for a session, the very same people show utter boredom and no interest. Many will sought to “silent meditation”. I’m not against these things, but sometimes I just can’t help but feel sad that we can’t see the bigger picture. What we have here is so temporary. Can’t we see that if we really indulge ourselves in all these, one day it will all go away? We cannot take these when we leave the world. The irony is, these same people know the facts of life so well, they know the average age of a human life, they know facts of almost everything of what we can see. It saddens me that sometimes we only see what’s in front of us. Everyone will die one day. So c’mon, don’t be so naïve and narrow minded. Why settle for something temporary, instead of something permanent? Why spent lots and lots of time learning and getting interested in something temporary, and when we come to the permanent time, we know nuts? I’m not against worldly desires. In fact, I do have knowledge in certain areas of stuff. But I figured, why indulge myself of the things of a sick and dying world, when I can find out things and learn more about heaven? Where it will be the permanent place I will shift to next. I really hope these my friends will open their eyes to see the bigger fish that lies ahead of them.

Being a Christian is not easy. Challenges after challenges were raised in every session. And in every one of those, I find myself not up to the expectations of God. I find that there are lots of works to be done, lots of instructions to be obeyed. Let me put it this way, if you’re happy with what you’re doing as a Christian day in day out, think again brother, that’s more to it than this. If you’re satisfied with what you’re in now, think again brother. If you think following Christ is a piece of cake, think again brother. Jesus already warned that we should enter through the narrow gate. It’s not an option. Many Christians like to shrug it off just like that, saying why so hard? It’s easy to sing Hallelujah and shout and jump during worship time, it’s easy to say I love you Lord during worship time and all that, but when it comes to actually loving God, we become hypocrites. So? I figured some people upon hearing these will say that we shouldn’t sing it anymore. Hey, Jesus said that if we were to follow Him, we must take up the cross daily, and follow him, not choosing whether whatever luggage we have then only follow Him.

Getting serious with Jesus. Sometimes I figured Jesus gets sick of us half-hearted Christians sometimes. So why still follow Jesus? During the camp, my group decided in one of the games to forego one part of the game. It’s like we totally gave up on finishing the game because it was too much of a hassle and work for some. It was fun at first, watching other teams struggling to finish the race and game. We just sat back and relax throughout the whole process. When it came to prize giving, of course our team didn’t receive anything. I felt left out during the moment. I saw the contented faces of other team members after receiving the prize, and I learnt something. It is easy to give up when things get tough. It is easy let of everything. But if we strive through it, if we grit our teeth and fight the fight, we will receive the prize that awaits us in the end. Being a Christian is the same. If we find it too hard to continue, if we give all these up, it will be the same thing that happened to me, where we can only stand at one side during the end of the race, and see the contented faces on other people who fought the good fight.

I’m going to fight the good fight. Of course, I will try to help others do it as well. But if others still choose to give up, I have no say in that anymore. This camp has caused me to stand up from my comfort zone, and to walk where Jesus wants me to walk. It has also caused me to open my eyes to the people surrounding me, and helped me understand people more. I am ready to strive on. Are you ready?