Youth Day Camp 2024
Hui Yi, one of our YAs, attended and helped out at our recent Youth Day Camp. She shares with us what the youths did and how it was an encouraging 2 days.
Our Youth held a Day Camp on 21 and 22 June 2024! Titled “Unpacking: God’s Big Picture”, we enjoyed an extended time of learning and fellowship with 33 youths and 15 older ones who served in the camp! :)
Unpacking: God’s Big Picture
Just as how puzzle pieces fit together to form a beautiful picture, the books of the Bible tell of God’s unified story. Through three main sessions, Nicholas Quek and Joshua Lowe led us through the great value and joy of knowing the Big Picture story of the Bible.
Particularly, we learnt that the Bible story ultimately tells of how God establishes His Kingdom through Jesus, throughout the history of Creation, Catastrophe, Covenant, Christ and Completion. It was exciting as we looked at how the Old Testament points toward the promise of Jesus, which is amazingly fulfilled in the New Testament. In light of this Big Picture, we were equipped on how to interpret Biblical texts faithfully: to consider (1) the text itself and where we are in the Bible’s big storyline, (2) the original audience, (3) how it points to Christ and (4) how it is relevant to us today.
We thank God that the time spent meditating on God’s Big Picture grew the youths’ appreciation for God’s Word and equipped them to read it faithfully. It was also encouraging to hear from each other’s reflections, such as that seeing God’s Big Picture has helped us marvel at God’s good and faithful character. After all, the Bible is God’s Story, through which we know Him and how we should live. We pray that the youths may grow in their desire to read the Bible and that their love for God may abound!
Living transformed lives in Christ
We also spent some time thinking about the Christian life in gendered groups.
Elliot led the guys through a workshop based on J.C. Ryle's "Thoughts for Young Men", sharing the gravity of sin as portrayed in the Bible and what putting sin to death looks like. We thank God for the intentional space and time for the youths to reflect on and repent from the sins they are struggling with in their lives.
Hannah led the girls through the topic of spiritual rebirth, underscoring the humbling truth that conversion is by God’s work alone. We don’t deserve spiritual birth, neither can we make it happen; but it is through God’s grace and Jesus that we are now born again spiritually. We then considered what it looks like to have our lives transformed by God’s Word and the Spirit continually.
As the youths navigate this identity-making phase of their lives amidst worldly influences, we pray that these workshops may spur them on to consider the truths of the Bible for themselves personally, and for them to be transformed by the renewal of their minds!
Deepening relationships
What is a Day Camp without some fun, right? Apart from learning from God’s Word together, we bonded over mass games, and free-and-easy blocks of time that included playing board games, switch, sports and even cooking one of our meals together! We are thankful too, for the opportunity to build relationships with the P6-ers who joined us for the camp.
As I reflect on the 2 days spent together, I truly thank God for His work in the youths’ hearts and lives. Having time set aside to honestly reflect about our personal relationship with God with each other was precious, as we encouraged each other towards wholehearted pursuit of God and His Word. It is my prayer that the youths may indeed taste and see that the Lord is good. May we continue to be keeping the youths (and their leaders) in prayer, as one body in Christ!