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Monday, April 14, 2008

A Week Away From Civilization

Hey there!:) Just came back from YGC Youth Summer Camp last Saturday...Well,I was really exhausted so I just got to write my entry today.I got to have a six-day break from the bustling noise of Manila.Though I'm not that sure if it's called a "break" hehe...Anyways...The camp was entitled "Real or No Deal" and was held at Caliraya Recreation Center in Laguna from April 7-12,2008. (Actually,I just went there last December for our church's winter conference.:P)
This time,I went with some of my church friends to this camp.We traveled by bus and it was a pretty long drive from Manila.About 5 hours or so?Imagine that...Good thing we had a stop-over.Got to grab some coffee from Starbucks along the way...:) Upon arrival,we were all very tired from the long trip, and still had to ride a boat across the lake to get to the resort.Since we got there at 11:30,we immediately had to proceed with the opening program and the acquaintance games.Turns out,the rooms weren't ready yet.So after the games...It's chow time!Starvation much!(Yep...we were pretty hungry and were already eating horses!) and right after munching,siesta time...I grabbed the chance to replenish myself and get some needed sleep.During that evening,we had our first message.In this camp,we had to of the most renown speakers.Rev.David Cheung for the theme message and the evangelistic message (group A) and our church's very own Rev.Danny Reyes for the revival message of group B.The schedule of the camp was quite hectic...Despite having 5 days for all the activities,it was still a jam-packed sched for us.Though the sched seemed tight and all,I never regretted attending this camp.(I almost backed-out---due to some personal reasons.) My confirmation in UST was scheduled on April 8.Since I was in Caliraya,my parents had to be the ones to confirm for me...God had been so gracious that nothing went wrong.This time around,I got to experience the "Slip and Slide"(I wasn't able to experience it last December during our church's wintercon) It was so fun!!!Though dirty haha...It's a fun way of getting oneself dirty!You'd be sliding from a hill above,covered in soap water...All the way down to a whole puddle of mud!!!Yuck...but fun...:P We also had a sportsfest in our camp.The "algorithm march" was simply hilarious! Haha...:P For the last night...We had the awarding of camp ballots and some presentations wherein we had to present a bible story skit with having commercials as a twist.It was fun...:) The camp program committee had lots things in store for us for the whole camp.Never did we have any dull moment.Our team turned out to be the over-all winners in the camp activities.We were named "Phi's Angels" (since we had ahia Philemon as our head counselor in the team.) We got Starbucks Coffee gift certificates each as prizes...Neat Huh?!?Then after the awarding,we headed off to the lakeside to have some fellowship and some bonfire.We sang songs and ate underneath the beautiful silhouette of the starry sky ceiling.The sight was simply breathtaking...Had our last shots of the camp to make memories last...:P The camp had been fun...I learned a lot of things. Especially things about God and how vital and important His word is in our lives.Realizing how privileged I am to be chosen as one of His children.Some of us take His gift of salvation for granted.We should love Him for He is God.Not because of the things that we'd be gaining or benefiting from.We should realize His feelings or try putting ourselves in His shoes.Would He be happy or would He be pleased?We should always remember such questions in our mind before making any decision in our lives.I also learned that we should view things with an eternal perspective and not use worldly things as a basis in our lives.Aside from learning things about God,I also got to learn things about life as well...We had some of our camp counselors to discuss the special topics with us.They were really a great help and very informative since the topics were about the usual things that teenagers like us worry about or think about in our minds.(e.g. love life,family feud,media...etc...) Like any other camp,we had our own devotional groups with our very own counselors...Thus making the learning experience more fun.;P I'm greatly thankful that God gave me a chance to be able to experience such an event in life...To Him be all the glory...:P

YGC Youth Summer Camp 2008

Caliraya Recreational Center

A top view of the whole venue

Enjoying the obstacle course with Kristelle

Kristelle, Katherine and Me

Bonfire during the camp's last night

Goofing around with my fellow UECM colleagues

The group with Achie Mary Grace



**For the rest of the pics...Just visit http://pinksapphire08.multiply.com