5th International Students' Camp (Part Three)

Here's the third and final part regarding the camp.

Saturday, 3rd January 2009 (Day 9) ~ It was the BIG Day. At least, that was what we were told. The International Youth Rally and Carnival which was planned WAY ahead of time.. We had a few briefings concerning this day prior to the event. By 2pm, we were all gathered at MYC. There were quite many people there already. Volunteers and helpers from the various churches in Ipoh.. Also, the four youth bands were there to do the sound check etc.

While waiting for the carnival to begin, most of us just hanged around in the hall. That morning, our Quiet Time task was to draw a fish anywhere on our arm.. So it was funny to spot those who didn't do their QT.

Just ONE of those Conversations:
SC - "Where's your Fish? I wanna see.."
Friend - "What Fish?"
Everyone - "Hor, didn't do Quiet Time."..
Friend - ????

And he did it immediately. Haha

Our QT Fishes.. Which is the nicest? =P

Some of the Campers chilling before the carnival..

At 4.00, the Carnival began.. It was already raining but by the grace of God, people still came.. Even though the number of people were much less than expected, at least people still showed up. There were quite many stalls.. Hanny, the only girl from Indonesia, had RM40 worth of coupons.. She told me I could take some from her, so I took a RM10 booklet.. And I spent RM20 on food alone. But I wasn't so greedy to buy everything for myself la. Malaysian food still rocks! =D

The Philippines' booth

The Korean booth

Charmaine, Amanda and Linus from KL..

Peninsular Malaysia's booth.. Do you notice something wrong? HAHA. =P

At around 5.30, the Hip-Hop Dance Competition began.. I think there were 12 contestants and 6 of them were ISC Campers.. 4 from Japan, 1 from the Philippines and 1 from South Korea.

Miguel (Philippines), Shingo and Fumika from Japan

While waiting for the dance.. The Semi-Finalists

The Japanese with their own dance..

Fumika =). She got third btw..

I cheered too much. Even though I was already on the verge of losing my voice. I can't remember a time where I've cheered for my friends that much. Haha. Right after the dance, I RAN back to the changing room upstairs. Nearly all the campers were already in their national costumes, so I had to hurry. Cause it was nearly 6.30 and the International Parade was about to begin. And being the SU Flag Bearer, I had to be first.

All of the ISC Campers on the stage.. Part of the Parade

The International Parade started with all the flag bearers marching onto the stage, followed by everyone else. Then the Japs, Koreans, Malaysians and the Cambodian girl presented their items.

The Japanese with their performance =)

Koreans.

Worship

The Human Train.. Hugo sesat.. HAHA

Cheese!

Mr. Chito (Philippines), Yeon Hoon (Korea), Madoka and Aika, Yoon-Ku and Ha-Young from Korea..

And finally, the last picture I took before the day ended.

Ken, Me and Mamoru. Both from Japan. He had no better pose. >.<. Haha

Overall, the rally was great. Though the expected 2000 people obviously didn't turn up. But then again, there were people saved that night.. And that's what matters most.. If all the efforts were put in just to touch ONE soul, it is indeed worth it.. After all, we know, that the angels in heaven rejoice over one soul who repents. =). By the time the rally ended, some campers already started crying, and yes I did too.. Just a little.. It was the last night, so I guess that explains it.

Sunday, 4th January 2009 (Day 10) ~ It was the LAST Day.. Woke up early in the morning and went to Wesley for service. We all went to different churches, depending on our foster families.. After service, all of us who went to Wesley walked to the MYC. And just chilled.. The other campers started coming back to the MYC. The Japanese were to leave for KLIA at 12.30p.m. Before they left, we said goodbye to them. I was hugging some of the good friends I made and suddenly, I lost it. I couldn't stop the tears from flowing. They were asking me not to cry, but I couldn't help it. And when I saw my best friend in camp, Hikari, she started crying as well. Anyhow, I followed them outside to the bus.. Some of the Japanese girls were crying as well. But other than that, everyone was pretty fine. It was funny, cause they were watching me and a few others as if it were some drama. But then again, it was fine with me.

It took me nearly an hour to fully stop crying. My eyes were swollen by then.. It was very hard for me to accept that I wouldn't be seeing my friends anymore.. At least not for many years.. It just wouldn't be the same. The Koreans were supposed to leave at 2. I went off around 1.. After bidding goodbye!

While waiting for everyone to arrive at MYC

Charmaine, Me, Jazgul and Nursultan from Kyrgyzstan

That's all folks. =D. I will still post pictures and a few of the MOST MEMORABLE MEMORIES I had in camp. And maybe the people I will miss the most. =). God bless! Thanks for reading through, if you did.

5th International Students' Camp (Part Two)

Wednesday, 31st December 2008 (Day 6) ~ It was Jungle Craft day. A very interesting one indeed.. Some of the indigenous people were invited to teach us to make certain things.. Earlier on, we had to choose our workshop. There were 6 workshops.. 3 types of food and 3 items. Namely; ketupat, lemang, bamboo chicken for the food and for the items it was the catapult, musical instrument (bird whistle) and the blowpipe. For the food, those who chose it would learn how to cook it and it would then become our lunch for the day.. And for the items, we would be taught how to make it and yes, it would be ours! For me, I only registered for a workshop after majority of the people did. So I ended up learning how to make the bird whistle. It was cool.

The Making of the Bird Whistle

The Bamboo Chicken.. it was AWESOME

Ketupat Making Process

After nearly 3 hours of hard work, all of us gathered in the dining hall for lunch.. We ate the cooked food and the OA brought sambal prawns too (TOO GOOD). It was a very, very good lunch.. Right after lunch, some of us continued making our bird whistles. It wasn't easy to make it, cause if you don't get the write length and things like that, there won't be any sound.. There was this boy, a very cute 13-year old Japanese boy named Shunya Tateno.

Isn't he cute? I thought he looked like an Anime Character.. hehe.. KAWAII!!

Anyway, he made 5 bird whistles, but even so, he still couldn't make a proper one. I felt really bad for him, so I helped him after I finished mine. But when he continued doing it, it still couldn't work.. So me and two other girls helped him to do No.6 and it finally worked! But he misplaced it after lunch and was starting another one. I managed to find it for him, and he was really happy. Then he was busy making something, and when I asked him what it was, he said he was making a stick. It looked pretty cool. No picture, but it was a long stick. I had no idea what it was for. When I asked if it was a fighting stick, he went like 'Ah, ah, ah'. >.<. I think he doesn't even know what he's talking. Haha, but he was so cute. AH. I miss him so much! At around 3pm, we were asked to gather at the Amphitheater. The OA were going to teach us their dance, called the 'Sawang'. It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. Later, some campers joined them in the dance. It was pretty amusing watching campers of different nationalities doing some traditional thing. They had to wear the grass stuff as well. Headgear, skirt, you name it. Sorry, no pictures here. After the dance, we had a short Blowpipe and Catapult shooting competition.. Those who entered would have to shoot the balloons from afar.. And the prize? A miserable packet of Cheezels. HAHA, only one guy managed to do it. It was a special night. 31st December 2008, the Last day of the year. And New Year would be spent, far away from home for most of the people. After Praise and Worship, there was a slot for Sharing and Review about the camp so far.. At 10pm, the watchnight service started. It started off with a few songs and then a representative from each of the 10 nations involved in the 5th ISC shared about the SU movement in his country and the prayer needs as well. I was actually looking forward to the countdown, but there wasn't any. The sharing went past 12. Haha, but it didn't really matter after all. There was much more important things to think about. After the sharing, a guy from SU shared with us and he gave us a few questions to think about. He made us reflect on our year and how much we have done to serve His purpose. We were all given a small candle in a cup and after reflecting, we were supposed to light it up and place it at the foot of the cross right in front of the hall.

It was a very quiet and reflective moment.

As the night went by, I was changed. Somehow, this new year was different from any I've ever had before. It was a moment where I really experienced true surrender. More to come later. That was the end of 2008 and a fresh start to 2009. Lights out were at 2am. I only settled down and went to bed at 3something. Suddenly, some of the camp officers came in and kept asking us to sleep. They weren't gonna leave till we did. So we slept.

Thursday, 1st January 2009 (Day 7) ~ When I woke up, my pavilion mate (the Sarawakian) told me that our slippers were missing.. And our shoes too. So I went to check and yeah it was GONE. And who else would have taken it besides the CAMP OFFICERS. They were so desperate for us to sleep the night before. Haha. So both of us went out to check. My shoes were not taken cause it was still in my shoe bag. Thank God. The amphitheater was just outside our pavilion. And yeah, our slippers were there. The wonderful officers did a great job by scattering the slippers EVERYWHERE. Every single chair had a different slipper.. So we searched for some time.. Some lucky slippers were stashed on top of some wooden thing as well. Being a kind soul (LOL), I woke the guys at the pavilions up and told them to find their slippers and lend them mine to use for awhile. Those who were sleeping in the rooms found their slippers much harder. Some were even stashed and hidden away.. It was the last day at the SUFES Campsite. After Praise and Worship (Peninsula Malaysia's turn), we had the closing session. And after lunch we left for Ipoh. We went in three buses, as usual. The bus ride back was pretty fun. Though nearly the whole bus was sleeping.

Nothing much happened after that. The foster parents were all gathered in the hall already, so when our names were called, we had to go.

Friday, 2nd January 2009 (Day 8) ~ We gathered at MYC at 10am and left for Daybreak.. We were split into 5 different groups for our jobs.. My group did some weeding, it was FUN under the SUN.. Except for the fact that we fed the mozzies NICELY. And it was funny how some of the Koreans and a few others freaked out when they saw a frog..

The Koreans during lunch

After lunch, a few national groups performed for the people in Daybreak to watch..

Lux from Cambodia with the Cambodian dance.. Every move speaks for itself (Christian meaning)

Sarawak group

Japan =)

Koreans..

Me and Hikari at Daybreak

We returned to MYC at 3.30 for the Carnival and Rally rehearsal.

The different flags.. I was holding the Scripture Union East/West Asia flag, far right.

We went back to our respective homes after rehearsal.

The last two days will be in Part 3.. Till then! =)

5th International Students' Camp (Part One)

So here is the post about the 5th ISC that I recently attended.. As promised. =)

*This will be quite a long post, so if you're not up for it, don't bother reading on.* LOL

I uploaded most of the pictures on Facebook but I will put some up here as well..

Friday, 26th of December 2008 (Day One) ~ I was dreading to go for camp.. 10 days seemed too long for me. I left Ipoh at 2 something in the afternoon and headed for the SUFES Campsite in Tapah. Was really lazy when I reached.. It was hot and I had no mood for anything. Then I met Christina, Peninisula Malaysia's national leader for the camp.. She's a really nice person.

Me and Christina on the last day of camp.

To cut things short, I soon met my pavilion mates.. 3 Japanese girls and one from Sarawak.

The first pavilion mate that I met (also the first camper I talked to) turned out to be my best friend throughout the camp.. She is none other than Hikari Yoshizawa.

Then there were Aika and Hitomi (Hikari's younger sister) from Japan.

I was given an 80-page camp booklet when I arrived.. Yeah, that thick. Haha.. Anyway it was free time till dinner. And we were told we had to change into our national costumes right after dinner. We played some icebreakers during the first night, got to know each other and things like that.. Also we learned the Scripture Union East/West Asia Theme Song, a really good and powerful one. There were ten countries involved in this camp. Namely; Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Kyrgyzstan and Malaysia - Peninsula, Sarawak and the Orang Asli.. Then we broke into our groups to elect our leader.. I was placed in Group 4..

Back row (From left) - Se-Hyun (Kor), Su-Jung (Kor), Malaysian. =D, Pham Thi Thanh Hang (Vietnam), Jane Chan (HK), Andrew (Sarawak), Jack (OA).

Dudes sitting - Byeong-Gi (Kor) and Shingo (Jap)

Had supper after that and had a great chat with some of the Japanese.

Saturday, 27th December 2008 (Day Two) ~ I became my pavilion's alarm clock.. So yeah, to cut the long story short, day two was filled with activities.. Simulation games (we had to really use our brains), teaching sessions (challenging) and some sort of treasure hunt (but there was no treasure). Dinner was hosted by Korea. Ah, I should've taken shots of the food. But anyway, it was good. There was Kimchi of course.. Some beef stew and a few more.. Then we had briefing for the Orang Asli Church visit which was supposed to be on the next day.. End of Day Two..

Sunday, 28th December 2008 (Day Three) ~ Main highlight was visiting the Orang Asli Church.. There were 12 groups so we broke into 6 groups by merging.. So we went to the different churches by bus.. The church I went to was in Batu 8..

Me and Madoka (Japan), on the way to the village..

Me, Su-Jung and Ho-Jin from Korea..

It was a really touching and wonderful experience and no one could deny that.. The worship was simply amazing.. The service was conducted in Malay and though most of the campers could not understand anything (especially the worship), they did testify that God's presence was real in the midst of it.. And I sensed it too.. I really do respect these indigenous people and their passion for God.. Just beautiful..

After service, the ladies in the church had already prepared food for us.. So after eating we had a small tour around the village.. And saw quite a few things.. After that the bus came and we headed to Kuala Woh, Tapah.. If you don't know, it's a waterfall area..With both hot and cold springs.. Had great fun there. The current was really strong, so most of the time, we were floating.. =D.

Me, Shingo (my cool group leader) and Mamoru.. (Both from Japan) before the swim.

We went back to the campsite late in the afternoon. BBQ Dinner that night, and it was great.. During dinner, the Koreans brought out their Ramen in a cup and I was lucky to be given one by one of the guys.. That guy ate 12 chickens, 2 plates of rice, 4 sausages, 1 ramen and I don't know what else.. He claims that he loves the chicken.. Oh, well..

There was a sharing session after Praise and Worship. Oh and I forgot to mention that every praise and worship session was handled by different countries. So it was fun to learn different songs in different languages and there are many nice ones too. Sharing session was based on their experience during the OA church visitation. Many lives were changed because of that one experience and it was really encouraging to hear their stories. Especially those from other countries..

Monday, 29th December 2008 (Day 4) ~ By this day, I DID NOT want camp to end.. I was too attached to the camp.. And the people there.. Anyway, teaching sessions were on again. And later on, we were informed that That very night, we had to present an item to the 'King' according to our nations.. So we had a couple of hours to discuss and prepare.. We, Peninsula Malaysia ended up with the 'Malaysia's Cultural LIVE Museum'. We broke ourselves into the Malays, Indians and Chinese.. Though all of us were Chinese. And then there were two tourists walking around, interested to learn about Malaysian Culture. So it was some 'dance' for the Malays, Chinese wedding tea ceremony and of course, MAMAK. It was an interesting night. With all the countries and their performances.. And Japan hosted dinner that night. It was Japanese Curry. SOOOO GOOOD!! OISHIIII!! (Delicious)

The Japs with their drama

Kenichii (The SAMURAI) and Shingo. With Madoka (The Villain) All smiles.. =D

The two ADORABLE Korean boys.. Hyun-Dong and Ahn Drew.. playing the recorder

Korean Performance No. 2.. The guys wearing the Hanbok, the Korean traditional dress for GIRLS... They did really well. And the King fell in love with them, so they became His concubines for the night. =D

The third concubine. The 'prettiest' of them all. Haha, he's also the 12 chicken guy

A traditional dance from the Philippines

It was a really interesting night and we went way past the time allocated for the event.. So lights out was at 1 something instead of 12.. Before we left the hall, everyone was busy taking pictures..

Tuesday, 30th December 2008 (Day 5) ~ Day 5 started off well. The teaching session that day was interesting.. There were 6 different speakers.. And each of them gave a short preview on what they would be sharing in their workshops.. We were supposed to pick 3 to go to, but due to the time, we could only pick 2.. It was half-an-hour each workshop so after an hour, it was lunch time. We had station games in the afternoon and we were supposed to do stream-trotting.. But it started raining heavily halfway through the games so we had to stop.. Still, they said we could still play on our own if we wanted to.. After all, we were already drenched.. It was real fun but I had to wash up early cause it was Malaysia's turn to host dinner.. We had Nasi Lemak, Chicken Curry, Air Limau and later on, Sago Pudding. It was not bad, but the Sambal was abit too spicy for most of the people..

That night was Challenge Night. It was like a Teaching session, but they imposed a challenge on all of us. I haven't mentioned the Camp Theme - Many Faces, One Function.. So that very night, it was a challenge for us to serve God in our own lands.. After that, it was photo taking session again.. That night was also called 'National Costume Exchange Night', where we had to change our national costumes with someone from a different country.. So yeah, it was interesting to see everyone look different.. I exchanged costumes with Hikari, we decided to do so ever since they told us about it on the first day.. I wore the yukata (not kimono) and she wore the cheongsam..

Konichiwa =)

So that was it for the first 5 days of Camp.. I'll post the rest in Part 2.. Till then!