3 days at Nee Soon Camp

Day 1.
Had a weird acute back pain that day. Well, it was my butt actually. It'll hurt if I bent forward, even if I leaned over just a bit. Thus, it was really painful to change clothes. Got out bed late again :X Snoozed too many times.

Aloysius called to inform me of the plan to cab down to camp. It's an act of convenience (or sloth perhaps?); it was our first day after all. Seeing that I'll be late, they decided to direct the cab to wait under my house.

About 7.10am, I stepped into the waiting taxi while my lower abdomen screaming in pain. 3 of my fellow NDP Clerks were already inside. They were:
- Bryan, a mad computing genius who was with me from the beginning (like since Poly Year 1).
- Aloysius, a ki- I mean dude who looked and behaved like a 15-year-old teenager.
- Amos, musical guy and fervent brother from another church.

Randy decided to make his way there by himself, only to meet us outside the camp.

And as destiny would have it, the 5 of us entered the not-so-glorious gates of Nee Soon Camp (NSC), marching together towards our calling.

Well, not really. We were kinda lost and directionless, not knowing where HQ SCE (Headquarters Singapore Combat Engineers) is. After much wandering, we asked directions and finally found the place. Not without much sweat though.

HQ SCE INT Branch.
A place of big shots and high ranks. But they were pretty nice people. Our superiors introduced themselves, and got to know us better. More importantly, they revealed the paths that lie before us.

Thus they spoketh:

"3 of the fellowship shall depart to Selarang Camp next week, that they may assist in Multimedia.

2 shall remain here for 2 months, before departing to Seletar Camp, for the purposes of Website Design."

These aren't their exact words, but you get the gist =3

Selarang is way far, near Changi Village. Thank the Lord that I am part of the Website team - Seletar is soooo much nearer.

After that, we got a short tour around camp, visiting the highly important venues: the canteen, the cookhouse, another canteen, etc.

NSC is much more prettier than Sungei Gedong. Instead of dull & old buildings complete with dull & old trees, we have garden-like walkways surrounded with bunks that resemble condominiums. A swimming pool would make the scene complete. The dining tables were brightly colored, and they actually serve soya bean milk for lunch.

There you have it; NSC is nicer, nearer and more privileged.

Having nothing to do, we found ourselves dozing off at about 3-4pm, when our Head superior (a Lieutenant Colonel) spotted us. He said "Why are you all sleeping here? Go home!"

That's the best command I heard in my life. At his word, we left camp at about 4 plus, rejoicing for being posted here. NSC - Best. Camp. Evar.


Day 2.
We were told NOT to bring our uniforms, but to wear civilian clothing instead. Everyone in the office was in shirt and jeans. After half a day of chatting/using internet/slacking, we were off to Marina Sands. Woot.

The whole of HQ SCE organized a "National Education" trip at SkyPark! That's free $20 tickets for each of us :D

The last time I had such an event was in secondary school lol.

We took the elevator up to the 57th floor. When we emerged out into the SkyPark, I was totally mesmerized. The view from up there is simply breathtaking.

You could see the far corners of Singapore from where I stood. People were tiny specks and cars were like Tamiya toys. From the Northern side, you could view the City Hall, Padang, Swissotel, Chinatown, Clarke Quay, Padang, The Singapore Flyer, etc. I spotted Singapore Indoor Stadium, Marine Parade, East Coast Park eastward. There was Marina Barrage at the south, and a wide span of water speckled with ships further beyond. Islands outlined the southern horizon. Wish you were there!

Too bad none of us could bring cameras into camp. I would have taken tonnes of photos. But surprise of surprises - I bumped into my previous Usher Team Leader, Juliana, at the premises. And she had a camera. Thus I took a shot together with my buddies :)
Photos are not up yet though :(

After taking a group photo with the whole of HQ SCE, we were dismissed at like around 1.50pm! :D

Day 3.
Its down to Bryan and I. The rest were given off today, and they would be posted out the Selarang Camp next week.

After a rather free morning, we spent the rest of the afternoon photocopying stuff. Arrows from above hit our fellow colleague, and caused collateral damage to us. Being wounded with many arrows, our friend decided to pluck some out of his chest and fire them at us haha.

But we had nothing to do anyway, so we were okay with it. It's better than doing nothing.

We took shifts; one of us would photocopy a set of like 25 while the other spent the time drawing hahas. Then we would swap.

Sometimes I wonder, is this God's will for me to work together with Bryan?

It was by chance that I knew Bryan.

It was by chance that we worked together in our 1st project.

It was by chance that we were posted to the same camp.

It was by chance that we were both selected to do NDP Website.

And here we are both in NSC.

But was it really by chance, or the work of God?

Whatever it is, let God's will be done.

FAITH CAMP!

Yea I'm back from Faith Camp, and was totally awesome!!! NOAH! :D
So here's a glimpse of the fun moments:

Day 1

At registration

Playing icebreakers and learning cheers

We nearly lost every game to Joseph on the first day, who played as our nemesis the whole time. I guess we aren't talented in sports and physical activities haha. BUT we kept a good attitude at all times, cheering also for the other houses!

The night session was phenomenal!! Presence of God was very strong and Weiren preached an AWESOME message! Everyone was talking about it! I was feeling quite down as Noah lost at almost every game. However, when God's presence and anointing came, suddenly all these things became insignificant - it doesn't matter even if Noah doesn't win. That is because the reason for this camp is to get the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the impartation from the Leaders, the passion for Christ and the presence of God. That's all that really matters at the end of the day!

That night, I had the laugh of my life. I literally LUP (Laughed Until Peng)! Hey I just invented a new word! Anyway, there was this guy named Melvin (or Belvin) who liked to do Yoga stunts. He was hopping around with one leg with the other leg behind his neck. I've never laughed so hard for a long time!

Me and Melvin

Melvin doing yoga stunts.

He told us that he slept like this for 1 hour that night. LOL

Day 2
We slept for like 4 hours and woke up for morning prayer. We were all feeling tired but the presence of God showed up very tangibly! We had a great time seeking God together :)

We played Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in the morning! We won about 3 out of 10 rounds, which is not too bad, considering there are 4 houses. I helped Noah win 1 round, singing Through It All! :D

Later we had a break before the night session. We did the placard for Felicia, talked rubbish, snacked, camwhored and more. Occasionally, Qiming would be chased around by various sisters, especially Adeline.

P.S. I stole some pictures from the CG Blog.

Mervin and Eugene
before the night session

I'm beneath the shield lol


On guard!
Where did Sheryl jump out from?

W406! :D

Day 2 night session was great! We had performances from Campus Superstar finalist Rachel and Strikeforce! Rachel is just 15 years old and she looks so mature! She has a wonderful voice as well. I'm just amazed at how God can use someone so young for His glory!

Rachel Ling,
Campus Superstar Finalist

Strikeforce really BLEW THE HOUSE DOWN! Their radical performance was full of energy and power! Really love the rhythm! I recorded part of their performance:

The Strikeforce!

Tonight was also the Project Runway Finals! Congrats to our models, even though we didn't win - cause they really took a step of faith, and they will always be winners in our eyes!

Noah's top models,
James and Felicia!

Pastor Zhuang delivered an inspiring message about the Presence of God. I'm so glad that Jolin, Eugene and Melvin responded to the Altar Call! :D

Edwin led the final praise songs which filled the hall with excitement! It kinda felt like Emerge! Everyone was jumping, singing to God at the top of their voices. We all crowded to the front of the stage! Edwin and Pastor Zhuang also dived into the audience with the brothers tossing them about LOL. Pastor spun a few rounds in our hands :X

The crowd going wild!

W406 Again! :D

Qiming conducting his famous "We're Never, Never, Never gonna lose" cheer based on the hit song "Nobody" by Wondergirls

When most of the crowd has cleared the hall, I went about on a camera-ing spree.

Edwin's head popped out of nowhere.

Jing Yuan and Sunthari

Huimei and Myself

Later Huimei introduced me to Chui Laam and Geraldine although we already knew each other. Only when she asked them to "get my number" that I realized what she was up to haha. I have no idea why she thinks so highly of me.

Huimei please don't pull this kind of stunt on me can? XD I'm not that good as you think I am; just ask Weiren :X "我不配..."

Speaking of Jay Chou songs, I was really high that night and sang out loud as we were bathing. Anyway, back to my camera spree...

Random picture of bros

Ready for battle!

Now presenting a MUST WATCH video of the retarded things we did:

That's Zining doing her gymnastic gig, Melvin hopping on one leg with the other leg behind his neck, some brothers behaving like monkeys on the pull-ups bars

Day 3
We had a great session with Faji! He asked us to invite our friends for the celebrity weekend, and within 10 mins, we have 110 confirmed friends! We broke camp at 3pm, and Qiming treated all of us to lunch!!! Bless his kind soul! I pray for God's strength to be with him as he enters army tomorrow.

Noah had the lowest points at the end of the 3 days, but I believe we were the most spiritual! When Faji did the shout of faith, most that fell under God's weight were from Noah! The only person that had a word from God through Pastor was Joel from Noah! The brothers also prayed together before we slept every night!

Conclusion
The Faith Camp is truly a faith camp! I discovered that I have an abundance of faith after the camp, to be Cellgroup leader, to reach out to the lost, to shine for God in the marketplace, to see a new generation of young leaders who will take Singapore by storm!!!

Finally, I would like to end by saying that all of you guys in W406 have the potential to do great things for God. Pastor Zhuang, Weiren, Faji, and the rest told us that we are the next generation that will accomplish great things for God not just to inspire us. There is substance in their words - I too feel in my spirit. Many of you will become CGLs! You are the generation of the greater works, the generation that will bring City Harvest Church to 100,000, the generation whose hearts are pure before God!

Praise the Lord!