The 2nd Annual Presbyterian Synod Youth Ministry Leadership Camp was held on the 26th to 27th January, 2007, at Bethel Presbyterian Church. It was a significant event which brought together youth leaders from various Presbyterian churches. This year, youth leaders from 13 different Presbyterian churches participated in the event.
The camp kick started with a welcome speech from Pr. Wilson Tan and a worship session led by Chen Li Presbyterian Church worship team. It was a great sight to behold, seeing youths of all ages from different churches worshipping God together in the cosy hall. This was just a prelude to the high levels of learning and fun we experienced during the camp.
The speaker for this year’s Synod Youth Ministry Leadership Camp was Rev. Jimmy Tan Boon Chai from Bethel Presbyterian Church. The main focus of his sermons was on “The Calling of a Spiritual Leader”. The sermons were split into 3 sessions. And through these sessions, we, the youths would learn about the Christian Perspective on Leadership. We learnt that to be a Christian leader, there is a need for a calling by God, character after God followed by competencies enabled by God. Rev. Tan told us that God’s calling may be come as an internal or external calling that we as youths will experience and that we must possess Christ-like character such as humility and love. We also got to know that the virtues of Christ can be developed over time by God. Lastly, Rev. Tan also shared that we must possess competency to be able to serve with God. Through these sermons, we have a clearer picture of the requirements and functions of a youth leader, which may act as a guide to our journey as a Presbyterian youth leader. Hence, this enhances our understanding and knowledge as Christians.
Simultaneously, we also experienced fun and interaction during the course of the two-day camp from games organized by Rev. Wong Siow Hwee. Trivia games such as “Who is Johnny C?” and “WWCD?” which tested our wits and anticipation as each group racked their brains to outsmart the others. Everyone experienced much fun and laughter during the course of the games. However, most importantly, is that through these games, all of us were able to learn more about the 16th century theologian John Calvin (founder of the Presbyterian or Reformed Church) as well as his influence and ideas which are important to the modern day churches.
Last but not least, the camp wrapped up with the Grand Finale, which consisted of 5 stations of Tug of War games. Each station required all of us to display our physical prowess as well as our teamwork and support for our peers. This enabled our teams to bond together. Finally, the Grand Finale ended with a final Tug of War which pitted the boys against the girls. Subsequently, the girls won the Tug of War, landing the boys in defeat. However, the main focus is that we all managed to have fun and gel together through the games.
The 2nd Annual Presbyterian Synod Youth Ministry Leadership Camp may have just been a two-day camp. However, we have definitely benefited much through these two days as we all grew spiritually as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and gained much knowledge in the aspects of service to the church. Not to forget, barriers have been broken and new bonds have been built between youths of different churches. As a result, we have made buddies from other churches, enabling all of us to spread the love and concern for one another from one church to the other. Hopefully this camp will not only gel the youths from different churches, but will also foster closer togetherness between adjacent Presbyterian churches and act as a steeping stone for greater unity in the Singapore Presbyterian community.
- Jonathan Giang
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