"For You are my hope; O Lord God, You are my confidence from my youth" - Psalms 71:5
"O God, You have taught me from my youth, and I still declare Your wondrous deeps. And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, until I delare Your strenght to this generation, Your power to all who are to come." - Psalms 71:17-18
It's not suprising that those 2 passages above are some of the most popular theme verses for Youth Ministries around the world. Chosen such just because the word "Youth" appears in them. Nothing wrong honestly, in fact probably quite natural and appropriate. But more than that, I really hope that youth who read those verses will realise that it's not just about being youth. But if you read the whole of Psalms 71, you will realise that it about persevering on in the faith till the old age and gray hairs come.
Well, this post is actually going to be my reflection on the camp. Read a few blogs so far, and many of the recurring remarks is that this camp is very different from previous camps. Well, the camp commitee had no choice; being an official school camp, we were specifically ordered to downplay the spiritual elements of the camp. Hence pretty interesting stuff like the electives and the activities on Saturday, plus no Holy Communion or service on Sunday.
But having only joined the camp commitee less than a month before the camp, I really had no clue what kind of role I was going to play. Well, it finally came less than 10 days before the start of camp, and I was definately inadequately prepared to execute my role properly. (The stickers was a really last minute addition to the camp. And trust me, chopping 480 stickers by hand is not something I would like to repeat anytime soon.) But well, evangelism is not something that happens overnight. My call to all the group leaders out there is to continue keeping in touch with the girls whom you have made friends with and those that are not in any church yet, invite them over to ours.
One thing that really encouraged me whilst I was manning the CD table was a few GB girls came up to me (they were the non-Christian ones) and asked, "Which CD is the song 'One Way' from?" The ploughing of their hearts has already begun. The sowing must take place when the time is right. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Will you go?
The highlight of the camp for me was certainly the visit to the Ling Kuang Home; really brought tears to my eyes. Especially when I was pushing this old lady and while we were in the park this lady was there and she greeted all the old folks with a really hearty, "Jesus loves you! Hallelujah!" (albeit in mandarin). But it was wonderful to see the old folks respond in the same manner! I guess the question to ask ourselves is, will we still be like them when we are their age.
A very disturbing statistic is that given any youth group at the present moment; in 20 years time, only 20% will be left serving the Lord in the same manner they are doing so now. Most would have given up their dedication tothe Lord and while they are still attending church, they would have moved onto more worldly focus, their children, their jobs would start to take priority over the Lord. And a smaller but significant group would have completely left the faith. Sad but true.
Looking back at the camp, I really wonder who will still be in the Church in 20 years time. But statistics are mere numbers, no reason why we cannot buck the trend. So look at Psalms 71 and make it your prayer to remain in the service of the Lord until you go back home.
