JE STUDENT CAMP : DESPERATION 09 – Impact Your World.

JE STUDENT CAMP : DESPERATION 09 – Impact Your World.

‘‘For indeed we are desperate people; we want more out of our lives;
We turn against routine; we want to fulfill the aching desires of our hearts;
We want to have a close contact with Christ so that we can be an Impact to our World.’’

Along with this, the committee of Jesus Embassy gathered and successfully put together the first ever student camp held in VATY tourists’ center on the Akhtuba River from the 1st-3rd of May 2009.

This was a time for us to not only grow into a whole new level of knowing God personally and intimately, but also to equip ourselves to be a positive influence in our community, impacting and changing lives of the people around us.

Consisting of 28 people, the camp was a huge success involving not only students from Volgograd, but also students from Moscow. They travelled all the way over to our little город герой to help make this event an even more meaningful one.

1st May 2009 (Friday)

On the much-awaited first day of camp, we arrived at the site at exactly 1pm. After settling in and getting acquainted with one another, we filled our stomachs with 2 good-ol’ McDonald’s chicken burger. We were then divided into 4 groups namely :
1) The Power Rangers
2) The Fantastic 6
3) The Conquerors
4) God’s Home
First up on the schedule was Games – what better than those involving water balloons. We were all geared up and busy strategizing to win. All hell broke lose when the whistle was blown as groups started running wildly through the forest, girls screaming their hearts out trying to protect themselves from getting wet. Although toes were cut, nails got split, sole had splinters, it was indeed a good way to start off the camp as everyone’s true colors were shown.
After dinner we had our first Session conducted by Xun Jin who spoke about whether there were MORE to life than what we had now. He further explained that God wants to make us inheritors of his kingdom so that we can be an impact to our world, knowing that we have been called for excellence.

2nd May 2009 (Saturday)

We started off with a 30 minute devotion, followed by a satisfying sausage and eggs breakfast. By 10am we started our 2nd session of the camp. We were more than honored and thrilled to have our guest speaker Ps. Simon Milongo to join us.
He shared about faithfulness, wisdom and discipleship. James 1:5 – If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. It is one thing to ask the Lord for wisdom, but on the other hand, we should also be ready to pay the cost thrown at us like time, money, and strength.
After lunch we had 2 workshops conducted by both Kelvin Yii and Xun Jin. Kelvin spoke about what worship and prayer is. Worship is our love response to what His word and spirit have revealed to us about glory and goodness. It is an expression of our authentic love for God. While prayer is basically communication with God.
Both worshipping and praying is not a set of rules. Instead, it is a heart’s longing and desire to get in touch with our Heavenly Father.
On the other hand, Xun Jin spoke about organizational leadership which meant adding value to people and to the organization, leading them to a better place or a higher level. And in every organization there are specific components needed for success, namely :
1) Purpose
2) People
3) Money
4) Assets

On our 3rd session, we had the privilege to once again listen to what Kelvin Yii had to say. This time about being Passionately Passionate! ‘Passion and persistency will make an average person superior, but a lack of passion will make a superior person average’. All in all, he concluded that passion spells out :
P – Purpose
A – Attitude
SS – Sacrificial Spirit
I – Incentive
O – Ownership
N – Never give up

We ended our 2nd day of camp with an amazing campfire @ BBQ before calling it the night.

3rd May 2009 – Sunday

Once again, we started off with a 30-minute devotion followed by breakfast of scrambled eggs and bread. We then proceeded with our 4th and final session of our camp, conducted by our own Dennis Katkov who shared about being Empowered to Impact. He spoke about not giving up even though we do not see any results immediately and continue to do good to others without expecting it in return. In other words, we should pass on the impact and be a blessing to the people around us.
We had some free time after lunch before the much-awaited Talent Time begun where every group had the chance to not only portray their talents and capability but also a time for us to just laugh, relax and have fun together.
As the end of the camp drew closer, we heavy heartedly packed up our bags and loaded them onto the bus. We took countless photographs, exchanged contact numbers and said our goodbyes before leaving the campsite.
All in all, this camp was indeed a great success as everyone left with a smile on their faces. I promise you, this is just the beginning of many more awesomeness to come! See you guys next year!

by Lily Chong