Thursday, November 21, 2013

Youth Camp

This is the Lapoc church youth group almost beside themselves with joy as they formed a welcoming committee for the 250+ youth who were arriving from 22 different churches on Oct 30th.  They had been waiting for this day for months and finally Youth Camp was about to start!!!!
By early evening, after serving a meal to over 300 hungry travellers  including the 50 Camp leaders, the first meeting started off beautifully and profoundly with the camp theme song written by some of the youth in the Lapoc youth group. They had been practising for days and the Lord really blessed their hard work and was glorified through them. 
The youth delighted in the early morning praise times outdoors, led by a special team from Cagayan who were a huge blessing to all the youth at the camp. If you have ever stood with nearly 300 fellow believers in our Lord Jesus, joining your voices in praise under the shade of tall pine trees with the blue skies stretched high above you and the early morning sun shining gently, accompanied with the resonant sounds of a cajon and a guitar and led by Goldie, a beautiful sister in the Lord and a gifted song leader....then you would know the feeling of God’s presence and the foretaste of heaven.
The youth were so focused during the messages and you would have been amazed at the quietness and the discipline they showed as they followed along in their Bibles and took heaps of notes. It amazed us!
Activity and game times were hysterical and the roar of laughter and fun bounced off the walls of our church building, echoing onto the nearby hills. We just absorbed it all as it was happening and praised God for their laughter and for the pleasures of being one family in Him!
This was the last group photo before their goodbyes. Tears flowed pretty freely as the young people said goodbyes to each other and the loaded vehicles set off for home. Even though we had some dear friends visiting with us, the house still felt empty without the 40+ campers that had been staying with us in our house but they’ll be back next year!