Journey mercies

The last weekend has been an incredible time for me. I was at an I-Bridge retreat in Port Dickson, a retreat for working Christians to take a rest from our not uncommon stressed work lives. I was looking forward to it also because I helped organized this retreat for the last two and a half months alongside Elaine Yap, Shih Chung, Chooi Li, Sarah Lee, Dave Chong, Vincent Low, Hwok Lok, and Li Shuan. And helping arrange the transportation and accommodations, I ended up knowing the names of all the campers before even meeting them.

It was great fun, with the ice-breaking games that got us all in stitches, with everyone being sporting and getting involved with the games, lots of exercise with beach volleyball in the evenings, all the chit-chatting during meal times, honest sharing and praying throughout the camp, sneaking to the lighthouse at midnight to see the beautiful view of the Straits of Malacca being serviced by the revolving beams coming from the lighthouse and playing mafia till 3am plus! At least this time I managed to get some sleep on the last night, even if it was for a paltry three hours or so.

But what really made this retreat the most special one in recent memory is because of the time spent organizing it as well. I took note that when all the committee members stood up to share their thoughts and reflection of the retreat on the last morning, everyone made comments of the two and a half months of organizing it, because I think we all somehow felt that God had blessed the time spent together and while we worked on our various responsibilities, with a good spirit of unity despite the different opinions and good bond between each of us.

The other highlight for me was also being there with Fiona, Li Yuan, and Tricia, although I do feel a little guilty for not having to spend as much time with them, being busy with things of the camp as well as my own personal habit of running here and there, trying to take in everything of the camp and people as best as I can. During youth fellowship days in teenage years, my friends used to accuse me of jumping here and there to different groups of people, which made them afraid to go to YF in church because they could not rely on me for physical support.

But it was good that I managed to spend time with them on the first night and to have a good round of honest sharing about our lives and to pray for each other. That is what I call real fellowship, and I am yet again blessed because I have found friends who I can really share about my walk with God and to share with theirs.

The greatest highlight is more personal between God and me. It was something God had revealed to me that caused me to cry quite a bit, not out of pain, not out of sorrow, but out of overwhelming awe. It was all it took to make the whole weekend a beautiful experience.