When God Calls Unto Us
By Lou Arrabelle Labadan, CBCC Youth President
Excitement and curiosity on how things would go…that was what brought us there. And my first time to attend the Youth camp!
Music and laughter filled the van. We were on our way to Gensan for the 1st Circuit Baptist Church Youth Camp from April 13-16,2011 at Tinagacan . Believe it or not, we passed through “Baguio”, “Ilo-Ilo” and many other places! But it was just an illusion because some of the places we passed by looked the same as these places. Long and winding roads, deep cliff overlooking the sea.
Hours drifted away and we finally arrived. Meeting us were the welcoming smiles of the campers, pastors, and other church members. Each delegation prepared their tents and got ready before the evening program and devotional . The first evening session was a sort of amusing and perhaps memorable for our first speaker. It was raining heavily but this never stopped everyone from worshipping and enjoying the presence of the Lord. Not only did it rain. There was power failure. Darkness enveloped all of us. So we barely hear Pastor BJ’s message. Only the small light of a flashlight shone towards Pastor BJ.
The following day at 4:30 A.M., the campers went inside the church for the early morning devotional ___ praised and thanked the Lord for another day that He gave.
Games! Yes! Track and field….. basketball, and volleyball… We had a good time, especially after winning the first prize in Track and Field. As we took delight in the day’s event we realized that the sun finally sought its resting place in the west. We had our dinner and after that we all gathered in the church for the talent competition. Combokosena got 2nd, musical presentation, song-writing,1st, and we did that extemporaneously. What we did was just to enjoy participating….What a day!
Rise and shine! Day three. There was no activity after the morning devotional since it was scheduled for the business meeting. So, we were given time to see the place and were instructed to be back for the meeting. So the campers toured the place all together. We went to the city and bought souvenirs.
We hurriedly went back before dusk. It was time to elect the new batch of youth officers. Everyone made sure that every elected officer is deserving and ready to do his/her job.
After the decisive election and meeting, we all “loosened up” and ate dinner together. Then the film showing followed. It was about a boy who helped others to be faithful to God.
That evening we had a campfire.It rained so the Bonfire started late but the entire mood was still enthusiastic and excited. We wrote our sins on a sheet of paper and burned it, Saying sorry to God for the wrong things we’ve done . It was the last night so we played “spin the bottle” to get-to-know each other much better. No one ever noticed the time until it was past midnight. It was enervating but everyone wore smiles as we went to sleep.
The camp was not all about fun and games…. What made it complete were the lessons we learned and the things we discovered about life.
“Say not, ‘I am a child’” - Jeremiah 1:6
Jeremiah was still at his adolescence period when God commanded him to be a prophet. He was so afraid and tried to refuse, but God said, ”Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as prophet to the nations..” v. 5 “ Do not say ‘I am a child’. You must go everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.” v. 7-8.
I came to realize that serving God is not categorized or not selective whether you are young or not. When God calls unto us we must not hesitate to answer Him. We should not be afraid of the things that we do in serving because He has promised to be with us and He will rescue us.
God knows what’s best and everything happens for a reason because it’s all part of His great, special and perfect plan for all of us.
These were the things that I’ve reflected as I tried to recall the lecture shared to us by our speakers Pastor BJ Bactung, Pastor Vic Concerman, Pastor Roy Llasos and Pastor Swenie del Cruz.
To Him Be the Glory!