Leadership camp a life changing experience for HFC youths

  Published on October 30 , 2009

KAJANG : Thirty-seven youths from Holy Family Church (HFC) experienced a life changing moment in the Youth Leadership Camp held from Oct 16- 18 at Dominic Villa in Genting Highlands.

Alvin Teoh, one of the speakers, enlightened the youths on God’s Love — true stories about how God’s intimate love changed many people’s life, touched and rekindled God’s fiery love in the youths. Teoh then continued about the Wonders of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world which miraculously healed and touched many. After that, there was a silent moment of prayer whereby the youths asked God for His forgiveness for all the wrongs they’ve done. Brendan, the keyboardist played and sang a beautiful song, Let Me and let go which brought many to tears.

The next day started off with the Rosary in three languages, Chinese, Tamil and English. The youths were then briefed on the significance of praise and worship. Since then, for every praise and worship the youths glorified God with their arms open wide, ready to receive His unending love.

The first talk for that day was given by Eddy Dorairajah on Salt of the Earth and light of the world. Here, the youths learned that evangelizing is a great way to commit themselves completely to God. Then, in groups of five, they shared their experiences on evangelizing. Although some of the youths were quite shy at the beginning, they managed to open up and share with the help of the facilitators.

Tony Albert then gave a talk on the characteristics of a good leader. He shared with them some of the verses from the Bible and examples of leaders like Jesus Himself, St Peter and St Paul. After lunch, the youths were encouraged to walk around the natural surroundings and listen to God’s voice. The walls of Dominic Villa reverberated with the youths’ laughter as they participated in entertaining games. After that Tony continued his talk about unity in diversity. Here, he touched on the importance of teamwork. One such activity involved building a tower using only three pieces of A4 paper in 15 minutes. The youths found this very challenging as they tried their best to work as a team to accomplish their mission.

Fr George Harrison celebrated Mass after that. His sermon about success and failure based on the Gospel inspired the youths to take up their own crosses and follow Jesus faithfully.

After dinner, Teoh spoke on inner healing and also shared on how people’s lives were changed miraculously. The whole team then presented a short skit about this girl who was rejected by all, even her parents. But God’s mighty and unconditional love rushed through the storm and wind for He accepted her in His arms and exchanged her broken heart with His. This skit brought many to tears. The climax of this camp was the inner healing. As Eddy led the youths through the moment of healing, many broken hearts were healed, many lives were changed, and many wounded souls were cured.

The last day of the camp started with the Rosary. Eddy gave a talk on the gifts and the fruits of the Holy Spirit. After that every youth was prayed over to receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Holy Spirit stirred the flame even brighter for many rested in God’s spirit while a couple of the youths received the gift of tongues. Then it was time to proclaim God’s glory on all the miracles that took place throughout the camp. About 14 youths came out from their shells and testified on how they were touched and healed by God’s grace. Some saw visions while some heard the voice of God Himself.

“I learned many things in this camp especially about worshipping and singing praises to God. Most importantly, I’ve come to realize that Jesus is the centre of my life. I truly experienced His healing. My life has been changed,” said Christopher Chang, from the Chinese language youth group.

Catherine George Nelson from the Tamil language youth said that she is able to understand the characteristics of a Christian leader. She also experienced peace and calmness during the praise and worship. She concluded that from now on, Jesus will lead her in everything she does.

“It was heartwarming, spiritually strengthening and brought peace to my heart. The agenda was well prepared by the organizers. Serve God in everything you do,” said Freddie Wee, a representative from the English language group. Fully equipped with God’s love, the youths have now become soldiers of Christ, willing to serve Him in everything they do. — By Juan Margrita