Joy in the Camp
by Chen Tan Chu
A retired teacher talks about the joy he experienced in ministering to the youths in a National Service (NS) camp. Though old enough to be their grandfather, his 'grandfatherly' love for the youths - evident from the food he prepared, the games he organised, the Bible lessons he taught and the time he spent with them - has endeared the youths to him and brought him much fulfilment that in his golden years, he can still be of great use to the Lord.
I first heard about the National Service (NS) Christian class in 2006. I didn't know what it was all about then. So, I followed some Christians to a camp to find out more.
In 2007, a brother helped me to apply for a permit to conduct a Christian class (Kelas Kerohanian) in the Kg Baru (L) camp in Perak.. This was done through NECF Malaysia's contact.
I then took up the challenge to run the Christian class and invited the youth teams from various churches to conduct the praise and worship sessions. The churches that responded were Ayer Tawar Methodist, Raja Hitam Chapel, Simpang Ampat Methodist Church, Samudera Methodist and Church of Ayer Tawar.
I had full confidence our Lord was working with us, helping us to share His love to the youths, some who have never heard of Jesus.
Every Thursday and Friday nights, campers must attend religious classes: Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. All of them look forward to these two nights.
Over the past three years, many campers have encountered Jesus as their Saviour while the Christian campers have also renewed their faith. Every Sunday, the Christians from the three camps in Manjung, Teluk Rubiah and Segari meet at Wesley Methodist, Sitiawan where they attend the Youth Alpha for National Service.
This year (2009) is a revival year for Kg Baru (L) camp. Previous years, the number of campers attending the Christian class was only 20.
This year, there were only 14 Christians in the first batch but they brought their unchurched friends and we had over 50 in the class.
For the second batch, there were only seven Christians. One of them, Dickson Khoo from Klang, brought over 40 unchurched campers to the class! Hallelujah!
For the third batch, there were only two Chinese Christian girls, Yun Xue and May Yean. The camp intended to send both of them to the Buddhist temple on the first Sunday (of the camp).
May Yean phoned her father who immediately called the camp and demanded the two girls be sent to church. May Yeah and Yun Xue have been a great testimony to other campers with their enthusiasm for God. Thanks to them, the class ended up with over 40 attendees.
Serving in the NS camp has been a great joy. Pray for the revival in the camps. On Sunday, we have only around 30 Christians attending church service while over 300 campers go to the temple!
EDITOR'S NOTE: There are altogether 83 NS camps throughout Malaysia but only about 40 have the weekly Christian classes, which are coordinated by NECF. We urgently need more volunteers to run the Christian classes. If you can help, please e-mail Larry at youthnet@necf.org.my |
