Combined Church Camp 2026

This year’s church camp was a camp that filled us abundantly. Our stomachs never stop digesting – from breakfast to tea break, lunch to tea break again, then dinner and night snack. On top of that, there were plenty of ‘maggie’ noodles provided by the committee. Wow….

Upon reflection, what about our minds and our hearts? Have we filled our minds abundantly and constantly with God’s Word, and digesting it to move our hearts to transform our actions and become part of our rule of life – in our personal walk, our families, and our church family?

Our camp speaker, Rev Nat, began our camp by helping us understand the sacrifice that God has given for our sake. Through Christ, He has redeemed us, cleansed us, clothed us, empowered us and finally brought us back to Himself. God gave His best. He gave Himself. Nothing less. Such is His love for us.

In response, have we given our best to Him? Have we short-changed Him? I am sure I have. How about you? Yet our God is patient and forgiving, always giving us a second chance. In fact, He never give up on us and teaches us to forgive our brothers ‘not seven times, but seventy-seven times’ (Matthew 18:21-22).

God never leaves us to handle life all by ourselves. He gave His Son to redeem us and gave His Holy Spirit to dwell within us. Through His Spirit, we are enabled to understand and obey His Word.

One lesson that particularly stood out was Rev Nat’s final session to honour seniors, encourage the young, care for widows and the vulnerable (1 Timothy 5 :1-16). This reminded me of my younger days when I first accepted Jesus Christ into my life. Having been converted from Buddhism to Christianity, I viewed Christianity as a religion.   James 1:27 teaches us ‘Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world’. Over the years, God has drawn me closer to Him through His Word and from experiencing Him in my life. He has constantly guided me and led me out of the messiness in my life and provided all that I needed. Now, instead of treating Christianity as a religion, I know it is about a relationship with Him. He is worthy to be trusted. He knows what is best for me and He will give me the best. How about you? Have you started on this journey of developing a relationship with Him?

As we return to Singapore from our Church camp in Batam, may this not be remembered as just another church camp. Instead, may it mark a fresh beginning to establish or fine tune our rule of life as individuals, families and as a church family that draws us to a closer relationship and fellowship with God. Let us continue to break down walls and build bridges: across generations between the young and the seniors, across churches among our mountain churches and across borders with our mission partners. May we accomplish greater works for His glory.

Deacon Mike Fong