It was in the summer of 2004 that I had my first real camping experience. I can still remember the time when my mom told me that our church has a youth camp and I should apply. We were new members at that time and I only knew a few people. As an adventurous and outgoing person, I applied for the camp, and from there, my life has never been the same again.

Fast forward to today, almost 20 years have passed, and the Church of God Philippines held its first Young Leaders Camp, a camp dedicated to the youth and helping them reach their full potential as sons and daughters of the Most High.

I had the honor and privilege to volunteer as part of the staff. This year, the camp’s theme is, “Dare to be a Star.” 

I knew how important the camp is and so, I’m passionate about serving and helping out in any way I could. Together with my wife, Victoria, and my son, Caleb, and with Yahweh’s guidance, we were able to give our best effort to ensure the camp will be a huge success.

Teaching First Aid Skills

As a graduate nurse, I have the medical background to provide first aid training for the youth. First aid skills are essential for campers to learn if they want to become shining leaders in this dark world.

In the first aid session, I gave an overview of the following:

• What is first aid?
• What are the goals of first aid?
• What are the characteristics of a good first aider?
• General principles of first aid?

Once I gave the theoretical concepts of first aid, I then provided lectures and first aid lessons on the following:

• Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
• Choking
• Bleeding
• Burns
• Insect bites
• Fractures
• Snake bites
• Leg cramps
• Sprains
• Cuts, scrapes, and wounds
• Fainting and loss of consciousness
• How to carry a victim

I asked volunteers from the campers to make the lecture more engaging. I also have some people from the staff role-play scenarios and demonstrate the proper way of delivering first aid.

Mastering first aid skills is part of Yahshua’s instruction for us to love our neighbor (Matthew 22:39). In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, we have seen here how the Samaritan provided first aid to the injured man:

So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him (Luke 10:34). 

As you can see, as followers of Yahshua, we are called to be good neighbors to others and one of the best ways to do that is to know how to help them, especially in their time of need.

Kicking Your Way to God’s Kingdom

Another game that I handled is kickball. Kickball is a challenging and fun game that combines the game of baseball and soccer. In kickball, you don’t use a bat to hit the ball. Instead, the pitcher will roll the ball toward you. You then have to kick the ball and run as fast as you can to the bases until you return to the home base where you gain a point for your team.

Almost all the young players didn’t know how to play kickball. In fact, it is their first time playing this game. Nevertheless, the curiosity soon turned into smiles, cheers, and laughter. It was just pure joy to see how the campers celebrate every small win.

There’s a spiritual analogy we can see in the game of kickball. The ball represents the sins in our lives. When it comes rolling toward us, like when we are tempted, we must kick it as hard as we can so it will fly away from us. If that’s not enough, we must run as fast as we can to the “safe zones” that God provided to us, which are represented by the bases.

In life, we will not be tempted once, but sin will try to come back as many times as it can to put us out of the game. Nevertheless, we must do our best to run toward God’s Kingdom until we hit the home run!

Knowing Each Other

What’s so great about camp is that it brings together the church’s young people from all over the Philippines. So, we have campers from Luzon and scattered areas in Mindanao. Most of these young people will only see each other once a year during the Feast of Tabernacles.

Thus, part of the camp is to help them know each other. We did this through the Novelty Games.

On Monday night, I hosted the Novelty game. Some of the games we played include the following:

• Pik-Pak-Boom
• Blanket Game
• Arrange Yourself with a Twist

The games are designed to help the campers know each other. We asked the campers to introduce themselves and enumerate three things they want the campers to know about them. We then use their answers as part of the games.

Most friendships start with a simple introduction. From knowing the name to knowing their life, we want the campers to form strong bonds with their brothers and sisters in the faith and eventually, create friendships that they will treasure for the rest of their lives.

Instilling Values and Skills Through Basketball

On the second day of camp, we had various activities and sports. One of them is basketball. As you can imagine, basketball is the most popular game in the Philippines. So, a lot of the campers were really excited to play.

Together with my co-instructors, Erik and Ge-Ain, we taught the kids how to dribble, pass, and shoot the ball. What’s amazing about basketball is that it will not only help you develop character, but it will also show your character.

To win the game, individual skills are not enough. One must learn how to play with the team. The campers learned how to trust their teammates and work together toward a common goal.

Navigating Life’s Obstacle Course

In camp, we want to help the campers increase their confidence in overcoming trials and challenges in their lives. They do this not by relying on themselves, but putting their confidence in Yahweh.

In Eden Nature Park where we had our Young Leaders Camp, they have an area where one should need to walk on a plank of wood, go through tires, jump over obstacles, swing through the monkey bars, and then run back to the starting line.

The park called it the “obstacle course,” but we called it the “confidence course.” Changing the name of the course changes the perspective of our campers. We want them to look at obstacles as opportunities for them to develop themselves and grow into godly leaders.

After going through the confidence course, the campers would then need to ride a bicycle 60 feet above the ground — that’s the height of a five or six-story building. The ride stretches 200 meters from one end to the other.

There were campers who confidently took the challenge. There were also those who were afraid. Yet, not one of them said no. The campers were cheering for each other, which truly helped in building their confidence.

At the end of the activities, the campers discovered that they are more capable of doing things that they never thought they could do. The activities taught them to go out of their comfort zone and grow in their abilities, skills, and knowledge.

Sometimes, we don’t just limit ourselves, but we also limit God in what He can do in our lives. The confidence course allowed the campers to see what they can do when they allow God to direct their paths.

Empowering Tomorrow’s Voices

One of the goals we have for the youth is that they develop practical life skills that they can use when they return home. Thus, on the final day of camp, we had several workshops and one of them was journalism.

In the journalism workshop, I taught young people how to write and become more effective in expressing themselves through written words.

There’s no doubt; that kids have the power to influence others and change the course of their lives through writing. The Bible is the written Word of God and it has dramatically and massively changed the world.

With the journalism workshop, we are helping the kids to develop their writing skills and be the voice that speaks the truth, spreads love, and proclaims God’s goodness and grace.

Seeing the past, present, and future

The first Young Leaders Camp is no doubt a life-changing experience. As I looked at the campers, it reminded me of how I felt during my very first youth camp as well. The deep friendship, fun and challenging workshop, cooking-your-own food, and especially the Christian Living Classes — all combined together to create a lasting and unforgettable memory. Although it was almost 20 years ago, the memories are still fresh in my mind.

The smiles and tears on the faces of the campers made me say to myself, “That was me.” What they felt was the same feeling that I had.

When the camp was finally over, we didn’t want to go home yet. We wanted to stay. However, as Christians, we must not simply stay in one place, but we must go out there and shine as lights to our friends, neighbors, classmates, and family.

I have always told everyone how great youth camp is and how it changed my life. Nevertheless, no words could actually describe the camp. No matter how many times I tell them about the unique joy of being part of the camp, words are just not enough. You have to actually experience the camp yourself to know what I’m talking about.

As we wave goodbye on that day, I know that the campers would also look back 20 years from now and how the Young Leaders Camp has changed their lives. I know they might forget what we said, what we did, but they will never forget how we made them feel and how the camp helped them get closer to God.

So, for the campers, there’s one message I want to leave you with, “Dare to be a star!”