Many thanksgivings, many lessons learnt, many thots. But one post. :)

Finally Camp Praxis Round 1 has ended. I echo the words of Hudson Taylor. “…in God’s work there are 3 stages. First it is impossible, then it becomes difficult, but finally, it is done.” So here are SOME of the things that I want to be grateful to God for.

Some Thanksgivings:
- For giving me just about enough voice to last through the portions of the camp program that were assigned to me.
- For giving me the opportunities (some planned and some not) to catch up with each of my students personally.
- For giving me the words to speak and share with the campers.
- For allowing my workout to run smoothly, even though there were some hiccups here and there.

Some Lessons Learnt:
- It is a TEAM effort. To run a camp like this myself is close to impossible. But with a team of good people, things will be fun and things can happen.
- I need to learn to strike a balance in being personal, fun, and yet firm when it comes to relating with people, especially students. Tough, but needful.
- It is important to praise and commend people for the things that they do. No doubt we should look to God for approval but having the assurance from Christian brothers and sisters that you have done a good job is a source of motivation and comfort. So rather than simply focusing on the wrong or “not so well” things that one does, I must learn to praise and encourage another sibling in Christ whatever work he/she does.

Some Thots:
- The generation of youth we are living with is one, which does not like to listen to authority. They will, with given opportunity test the rules that are set. Why? Simplistically saying, we are all sinful. But really, is it that difficult to listen to instructions? I guess if you have always been having things going your way and suddenly you are placed in an environment where u are no longer “king”, you resist.
- Humans are interesting people. We know that we have a problem but we choose to hide and conceal it. We do not dare to come to terms with the problem within and do something about it. We rather sweep it under the carpet and pretend that it is not there. Honesty and openness is so much needed.
- It was great to see all of my team members around and spending time with students. Assures me that I am not doing this great work alone. And prayerfully they would see that there is a ready group of people before them and thus commit themselves to see these students through.