DARE to Believe Adventure Camp
Text by Abigail Lim
Frankly speaking, I wasn’t really keen on attending the camp when I heard about it. All the previous church camps I had attended were held in hotels or resorts, and were definitely more comfortable than the adventure camp. The thought of living with insects, rushing and queuing up to shower or sleeping in a sleeping bag were the things that made me reluctant to attend the camp. However, it was a tradition for me to attend every camp, so I packed up my bags and went for it, thinking that it was just another camp to attend. Oh, I did not realise how wrong I was.
DARE Adventure camp was a real eye-opener for me. I had never in my life slid down into a giant pool of mud, went blindfolded for more than an hour or tried to remove a tire from a 4m pole. All the challenges and exciting games helped me to understand myself better and bond my DARE group. Although it was totally crazy, not to mention smelly and dirty, I think I spent one of my best moments at camp. Friends were made (not just one but many) and I am sure God answered my prayer of having more “commando friends” in DARE.
On the first night, Coach Hee Jhun shared about how God brought Abraham outside to show him the stars in the sky, and told him that the number of stars would be the number of descendants he would have. On the last night, when we had a campfire and praise and worship, we were in the midst of worshipping the Lord when I just lifted my head to look at the stars. The place was rather dark, apart from the fire, and there were many numerous visible stars shining in the sky, as if someone had dropped a bottle of glitter in the sky. It just reminded me of how much God loves me, and that I do not have to worry about my problems, as He would take care of me.
Pastor Benjamin also shared about how he was so disliked by all his classmates in Secondary school that they signed a petition and handed it to the principal to have him expelled. Listening to that, and seeing how Pastor is now someone who has impacted many lives, I realise that God is really a good God who can do miracles so great no one can fathom.
There was a night walk on the second night, and many were complaining of how dirty, disgusting and smelly it was. We had to crawl through a “dog-hole” on all fours, and we were crawling on mud that smelled like garbage. We were blindfolded throughout the entire walk, with our ears straining to hear the voices of the facilitators and our DGLs. Later, Coach Jos said that in our everyday lives, we may experience “smelly” situations, in which we really do not know what to do. She told all of us to focus on God’s voice, and not the voices of the world that tell us to give up.
- Abigail Lim
To me, the best part of the camp was the campfire on the last night. Gathered together as Level One and Two under the stars, singing silly campfire songs and jumping and praising God around the fire really touched me. Although there was neither piano nor drums and the acoustics weren’t as good as what we’re used to at the Rock, all of us just jumped and worshipped God with all our hearts. Even after many songs, everyone was still calling for “one more song” and were all basking in the love of Jesus.
This camp had certainly made my DG, and I am sure many other DGs, grow closer. Teamwork, responsibility, enthusiasm and a “never-say-die” spirit were one of the many life lessons that I brought home with me. The DARE Adventure Camp was not only another camp for me, but it was one in which I truly experienced the love of Christ and experienced true friendship.
