After four years, Hope Penang finally managed to embark on a spiritual journey again through another Church Camp. From the 26th to the 28th of May, about 80 participants gathered and stayed at the beautiful 4-star Vouk Suites Hotel that is located in Georgetown. With “The Great Comeback” as the major theme, it encouraged the church to continue to advance the Kingdom of God through building small groups and strengthening evangelism.
The camp started with a relaxing day of checking in and settling into our assigned hotel rooms followed by a delicious buffet dinner at the hotel’s cafeteria. It gave an opportunity for different Life Groups in the church to have a fun time of bonding and getting to know new people. Although the night went on even longer, some still managed to find time for a quick card and board game session to spend more quality time together before turning in for the night. “I’m encouraged to see people cross Life Group bonding among us which leads me to think that this is how heaven looks like despite colour, positions, status and age. When the body of Christ gathers together, they are one. One united family,” said Sister Eunice, leader of the Acts Gens Life Group in the church.
Everyone woke up bright and early the next morning, refreshed and ready to learn. Two of our best and favourite invited speakers, Pastor Denis, our Elder & Regional Pastor who is residing in Kuching, and Sister Valerie from Hope Kota Samarahan flew all the way to attend the church camp here in Penang to share their knowledge in leadership development and evangelism lifestyle. With Pastor Denis’ down-to-earth personality and Sister Valerie’s nurturing charisma, we felt a very close connection to them and were greatly impacted by their teachings. Our brothers and sisters mentioned that the teachings were easy to understand and practical enough for them to share about God to people in their lives.
One of the lessons include Shema (“hear and obey”) which is the Hebrew word that begins in the most important prayer in Judaism found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Shema statements show our love and obedience to God as a witness to other people. A lot of us actually had the chance to practise sharing Shema statements to pre-believers outside the camp. Brother Richard, who had the chance to have a friendly conversation with a fisherman and a passerby outside the hotel shared that they were shocked and confused at the gesture, yet surprisingly they received it well. “It doesn’t take much to bring someone closer to knowing God,” said Brother Richard. It really goes to show that God is able to use a small gesture and turn it into a big ripple effect in someone’s life.
Aside from that, we also celebrated the water baptism of four of our friends. Sister Rylie (13), Sister Rachel (14), Brother Seng Men (41) and finally Brother Cadell (19). Cadell’s baptism was initially not planned but he was moved by the Spirit to be baptised on that day! We witnessed them making a commitment to follow Jesus, their personal Lord and Saviour publicly.
The whole church camp was a moving experience to so many of us. Through all the worship sessions, late night intercession prayers, many received healing whether it’s physical or spiritual. Sister Eunice, who led worship on the second night shared that she was touched by God knowing that the same spirit that conquered the grave is living in her, reassuring her that nothing is impossible; pursuing her dreams, the visions she once had and plans she once executed can come to life again.
Some also received prophetic words and images from the Lord. Pastor Zech from Hope Penang even testified that he saw all the buildings in the city of Georgetown filled with our banners that said “The Great Comeback!”, showing a great revival is coming upon us! Although the camp was only for a weekend, the Holy Spirit worked tremendously in each of our hearts. We are thoroughly blessed!
