HOPE BANGALORE ANNUAL CHURCH CAMP 2014
The Hope Bangalore Annual Church Camp 2014 was held for 4 days and 3 nights from 2nd – 5th October at Yelagiri, Tamil Nadu, India. The theme was ‘A Mobilized Church’, talking about mobilization of the church together as a whole in fulfilling God’s Great Commission and vision. A total of 86 people attended the camp, out of which 81 are adults and 5 are children. We had participants from different countries like Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Korea, DR Congo and from different parts of India as well. It was really very amazing to see so many people joining the camp which was held for the very first time in Hope Bangalore.
The camp venue was not in Bangalore, so we had to travel 2 hours journey from Bangalore to Yelagiri. It was very challenging as only 28 participants out of 80 have tickets. The remaining participants had to stand during the whole train journey. God’s mercy was upon us during the journey. The train was fully packed as it was a holiday. Thank God most of us were able to get inside the train after squeezing so hard. Some were not able to get inside and missed the train. They then caught another train to join us 2 hours later.
The camp was started with a round of introduction, lunch fellowship and an icebreaking session. The opening ceremony showed a video about how Hope Bangalore grew over the past 7 years and the team also presented a skit on mobilization. It was inspiring as it reveals that as a church together with one heart for Jesus, we can unite and serve God.
Ps Kwong Lie taught all the teachings throughout the whole camp. It was such a great blessing and life-transforming to receive God’s word.
On the 3rd Oct afternoon, we went on hill-trekking. From the camp venue, we trekked a distance of 3km to reach the hilltop. It was very encouraging to see many brothers and sisters were willing and enthusiastic to go for hill trekking. Though it was very hot and sunny on that day, we continued to climb until the top. Brothers and sisters were motivating one another not to give up, even though many thought of quitting half way. On reaching the hilltop, everyone was so joyful that they were able to accomplish it. From this hill trekking, we learnt that if we don’t give up, we will reach the destination.
The next day, we played a station game which was led by Hope Johor Bahru. It was amazing to see how all the group members actively participated in their groups and involved together. The last night of the camp was great and wonderful. Four people accepted Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour and a total of seven brothers and sisters received baptism of the Holy Spirit. Many brothers and sisters responded during the altar call to be co-workers with Christ in fulfilling the Great Commission. It was so amazing how the Holy Spirit led us to worship God, and responded to His calling.
On the last day of the camp, we had a closing ceremony presented by Hope Johor Bahru, a group photo session and an open testimony sharing before departing to the train station. We experienced another miracle on our journey back to Bangalore. Our bus to the train station was delayed, but praise God that the express train was delayed just in time for all brothers and sisters to get into the train and began another crowded train trip home.
This camp has been a great blessing to everyone. For some brothers and sisters it has been a life transforming experience, with prayers answered and doubts cleared. We also learnt how to be mobilized as a church together to fulfil the Great Commission.
Reported by Ibarishisha Marwein
