CA report (Part 3 / 4)

Aufwiedersehen (Goodbye) Campus Alive~

Greetings to all! I’m Daniel from ALG batch 9. This is my first time writing a report on behalf of my fellow coursemates for CA, so I would like to apologize beforehand if my report is a little too long or boring. I’m sure many of you have seen me in CA without actually knowing my name. I don’t really blame them for that. Most of us rarely meet each other n even if we did hear of each other’s name, a busy schedule inside a space of 2 weeks would probably have done the job of “deleting” that particular person’s name. But I do felt silly n at the same time happy when on one occasion I had being addressed as “the Arsenal Guy” by a fellow junior. At least he remembered that I’ve wore an Arsenal jersey to CA before. Haha! Better than not knowing me at all la~~ :b

First and foremost, let me introduce ALG9 to all of u. ALG9 consists of only 8 chinese students (5 guys, 3 gals). Out of this 8 students only 6 ever attended CA. They r Qi Hao, Xiang Yu, Jing Xin, Kah Ho, Yen Zhao n me of cos. Sadly, only one out of the 6 attends CA on a regular basis n that’s me!! Haha, loyal leh~. The 6 of us were invited to CA around mid-2007 by our ALG junior, Helen. The first time I planted my step into the NLRC building, I felt strong sense of belonging. It seems that God had called me to come to this place 4 a purpose. Despite being a Christian, I have not attended any Christian fellowships here in INTEC. To be frank, I did knew that there were such meetings here in INTEC , however, due to busy schedules and never-ending homework n assignments, the thought of attending such meetings was quickly dispelled. Those days without CA were like a “drought” for me. Deep down inside me I felt thirsty n hungry spiritually. My heart longs for something but I could not figure out what it was. Little did I know that the answer lies in CA. My first experience at CA was totally awesome! During the worship session, I could not stop myself from clapping n singing with all my might to God. I could still remember the first song we sang that night which was “One way, Jesus”. During praise n worship I felt totally refreshed n renewed. I have not experience such a feeling for nearly 2 years! Perhaps I could be labeled as “the prodigal son” who returns home to the father. That feeling is so incredible that I could not sleep that night.

Having that wonderful first experience at CA, I found myself just could not say no to the 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th…. and so on CAs. Being one of the oldest in the congregation, I could not help it but to admire the zeal n passion the juniors have for God. The way they sing, they jump, they praise God is just totally amazing. Maybe I’m too old for that la.. haha. Despite being a year older than these juniors, I found myself perhaps 10 years younger than them spiritually. Joash, who is one of the most outstanding among all juniors, is a proof to my previous statement. To be frank, I have not seen someone who is so eager to serve God like him. Not only he leads the worship session but also plays the piano magnificently. To my surprise, he can preach like a pastor as well. Remember the parable of the Talents? I’m sure God has blessed Joash with at least 10 Talents and he had used them all for God! Another figure in CA who fascinates me a lot has to be Erin. From the way she leads worship sessions (she can memorize most songs without much effort) and pray, I’m sure that she has a really strong desire within her to praise God to the fullest.

Being in ALG offers us one privilege, if you could call that one. ALG is the only course in INTEC where seniors can meet not only their juniors but their super juniors who r 2 years younger as well. In a space of 2 years I have become one of the youngest to the oldest in INTEC. Watching these super juniors praising God makes me feel older (sigh… got white hair already!) “Only old people sits on the chairs, young people sit on the floor!”- one of Joash’s favorite sayings. But come to think of it, maybe I’m qualified enough to sit on the chair. Lol. Sadly, I do not have the chance to do so anymore as 25/10/07 was the last CA for me.

22/10 (Mon)- Rain, 23/10 (Tues)- Rain, 24/10 (Wed)- Rain, 25/10 (Thurs)- Sunny. If God intends to make our last CA a special one, certainly the weather can be the proof. The last CA of the year surely did live up to its name. To me, everything from start to end was simply new n different. The ice-breaker, conducted by Erica, can be said to be one of the best this year. Everyone enjoyed it. We had to dig deep into our wallets and bags to search for items like lip balms, 10 dollar note folded in a heart shape, baby photos, Giant’s receipt, earrings, asthma inhaler etc… I did not have any of those n was really surprised that people do have those stuffs with them. My group, screwdriver, won it in the end (Erica, where are our prizes??). After that we had our usual praise n worship session but surprise surprise… this time there were 5 singers on stage. The juniors have taken over from the super juniors in the worship team. Old faces, but youthful n vibrant as ever. Then there was a special performance from 4 beautiful gals n then a really funny video presentation. Pastor David then took the stage to present to us God’s word. The main theme was how to become a good servant to God. We must be FAT. Faithful, available and teachable. It certainly was a useful n inspiring message. Last but not least, we had our refreshments at 5^th floor. Got sponge cake n orange juice I think. Those final hours in CA passed really fast n soon it was 11pm. Time to go. With one final glance at the NLRC building, I said a “Goodbye n Thank You CA” inside my heart. Farewells are indeed sad.

But there are many things I can be happy n thankful about. The passing of the baton from the juniors to the super juniors can be regarded as smooth. The super juniors did a great job in the past few CA meetings, conducting ice-breakers n praise sessions brilliantly like their seniors. I certainly do have the confidence in these super juniors that they can take CA to scale greater heights.

On behalf of all ALG seniors I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to Helen, who first brought us to CA and then faithfully provide us transportation to n fro CA. A special thank as well to Cheng Ing, who did a great job as an usher, making us feel comfortable on our first visit to CA. Last but not least, to everyone who attended CA and by that, making CA a success. Life in Germany would surely be a new experience for us. Many trials and obstacles will stand in our way. For this I hope that everyone in CA will constantly keep us in your prayers.

My last words for my dear brothers n sisters in CA:

Be joyful always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

May God bless you all always. CA rocks!

Daniel~