my 3 day journal of events (that is, the seniors' camp)

Being part of the graduating class has brought countless blessings to me.
In a way, this symbolizes how God blesses us as we grow and mature in His name.
Today marks the first day of our Seniors' Camp.
I only hope that this would become a new beginning for another life ahead of us.


Seniors' Camp "B Clik"
September 7-9, 2006
Development Academy of the Philippines, Tagaytay

Day 1 September 7
I woke up early in the morning, scratching the gunk out of my eyes. A tiny peek at my cell phone (which also serves as my alarm clock-slash-timekeeper) and WHAT THE--
I was late!
It was precisely 5:47 am. I barely had time to actually do something, let alone brush my teeth, freshen up and run to school in record time. I scrambled to get up, only to fall down again because I was tangled in my sheets. Grumbling, I wrestled with my bed sheets and finally, after struggling for control, I was free at last!
But enough about my waking up on the wrong side of the bed. I got to school, arriving about 10 minutes after six, fairly early, considering the fact that I woke up late. Once at school, I met up with my friends, and frankly, compared bag sizes. Sadly, mine was enormous for a hand carry and looked titanic in comparison to my friends'.
Minutes later, we were ready to board the buses (we were Bus#5) but first, we had to get in line to get our "hand carry" bags checked by Mrs. Recosana, our adviser. The boys had theirs checked by Mr. Rapisora, who was a lot stricter (and may I mention, who was also our Bus Marshall).
Once aboard the bus, Abi, that is, my seatmate, and I were in a a bit of a dilemma because there weren't any more seats left! Thankfully though, we just overlooked a couple of empty rows up front, so we were saved!
As the bus left, Sir Raps announced a bit of stuff, like rules and such, and then at last, we were free to have fun!
We immediately dug into our stashes of junk food and soft drinks and enjoyed like never before.
The journey to sunny and not-so-warm Tagaytay was long and tiring, but nothing prevented any of us from joining in on the fun and laughter. Abi, however, was obviously tired for some reason, and was asleep for almost the entire trip, and this induced a sleepiness in me which I succumbed to about halfway along SLEX.
It's said that field trips are generally more fun in the bus, and I totally agree. I mean, it's where you get to share all your innermost craziness without having to keep quiet or behave.
Finally we arrived at Tagaytay! The temperature dropped noticeably and the roads looked a lot more different. Small huts littered along the street, with bananas, pineapples, and other fruits hanging from their facades. Brightly colored buildings, which I later learned were hotels and inns, stood by towering palm trees. As we went on, we reveled in the majesty of the great wonder which was Taal, standing in all its volcanic glory. I was not able to take a decent picture of it, though, me being slow and not at all nimble. I had to fumble with my cell phone for minutes before managing to set in on camera mode, by which I was too late because the bus was moving.
Another Kodak moment (or rather, view) almost passed me by when the bus went past the pineapple plantation. There were little green hills that were fully covered with pineapple plants. It was my first time seeing these things so I was truly amazed.
We arrived at DAP soon after. At first we were all, "This is DAP??" but when we stepped down the bus, I walked around to enjoy the fresh air that was as cool as it was sweet. We were greeted by a welcome drink (mango juice) as we wandered around the lobby, but first I rushed to the restroom! 
After the brief visit to the restroom, I went to check the room assignments posted in the lobby. I was in Room 327, with "Atsi" Janette Ong, the counselor. Hopefully, this was good news, but at that point, I wasn't quite sure.
I headed to the auditorium where, after a brief picture taking session while waiting for another bus to arrive, we were treated to a brief orientation, after which was an inspiring message by Reverend Burton Williams about sacrifice. He said that a life for God must be a life of sacrifice. Only in this way will God be able to use us as instruments of His plans. He cannot work through us unless we follow Him completely and leave our old lives behind. It really struck a chord in me because it cleared up one of the reasons why I hesitate to go all out in serving God.
After the message, we all went to the BBQ Patio for a photo shoot and then, it was lunch time!
One satisfying meal later, my roommates, Ana, Janine, Abi, and I took our luggage and went to our respective rooms to unpack and meet our counselor. I was kind of wondering what Atsi Janette would be like. Would she be boring? Would she be tedious? Would she be old as a bat and do nothing but sleep (although I doubt this one)?
Thankfully, Atsi Janette was nothing but nice. She was friendly, and most importantly, she was not boring at all! The good thing is, she was also my study counselor, aside from being my room counselor!
So far, I was pleased with the whole thing. The place was rather old, and not as glamorous as I initially expected, but thing is, if it was all Shangri-la, we wouldn't get to concentrate on what we were supposed to be doing there in the first place: to worship God and to learn more about Him and His Word.
Later on, we sang a few songs like "I Wanna Be Like Jesus" which is a lovely song because it encourages Christians to do all they can to achieve Christ-likeness, which is something a lot of Christians lack.
Then came what we were all waiting for! "Game K N B?" was an "Amazing Race"-type of challenge where each group had to run around DAP, which was pretty tough because it was all new to us, and accomplish tasks assigned to each station. But first, the whole group had to memorize Bible verses ranging from easy to downright impossible.
It was not an easy task, definitely, but it was made much worse when my group was paired with a group of boys from 4-Violet who couldn't care less if we ended up in last place, but with a few words of encouragement (and even reprimanding), they finally toned down their horsing around and got to memorizing. We finished only 7 tasks out of 15 however, which is to be honest, pathetic, but still, it was no reason to lose hope!
During the game, things began going downhill for me. I felt feverish, and my throat hurt, but I drank lots of water to see if the feeling would go away. It didn't.
By dinner, I was feeling worse. I asked for medicine from the nurse and she gave me Biogesic, but I didn't feel any better after taking it.
After the meal, it was singspiration once again. I felt better while singing praises to God, and I thanked Him silently for it. After singing, there was another message by Rev. Williams, this time about following God with the heart of a servant. Rev. Williams gave four examples of men after God's own heart: Samson, with the heart of a strong man; David, with the heart of a shepherd; Solomon, with the heart of a leader; and Joseph, with the heart of a servant. The first three failed to completely follow the Lord because they fell into sin by yielding to lust, while Joseph, although given the chance, did not, and thus, he ended up becoming the 2nd most powerful man in all of Egypt, with men and women bowing down to him.
This is definitely an eye-opener because it made me realize that following God is not all obeying and worshipping Him. We have to do all this with the will and humility, but most importantly, we need discipline, to be able to emerge as the victor at the end of it all.
Next came "Standing in the Gap". What was 'Standing in the Gap"? What we did was pray for the camp, pray for the students, and basically pray for everything. It was a rejuvenating experience, because it proved that we were putting everything in God's hands and trusting Him completely.
The following activity was B-Group, or simply, Group Discussion. The group met with the study counselors, (the group mates were different from the roommates) and we were told that each one of us need to undergo counseling with the counselor. We scheduled our times, and off to bed we go.
The day was eventful and great, and I learned so much. I hope that the second day will be just like it, if not better.



Day 2 September 8
The next morning, I thought I felt pretty good, compared to the day before, so I went ahead and took a shower. Bad idea. The water was freezing! I was almost shivering after the shower and this did not do my already sodden state any good. Therefore, my fever got worse, and the whole morning, I was feeling drowsy and I almost slept through the whole thing.
First thing after breakfast was another "Standing in the Gap" where we prayed again (and of course, I prayed for myself so that I would get better quickly).
The B-Silent part that came after was actually Quiet Time or Daily Devotion where we read God's message for the day through the help of material such as "Daily Bread" or "Campus Journal", but in our case, our material was already printed in the handbooks!
Singspiration. We sang this song called, "Let Everything That Has Breath" which is so upbeat and cheerful that although I was sick, I couldn't help singing along and tapping to the beat.
Then! Another message, this time by Pastor Jebo Banzuelo. The thing about Pastor Banzuelo is that he's a lot younger than Rev. Williams; therefore, he didn't have a hard time trying to reach to us, because he was "into the times" and he knows what goes with the younger generation. I'm not exactly saying that he understands us only because he's young. He does try to make an effort, and besides, he's Filipino, so we relate more.
After the message was Bible Study. We reviewed a psalm written by David, which basically tells about the Lord's goodness and faithfulness. I couldn't remember the exact details, because as I said, I was sick, so I couldn't concentrate on what was being discussed.
The counselors and staff had a meeting afterwards, so technically, it was free time for us. We went back to our rooms, and I felt terrible. I spent the rest of the afternoon in my room with the camp nurse, Mrs. Angie Salvador. She was very nice and everything although others think that she's standoffish, but in fact, she isn't, at least to me. I don't know if that's only because I'm sick, or she's just nicer to me, because, I don't know. Because I speak Chinese?
But anyway, after dinner I felt a whole lot better. I guess rest does help. I then went to listen to the final message, by Pastor Banzuelo. He asked for a commitment from each of us, which we wrote on little pieces of paper, and put into a box in front one by one. It was a rather touching moment, but it was kind of ruined because people were laughing and talking to each other. Well, we're high school students. It's unavoidable.
After that was the Praise Night which they, my classmates and students from other sections, all prepared for. Keyword: they. I was in my room while they were rehearsing for it.
Still, it was fun watching the groups perform. Although some of them just simply ruined the whole thing by doing stuff like imitating teachers and disrespecting other religions, they were funny, although annoying. After the performances of each section, a counselor led us in singing a lot of songs, some solemn and some upbeat, and the whole event was truly inspiring and touching. It was more at this point that I began to think seriously about serving God because He is so great and majestic, and so many people are willing to sacrifice for Him. Why? There must be a reason for all of this, and I wanted to make it my mission to find out just what this reason is.
Although I was still sick, I enjoyed the day a lot, especially the Praise Night because I feel so blessed having the chance to be part of this Christian family and worship and praise God together.



Day 3 September 9
When I woke up, my fever was almost gone, but I did AGAIN the unimaginable: I took a shower. A freezing, subzero temperature shower that would definitely kill me. And there went my day.
I spent the whole morning in my room with the nurse and another guy who was also sick. I just slept the whole morning. I missed the testimony of my classmates, and I didn't share mine, too! (Although I really didn't have much to share.) I even missed the whole closing ceremony.
During the bus trip home, I was feeling fine, so I decided to join in on the fun once more. I truly got to enjoy the ride back to Manila because I got to talk with my friends and chat with them. I sat beside Rachelle this time, because she was sick, too.

Conclusion
The camp was one of the most inspiring events that have ever happened to me, but without my friends, it would have been meaningless. By the end of the school year, we will be going our separate ways, but I believe that our hearts will feel far from empty as we bring our treasured memories, together with our Christian faith, along with us as we continue walking on the path of life.