The looooooooooong awaited SPIRITUAL RETREAT!!!! This is one retreat where there was no plans or agenda! And wherever the spirit leads we do! And WOW there was sooooooo much to take back in this 3 days here in this slow pace life WHERE WE JUST IMMERSED OURSELVES in GOD's INDESCRIBABLE CREATION!... enjoy the journey!
(some photos courtesy of isaac and balota...still waiting for more!)
Day 1
Met up with elliot at 7.30 am for breakfast at harbourfront... met the rest soon after...
9.30am
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(took ferry to batam)
(the kelong guys!)
(Uncle Lincoln the owner of the kelong brining us to the van)
(in the 1 hr journey in the van!)
(we even went off-road on this van!)
(arrival of this sampan)
(The kelong boys!)
(arrival of BLUE MOUNTAIN KELONG!)
Check out our rooms...
(decent toilet ...................our bed rooms)
(our first LUNCH! OH MY!!! All the 7 dishes of food were awesomeeeee! And we looked forward to every dish! too many pics to post so will just use this one! 30 over crabs lor!)
Retreat timeeeeeeeee
(our Kelongggg!)
(some of the guys enjoying themselves at the sea)
(this guys trying to catch this purple crab)
(played taboooo!)
(video of the taboo match!)
(Saboteur match!)
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(some of the guys went in the sea at the low tide!
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(some of us went fishingggggggggggggggggg!)
(caught 2 fishes! One on day 1 another on day 2!)
(we even tried night fishing!..KHENG is really determined to catch his fish!)
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(we end the night we some sharing and prayer! and going thru Adriel new book the VICTORY LIFE SERIES!.... and we are the prevailage ones to be the first to go thru it!)
DAY 2
(morning worship practice... btw...this wasn't plan at all..but somehow God provided a guitar which belongs to one of the locals)
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(the Blue Crab which the finally caught...Kheng Caught this DEADLY SEA SLUG! it was so dangerous the locals had to faster cut it off!)
(Glenn and me played badminton with them on land.... one of the guys literally climbed up the coconut tree and brought those fresh coconuts for us! So touched by them!.. this malays are christians who are missionaries and english tutors to the village nearby)
After Lunch...
(the kelong boys!!!!... getting ready for SWIMMING at a nearby beach!)
We sat in the sampan and they drove us to this VERY NICEEEE CLEAR BEACH!...
(Kheng still searching for his fishies....)
(the beautiful sea...it was a low level sea with STRONG WAVES that stretched really wide!)
(GOD "heavenly gates" open before us!)
(THE KELONG BOYS POSE!)
Dinner...
(ohhh loveee the foood!)
After that...we notice the SKY WAS SO CLEAR! And it was WOAHHHHHHHHH!!!! Filled with stars!
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(so we went to this secluded DARK DARK area... where we carefully drag our chairs to the edge of the kelong walkway to see the clear sky! It was scary walking there in pitch black but the BEAUTIFUL STARS BLEW OUR MIND!)
(this are not actual photos...BUT it look like this! Trillions more than this! And you know WHAT,... i saw not 1 not 2 ....BUT 8 SHOOTING STARS in one night! WE WERE ALL IN AMAZEMENT!!!! They were SOOO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY! HOW OFTEN CAN U SEE SUCH THINGS! God's creation really blew our mind just contemplating looking up to the night sky!...
Final night sharing...
After the night gazing..the holy spirit led us all into this time of sharing on Spiritual warfare thru the conversations we had... Adriel than felt led to share with us some practical ways on how we can deal with such circumstances if it happens to us...and right after that we just prayed and prayed from our families to the youth ministry and to what ever the Spirit led! It was really a time where we all just cld experience GOD in our midst and the PEACE of GOD just came upon each and everyone of us after this spiritual time with out Lord!
After that we headed to the the edge of the kelong to spend the rest of the final night there...and balota was playing Chris tomlin song INDESCRIBABLE...and it was so timely the song with what we were experiencing there first HAND! ..The highlight of the night for me!)
DAY 3
NEXT MORNING........
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(before sun rise...................)
(the beautiful sun rise! one of the nicest i ever seen!)
(everyone just getting a glimpse of another of God's creation!)
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(what a good view)
(the change of the sky!)
(a glimpse of our experience that final morning)
The changes of the sky!
(a glimpse of GOD's glory!............Look at the right picture. The island can be seen however, both sides are blurred. Both sides are actually curtains of rain. PRAISE GOD FOR HIS WONDERS.)
(we end the final day with a morning worship with the indonesian malays there...whom we found are all 2nd generation christians! We were definitely so bless by their hospitality and it was really TRULY VERY HEARTFELT time when they led us into worship..although we find it hard to converse with them in english..but when we sang the christian songs together! IT JUST UNITED US IN CHRIST! What an amazing time!...they later shared how they hope that God can use them as they reach out to the nearby villages when they tutor those kids!)
(we spend some time praying for them as God can continue to use them in their mission work for our LORD!)
Final LUNCH....
(Me,balota,kheng(behind),isaac)
(glenn,elliot,gladwin,adriel)
And on our way back to batam and homeeeeeeeeeee
(our PTM and Chairmen fast asleep in the van...A&W ...YAY...Coney DOG!!!!!!!!!!!)
It was certainly one memorable Retreat that i will never ever forget!
GOD REALLY IS GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1 comment:
Thanks for putting up all the photos. I'm going there next week (15-17 June 2013) and it was good to see what the conditions are like. Used to sleeping in aircon so I'm not sure how I will survive the heat.
Looked like you guys had LOADS of fun! *grin*
Fran
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