My long awaited retreat entry…
I’ve come to find God…find out
Wow, this is gonna be one of the hardest entries to recall what I did…since this happened more than a week ago. =X Let’s give it a try…*closes eyes and tries to recall*
Mmm…I luv CC’s muffins, so good! *drools* Headed to school, tried to find Dr. Anderson to give her a Frosty’s menu (but she wasn’t there), so I just sat around for a little bit. Talked to Mary in the morning, then proceeded to class. As soon as people walked in, we were asked to get back into our groups and answer the rest of the questions. As each group would continue solving the problems, Dr. Dorn walked around, asking each group a particular answer for a particular question. After about 30 minutes or so, each group answered a question, till the end of class.
Organic covered a lot of material like usual, and Music class, we listened to more samples and learned more about elements. =0 Came back home, went to Bible study, which didn’t happen for some reason. Got ready for the retreat the next day. =)
Saturday morning was tough for me. I woke up early enough to get ready to be dropped off at Mary’s house for 9am, but then I had a confrontation with my dad. I could go on and on about what he said and how I’ve heard it before, but I’ll keep it relatively short. He didn’t want me to go, and preferred that I stay home that weekend to study. I tried to tell him how important this retreat was to me and he remained vigilant in his stance. I know that I had to do better this year, and I didn’t want to let him down on that. The retreat was the best time (beginning of school) to have it, when I probably needed it the most.
After some emotion, I finally managed to convince him to let me go, but he had to go to the new house before 8:15am, so I found myself rushing to take a shower and finish packing. We went to the house, and I forgot to ask him to drop me off at Mary’s house. My uncle arrived and he and my dad went to Home Depot. Meanwhile, I figured that I’d try to walk to Mary’s house (with all my stuff-sleeping bag, duffel, and backpack). As I walked, one lady (with her dog) asked if I was runnign away from home, lol. =P I sang to myself as I walked the block to Mary’s house; got there, ate a Hot Pocket (thanks!), and waited for Shau and Annie to come (came at the same time).
When everyone got there, all of us held hands, and Mary’s mom said a prayer for us. =D We packed everything in strategically into the trunk of the Maxima, double checked everything, and were on our way to A-town (haha! That makes sense…). These dork points are just on the rise. =P
The trip there went well (although it got kinda hot in the car). For the most part, everyone managed to stay awake. We made one stop at a Shell gas station to fill up (since we took a slight detour in highways), and while there, Shau and I used the car squeegees (ok, I can’t spell). You know, those wipers with soap and water. We tried to get rid of all the suicidal bug guts on the car. =P After cleaning, we made our way back to the appropriate highways; it took awhile to get from route 1 to route 66, hehe…and then when we turned on Hwy 112, 6 miles seemed to take longer than usual. But we eventually made it to what looked like Tall Timbers.
We saw the sign but were like, “Where’s the path?!” So we turned back and it looked like we had to drive over the dirt/rocks up to the gate. We entered, found the registration table (in which Shau, Annie, and I had to register $15). I got hold of blankets, pillows, comforter, and whatnot. Brought them to the car, then all of us decided to go to lunch. Woohoo!
The food was ok, much better than the stories I heard, lol. Oh, they had soft mints! I totally snatched a butt load of mints throughout the entire stay. Lol, when trying to open the mints, I pretended I was giving birth to a white baby mint. (ok, now you probably think I’m crazy). =P
This is what it looked like from the table we sat at. On the table, they had so many spicy condiments (hot sauces), but they didn’t have Tabasco, erg…guess they can’t handle its potency. =P
After eating, we drove to the girls’ hangout. They got 101B, so we had to walk downstairs to find out that the door requires a special touch to open. (meaning, the key can’t be pushed in all the way to open sesame). It was hot and stanky in there, lol, but the [weak] air condition helped after we came back later that evening. From there, I went to drop my baggage at ELM dorm, so I plopped my stuff on one of the 50 bunk beds, lol. Then, we decided to visit the Game Room!!! *many calories were burned there*
They had 2 ping pong tables, an old style air hockey set, 3 foosball tables, and a ping pongish pool stick usage game (haha, I’m so off on this one). One has these bumpers stationed on the table and the object is to hit your set of balls to the other side’s hole.
Here, Mary and I played some rounds of Ping Pong with Shau and Annie (oh, how I haven’t played ping pong in such a long time). I pretended I was in the Olympics (hah!). The four of us played categories, fun fun. =)
Before leaving, Ophie was owning her brother in air hockey, lol. My game would be brought later, lol…
It was time to make our way to the Classroom (Cypress) for 4pm. When we got there, we could see the overhead/projector equipment set up, the piano, microphone system, and even bongos! I attempted to play them while Kenny/Carol practiced. More people started to come in and we got settled and greeted new faces.
Compi and a guy from BR named Orsen. They assisted in worship songs. Some of the girls started to have a slight crush on Orsen, lol. =P tsk tsk…
OMG, let me tell you about this water… I went to refill my water bottle at the water fountain inside, in between the bathrooms, and when I came back to sit down, I was about to drink it but I found a disgusting tint. *jaw drops* =0 “Look at that color!” It’s like…ewww! Water should be clear/blue, not vomity brown/green, lol…(color was darker than the picture) No more water fountain water from that place (got it at other ones though). Vending machines all the way!
Speaking of water, in 101B, there must’ve been 10 water bottles, lol… “Which was is mine?” Hmm…
Must give props to Mary for making the program; perfect picture for the front I thought. Luv the fonts. =)
Pastor Bobby Massey came to speak to us this year. I thought he did a pretty good job getting the messages across. He was a white “hick” as he iked to call himself, who loved Chinese people. “I’m probably more Chinese than some of you in here.” =P He introduced himself, his family, and the story of how he was called to serve God, his daddy. Accoring to him, he never had a real dad while growing up, and it caused him to look upon God as his one and only daddy.
For the next couple days, we would hear about the first five chapter of Ephesians, in addition to his argument of Creation vs. Evolution. God has acccepted me (Eph 1:1-6) Mr. Massey asked everyone who their favorite athlete was; most of the girls said Michael Phelps or Ian Thorpe, while most of the guys said Carly Patterson. =0 I said Alexei Nemov, lol, woohoo! Later on in the message, he told everyone to stop lusting.
For the entire trip, I took a large amount of notes, as we were encouraged to, and although I could possibly type almost all of what I have, I won’t, but I’ll cover some main topics from each one, starting with the first one:
1. All goodness comes from God.
2. There is no goodness/blessing outside of God.
3. He doesn’t understand Luck.
4. He doesn’t understand Chance.
5. God is a Purposeful God.
The song that was “the” song for the retreat was “You Are My King (Amazing Love)” it was always the last song that everyone sang and it was the song to reflect about at the end of the retreat. To end, everyone was asked to say a number, and I got put into group 1, with Kenny as the leader of discussion time. The question: In what ways does the enemy (Satan) try to make you feel unaccepted (at home, school, com./church, friends)? How do you deal with it and how should you deal with feeling unaccepted? Our group had some good, direct answers, and finished early. =)
After discussion time, it was time for dinner, yum yum. Ate everything as usual, mixed drinks, hehe, gave birth to mints, and then, the girls (Mary, Shau, Annie, occassionally Ophie) and I went back to the room. I want to thank all of them for allowing me to chill with them; yall are some of the best friends a guy could ever have. =) On the way back, a funny observation happened…
We saw rows of HONDA vans parked next to each other, lol! Never seen that before.
It was time to head back to class to hear the second message: God has given me LIFE (Eph 2:1-9). Here, we recaped what we learned from the first one: By Faith, you please God. We were:
Objects of wrath, followed the ways of this world, God’s enemy’s, enslaved to Satan, followed our evil thoughts and desires.
Now: Made alive in Christ, shown God’s mercy and salvation, stand for Christ and truth, God’s children, free in Christ to love, serve, and sit with him, and raised up with Christ to glory.
Mr. Massey started the message by having Compi play dead on the table. “God made me Alive!” Bobby Massey exalted. Gal 2:20-21 : “…I live by faith.”
Towards the end of the message, Mr. Massey had an activity for us. He asked us to write a letter to God. Write to him anything you want, but thank him for giving us life. So I sat on the floor, writing my letter on the chair, and I wrote about where I saw God in my life, when did I start to know about him, how he has blessed me with everything and everyone I encountered, and also asking for his blessing for my family, my friends, and myself. I was overswept with emotion…the power of song was great…and how it seem to speak to me when “As the Deer” was sung…it’s one of my favorite songs and I did not expect it to be played at that moment…then I heard Compi begin the words, and it felt as though he read my mind or something…
When it was over, I couldn’t be in that room anymore, so I stepped outside and sat on the steps (feeling so alone) and tried to talk to God. I came back inside a couple minutes later and joined in on the human knot game (which ended up really bad, lol, and poor Katrina getting hurt..=/). From there, the roommates and I headed back to the room to end the night, although I got a chance to indulge in conversation with someone that night which made me feel a lot better. =)
Oh, and we also go to play card games! I had luck on my side because I didn’t deserve to win Tien Len or UNO! Lol…UNO took awhile, hehe…those reversal cards are great, muahaha, haha…=P
I headed to a hangout located in the middle of the two complexes, and found a lot of the college group chillin.
I could sense that everyone was starting to get a little tired. I stayed around for awhile until people started to leave. I headed back to ELM, to find Compi and Kenny walk back to the hangout, so I followed them. We sat down and had a conversation about Calvinism/predestination. As Compi and another guy was talking, I shared with Kenny a little about my church background. I felt and feel as though I was more accepted by the youth leaders. It’s a great feeling. We went back to the cabin and got ready to sleep; that night, I said a silent prayer to myself, thanking everyone for everything.
Sunday:
Woke up around 7:15am, took a shower, then ate breakfast with the other guys in the cabin. The cafeteria cooked “real” scrambled eggs…unfortunately, they tasted really bland…just had to put toppings. The bacon was kinda chewy too, lol, but kinda yummy. =) Can’t go wrong with cereal though! ^_^;
From there, I stopped by 101B to see if they were ready to go to class, hehe…I found Jim sleeping there (if only I could somehow get the picture from my photo wallet to the net, haha). Justin followed me and Ophie and attemped to wake him up. =P Jim, however, amusingly said, “I’m seriously staying in here all day…when you come back later on, you’ll still see me here.” He also mentioned something about an orange peel, but I forgot what it analogzied to, lol… I brought back a few cartons of Frosted Flakes since Shau and Jim weren’t able to eat breakfast. =)
From there, we headed to class, to hear a story about Mr. Massey’s proof of Creation vs. Evolution. Basically, he went over 3 theories of creation:
1. Gap Theory - No word of God creating planet of darkness of watery chaos; God’s creative power, he will transform darkness into an ordered universe
2. Day Age Theory - “yom” - means day, but can mean 24hrs or along period of time; how can one have plants before the sun? Deep thought: “God does not create in time, but with time.”
3. Evolutionary - 3 pillars of evolution: a) time, b) something from nothing, c) geologic column and missing links; Problem w/ Big Bang: why isn’t everything spinning in the same way? Problems of Evolution: a) no evidence of missing links, b) no transmutation b/t species
Mr. Massey seemed to prove his point pretty well and made new believers about accepting Creation as the true start of life. =) Once we finished up, it was time for lunch and free time till 4:30pm. Headed over to the game room for some more fun-ness. Allow me to share with you the dangers of the following object…
See that black piece of plastic? That thing is “dangerous”. Shau and I played a couple of rounds (regularly and left handed) and that puck had a mind of its own. It flew nearly every time we tried to hit it, hitting the wall behind, the glass, sometimes other people (unintentionally of course), at times each other, and even across the room. And by accident, I would constantly turn off the air.
Lunch sounded good after losing some calories from laughing and picking up the puck/balls. Discovered that there was an extra room, so this is where we resorted to eating at. =D More white minty babies of joy and food to enjoy.
Walked off the food by going back to the room to take a moment to change clothes or do whatever. M, S, A, and myself noticed a porch outside that middle hangout portion between the complexes, so we took a few pictures, overlooking the mini lake (where paddleboats were located!)
While other were enjoying and getting brutal with volleyball, the rest of us thought it would be fun to paddleboat. It was such a leg workout…the boat Mary and I had must’ve been malfunctioning because it really seemed as though we were putting more work into the boat than getting out of it. Annie/Shau’s boat was going much faster and it seemed as though they were doing less work, lol. Although we only had 10 minutes to peddle, I thought it was a lot of fun…only place I can think of that has peddleboats is in Lafrenniere park but they cost like $20/hr. >.<
From there, we went back to the game room to chill off and play foosball! =P Unlike the morning when Shau and I tried to play with a ping pong ball, there was a real one, haha…And I got to see that bumper ball hole game in session.
After chilling off for a little bit, it was time to get our Bball on. Annie looked on as the poking threesome played “Around the World”. Lol, I’m not really sure who won that, because there was a lot of lapping and taking shots for other people going on. =0 The three of us soooo felt disgusting afterward though. Time to head back to our rooms and take a refreshing shower.
Walked back to the room, and then we made our way back to the classroom to hear about: God is building me (Eph 3:14-21). There were lots to be said from these verses…here are some of the main points: You don’t own a thing; it’s from God.
1. Before you pray, must give your heart.
2. Out of His glorious riches
3. We walk around in spiritual poverty when we can have His riches
4. We don’t understand God’s power
5. God’s love is total-wide, long, high, deep
After the message, he asked everyone to close their eyes and pray; during prayer, he asked if anyone of us knew someone who needed to be saved…anyone who needed to accept God in their life. He asked us to pray for that person… He asked that if we needed salvation, that we raise our hands high, and then make our way to the back of the room to speak with a church leader if we had any questions or needed guidance. Meanwhile, everyon continued to pray. I felt something. I felt God’s presence. I felt the Holy Spirit’s presence working its way through me, in me. I made my way to the back of the room, also seeing Shau, along with a few other girls. There were some Baton Rouge people who went to their own leaders.
Kenny was there; we sat down and talked about what was going on with me. How did I like the retreat, how long I’ve been attending NOCBC, where do/did I see Jesus in my life, what is my background in faith, how do I see my parents, what have I got out of the retreat thus far, what I am thankful for… All these things…some were harder to admit than others. I felt so weak and humble. Kenny asked if I would be willing to say the sinner’s prayer-I agreed. We bowed our heads together, and I repeated his words, not knowing them by my own.
I could just feel His holy presence working through me, allowing me to speak to the Lord almighty. I felt it through Kenny, as he spoke to me, as he prayed for me afterward. Thanks be to God for blessing him, blessing me. =) After the prayer, I could see everyone clear the chairs and sit in a circle formation. Now, it was time to take the time to pray to God, to listen to the music and just talk to him, in whatever way we felt most comfortable.
As the songs went on, I looked back in trying to sing, but then I bowed my head again, and just tried to think about that moment and my weekend and what has happened and where I hoped to see it going. I couldn’t help but cry; Winnie and Sharon were next to me and they too were overswept with emotion. After many songs, everyone was asked to say a prayer or say thanks out loud if he/she wanted to. At one point, Compi had spoke, he cried, and I couldn’t help but cry too. =( More people followed after; I felt compelled to say something but I knew that I would not have been able to make much sense with my words (since I’m bad at word choice).
We ended with “Amazing Love”, and by then, everyone sang out. It was a moment not to forget. =) When the lights came back on, people started to take group pictures. I would post the NOCBC one, but my camera cell has terrible quality (looks scary). So here’s the BR people for example.
Oy…I still wondered what happened to our letters to God (I was later told that Bobby Massey read them and prayed for them).
Headed back to the room before it was time to play MAFIA (around 10:30pm); for some, it was their first time playing and they were about to see how intense and mean it could get. I remember playing this at Jesuit High with my sophomore religion teacher, hehe…he was great at it, taught the class how to read people. =P We went to “Vending” and sat down to hear/learn the current game; this was a slightly different version for me though, for it had cards and there were not only the Mafia (Jacks), but Judges to determine Mafia (Kings) and Medics to save people, or themselves (Queen).
It actually added more fun to the version I played (when there are no cards). Kenneth was good, and me and him had a connection throughout that night (and the next morning) in playing the game. For the longest time, young Kenny was the facilitator of the game as we see here:
Kenny as he gets people’s names wrong, lol! He made up names for Annie, Orson (BR LSU student), and me (calling me Terrence). Where he got these names, I dunno, lol...
Hmm, curious as to who we’re all looking at…the MAFIA? Yes. Muahaha. People started to realize that Kenneth and I were able to pick out the MAFIA for some reason. =P So people started to get us out quickly, lol. Oh, Orson (who sat one over Albert on the right) and I managed to win the game as MAFIA, lol, and we also managed to be good medics, hehe…It wasn’t until around 2:30am that some of us started to leave. But the game went till around 3:30am from what I heard.
There were lots of funny comments made during MAFIA, but I don’t think I could recall them all. William: “I’m NEVER the Mafia...and when I was the Mafia, I was set up…twice…” Poor Annie got picked on with her “innocent look” Yiwen: “Why am I the one who is accused first?” Kenneth: “There’s a moth! *runs away frantically*” Kenneth: “Ok, will the queens stop being retarded.’ ‘Stop picking the same person!’ ‘Ok, the queen can point to someone now…any day now..” Lol, most of the lines came from the chanman. =P
Oh, during one of the games, a police ranger came in and told us about how there’s a blue ghost in the camp. =0 I don’t think some people wanted to hear that. =P Then, scary stories were told after MAFIA and this is how it went (thanks to sharon):
“…we were all sitting there and there are these doors on either side of the room. we had been talking about how it would be so weird if someone came in through the doors or if like someone or rather someTHING broke one of the windows and grabbed orsen. then as soon as we said that we saw the door opening and everyone was screaming…”
Chilled back at the room briefly before walking back to the cabin alone; when I did, I looked around, trying to find that ghost, haha…oh well…twas time to head to bed.
Labor Day:
The next morning, there were some people who didn’t get any sleep at all, lol. =P I got up, packed my things, and headed to the room, where they would stay till it was time to depart.
The inside of ELM. The showers were pretty nice, and there was a bathroom in the middle.
This little white creature was found when I arrived. =0 It can fly!
It got to be around 8:40am, and some people were still sleeping; some of us went to eat a quick breakfast (thankfully made by one of the workers), and then it was off to class. Two messages that morning: God has separated me (Eph 4:17-32) and God’s life is shining through me (Eph 5:1-21).
1. People should be able to distinguish Non-Christians and Christians; Christian life is a process. Although change may be slow, it comes as you trust God to change you.
2. It’s time to change your thinking: about yourself, about spiritual condition, and about God
3. Old way of life is in the past; put it away. We must put on a new role.
To conclude and recap: God has accepted me. God has made me alive. God is building me. What is the Christian life? How is it defined? We sang once again afterward and for the last time, we were asked to reflect upon each phrase/word of “You Are My King.” Thank you Mr. Massey for ministering the retreat, may you and your family succeed in life and reach out as I.M.B. missionaries in China. =)
A group picture of everyone was taken right on the steps in front of Cypress. When we were asked to make a funny picture, it really didn’t turn out funny, haha, although I did attempt to do something. =P
On the right is Justin, striking his new GQ pose, lmao. =P
There were huge black ants scattering across the path. *squish!*
For some reason, some of us headed to Vending to play a few more rounds of MAFIA. Omg, I had the worst luck, because I was sitting by a MAFIA member every time *cough* Winnie *cough* =P And at one point, I was sandwiched in between both members (Kenneth/Winnie).
Around 1pm, it was time to leave…
The trees torn down and the remains of the path to Tall Timbers. =0
On the way back, here are some random things I saw along the way: WILD HRT license plate, Starcraft minivan (Chevy), Beated up VW Bug, Monster truck, a sign that said “Be careful, my daddy/mommy works here!” I also got a call from Mike that kind disappointed and got to me…and although I’ve heard things like I did in the past, they always seem to touch on something I do/did as a person, or in this case, as an officer. *sighs* We got to stop at Mcdonalds though to eat some food/dessert. =) Mmm…I need to try the OREO’s Mcflurry.
Dropped off Annie at Lakeside, then made our way back to the Yu household, where Shau, Mary, and myself took a nap. Although, I tried to but Amy was playing, lol, and trying to get me involved. I went to an officer meeting for 7pm, where we talked about the first LASO meeting. After a couple of hours, we finished up, I got dropped back home, unpacked, took shower, and got ready for school the next day.
Random pic:
This is the product of the free mint ness; muahah, the packages are more considerate now when giving birth with their “Thank You!” Haha…=P
***Wow…what an entry…talk about a short story with pictures, lol***
Wow, this is gonna be one of the hardest entries to recall what I did…since this happened more than a week ago. =X Let’s give it a try…*closes eyes and tries to recall*
Mmm…I luv CC’s muffins, so good! *drools* Headed to school, tried to find Dr. Anderson to give her a Frosty’s menu (but she wasn’t there), so I just sat around for a little bit. Talked to Mary in the morning, then proceeded to class. As soon as people walked in, we were asked to get back into our groups and answer the rest of the questions. As each group would continue solving the problems, Dr. Dorn walked around, asking each group a particular answer for a particular question. After about 30 minutes or so, each group answered a question, till the end of class.
Organic covered a lot of material like usual, and Music class, we listened to more samples and learned more about elements. =0 Came back home, went to Bible study, which didn’t happen for some reason. Got ready for the retreat the next day. =)
Saturday morning was tough for me. I woke up early enough to get ready to be dropped off at Mary’s house for 9am, but then I had a confrontation with my dad. I could go on and on about what he said and how I’ve heard it before, but I’ll keep it relatively short. He didn’t want me to go, and preferred that I stay home that weekend to study. I tried to tell him how important this retreat was to me and he remained vigilant in his stance. I know that I had to do better this year, and I didn’t want to let him down on that. The retreat was the best time (beginning of school) to have it, when I probably needed it the most.
After some emotion, I finally managed to convince him to let me go, but he had to go to the new house before 8:15am, so I found myself rushing to take a shower and finish packing. We went to the house, and I forgot to ask him to drop me off at Mary’s house. My uncle arrived and he and my dad went to Home Depot. Meanwhile, I figured that I’d try to walk to Mary’s house (with all my stuff-sleeping bag, duffel, and backpack). As I walked, one lady (with her dog) asked if I was runnign away from home, lol. =P I sang to myself as I walked the block to Mary’s house; got there, ate a Hot Pocket (thanks!), and waited for Shau and Annie to come (came at the same time).
When everyone got there, all of us held hands, and Mary’s mom said a prayer for us. =D We packed everything in strategically into the trunk of the Maxima, double checked everything, and were on our way to A-town (haha! That makes sense…). These dork points are just on the rise. =P
The trip there went well (although it got kinda hot in the car). For the most part, everyone managed to stay awake. We made one stop at a Shell gas station to fill up (since we took a slight detour in highways), and while there, Shau and I used the car squeegees (ok, I can’t spell). You know, those wipers with soap and water. We tried to get rid of all the suicidal bug guts on the car. =P After cleaning, we made our way back to the appropriate highways; it took awhile to get from route 1 to route 66, hehe…and then when we turned on Hwy 112, 6 miles seemed to take longer than usual. But we eventually made it to what looked like Tall Timbers.
We saw the sign but were like, “Where’s the path?!” So we turned back and it looked like we had to drive over the dirt/rocks up to the gate. We entered, found the registration table (in which Shau, Annie, and I had to register $15). I got hold of blankets, pillows, comforter, and whatnot. Brought them to the car, then all of us decided to go to lunch. Woohoo!
The food was ok, much better than the stories I heard, lol. Oh, they had soft mints! I totally snatched a butt load of mints throughout the entire stay. Lol, when trying to open the mints, I pretended I was giving birth to a white baby mint. (ok, now you probably think I’m crazy). =P
This is what it looked like from the table we sat at. On the table, they had so many spicy condiments (hot sauces), but they didn’t have Tabasco, erg…guess they can’t handle its potency. =P
After eating, we drove to the girls’ hangout. They got 101B, so we had to walk downstairs to find out that the door requires a special touch to open. (meaning, the key can’t be pushed in all the way to open sesame). It was hot and stanky in there, lol, but the [weak] air condition helped after we came back later that evening. From there, I went to drop my baggage at ELM dorm, so I plopped my stuff on one of the 50 bunk beds, lol. Then, we decided to visit the Game Room!!! *many calories were burned there*
They had 2 ping pong tables, an old style air hockey set, 3 foosball tables, and a ping pongish pool stick usage game (haha, I’m so off on this one). One has these bumpers stationed on the table and the object is to hit your set of balls to the other side’s hole.
Here, Mary and I played some rounds of Ping Pong with Shau and Annie (oh, how I haven’t played ping pong in such a long time). I pretended I was in the Olympics (hah!). The four of us played categories, fun fun. =)
Before leaving, Ophie was owning her brother in air hockey, lol. My game would be brought later, lol…
It was time to make our way to the Classroom (Cypress) for 4pm. When we got there, we could see the overhead/projector equipment set up, the piano, microphone system, and even bongos! I attempted to play them while Kenny/Carol practiced. More people started to come in and we got settled and greeted new faces.
Compi and a guy from BR named Orsen. They assisted in worship songs. Some of the girls started to have a slight crush on Orsen, lol. =P tsk tsk…
OMG, let me tell you about this water… I went to refill my water bottle at the water fountain inside, in between the bathrooms, and when I came back to sit down, I was about to drink it but I found a disgusting tint. *jaw drops* =0 “Look at that color!” It’s like…ewww! Water should be clear/blue, not vomity brown/green, lol…(color was darker than the picture) No more water fountain water from that place (got it at other ones though). Vending machines all the way!
Speaking of water, in 101B, there must’ve been 10 water bottles, lol… “Which was is mine?” Hmm…
Must give props to Mary for making the program; perfect picture for the front I thought. Luv the fonts. =)
Pastor Bobby Massey came to speak to us this year. I thought he did a pretty good job getting the messages across. He was a white “hick” as he iked to call himself, who loved Chinese people. “I’m probably more Chinese than some of you in here.” =P He introduced himself, his family, and the story of how he was called to serve God, his daddy. Accoring to him, he never had a real dad while growing up, and it caused him to look upon God as his one and only daddy.
For the next couple days, we would hear about the first five chapter of Ephesians, in addition to his argument of Creation vs. Evolution. God has acccepted me (Eph 1:1-6) Mr. Massey asked everyone who their favorite athlete was; most of the girls said Michael Phelps or Ian Thorpe, while most of the guys said Carly Patterson. =0 I said Alexei Nemov, lol, woohoo! Later on in the message, he told everyone to stop lusting.
For the entire trip, I took a large amount of notes, as we were encouraged to, and although I could possibly type almost all of what I have, I won’t, but I’ll cover some main topics from each one, starting with the first one:
1. All goodness comes from God.
2. There is no goodness/blessing outside of God.
3. He doesn’t understand Luck.
4. He doesn’t understand Chance.
5. God is a Purposeful God.
The song that was “the” song for the retreat was “You Are My King (Amazing Love)” it was always the last song that everyone sang and it was the song to reflect about at the end of the retreat. To end, everyone was asked to say a number, and I got put into group 1, with Kenny as the leader of discussion time. The question: In what ways does the enemy (Satan) try to make you feel unaccepted (at home, school, com./church, friends)? How do you deal with it and how should you deal with feeling unaccepted? Our group had some good, direct answers, and finished early. =)
After discussion time, it was time for dinner, yum yum. Ate everything as usual, mixed drinks, hehe, gave birth to mints, and then, the girls (Mary, Shau, Annie, occassionally Ophie) and I went back to the room. I want to thank all of them for allowing me to chill with them; yall are some of the best friends a guy could ever have. =) On the way back, a funny observation happened…
We saw rows of HONDA vans parked next to each other, lol! Never seen that before.
It was time to head back to class to hear the second message: God has given me LIFE (Eph 2:1-9). Here, we recaped what we learned from the first one: By Faith, you please God. We were:
Objects of wrath, followed the ways of this world, God’s enemy’s, enslaved to Satan, followed our evil thoughts and desires.
Now: Made alive in Christ, shown God’s mercy and salvation, stand for Christ and truth, God’s children, free in Christ to love, serve, and sit with him, and raised up with Christ to glory.
Mr. Massey started the message by having Compi play dead on the table. “God made me Alive!” Bobby Massey exalted. Gal 2:20-21 : “…I live by faith.”
Towards the end of the message, Mr. Massey had an activity for us. He asked us to write a letter to God. Write to him anything you want, but thank him for giving us life. So I sat on the floor, writing my letter on the chair, and I wrote about where I saw God in my life, when did I start to know about him, how he has blessed me with everything and everyone I encountered, and also asking for his blessing for my family, my friends, and myself. I was overswept with emotion…the power of song was great…and how it seem to speak to me when “As the Deer” was sung…it’s one of my favorite songs and I did not expect it to be played at that moment…then I heard Compi begin the words, and it felt as though he read my mind or something…
When it was over, I couldn’t be in that room anymore, so I stepped outside and sat on the steps (feeling so alone) and tried to talk to God. I came back inside a couple minutes later and joined in on the human knot game (which ended up really bad, lol, and poor Katrina getting hurt..=/). From there, the roommates and I headed back to the room to end the night, although I got a chance to indulge in conversation with someone that night which made me feel a lot better. =)
Oh, and we also go to play card games! I had luck on my side because I didn’t deserve to win Tien Len or UNO! Lol…UNO took awhile, hehe…those reversal cards are great, muahaha, haha…=P
I headed to a hangout located in the middle of the two complexes, and found a lot of the college group chillin.
I could sense that everyone was starting to get a little tired. I stayed around for awhile until people started to leave. I headed back to ELM, to find Compi and Kenny walk back to the hangout, so I followed them. We sat down and had a conversation about Calvinism/predestination. As Compi and another guy was talking, I shared with Kenny a little about my church background. I felt and feel as though I was more accepted by the youth leaders. It’s a great feeling. We went back to the cabin and got ready to sleep; that night, I said a silent prayer to myself, thanking everyone for everything.
Sunday:
Woke up around 7:15am, took a shower, then ate breakfast with the other guys in the cabin. The cafeteria cooked “real” scrambled eggs…unfortunately, they tasted really bland…just had to put toppings. The bacon was kinda chewy too, lol, but kinda yummy. =) Can’t go wrong with cereal though! ^_^;
From there, I stopped by 101B to see if they were ready to go to class, hehe…I found Jim sleeping there (if only I could somehow get the picture from my photo wallet to the net, haha). Justin followed me and Ophie and attemped to wake him up. =P Jim, however, amusingly said, “I’m seriously staying in here all day…when you come back later on, you’ll still see me here.” He also mentioned something about an orange peel, but I forgot what it analogzied to, lol… I brought back a few cartons of Frosted Flakes since Shau and Jim weren’t able to eat breakfast. =)
From there, we headed to class, to hear a story about Mr. Massey’s proof of Creation vs. Evolution. Basically, he went over 3 theories of creation:
1. Gap Theory - No word of God creating planet of darkness of watery chaos; God’s creative power, he will transform darkness into an ordered universe
2. Day Age Theory - “yom” - means day, but can mean 24hrs or along period of time; how can one have plants before the sun? Deep thought: “God does not create in time, but with time.”
3. Evolutionary - 3 pillars of evolution: a) time, b) something from nothing, c) geologic column and missing links; Problem w/ Big Bang: why isn’t everything spinning in the same way? Problems of Evolution: a) no evidence of missing links, b) no transmutation b/t species
Mr. Massey seemed to prove his point pretty well and made new believers about accepting Creation as the true start of life. =) Once we finished up, it was time for lunch and free time till 4:30pm. Headed over to the game room for some more fun-ness. Allow me to share with you the dangers of the following object…
See that black piece of plastic? That thing is “dangerous”. Shau and I played a couple of rounds (regularly and left handed) and that puck had a mind of its own. It flew nearly every time we tried to hit it, hitting the wall behind, the glass, sometimes other people (unintentionally of course), at times each other, and even across the room. And by accident, I would constantly turn off the air.
Lunch sounded good after losing some calories from laughing and picking up the puck/balls. Discovered that there was an extra room, so this is where we resorted to eating at. =D More white minty babies of joy and food to enjoy.
Walked off the food by going back to the room to take a moment to change clothes or do whatever. M, S, A, and myself noticed a porch outside that middle hangout portion between the complexes, so we took a few pictures, overlooking the mini lake (where paddleboats were located!)
While other were enjoying and getting brutal with volleyball, the rest of us thought it would be fun to paddleboat. It was such a leg workout…the boat Mary and I had must’ve been malfunctioning because it really seemed as though we were putting more work into the boat than getting out of it. Annie/Shau’s boat was going much faster and it seemed as though they were doing less work, lol. Although we only had 10 minutes to peddle, I thought it was a lot of fun…only place I can think of that has peddleboats is in Lafrenniere park but they cost like $20/hr. >.<
From there, we went back to the game room to chill off and play foosball! =P Unlike the morning when Shau and I tried to play with a ping pong ball, there was a real one, haha…And I got to see that bumper ball hole game in session.
After chilling off for a little bit, it was time to get our Bball on. Annie looked on as the poking threesome played “Around the World”. Lol, I’m not really sure who won that, because there was a lot of lapping and taking shots for other people going on. =0 The three of us soooo felt disgusting afterward though. Time to head back to our rooms and take a refreshing shower.
Walked back to the room, and then we made our way back to the classroom to hear about: God is building me (Eph 3:14-21). There were lots to be said from these verses…here are some of the main points: You don’t own a thing; it’s from God.
1. Before you pray, must give your heart.
2. Out of His glorious riches
3. We walk around in spiritual poverty when we can have His riches
4. We don’t understand God’s power
5. God’s love is total-wide, long, high, deep
After the message, he asked everyone to close their eyes and pray; during prayer, he asked if anyone of us knew someone who needed to be saved…anyone who needed to accept God in their life. He asked us to pray for that person… He asked that if we needed salvation, that we raise our hands high, and then make our way to the back of the room to speak with a church leader if we had any questions or needed guidance. Meanwhile, everyon continued to pray. I felt something. I felt God’s presence. I felt the Holy Spirit’s presence working its way through me, in me. I made my way to the back of the room, also seeing Shau, along with a few other girls. There were some Baton Rouge people who went to their own leaders.
Kenny was there; we sat down and talked about what was going on with me. How did I like the retreat, how long I’ve been attending NOCBC, where do/did I see Jesus in my life, what is my background in faith, how do I see my parents, what have I got out of the retreat thus far, what I am thankful for… All these things…some were harder to admit than others. I felt so weak and humble. Kenny asked if I would be willing to say the sinner’s prayer-I agreed. We bowed our heads together, and I repeated his words, not knowing them by my own.
I could just feel His holy presence working through me, allowing me to speak to the Lord almighty. I felt it through Kenny, as he spoke to me, as he prayed for me afterward. Thanks be to God for blessing him, blessing me. =) After the prayer, I could see everyone clear the chairs and sit in a circle formation. Now, it was time to take the time to pray to God, to listen to the music and just talk to him, in whatever way we felt most comfortable.
As the songs went on, I looked back in trying to sing, but then I bowed my head again, and just tried to think about that moment and my weekend and what has happened and where I hoped to see it going. I couldn’t help but cry; Winnie and Sharon were next to me and they too were overswept with emotion. After many songs, everyone was asked to say a prayer or say thanks out loud if he/she wanted to. At one point, Compi had spoke, he cried, and I couldn’t help but cry too. =( More people followed after; I felt compelled to say something but I knew that I would not have been able to make much sense with my words (since I’m bad at word choice).
We ended with “Amazing Love”, and by then, everyone sang out. It was a moment not to forget. =) When the lights came back on, people started to take group pictures. I would post the NOCBC one, but my camera cell has terrible quality (looks scary). So here’s the BR people for example.
Oy…I still wondered what happened to our letters to God (I was later told that Bobby Massey read them and prayed for them).
Headed back to the room before it was time to play MAFIA (around 10:30pm); for some, it was their first time playing and they were about to see how intense and mean it could get. I remember playing this at Jesuit High with my sophomore religion teacher, hehe…he was great at it, taught the class how to read people. =P We went to “Vending” and sat down to hear/learn the current game; this was a slightly different version for me though, for it had cards and there were not only the Mafia (Jacks), but Judges to determine Mafia (Kings) and Medics to save people, or themselves (Queen).
It actually added more fun to the version I played (when there are no cards). Kenneth was good, and me and him had a connection throughout that night (and the next morning) in playing the game. For the longest time, young Kenny was the facilitator of the game as we see here:
Kenny as he gets people’s names wrong, lol! He made up names for Annie, Orson (BR LSU student), and me (calling me Terrence). Where he got these names, I dunno, lol...
Hmm, curious as to who we’re all looking at…the MAFIA? Yes. Muahaha. People started to realize that Kenneth and I were able to pick out the MAFIA for some reason. =P So people started to get us out quickly, lol. Oh, Orson (who sat one over Albert on the right) and I managed to win the game as MAFIA, lol, and we also managed to be good medics, hehe…It wasn’t until around 2:30am that some of us started to leave. But the game went till around 3:30am from what I heard.
There were lots of funny comments made during MAFIA, but I don’t think I could recall them all. William: “I’m NEVER the Mafia...and when I was the Mafia, I was set up…twice…” Poor Annie got picked on with her “innocent look” Yiwen: “Why am I the one who is accused first?” Kenneth: “There’s a moth! *runs away frantically*” Kenneth: “Ok, will the queens stop being retarded.’ ‘Stop picking the same person!’ ‘Ok, the queen can point to someone now…any day now..” Lol, most of the lines came from the chanman. =P
Oh, during one of the games, a police ranger came in and told us about how there’s a blue ghost in the camp. =0 I don’t think some people wanted to hear that. =P Then, scary stories were told after MAFIA and this is how it went (thanks to sharon):
“…we were all sitting there and there are these doors on either side of the room. we had been talking about how it would be so weird if someone came in through the doors or if like someone or rather someTHING broke one of the windows and grabbed orsen. then as soon as we said that we saw the door opening and everyone was screaming…”
Chilled back at the room briefly before walking back to the cabin alone; when I did, I looked around, trying to find that ghost, haha…oh well…twas time to head to bed.
Labor Day:
The next morning, there were some people who didn’t get any sleep at all, lol. =P I got up, packed my things, and headed to the room, where they would stay till it was time to depart.
The inside of ELM. The showers were pretty nice, and there was a bathroom in the middle.
This little white creature was found when I arrived. =0 It can fly!
It got to be around 8:40am, and some people were still sleeping; some of us went to eat a quick breakfast (thankfully made by one of the workers), and then it was off to class. Two messages that morning: God has separated me (Eph 4:17-32) and God’s life is shining through me (Eph 5:1-21).
1. People should be able to distinguish Non-Christians and Christians; Christian life is a process. Although change may be slow, it comes as you trust God to change you.
2. It’s time to change your thinking: about yourself, about spiritual condition, and about God
3. Old way of life is in the past; put it away. We must put on a new role.
To conclude and recap: God has accepted me. God has made me alive. God is building me. What is the Christian life? How is it defined? We sang once again afterward and for the last time, we were asked to reflect upon each phrase/word of “You Are My King.” Thank you Mr. Massey for ministering the retreat, may you and your family succeed in life and reach out as I.M.B. missionaries in China. =)
A group picture of everyone was taken right on the steps in front of Cypress. When we were asked to make a funny picture, it really didn’t turn out funny, haha, although I did attempt to do something. =P
On the right is Justin, striking his new GQ pose, lmao. =P
There were huge black ants scattering across the path. *squish!*
For some reason, some of us headed to Vending to play a few more rounds of MAFIA. Omg, I had the worst luck, because I was sitting by a MAFIA member every time *cough* Winnie *cough* =P And at one point, I was sandwiched in between both members (Kenneth/Winnie).
Around 1pm, it was time to leave…
The trees torn down and the remains of the path to Tall Timbers. =0
On the way back, here are some random things I saw along the way: WILD HRT license plate, Starcraft minivan (Chevy), Beated up VW Bug, Monster truck, a sign that said “Be careful, my daddy/mommy works here!” I also got a call from Mike that kind disappointed and got to me…and although I’ve heard things like I did in the past, they always seem to touch on something I do/did as a person, or in this case, as an officer. *sighs* We got to stop at Mcdonalds though to eat some food/dessert. =) Mmm…I need to try the OREO’s Mcflurry.
Dropped off Annie at Lakeside, then made our way back to the Yu household, where Shau, Mary, and myself took a nap. Although, I tried to but Amy was playing, lol, and trying to get me involved. I went to an officer meeting for 7pm, where we talked about the first LASO meeting. After a couple of hours, we finished up, I got dropped back home, unpacked, took shower, and got ready for school the next day.
Random pic:
This is the product of the free mint ness; muahah, the packages are more considerate now when giving birth with their “Thank You!” Haha…=P
***Wow…what an entry…talk about a short story with pictures, lol***