Title: Snapshots from the retreat
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God is good!! =) I really want to thank God for this retreat for it was such a wonderful and blessed time with one another in this big family! I believed God had planned this retreat to be so divine for us in this year of Sabbath for we had so much rest in Him, dwelling in intimacy with our Father and we had so much fun just sharing our walk and edifying one another as a spiritual family through the time spent together. Like what Pastor Khong has mentioned at the start of this year, this year of Sabbath is a time to remember and rely upon the Lord, delighting in intimacy with Him and it is also a time to restore and rebuild relationships in this family, demonstrating inter-dependence among us, and I believed all these were just so evident in this retreat itself. Even though there wasn’t much activities planned for us, God has led us to fellowship with one another deeper as a family during our cell group time and during the sharing session we had with our leaders and Pastor Roland himself. And God too, has drawn us deeper into His presence and into His dwelling place in our 1 hour of praying and crying out to Him! And I definitely have to agree with Pastor Roland who has shared that the quantity and quality of the fruit we bear has a direct co-relation to our degree of growing in intimacy with Christ! And not to forget all the wonderful sessions that God has used to speak to us. ABIDE in Jesus Christ and Marching as ONE Army! =) Thank you Lord!!

Written By Jia Jin (Jerome’s G12 Group)

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In this retreat, God used people to speak to me. I felt very assuring and it helped me take a closer step to God. I not only drew closer to God, but also the family of God. God is good and I have been very blessed throughout the whole camp. I thank God for his unfailing love and the spiritual family that he has placed me in.

Written By Charissa (Samantha’s G12 Group)                                              

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I went to the camp with lots of stuff in my mind. Through experience, whenever there is lots of stuff in my mind, I know the Lord is going to speak. 

Neither storm nor earth-shakings were experienced as our dear pastors brought us through their teachings (screams maybe as we were in our rooms and showers. Lizards, droppings of all kinds, the super cold water etc…). 

As I sat through their teachings and sharing, I realized they were sharing their real life experiences with us (Pastor’s standard is very high. He still carried on his G12 meeting on Wednesday despite his dad’s condition). 

Battle is real and persecution we will face. What is our response to them? Our response to the battle and persecution is critical. Taking Pastor’s dad as an example. Our natural response should be to postpone the G12 meeting or let the 12 run the meeting. Yet, Pastor chose to lead the meeting and ask the group to pray (Wow, pastor. You are really one kind).                                                                       

The result… Our Faith is strengthened.

The situation looked more like a threat from the evil one. I am not suggesting that we should leave our earthly responsibilities or carrying out our responsibilities blindly (Pastor’s dad situation and carrying out the G12 meeting are our earthly responsibilities). 

Our response should be one with our Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Recognizing the flaming arrows and respond appropriately. (This kind of response is not easy to acquire. It may take me a lifetime to learn). My heart has been convicted a number of times by the truth through the teachings. 

The more we want to advance His Kingdom, the evil one will also do more to stop us. With the desire to please Him with the works of our hands, we will face persecution of all kinds. Others may see us as crazy, weirdoes or even as illogical; the convicting truth that grips our hearts shall propel us to stand firm. 

It is no easy feat. Yet His love shall be our assurance. Nothing physical has changed. =) My heart has. How about yours? 

Written By Estee (Cynthia’s G12 Group)