Friday, September 25, 2015

Student Leaders Arise! (Sept 6, 2015)

Written by Eunice Tan
Edited by Charis Chen

Hi there! Welcome to the ___th ICC Chapter Meeting! (I lost count!) Our chapter was currently going under a massive reconstruction as we welcomed the use of the Chapter Toolbox as our meeting plan, and the new student leaders of Words A.L.I.V.E!


Photo by Eliza Tan

Our fellow speaker, Nathanael, led us in a thoughtful devotion about the Nicene Creed.  As we listened, he told us about the definition of a creed, described the content and history, and finally ended with how this related to us and how it can help us in our daily lives as ambassadors of Christ. It was an excellent reminder to everyone of the foundation in which our faith is grounded. Thank you for the devotion, Nathanael!

Photo by Eliza Tan
Jonique: Good job, Nathanael!
Jern Ling: (clap clap)

Photo by Eliza Tan

Following the devotion, we had an energetic icebreaker and warm up led by Ian. The icebreaker was called "Mirrors," in which we had to find a partner. One was the leader and the other the follower. The follower would follow all the actions of the leader as if he were a mirror. It was an amazing and exciting game that taught us to pay attention to our partner and work together as a team. The icebreaker certainly got us thoroughly energized for the work ahead! After that, Ian led us in a warm up exercise where we stretched our arms and legs and got flexible. (By the way, what is Jonique doing in the picture above?? xP)

Photo by Eliza Tan
Jern Ling: Eunice, you are so awkward.

After the energizing exercises, the YSGers went out into the fresh outdoors to have a discussion with Coach Joseph about Student leaders, interesting possibilities for our chapter, and what was ahead. Before we started, Coach Joseph introduced our very new YSG member: Evan! Welcome to the Young Speakers' Guild, Evan! In order to let Evan familiarize with all our names, we went around in a circle saying our names with an adjective in front of it with the same starting letter as our name. For example, Jolly Jaeriel, Enthusiastic Evan, Intelligent Ian, etc. We had quite interesting combinations like Naughty Nathanael and Just Jern Yoong! After the funny introductions, we dived in an explanation of student leader roles and goofy ways to make our chapter meeting more exciting. Minutes later, Coach Joseph asked us speakers to have a discussion among ourselves about possibilities for humorous group activities or just little things we could do as a chapter to help bring us all together and have fun! The speakers decided to move over to the grass to have our discussion.

Photo by Eliza Tan

Our discussion went practically wild as we came up with ideas like everyone wearing mismatched socks and shoes to meetings or wearing different funny hairstyles to chapter. Our enthusiastic discussion went on for about 10 minutes before we were called for teabreak! During teabreak, Coach Joseph spoke to each of the potential student leaders individually about whether they were committed to the role and the responsible goals they had to set for the future. Student leaders arise! After teabreak, we had fellowship and some of us headed to the park to play frisbee. Thus, ended the ICC Chapter Meeting of September 6! May God bless us in the years to come!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Additional Funny Pictures!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Photo by Eliza Tan
Nathanael: Hahahahahhahaha......

Photo by Eliza Tan
Soo.... how 'bout blue socks, everyone?

Photo by Eliza Tan
Hahaha...

Photo by Eliza Tan

Looking forward to the many chapter meetings to come! God bless you!

--Eunice Tan

Introducing a New Chapter to Our Chapter!

Written by Ranen Chan
Edited by Nathanael Chong

Photo by Eliza Tan


Welcome to the 26th meeting of Words A.L.I.V.E. Malaysia!
As soon as everyone had convened at HQ, Coach Joseph started the planning session by discussing the student leader (SL) roles and those in the chapter who qualified. Then we discussed the portfolio and decided that Coach Alfred would be in charge of the YSG speakers, Coach Chee Keong would be in charge of the YCCs, and Coach Debra would be in charge of the SLs.
Photo by Eliza Tan
Coach Joseph announced that our chapter would be doing “portfolio coaching,” where speakers are assigned to a coach who is not their parent. The speaker would be accountable to that “portfolio coach” in addition to their parents for their progress in the YSG II.

He also said that all the YSG speakers would be required to present a speech or do impromptu speaking at every meeting, effective next meeting. Oh my!
Photo by Eliza Tan
Finally, we revised the meeting schedule, then adjourned for a tea break.
Photo by Eliza Tan
Shortly after, Coach Debra gathered the SLs around the kitchen table and briefed them, discussing their roles and responsibilities. Some of us weren’t SLs but we listened in all the same. : )

When the meeting was over, the speakers chilled out with a light session of Frisbee, while the parents chatted away.

Photo by Coach Daniel Toh
          Frisbee!          
          
Photo by Coach Daniel Toh

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

ICC Retreat 2015: Day 2 & 3!

Written by Jern Ling
Edited by Charis Chen

DAY 2


After a long morning with the hustle and bustle, we finally woke up, still feeling sleepy from all the excitement and trauma. We were supposed to wake up at 7:00am, but with all the commotion that had happened really early in the morning, we were all allowed to sleep in later. When I woke up at around 8:00, Charis and Jemima were already awake and Charis was shaking me, Jonique, and probably Eunice, too. We were groggy with our eyes bulging and bags under our eyes from crying and the lack of sleep. After washing up, Jonique, Eunice, and I headed towards the cafeteria, keeping a safe distance from the hot, boiling pot. After awhile, Eliza, Charis, and Jemima joined our table. I turned to Eliza and said, “You have a very interesting and exciting story to tell your children!”


After breakfast, with our tummies filled, we made our way up the stairs to our meeting room. When everyone was in the room, we began with a devotional sharing from Coach Alfred. Actually, the Devos 1 Team, which consisted of Eliza, Ranen, Charis, Jemima, and me, were supposed to do the devotion, but because of the incident, we were not able to do it. 

So instead, Coach Alfred shared an acronym of the word COMMIT. He shared with us about how to turn the traumatic experience into a life lesson, and that we should always listen to others, whether older or younger, when they caution us.

When Bad Things Happen To Good People 

That was the topic. Coach Alfred then explained it in more detail. 

Crisis
       · It is part of life’s journey
       · Inevitable
       · It happens to anyone and everyone
       ·It is normal to ask questions.

How Do We Deal With It?
What our normal response would be:

1. Freeze = Inability to deal with it; don’t know what to do

2. Flight = Running away, withdrawing, blaming others or self; bitterness.

3. Fight = Deal with it, embrace crisis, accept with thankfulness.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ~ 
"In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

What I learned from Coach Alfred is that I must be thankful in all circumstances.
Next, we learned about thankfulness and why we have to be thankful.

Thankfulness 

      i) God is in control of every situation – good or bad.

      ii) For His grace and mercy.

      iii) For the care and concern.

      iv) For His will.

After the devotion by Coach Alfred, it was Coach Joseph’s time to speak.

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Photo by Nathanael Chong

posing with my canggih look for the camera

He told all of us, especially the speakers, that this year, we have really had our ‘teabag moments’. For a teabag, you will never know what is inside the bag until you put it in hot water. Then only will the color, smell and taste be released. Coach Joseph said that the teabag reflects our character. He then shared about how we young people need to be humble and accept correction. Those who do not learn from history will repeat it again. Our parents may seem to be nagging and annoying us, but our parents want the best for us and don’t want us to make avoidable mistakes. And, if we do not listen to them or heed their teachings, there will be greater consequences.

          After the solemn part, it was time for .... STATION GAMES TIME!!!!!!! (sorry, no pics)

The first station game that we played was the ‘Plane Making With Coin Weights’ game, which was led by Ian. We had to make a very flyable plane for our plane challenge later. I am not very much of an expert in the making of a plane so, my plane was pretty lame. :)

The next station game was the ‘Guard Your Treasure Well' game of passing marbles and ping pong ball with toilet roll centres, led by Charis. We had to use the toilet rolls to guide the marble or ping pong balls to our goal, which was the cup. :) There was a lot of screaming when the ball fell down from the toilet roll center, because then, we had to start again from the person who was holding the ball before it fell.

The third station game was ‘The Parachute Twister’ led by my brother, Jern Yoong. With everyone around the parachute circle, Jern Yoong would tell how many body parts have to be on which color. It is something like Twister, only with parachutes.

Finally, the last game station was the airplane challenge! The paper planes that we had made were for competing with other teams. It was an exciting and extraordinarily fun time! Then, we all had an afternoon nap time during which most of us did not nap. Although I don't know what the boys did, we, the girls had quite a lot of fun. Since Debbie came over that morning, we all started talking, laughing, reading books, and just having fun. We also watched Coach Debra and Charis dress Eliza's wounds and then got on talking again. :P I was pretty nervous at that time, because right after the nap time, it was my song leading time. Fifteen minutes before the whole second half of the day began, the girls accompanied me to the meeting room to practice the songs that I had selected (bless them).
Several other speakers helped as well.

Photo by Nathanael Chong
Some with the LCD....

Photo credit: unknown
Some with musical instruments...

Finally, after some practices, everybody was gathered together.

Photo credit: unknown
Can you sense the nervousness in me?

Photo credit: unknown

Photo credit: unknown
Faithful worshippers...

Photo credit: unknown
Ranen's hands up in midair...

Photo by Nathanael Chong
Behold... the guitar...

Eliza and Eunice talked about their trip to the U.S., the ICON tournament, visiting Answers In Genesis, and their experiences in visiting different universities.

After that, we had tea break, after which some of the speakers and coaches changed into their sports attire and played Ultimate (Frisbee) in a big field behind the PD Methodist Center.  It was a very fun time in the evening, laughing at how the coaches throw. :) (oops, sorry!) 

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Then, all sweaty, we went back to our dorms to bathe. It was such a tiring time! After we finished showering, we headed to the cafeteria to eat our dinner. After we settled down with the dinner food in our stomachs, we went up stairs to the meeting room to listen to our first aid "doctor", Coach Choong Ming, teach us about first aid for burns. When the hot water incident occurred, we were panicking and did not know what to do, so now we know what to do when something hot comes our way.

DAY 3

The next day, we had to wake up early for our breakfast and devotions. 
The devotions were about how to commit to God.
But somewhere, Eliza showed us a short video of the movie that the ICC was making: Mission Exterminator. She showed a scene where Ranen, Eunice and Jaeriel were acting as trapped kids. I was impressed by what we could do; the ICC speakers DO have a bright future ahead! :) Then, Eliza showed us the bloopers of a scene where Ranen, Eunice and I were trying to act serious, but failed. There were so many bloopers, as we couldn't remember our lines and were so tired that we HAD to yawn. :P Everybody laughed and giggled and 'wow'ed while watching the videos.



After that, we had a discussion about ways to promote ICC through the six core values.

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Eliza shared what MEDIA P.R.E.P. was all about. P.R.E.P. stands for Pursuing Responsibility and Excellence Purposefully. Then, Eunice shared about her experience at the iCon tournament.

A little while, after the sharing, we went for our tea break down in the cafeteria. Then, we headed back upstairs to see a video of some informative speeches and original adaptations presented at the ICCFS at iCon. They were very inspirational, and we also had a good laugh! After all that laughing and insightful learning, it was time to return to where we belong, Kuala Lumpur. We packed our things and cleaned the meeting room (responsibility is very important!). Then, all of us went to Seremban to eat our lunch. We ate delicious curry chicken nested inside a huge bun, rice, soup, veggies, fried sotong (cuttlefish) and many more mouth watering foods! We also had a time of feedback about how the ICC 2015 retreat was. It was extremely enjoyable. Gulping down the last of the food in our plates, we headed back to our cars, and wished the Tans a safe trip to China and reminded them to be extraordinarily careful with Eliza's and Eunice’s burns. Finally, we got into our cars and drove separate ways to our own homes. What I learned from this ICC retreat is that I must listen at the first word to my parents or older people when they caution me. I also learned that I need to put others first before myself and take the initiative to help. And this, dear readers, is the end of ICC Retreat 2015! Until our next retreat!

 (only hopefully nothing crazy happens:) )

Saturday, September 19, 2015

ICC Retreat 2015: Day 1!

Written by Charis Chen
Edited by Eliza Tan

     Greetings from ICC! :)

Before you proceed, I will first warn you that this is a very long post. :)

     Welcome to our second ICC Retreat, which marks the second year of our friendship and familyhood! Our retreat was held at the famous and lovely Port Dickson from the 31st of July to 2nd of August.

     This year, we gathered at Tanjung Tuan for a visit to the Cape Rachado lighthouse and a short hike to and fro the beach before proceeding to our lodgings.

We took color coded pictures before going up!

 
Photo by Nathanael Chong
The Blacks and Whites

Photo by Nathanael Chong
The Reds

Photo by Nathanael Chong
Yang lain-lain: The Blues and Yellow :P

Photo by Nathanael Chong
Coaches chatting before hiking up

Photo by Nathanael Chong
Hey, you humans, when are you going to start hiking up and 
leave me in peace?

Photo by Nathanael Chong
"The Boys" hiking up

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Photo by Nathanael Chong
I'm getting there... Just you wait!

Photo by Nathanael Chong
Ha! I'm the first!

Photo by Nathanael Chong
Oh, really? The Two seem to have arrived first!


Photos by Nathanael Chong
Contentment ^^

Photo by Nathanael Chong
Eunice: Look there, Jonique. That's where sky meets sea. 

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Photo by Nathanael Chong
The national colors rippling in the sky

Photo by Nathanael Chong

The LIGHTHOUSE!

     At around ten to ten thirty in the morning, we gathered at the PNB Ilham Resort before embarking on the brief 30 minute hike up to the Cape Rachado lighthouse. Built somewhere between 1528 and 1529 by the Portuguese, the Cape Rachado lighthouse was the first lighthouse in Malaysia. Given the wondrous opportunity of visiting the inside of the lighthouse, we had a delightful time. Wonderfully informative, our guide, Encik Adam, led us around the lighthouse, introducing, explaining, and demonstrating different parts of the lighthouse to us. We learnt about the different locations of lighthouses in Malaysia, and even had the privilege of visiting the engine room, and watching a demonstration of how the lights work.

Photo by Eliza Tan
This shift's lighthouse keeper

Photo by Eliza Tan


Photos by Charis Chen

The lighthouse keeper switching on the lamp for us. :)


Photo by Charis Chen

Photo by Charis Chen

 Photo by Charis Chen


Photos by Charis Chen

These photos made me think of how much difference we, as salt and light, can make in this fallen world of darkness.

Photo by Charis Chen

 
Photo by Charis Chen

Photo by Charis Chen

Different types of lamps- very badly photographed XD

Photo by Eliza Tan

Photo by Eliza Tan

Photo by Eliza Tan

Photo by Eliza Tan

And... finally, the group pics!

Following the lighthouse visit, we decided to hike down to the nearby beach, where we spent about ten to fifteen minutes playing with the sand, looking for seashells, corals, and the like.


Photo by Nathanael Chong

Photo by Charis Chen
Coach Honey conducting the tree orchestra(in her own words) :D

Photo by Eliza Tan

Photo by Eliza Tan

Photo by Nathanael Chong


Photo by Nathanael Chong

At about 12.45, we realised that we had gotten our schedules mixed up. Late for lunch, we left the beach in a hurry, hiking up the trail and down from the lighthouse. On the way, some of us sighted a dark, glossy scorpion about 1 foot long! 

Photo by Eliza Tan

Photo by Eliza Tan
Care to take me on?

Photo by Charis Chen
Kementerian Penerangan Komunikasi & Kebudayaan

^ We saw this on the way to the cars after the hike down. Talk about Cultural 
Communication!


Photo by Nathanael Chong
We were pretty thrilled to see this ^ at the centre! 

Back at the Methodist Centre, we dived straight into the scrumptious lunch. As we ate, the cafeteria rippled with the noise of our joyous fellowshipping. 

Following the delicious lunch, Coach Sandy gave us a short briefing on our room and dorm areas. This time round, the speakers got to sleep in dorms! Jaeriel took charge of the key for the boys' dorm, and I the key for the girls' dorm.

We then headed to our dorms, unpacked, showered, and rested. Actually, we chatted. XD And fooled around.

At about 3pm, we headed to the cafeteria for our tea break before proceeding to the meeting room for the official briefing.

Photo by Charis Chen
^ playing with the chef's son's toy after tea break XD
- balancing practice!

The speakers also gathered in their respective worship and games teams to discuss the activities that they would be leading.

Then... drumroll please :) ... the time we've all been anticipating....

BEACH TIME!

Photo by Nathanael Chong
Yay!!!

Photo by Nathanael Chong

The speakers walked to the nearby beach with several coaches. We started off with a series of attempts at jump shots. > < Unfortunately, most of them turned out rather strange.

 Photo by Coach Daniel

 Photo by Coach Daniel Toh


 Photo by Coach Daniel Toh


 Photo by Coach Daniel Toh

  Photo by Coach Daniel Toh


 Photo by Coach Daniel Toh

 Photo by Coach Daniel Toh

 Photo by Coach Daniel Toh

We then splashed through the waves to play, sing, and dance. It turns out that the sea is a rather nice place to play "Blow, Wind, Blow"!

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Above: Before the boys decided that the girls were having more fun 
than them... or in other words, before the boys joined the girls.

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Photo by Nathanael Chong

#fiveminutesofpeace XD

Photo by Nathanael Chong


Time flew by all too quickly. Soon, we returned to the Methodist Centre for our wash-up time. And you know what? Some of us were late-- again-- for dinner. (That includes myself XD) But we had one good excuse- we were preparing for that night's activities. Ha!

After dinner, we tromped up to the meeting room. Team A(Jern Yoong, Ian, Jemima, Charis) then led everyone in a session of worship.

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Team C(Nat, Jaeriel, Eunice, and Jonique) split us all up into small groups- Team 1, 2, and 3.
We gathered in our respective teams to decide on a team name and cheer.


I regret to say that no photos were to be found of Team 1-- Team Satu Malaysia.

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Team 2: The Tworiffic Winners Only!

Photo by Nathanael Chong
Team 2 listing Bible examples of the benefits of two. Funny how
half of us are blue and the rest purple, huh?


Photo by Nathanael Chong
Team 3: Johan

Photo by Nathanael Chong
Team 3 even had a drummer!

Photo by Nathanael Chong
The Purple Ladies of Team 2 watching with mixed responses and amusement

Eunice then led us in our first session of Core Value Games. We played Charades! It was a lively and entertaining session. :D

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Photo by Nathanael Chong
Turns out this ^ meant "rodeo"! Why didn't we think of it?

Photo by Nathanael Chong
The official timer :)

Photo by Nathanael Chong

After the animated game, Coach Alfred came up to share with us about this year's Retreat Theme, Commit and Trust. One of the points that stood out the most to me was about the word Commit.

COMMIT=
C- omplete the task
O- bey coaches' instructions
M- ean what you say
M- aster the skills
I- nitiative works
T- hankfulness and gratefulness

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Lastly, we had our "Nite of Sharing" session, where the CI leaders shared about their CI experiences and Coach Wai Hong about his Nepal mission trip.

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Jern Yoong :)

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Eliza :)

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Jaeriel :)

Photo credit: unknown

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Finally, exhausted after a long day, we returned to the cafeteria for a supper of biscuits and Cup Maggi. The Devos 1 team gathered at an empty part of the cafeteria to prepare for the next day's devotions. And from there, drama began to unfold.

The team was practicing a skit about Otto Koning's committing his pineapple garden to God. As they did so, several people gathered to watch.

Many of us are in the habit of sitting on tables, but we learnt a valuable lesson that night. Below are several accounts of The Incident (as we now refer to it) from different perspectives, written by several of our speakers. Sorry, no pictures available. :)

Ranen's account:
"Port Dickson Methodist Centre—July 31 2015, Friday, 2330 Hours
Eliza, Charis, Jern Ling, Jemima, and I were practicing a short skit for the devotion the following day. Things were relatively peaceful at the dining hall, except for the time when two speakers sat upon a table, causing it to wobble and almost topple over. This resulted in some stern admonishments from some of the other parents who were present. However, soon after, a speaker sat on another table. This one looked solid at a cursory glance. What was not realized then, was, the tabletop had not been actually nailed to the main support structure. In addition, there was a huge metal urn containing hot water, sitting precariously on the edge of the table!

I heard a scream, turned around, and before I could react, a wave of hot water swept across the floor. The next couple of seconds were a blur. As I tried to run away, my slipper came off and I tripped. I got up and continued to run, in order to escape the hot water swirling around my feet. Later when I looked at the others who had been scalded, I realized that I had gotten off lightly. Eunice had burns on both feet, and Eliza was sitting down, screaming, in the water (now cold).  Her legs were burnt and the skin was peeling. By this time, a small crowd had gathered around Eliza. Some people from a Tamil church (which was running a retreat at the same time), also helped to pour water on her to relieve her pain.

By 12 am, Eliza and Eunice had been sent to the hospital. I went along as well, but as my burns were not extensive, I returned to the centre first. The two sisters were still being treated in the ward. As the minutes ticked by, those who were waiting got a little tense. Finally, when Eliza and Eunice arrived back at the Methodist Centre around 2 am, a welcoming party crowded around them and made sure they were well taken care of. Once the sisters were in bed, everyone retired to their respective rooms and dorms. 

There is always something to be learnt from an incident such as this; whether it be something exemplary, or something NOT to do. When an instruction begins to sound like nagging, it means that we have shut our ears to it. Our hearts are no longer ready to receive that correction. Unless we open our hearts and ears to it again, we, or someone else, may have to pay the consequences for our indifference.

On the other hand, we had a lot of “teabag moments,” as Coach Joseph later put it. The hot water incident brought out many of our true flavors. In the aftermath, people came together to help Eliza and Eunice and get them to the hospital, while others assisted in cleaning up the dining area. And all throughout, various people prayed.

This incident has taught us valuable life lessons such as the importance of obedience. It has also revealed some of our true character, and what we’re made of." 
~Ranen

Jern Ling's account:

"It all happened in the cafeteria at around ten something at night, after Coach Alfred’s inspiring speech about ‘Commit and Trust’ and the honest debrief led by my mum, Coach Michelle. Being motivated by this, we headed downstairs to have our own supper time. After a little while, Eliza, Ranen, Charis, Jemima and I practiced our presentation of the devotion time for the next morning. We were all having so much fun, laughing and all. A few minutes later, two speakers joined us, watching and listening to us did our little skit. They sat on a round, dining table. The table wobbled a bit and one of the speakers almost fell. We were like: “Whoah…. Okay, don’t sit on the table anymore.” We then continued our acting. A little while later, I saw that one of the speakers had sat on another table. This time, the table had something on it… something boiling hot… It was a big pot that was filled with hot water. The unstable table flipped. The next thing we knew, the hot, boiling water came pouring down like a tsunami, only this time, hot water came gushing at us. Talk about Titanic! Everyone started running. I quickly ran away for safety. Everybody was screaming. I think I was too. Eliza was still running when she slipped and fell flat on her hands on the hot water. She was screaming and crawling away from the boiling water. I almost collapsed with fright. Everyone, including those who were from other camp groups came to help. I was by her side, pouring cooling water on her burnt parts of her body. Eunice also got burned on both of her feet, Ranen had gotten burnt on one of his legs. After being alerted, Coach Joseph and Coach Debra brought the two girls to the hospital. While they were gone, I hugged Jemima, Charis and Jonique. We prayed and cried buckets. It was like a horror movie, just only in real life. Later, my mum prayed together with all the speakers at the veranda pleading for our two dearest friends’ lives. When they finally came back from the hospital, we were so thankful and relieved. I have learnt to trust in God and to commit everything to Him, like what our theme for retreat was and because of this incident, it really brought the ICC coaches and speakers closer together. If there was not for any of these experiences, there would not be a teabag moment to show how we really care." 
~ Jern Ling


Ian's account:

"While I was running towards the canteen, I suddenly heard a loud crash followed by terribly frightening screams. As I walked nearer to the scene, many people were crowded in the canteen. I noticed Eliza, who seemed to suffer from injury, crying out in pain. Puzzled at what had happened, I was told by Ranen about the accident. After Ranen and I had informed Jern Yoong and Nat, Nat led us in prayer. Through this accident, I learned that I should take heed the advice of the adults. Disobedience can bring severe consequences. Thus, I will obey what my God given authorities ask of me immediately." 
~Ian

Jaeriel's account:
"All went well for the first day of our 2nd ICC Retreat. Before we called off our first day, an untoward incident happened right before my very eyes. We were enjoying our much anticipated Maggi cup noodles as our supper with some 3-in-1 Milo. While enjoying our supper, some girl[s] and a boy decided to practice for their [devotional] session for the next morning. I was standing next to Eliza. Suddenly, one speaker sat on the unstable coffee table with the huge pot of hot water at the other side of the table. Things happened so quickly and no one was prepared for what was about to happened. In a split second the whole table top flipped over and the pot of hot water flew off the table and came crashing down to the floor next to Eliza, she was splashed with boiling hot water from her thigh down and on her foot. She was screaming in excruciating pain. I was fortunate enough and manage to jump away before the hot water could have splash[ed] on me. I saw Eliza crawling on the floor trying to escape from the hot water. I felt helpless. The situation was chaotic... [There were] many people trying to help. Later I decide[d] to help to mop the floor to prevent others from slipping and falling. It took us more than an hour to finally remove all the water. Later, Aunty Michelle led us in prayer for them. Ranen and most of us shed tears of sorrow. We cried out to God for mercy over Eliza, Eunice ,and Ranen. We thanked God that they were given an early discharge from the hospital and came back to Methodist Center past midnight. This incident has taught me to obey my authorities. At times, I might not understand why, but I think obeying first and asking why later is the key to the character of Obedience." ~ Jaeriel 

Charis' account:
"I was totally unprepared for what happened that night. Nobody was. It was a horror movie in reality. Eliza, Jemima, Jern Ling, Ranen, and I had been putting together our skit for the next day's Devo session, when several other speakers came over for a sneak preview of the skit. Two speakers hoisted themselves onto a nearby table, and were immediately reprimanded by some coaches. But as is often the case with many of us, one speaker forgot about the instruction to not sit on tables. I watched, stupefied, as she walked over to the coffee table. It certainly looked very solid to me. As the horrible realisation of what the speaker was about to do hit me, I screamed the speaker's name. But it was too late. At that very moment, the unsuspecting speaker jumped up, landing on edge of the table and causing the tabletop to overturn. The hot water dispenser landed with a loud metallic crash, and chaos erupted. "It's hot water!" my dad yelled. While trying to scramble out of the way, Eliza slipped and fell. Shrieking and flailing about, she attempted to crawl out of the boiling puddle. We rushed to her aid, and helped her to a spot well away from the hot water. She quickly rolled up her pant legs, screaming for cold water. By then, a large crowd had gathered around us. The adults sprang into action to look for water as other campers rushed up with tubes of toothpaste. As I knelt beside Eliza, trying to relieve her pain, I noticed that Eunice's feet had been scalded a bright red, and asked her about it. She looked down, realized she was burnt, and burst into tears. As the distressing reality of what was happening around me began to sink in, I struggled immensely to keep from crying. However, I was temporarily saved from the imminent torrent of tears by the dilemma of deciding what to do, given the barrage of diverse instructions from people around me and various toothpaste tubes, creams, water bottles, and essential oils shoved into my hands.

The speaker who caused it couldn't stop apologizing to Eliza. Eliza, in her pain, reassured the speaker again and again that she was fine, that it would be alright. Watching the care between the two of them really touched me, and I broke down in tears. Soon after, all the girls were weeping. We wept so hard we had to gasp for air.


Later, after Eunice and Eliza had been sent to the hospital, I helped some of the mothers pack up at the cafeteria. As I looked upon all the files, the once-steaming cups of Milo and Cup Maggi, and the scattered chairs, I thought about all the things that we had planned to do, and had been left undone. During the few minutes within which everything had happened, it had seemed to me as if I had been everywhere at once.

After bringing the all the girls' belongings-- files, bags, bottles-- back to the dormitory, I joined the rest of the speakers and some coaches in prayer at the veranda. Many of us were in tears as we cried out to God for mercy on our dear friends. We were ever so relieved and thankful when they came back past midnight.

When everybody had settled down in their rooms and dorms, the girls lay in their bunks talking about all that had happened. I was grateful that in spite of the suffering they had gone through, Eliza and Eunice were still able to be cheerful. 

Over the next two days, I was allowed to help Coach Debra throughout the day as she periodically applied cream on Eunice and Eliza's burns and changed the dressing for Eliza's injuries. Although it was not easy, it is an experience that I learnt a lot from, enjoyed, and am truly grateful for.

Now, as I look back, even though it was a tragedy, God's hand was in everything, granting us all His divine protection and also grace and strength to respond. Through this incident, we were brought closer together. The love that the other campers demonstrated through their help, concern, and prayer as we worked together to help Eunice and Eliza really touched me. God's protection on us became even more evident to me when I returned with Jonique and Jern Ling to the cafeteria to look at the scene of The Incident. The electrical plug-point had been ripped clean out of the wall. Some of us could have been electrocuted-- but nobody was. Both Eunice and Eliza had fallen into the water, but they had only been scalded below the waist. The water could have been hotter, but the heater had only just been switched on again after our night session so we that could cook our cup noodles, and the water had not been fully heated yet. 

I am reminded that even though we make mistakes, God still loves us, and will protect, sustain, and pick us up so we can go on. There's something else I've learnt- never, ever sit on a table." 
~Charis
  
Jonique's account:

"As soon as I finished indulging myself with Maggi Cup noodles, which is a forbidden food at home, I walked over to the Devos 1 team. They were practicing a skit in the canteen, when two speakers attempted to sit on the round table [and] it overturned. Coach Jimmy and Coach Sandy warned them not to sit on the tables anymore. One of them then walked over to sit on the other table where the hot water tub was placed. Suddenly the table overturned. The tub fell. Hot water spilled. 

“AAAHHHHH!!” everybody began screaming and I immediately ran far away from the scene. Breathing a sigh of relief, I turned around and saw a terrible sight; Eliza was crawling in hot water! Somebody quickly asked for cold water so Eunice and I tried cupping water from the tap but it did not work. A huge crowd of people suddenly came and began shouting what to do and some people even took pictures and videos. My mother directed me to alert Coach Joseph and Coach Debra. I sprinted to their room and led them to the canteen. When I was back at the canteen, I forced myself to look at Eliza’s knee. But once I look[ed] at it, I was grossed out because I can't bear the sight of blood. So, I comforted Eunice instead. After they were driven to the hospital, the girls and I cried and I prayed to God in my heart for their safety. It had been a painful experience but it has brought us closer together, this experience taught us a lot of lessons but what I really learned was to be obedient and listen to nagging although it is unpleasant at first." 
~Jonique            

Nathanael's account:
"The event was totally unexpected. I was in the boys' dorm with Jern Yoong, playing the guitars and talking about the friends who were with us during the retreat. And just as we were mentioning Eliza and Eunice, Ranen and Ian came into the room and told us about what was happening to the two girls. At first we wouldn't believe them, and asked them if they were joking. They told us to see for ourselves, so we got out of there and made our way to the cafeteria, picking up the pace when we realized that the boys were right.

      Personally, I was struck dumb when I saw them, with parents gathered around holding cool water, mops, and even toothpaste. I didn't know what to do, so I just watched the whole proceedings as the two girls were put on wheelchairs and hurried to the hospital.

      The boys were standing together, at a loss for words. Nearby, the other girls were crying in each other’s arms. Suddenly, Jern Yoong suggested that we pray. So we boys huddled into a small circle of four, arms around one another, and heads put together (literally). I led the prayer, after which we had more peace in our hearts.

      Later, we informed Coach Michelle and Coach Daniel, who had already retired to their room, about the incident, as they were the organizers of the retreat. We could see that the girls were still emotionally distraught. Coach Michelle then led us in prayer and we had a period of time of silent companionship. Soon after that, we went back to our rooms.
        
      Each of us can take something back from the incident. For me, I've experienced a new bond that has formed between us that could only result from mutual suffering. I've also witnessed a testing ground that showed us who or what we trusted in, and Who we should place our trust in." 
~Nathanael

Jemima's account: 
  "I was at the cafeteria to practice acting out a story together with Eliza, Ranen, Jern Ling, and Charis for the next day’s devotion. When I was acting halfway, I heard Coach Jimmy tell some other speakers who had sat on a table to not do so. After this, one of them went past me and sat on the edge of a table which had a hot water holder on it. At the moment the speaker sat on it, the surface of the table turned over together with the hot water holder. Hot water spilled all over the floor. I had a splash of hot water on my feet but was not seriously burned even though I was close to the table where the speaker had sat, because she had sat on the far side of the table from me. All at once, I heard lots of screaming, and everything went by, fast and blurred, but I knew that Eliza, Eunice, and Ranen had been splashed by hot water as well.

  As Eliza was being sent to the car to head to the hospital, I decided to say a prayer with Jern Ling for Eliza and Eunice.


  When Eliza, Eunice, and Ranen had been sent to hospital, I went back to the dorms together with the other speakers to meet Coach Michelle. During the explanation to Coach Michelle, I was sitting on the floor, talking to God, and committing myself to Him."
~ Jemima

Eliza's account:

      "It was like any other day. In the retreat, we had been broken up into groups, which contained a mixture of preteens and teenagers, to conduct devotions for the retreat’s participants. Our group decided to do something different. To make things more fun, we planned to perform a short skit to act out the true story of a missionary in line with the message of our devotion.


            It had been a long day for everyone. With hiking in the morning, playing at the beach in the afternoon, and sessions of sharing testimonies, everyone was pretty tired, but most people still hung out in the cafeteria just to have supper and to enjoy a time of fellowship. So although it was past midnight, our devotion group decided to take this opportunity to practice our skit in the cafeteria.

            “Hmm…let’s go to that corner of the cafeteria to practice. It’s more spacious,” I suggested. The others agreed, so we moved there and began practicing again. After a while, we suddenly heard a loud crash. We turned and saw, a short distance away from us, a huge pot of boiling water topple from a table as an adult shouted out to us, “IT’S BOILING WATER!” Shocked, we immediately began to run as the boiling water from the pot came gushing towards us with tremendous force and speed. In the whole frenzy, I slipped and fell into the water, screaming in pain as wave after wave of boiling water thrust me closer to the ground.

            Eventually, someone pulled me out, but the damage was done, and a boy, my sister, and I were rushed to a nearby hospital. The other boy and my sister were discharged soon after due to minor burns on their feet, but I was burnt from the waist down, primarily on one leg. As a nurse cleaned my wounds, I tightly squeezed my mom’s hand as she pleaded with me not to go into shock while I tried unsuccessfully not to scream, my eyes darting around frantically. After a while, I stopped crying and the excruciating pain had become somewhat bearable with painkillers, but I discovered that I had second degree burns on my thigh and leg and that the scars wouldn’t go away soon.

            It all happened so quickly I didn’t know what to feel.

      I remember crying on the floor of the cafeteria. I remember crying in the car on the way to the hospital. I remember crying as I was wheeled and carried. I remember crying on the hospital bed. But I remember that throughout the traumatic ordeal, throughout all the pain, there was always someone there holding my hand and telling me that it was going to be okay. Tons of people, including many strangers, rushed to my aid. And when I came back to the resort from the hospital past 2:00 in the morning, I remember seeing most of the people from our retreat and many strangers standing at the entrance waiting and praying for me. People came to me crying and were surprised by the fact that I had already resumed a cheery attitude although I looked like a mummy with all my bandages.
      It’s really hard thinking back to the events that took place that night, or technically early morning. It’s hard replaying the scene in my head and “experiencing” the pain and electric shock waves of the boiling water over and over again. Yet I thank God. I could have easily been electrocuted due to the circumstances, and yet I wasn’t. There were little kids walking around, but thankfully none of them were standing beneath the pot of water when it fell. It could have been so much worse, even life-threatening, but God protected us and was with us throughout the whole incident.
      Throughout the next few days, I was so touched by how much people sacrificed to take care of me. Many girls in my dorm stayed up late to bandage my wounds. Many inconvenienced themselves by wheeling or carrying me to places. Strangers would pass by, ask me how I was doing, and pray for me on a frequent basis.

      It was meant to be a normal Christian retreat. But it turned out to be so much more. We cried together as a community. But we grew closer as a community. And I am so grateful for how God has used people to touch my life by their care and concern. Often we might take for granted the people God has placed around us, who are worth so much more than material goods. Although conflict and hard times are inevitable, they can be used as opportunities to show love and foster peace. Just as Christ loved us, so we should love and encourage one another. Sometimes it might be beneficial to show our appreciation to those around us by making the extra effort to thank them for the difference they have made in our lives instead of always focusing on the negative or on points of improvement. It’s a small way to say thank you, but it can go a long way in showing love and building community" 
~Eliza

So you've read of all that happened. The girls returned at around 2 a.m. We welcomed them with a little procession, and after the hustle and bustle of where they were to sleep that night, they settled down back in the girls' dorm. (Yay!)
Aunty Michelle then came into our dorm to inform us that the boys and the coaches would be taking over the devotions the next day, and that the activities would either be delayed, cancelled, or swapped. We were extremely grateful that the coaches were flexible about this, responding quickly by making changes to the schedule.
I'm not sure what time the boys and the parents slept, but Eliza, Jern Ling, Jonique, and I stayed up talking about the incident long after Jemima and Eunice had fallen asleep. At around 3.30 a.m., we decided we'd try to get some sleep, and due to sheer exhaustion, some dropped off to sleep immediately.

The night was a fitful one for some of the girls. Some had nightmares, and especially for those of us who had witnessed everything, traumatizing scenes of The Incident kept replaying in our minds and jerking us awake. I certainly had a time climbing up and down bunks, trying to calm people (including myself) down!

On a lighter note, some momentous pictures:

Photo by Charis Chen

^ Our way of motivating Joelle to never give up! -> flowers :D

Photo by Eliza Tan
Coach Wai Hong with the mini binoculars

Photo by Eliza Tan
The "Two Brothers"

Photo by Eliza Tan
Learning about the use of hands in speechmaking XD

Photo by Eliza Tan
"Gimme that!" says the violinist.
(Yes, he hiked with his violin on his back.)

Photo by Eliza Tan

Photo by Eliza Tan
Refugees in a forest? OOPS!

Photo by Eliza Tan
I never knew ants could be as long as 1.5" long!

Photo by Eliza Tan

Photo by Eliza Tan
Let's go!