It was the first time for me to travel to Indonesia. And all I could say is to thank God for the way Baptist Youth in Indonesia is growing. Baptist Arts Sports Youth Camp was held in one of the districts of Manado from June 27 – July 3, 2011. The district/village is Parentek, situated in North Sulawei province, Indonesia.
Camp Registration: All together there were 482 delegates from 38 local churches. On asking what the camp was all about, this is what the past President Erick Legoh explained: Baptist Arts Sports Youth Camp (BASYC) is a biennial activity conducted by the Youth Department of the Convention of Indonesian Baptist Churches (KGBI).
Through these activities youth of KGBI get a chance to improve recognition, love, loyalty to Jesus Christ through worship, lectures, workshops and can demonstrate their talents and God-given talents in sports and arts.
Camp Theme: For the first time BASYC is held at the beach. The theme is a dive deeper taken from Philippians 3:10, which means that we can know Jesus Christ deeper. The purpose of this activity is to bring youth and teens to get to know and love Jesus Christ; equip youth and teens with knowledge based on the Bible and to show their talent in sports and arts.
Through the camp 35 young people accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. 12 young people were baptized during the camp.
New Officers: The camp also had their annual election and chose a new set of officers to serve the BASYC. They are: Belly Kesek as President, Viedlen Kossoh as Vice President, Out Going President Erick Legoh as Secretary, James Lahu as Vice Secretary, Andrew Weku as Treasurer. Four assistants to be the officers were also elected. They are: Adri Manitik, David Siahaan, Herman Abidulang, William Wengkang.
Camp Experience: Third day to the camp, we were met with volcanic ash from one of the volcanoes 5 km away from the camp. That did not deter the campers from leaving. While careful measures were taken to eat lunch, dinner inside the tent, the camp went on as usual. A very pleasing highlight at the camp was the worship band. A ‘kind of rock’ concert feel was around the camp as campers sang out their hearts to God.
Return: My return to leave for Singapore was delayed due to the volcanic ash. I ended up arriving late in Jakarta and therefore missing my flight to Singapore. The agency said they could not refund me and the next flight on the same airlines would be 2 days later. In that hassle, in what is surprisingly God’s providence, one of the staff who was assigned to help me out turned out to be a Christian. Within 30 minutes and 15 minutes to departure, he was able to find an airline. A bus ride from one terminal to another terminal, running to catch the flight, I finally arrived in Singapore the same night. What an experience!
Thank you Manado, Indonesia for an interesting experience in Parantek. Thank you everyone for praying and thanking God for sending a Christian brother to my rescue!
VEE TETSEO
