fireBRAND of the Fortnight 007

If you're wondering why it's kinda late this time 'round, it's cuz we had to wait till Saturday night for PHOTOS.

Wellll yeah, before anything else happens...

Disclaimer: The fireBRAND of the Fortnight, and every fireBRAND of the fortnight hereafter, is chosen randomly by www.firebrands-irri.blogspot.com. Any loss of life, injury, damage, or any form of loss incurred is at the risk of the readers and the fireBRAND of the Fortnight. www.firebrands-irri.blogspot.com hereby declares that it is not responsible for any and for all of the casualties above. The contents of every fireBRAND of the fortnight post, hereinafter referred to as fBotF, are deemed true and accurate at the time of posting. Any false information found to be in fBotF will be dealt with appropriately

So, where was I?

Oh right.

The headhunters (headhunters as in 'recruiters', NOT what you're thinking about!) went 'round after service and zoomed in on Natasha, wanting to snap a few photos of her.

She politely denied.

So, well, one headhunter had a sudden urge to go nominate Indy instead (what did I tell you about the random part of this award...?) and the other headhunter just followed behind.

Thus began the photo shoot.

Extremely blur, Indy was being camera-shy. Until...


...he called upon his 'friend'...


...Gary Lee!
Indy claims to be Gary's friend. Indy is Ivy's brother. Faham-fahamlah! And Indy wants to join floorball because Gary's there. But Indy can't join floorball cuz Ivy's in captainball. So Ivy please join floorball because Gary's there (I mean there for Indy, of course...).


I have no idea what they're trying to do.


Uhm. Stretching?
By the way that was our preacher (guy in background). Name's Malcolm Bayliss. Awesome fella!


Guys will always be guys.


After all that struggling.


Okay, so maybe guys aren't always guys?

And to clear the confusion, this week's winner is
Indy Benjamin Toh Ji Mun
not Gary.

But still, Gary did an awesome job eh?

Out Of The Cow's Mouth

A write-up on Youthwave's Out Of The Salt Shaker event.

report by: Sharon Leow (explains the 'cow' part)


The very much sought after Hannah Montana look-alike, (according to some of you) is back with another one of her epic reports which might most probably make you laugh your butts off your computer chairs! (Note. I’m being a little egoistic today, so do bear with me)

I for one decided on taking the initiative to find the definition of salt in the oxford dictionary in case you readers out there have lost a huge amount of your brain cells due to how hot the weather is, here in Penang.

Salt = Sodium chloride used to preserve food.

There! Doesn’t that make your life a whole lot easier when you know the meaning of salt, better, now?


Held in Fettes Park Baptist Church on the 21^st of February (to those of you who weren’t present), Youth Wave was considered a success to many. Not a surprise there?

It all began with the lights switched off which I must admit, did make the once rowdy crowd silent. All eyes were on stage where the worship then began. (Note. I like the black, huge speakers of FPBC. They’re have some sortaaaa Dolby Digital Surround Sound thingy)

With not much to comment on the worship, other than how it TOTALLY ROCKED THE HOUSE DOWN!, I shall proceed to the next part of this report to spare your lives from reading any more.


Pastor Thomas from RGBC or how shall I put it?…the church near the foot of the hill, has an amount of energy the size of an elephant! It must’ve been God in one way or another, especially when his enthusiasm and ooommmhhh never seemed to die down!


Dear readers,

We are called by God to merely be salt of the world. Not to stay IN the salt shaker, which in this case means, staying in your comfort zone. But to be OUT of the salt shaker, to be an irresistible influence out there, to capture the hearts of many, to impact lives out there and to preserve the world which is constantly decaying and rotting.

It couldn’t be a better night. Things were a little different this time, when we were asked to grab a partner, (someone we can frequently check up on) and pray together for their lives and also that they will continue to grow and transform to be salt of this world. Be it in schools or even in work places.

Let us all reflect on our lives and how far we’ve come. Let us not look back on the past but continue to move forward and to be an irresistible influence to our community and to be the salt of the world!

With this I end by saying (to those who couldn’t attend last week’s Youth Wave):

YOU MISSED ONE HECK OF A NIGHT! =)

Wave Challenge '09

25th April 2009.

Saturday.

Balik Pulau Indoor Stadium.


(No youth service on that night.)


Want some strapping biceps?

Want a six-pack?

Want to shed off some of that flab?

And, most importantly, wanna have FUN glorifying God through sports?

..

Even if you said, "No" to the all of the above questions (how that's possible I really don't know), you're still needed!

Yep, the bounty hunters're after you!


fireBRANDS'll be taking part in two sports (but of course if you wanna form a team to play Ultimate Frisbee or skittleball you're welcome to) for this year's Wave Challenge and they need all the players they can get.

So, doesn't matter how much you hate sports, cuz it'll be loads of FUN.

But, if you like (or at least don't mind) sports, then all the more better.


First up, FLOORBALL!

Floorball for Wave Challenge is divided into two categories, according to gender.

Guys'll be headed by Alex Low and James Tan. Says Mr Tan,"It's fun and challenging. And if you're looking for something to get your adrenaline going this is it."

Those who aren't guys will be under Tania Loke. She wants more people cuz fireBRANDS'll be sending in TWO teams of girls. It'll be awesome.

So if you want heaps of fun and if you want to live longer and if you want to connect with the floorball world in Penang (made up of very, very nice people!) and if you want to sweat like a pig (it's good for your health!), then join in! Indy and Tania both agree that floorball's nicer than captainball. Haha.

Floorball training (for both guys and girls) is held every saturday, 2:30-4:30 pm at PBSM headquarters.


And next, CAPTAINBALL!

Captainball's open to everyone (except that they can only have 1 player aged 25 (or so, I forgot) and above).

Andrew Chan Wei Kin is the fella in charge, and he says (and I quote), "We will win this year."

So if you want a piece of metal hanging on your neck, and bragging rights, and tonnes of camaraderie and fun and fun and fun and if you want to grow taller (unlike floorball, you can jump in captainball), then sign up!

Trainings are held every Sunday (starting from the 1st of March) at 4:30pm at Youth Park.


Well yeah, so that's about it.

What're you doing out there? Get yourself in!

love was and STILL is in the air :)

VALENTINES NIGHT.

Those who went would know how awesome it was.

Gah,

why are you people even reading this.

wasting time only,

just stare and enjoy the pictures then.

*

*coughs*

you see this two dude?

*points to the above picture*

they were praying for the food in church before going to the food place.

nawh,it was bible class :)

but still,you never know what they're praying about..

JUST IN CASE you don't know them.

*from your left : Andrew,Nehemiah,Justin,Alex*

worship led by Joyce Lim.

and then Sarah Khoo took over the service and she preached about parental love.

something that not everyone would share during valentines day?

that was what that made it... UNIQUE :)

something we did A LOT during kindergarten days
(at least i know i did)

and let us all STARE at the person in this next picture cause it was his belated birthday.

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the middle one ;)

report : Eulene Ooi

pictures : some from her some from Nehe.

Annual Youth Camp 2008

I've been staring at this page for the last five minutes and I still don't know what to write.

Firstly, I don't know whether anyone'd be interested in reading this post, since AYC '08 was like.. eons ago.

Then, there's also the fact that I know I've forgotten chunks of what happened.

And then there's the intimidating number of photos begging to be uploaded.

But oh well.

Here we go again!

Welcome to the report for Annual Youth Camp 2008: Freed 2 Follow (15-19 Dec 08).


First, a starting note: Please don't get confused and (somehow?) mix the stories up. Paragraphs in normal font style are on AYC '08, and paragraphs in italic are about Indiana Tan. (The paragraphs on Indiana Tan are pretty crappy, so you don't really hafta read 'em.)


75-odd youth boarded two Bas Sekolahs from Wisma FGA Centre, Jalan Air Itam to Seri Kedah Gardeniaa (I have no idea what the extra 'a' at the back of Gardeniaa is for!), on a journey that'd be life-changing.

Indiana Tan, the fool for adventure he was, traversed across the vast desert land and rainforests of Africa in search of one prize: the legendary ivory from a matriarch's tusks.

Upon arrival, they were divided into groups:

1. William Carey (leaders are Nehemiah and Ivy)


2. Frances Jane Crosby (Khai Hern and Tricia)


3. David Livingstone (Elisha and Shiau Xian)


4. Charles Spurgeon (Benjamin and Sharon)


5. John Wesley (Eu-jeen and Tania)

Then they were introduced to where they'd be living for the next four/five days.
Girls: Dorm. (Some parts of the dorm were too hot, due to lack of fans installed.)
Guys: Rooms. (Really crammed rooms, with bathrooms in separate room.)


Indiana Tan was a pretty organised fella, whether in the Sahara or in the Amazon (but not at home, says Mrs Tan). He always keeps track of his rations and gear.
Honey is a must-have for him. So is capati. But he can forgo meat for awhile, he doesn't mind that.
Rifle, dagger, machete, and a plastic water bottle his friend from the 21st century gave him.

He sleeps anywhere; as long as he's with his teddy bear (a must-bring for him), he doesn't mind.


Youth Camp kicked off with...
... a looooooooooooong walk from the dorm area to the hall, for most of them.

After that they discovered that there's a much shorter way to get to the hall (5-10 minutes' worth of walking).

Anyhow.

First up, icebreaker by Leroy Tan. One of his sadistic toothpaste icebreakers. Why, Leroy, why??

Next, an opening presentation, led by Sarah Wong, about a stressed-worker-turned-drug-addict who eventually found freedom in Christ.

Friends sharing the Gospel with down-in-the-dumps drug addict.

Indiana Tan always starts his long journeys with a glass of coke.
I mean coca-cola not cocaine.
Indiana Tan, unlike his counterpart Indiana Jones, didn't take so kindly to stuff like tobacco either.
After that glass of coke he'd usually eat some Power Gel for energy. He gets one every year for his birthday from his friend from the 21st century.


And weirdly enough, something we never did on first days at Youth Camp: Games.

Games master last year was James Tan, hence, James' Games!

2008's games were different.
2008's games were awesome. (I mean, besides the fact that the newspaper sticks and the newspaper balls kept... falling apart.)

Groups played two game sessions per day. There were three different games, for the first few days:

1. Newspaper Hockey

Dixon happy with his hockey stick and ball.. made out of newspaper.

Tussling for the ball.

Football-keeper-turned-floorball-goalie Bryan diving for the ball.

Daniel playing golf?

2. Some Swimming Pool Game

Getting onto the floats.

Grabbing the ping-pong balls.

Uh. Not part of the game, obviously...

3. Rock-on-a-Spoon

Careful does it.

Nelly the staff throwing sponges.

Timothy's victory dance.

After each team played the above games on Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday came up with a new set of games.

Teams were formed with one person from each camp group.

The said teams did the following games, with a a bunch of teams getting eliminated in the process:


1. Carry A Person On A Chair, Fill Up Water In Bottle Till Full, Go As Many Rounds As You Have To

Gerald the gentleman letting Debra carry the chair and him instead. Wat to do. He lighter mah.


Filling up water..

You notice that team at the last lane? You know why they're so far ahead? Tania was on the chair, with the likes of Jim, Nehemiah, Ben and Elisha carrying. Which explains everything.

2. The Sighted Leading The Blind, This Time By Screaming Out Directions

Blindfolds on.

Ivy looks zombie-ish.

Tim the traffic policeman.

Once it was down to just a few teams, the survivors were divided according to their respective camp groups, and played one more game:


3. Something To Do With Tanks And Sponges

Baling saja..

Andrew guiding Indy.

Games on Thursday were a continuation of what they did on Monday and Tuesday, then a whole lot of free fun-time in the pool.


Indiana Tan does NOT play games when out hunting for elephants.


Bible Quiz and Sword Drill.

Tuesday was the norm, questions and sword drills in between. Mengutamakan pengetahuan tentang Kitab Injil. This proved well for Livingstone, which boasted Biblical scholars such as Elisha, Sarah Wong and Joyce.

Wednesday! The Amazing Race 2!
Completing tasks at stations, answering Bible-related questions, and moving on.
This time with something extra: Detour.
(A detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons.)

Thinking.

Question-time.

Looking for sunken treasure.

Thursday! Another bout of The Amazing Race.

Walk, walk, walk, walk, in the light..

At one of the stations.

Cheering with a mouth full of one cracker.

And walk somemore.

Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner.

Food was okay. Food was food la. What to say? Fine then, photos!

1. Monday's Dinner

VIP table. Food.

Eating.


Justin beats Sharon to the camera.


The photographer must've been really free... People drinking also wanna take picture.

2. Wednesday's Breakfast

Nasi lemak!

VIP table.

Indiana Tan smelt something. It smelt like.. chicken.

What was chicken doing out in the African wilderness, he wondered..

He kept on trudging along the dense rainforest floor, till he reached a clearing, where he saw...

...a herd of elephants dining at what appeared to be a Nando's restaurant.

Right in the heart of the African rainforest.

But it wasn't chicken he was after.

He wanted ivory. And he saw lots of it.

Unfortunately, the matriarch spotted him. She charged. He ran for his life.

Indiana Tan was killed by the same thing he was after: the matriarch's tusks.

So (un?)fortunately, his tale ends here...


Caribbean Day.

Was supposed to be Caribbean NIGHT but.. the night turned into day. Basically just a best-dressed competition for the morning. Sarah Wong bagged the girls' prize, and Samuel Khaw beat all the other guys.




Creative Workshop.

1. Instrumental


2. Dance



3. Singing


4. Drama



5. Comic Strip


Praise and worship was, to sum in up in one word, AWESOME.

Yes I do know where you worship doesn't really make a difference to God, cuz He looks into your heart, but I do think the atmosphere of Youth Camp definitely was a huge boon.

If you're not convinced, I'll let the photos do all the talking that needs to be done.

Cuz seriously, it was no ordinary sing-song session.


Then of course, saving the best for last, ministry.

Held after every night session.

Something which left a lasting impact on all the campers.

Again, the photos will say more than I ever can.



Tuntasnya, AYC '08 was as awesome as ever.


Be back for another camp this year!