By Juat
Clear blue skies, balmy weather and a blissful breeze greeted the 50-odd of us at Golden Sands Baptist Assembly in Port Dickson for our retreat on Aug. 19–21, 2022. ‘Twas a good choice to have the retreat a short drive from PJ, with the clean beach just a stone’s throw from the campsite.
We were a good mix of ages, from teens to mid-60s, plus family members including kids, toddlers and a baby. Family members came along too since serving in Ascend requires a family’s support.
Though a short two nights, the retreat provided an ideal blend of alone-time and together-time for activities that quickly glued us. In the words of Jenny Oh, a senior with a junior’s heart who has served as projectionist for 10 years, the retreat was the “best inter-generational retreat I’ve ever attended.”
The sessions by Ps Melissa and Ps Ruth helped us to reflect on our current spiritual state and what we need to “recalibrate” to be more effective, moving forward. Each session was followed by alone-time to reflect and contemplate on the thought-provoking questions. This time was really special for me as I sat still (a remarkable feat) to pray and listen.
On our last night, Elder Kum Fatt exhorted us to worship God and then bam! Justin led us for a good 70 minutes in singing our hearts out to God. What an uplifting time of worship! Finally, who can forget the epic jiggle rap performance by the older folks, led by the effervescent Doreen Tang to Nick Siew’s fervent rap? A good blend of spirituality and clean hilarity, overall.
From the retreat-ers’ response, the retreat’s theme of “Refresh, Reconnect, Recalibrate” was admirably achieved. Thank you, organising team (Joanne Chan, Kay Lyn and Erwin and all else) for putting together such a thoughtful, restful, wonderful retreat. I had a restful blast.
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🙌 Thank the Lord for the amazing Ascend team (and their family members) who serve tirelessly and faithfully (and support) week in, week out.
🙏 Pray that God will continue to minister to each member as they worship Him and serve the congregation.
👂 Hear an original song “Shine” co-written by PJEFC Ascend Team and Victor G ministries for DMM2021 (Disciple Making Month) here.