Rewind, then the present

In between cups of tea and coke, it occurred to me that I would like to blog about the week before YAM Camp. In particular, the Friday spent in church after a morning in the unknown northern bits of Singapore and wondering around in the rain, entirely purposeful and purposeless. That afternoon, I started out with the intention of simply completing a task that required my presence backstage. Instead, that turned out to last me under half an hour; I gained so much more than that from simply being in church and around the churchfolk. Since then, it has been a whirlwind of mornings, afternoons and evenings spent over the synthesizer, over the microphone and over the soundbooth, and when it ended yesterday, I couldn't quite believe it did.

One plays 1 of 3 roles in a camp - the camper, the facilitator or the committee member. Once in a while you get to play 2 of 3, and in the rare instance you get to play all. During YAM Camp 2009, I got to play all. 3 nights and 3 days spent just 15 minutes from the causeway has placed me in an interesting presence of mind; I'm not even sure I can describe it. It's been 3 camps in 3 weeks/weekends. It's been 5 church retreats in 6 months. I'm in a state and place where the open pages of a red journal prompt me to look back at all the material, all the songs and all the bloodsweattears I've expanded. And then a look at my email Inbox shows me how much more there is to do. There's eternal value in all of this. Even writing this all out here.

Some time is necessary, but not too much as to lessen the memory of immediacy that blogging requires.

[update after a nap]

Lying on my table are the "create a memory" gift from my secret pal (my mortal/who i'm angel to) and the coloured index card on which all my group members wrote something about me. Meaningful mementos, and just as they are individual bits that make up a wonderful experience, here's my capture of all the moments:

Catching the YAM Comm at the end of their bowling game on Thursday night, especially the awesome spare from audrey

10 comm members in a 2-bed hotel room that can fit 40 on a cold, blanketpillowsleepingbag covered floor

Putting together the worship stage with the indispensable help of Eugene and Daryl early Friday morning

High-fiving Sophie after an unbelievably successful winged first worship session and agreeing that we were so happy Jasper was there to play

Station games with floursoapshampoochocolateeessencewaterbombs and a taste of orientation all over again

Song request from a pastor over a conversation about mutual friends (Gareth was mentioned)

Group discussions over a pingpong table

Black sauce noodles in the middle of the night while packing logistics

Unpacking the Word over the quietest group quiet time

Free+Easy time preparing for night games, which involved face paint and hilarious skits

Acoustic worship, just Jasper and me

Gavin's devious little card game till 3inthemorning

Waking up late, rushing too fast and sitting around laughing over mugs of coffee on Day#3

Secretpal revelations and a pat on the back (yay me guardian angel)

The fastest pack'n'go, with Daryl/Eugene/Bernie's help and a superfast drive back to church in Gavin's Honda

A shouldersqueeze for a tired friend from aussieland and dinner with a westie friend @ siglap

YAM Camp 2009: Fruitips. My gift of service and a spiritual culmination of this past halfayear.