Sunday, June 7, 2009
♥ insights.
wow, what an exciting, awesome and hectic week. it's gonna be a long post.How should i start?
30hr famine camp. I'm proud of myself(: I went there alone, though the rest wasn't going and I didn't regret though my week was hectic with 3 camps continuously. God really gave me strength. & I survived the 30hr fast!
The typical response, when people hear that I'm going/went for the camp was: Wah, siao. Crazy pay $30 to get starved for 30hours.
Oh wells, firstly it's not starving. I made a choice, so it's fasting. When you starve, you have no choice. I genuinely think $30 is worth the experience with the shirts, and stuffs we got, though I only had to pay $15.
It was a special and different experience. Whilst we always start any other camps by getting into our groups, know each other and get bonded, the camp kick start with a siren...
Earthquake. And we are all separated, lost, not with our family members. Upon registration, we were all given an identity card. I was an injured child of the CHINA, CAI family, haha. There were other identities such as Head, Grandparents, Adults etc. And they called for the Injured people to go to the hospital, Heads to the refugees camp to look for the refugees etc. Yay, our family finally unite and we got to build our shelter with newspaper, cardboard and stuffs. Then, we had to find a means of living, and so we all went to look for jobs. Our aim was to earn at least 80 sticks(money) in order for the family to survive.
The first job that we went for was the one at the Red Light District, hahaha. We got to hug trees and draw a heart on our faces to show that we did 'prostitution' symbolically. I think it was hilariousss, but was nevertheless very fun i thought(: Other jobs offer like only 1 or 2 sticks and 'prostitution' is so attractive cos it offers 5-6 sticks! Hahaha, and obviously, alot of people went to work there. Well, I guess this will be really true in 3rd world nations where people are really desperate that they have to resort to prostitution partly also bcos attracted by the relatively higher pay..
Little did we know there was a 2nd phase to the scenario! All the people who worked at the Red Light District are now HIV/AIDS infected, and my entire family got it haha. Ahh, and then it's either nobody wants to hire you or they give you very little pay like 1 stick.. The game sort of ended when everybody gathered back, and we are given 2 choices: To give up all the 80 sticks and prolonged the lives of the HIV/AIDS infected family members' lives or the opposite. Since we are all infected, we gave up the sticks, haha.
Thinking back, it's really something different. The people living in the 3rd world nations don't have the privilege to choose between a good and bad choice, but often between a bad choice and another bad choice.
The next morning, we set off to Tampines to collect old newspapers and old clothes. This was the time when I really started to feel the tiredness setting in, I wasn't really hungry but I was really sleepy. We started ard 9.30 till 2pm. At first, I still feel energised and alright. But as I walk more, the newspapers seem to be heavier, my hands start to become wobbly, I was walking very slowly and I kept yawning and yawning.
At around 11plus, all I had in my mind was.. faster faster finish these 6 blocks and we're done. But at that moment, something just hit me: Imagine, with an empty stomach, early morning, along the roads of Cambodia, the 10yr old boy couldn't go to school, cause his father is sick, his mum works in thailand, and he had to collect scrap to earn a living for the entire family.. For him, all he had in mind would probably be, if I don't collect something today, my family will go hungry again. And for that he'd done, he only gets less than US$1.20 everyday.
It may seem insignificant to you, but it was rather mind-blowing for me, at that instance, I could literally feel that something about the destitution, desperation he feels, but definitely not 100% of what he goes through, because it is never comparable.
Many many times, we watch videos on poverty and sigh: Hai, they are so kelian. They are so pitiful. Some shed tears. But the day later, or even moments later, we totally forget about it. Some of us think that it's too big a problem that we won't be able to change or help. There's a common myth that people think there are not enough resources for the people living in poverty, but the truth is that these people does not have the means or ability to get these resources for their survival.
This camp really reinforce what Pst How & Pst Tan preached abt poverty during AI conference. I'm so glad that we are playing a part in building the lives of others beyond the borders in Cambodia, Philippines etc. Behind the every face we watch in those videos, there's a lifestory to tell. And they all deserve to be loved by God, no matter how small their voice is, no matter how poor or rich they are, no matter how intellectual they are, their names are written on the palm of God.
We may not be able to physically go to these 3rd world nations to carry out humanitarian work like how Worldvision staffs do, we may not be able to donate huge sums of money to organisations. But.. it is often the little things we do that counts, because it makes a great difference.
They only need about US$1 or more to survive a day and get education. Don't you do think we can do something? I remembered Pastor Kong said this during Asia Conference last yr: We not just want to give help to these people but we want to give hope to these people. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Education is probably the best way out of poverty. I pray that they can sing their lifesongs to Him.
Worldvision is just amazing, they're just amazing group of people, so fervently serving the Lord with their love, passion and whatever they can give to these people. The power of His love.
