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My experience at the Life In The
Spirit Programme
I remember the Sunday School
class we had a week right before our Life In The Spirit Programme, Uncle
Valentine along with Aunty Faith and Uncle Michael took half an hour or more to
discuss with us about the programme.
I remembered my friend,
Alyssa and I telling each other how excited we were, and how we wished it was
Friday the 13th (yes, coincidently.) already! We studied in the same
school and we would meet each other between classes just to talk about the LSS
programme!
And then it was Friday
already! We arrived at the Parish Hall and checked in to ‘St Peter’s Hotel’. We
brought our stuff up to our room and settled down. An excited expression could
be seen on every single ones of our faces.
Then we were told to
gather in the AVA 2. The Emmaus Community Teen Cell were there to lead us in
our praise and worship to God. We were still kind of shy at the beginning and
didn’t mix around with one another. And then there was the Ice-breaking
programme.
The Emmaus Teens asked us
to write a physical description of ourselves onto a piece of paper and handed
it to them. Then each of us had to pick a paper and guessed who the person was.
If you found the person described on the paper, you were supposed to grab them
and go onto the stage.
I felt lucky and grabbed
a piece of paper. When it was time to open it, heck did I freaked out! The only
clue I had was ‘Ahhhh!!!’ Lucky me.
I along with few other
people didn’t find a partner. And we were supposed to do a ‘Banana Dance’ in
front of the audience. That certainly broke the ice between us! Although it was
kind of embarrassing, I have to admit I had a pretty good time there. Then
after that, we were each given a paper, we were supposed to be a ‘guardian
angel’ to the person whose name was written on the paper throughout the
programme.
After
that, we went for a simple but delicious supper prepared by the aunties and
uncles there. Then we were told to go upstairs and prepare for bed time. We
girls were too energized to sleep and we sat around and chatted till 12a.m...
The
following day, we were woke up by Aunty faith’s alarm clock. We jumped up and
head toward the washroom to get ready for a brand new day. We met Aunty Faith
in the toilet and she was surprised to see us. She told us it was only
Alamak!
So early lah!
Then we took our
breakfast and went back to the AVA 2 for the talks. We learnt about Sins and
the Effect of Sins. The talk was extremely interesting but I was struggling to
keep my eyes open due to lack of sleep! The talk made me realize how sin
affected our relationship between us and God the Father.
And then after another
talk on Jesus, our Saviour and Restorer, Uncle V told us about a Group Bible
Presentation we were supposed to do. Then we went down for lunch. After lunch,
we were told to get ready for confession with Father Chin. I was pretty anxious
for I had not been to confession for quite a while…
After confession, I felt
as if a weight had being lifted off my shoulder. I felt light and joyful as I
made my way back to the AVA 2 for counseling. There were a lot of people still
waiting for their turn so I went to take a shower first. Then when I went back,
I sat down and talked to an aunty about my life and my future. And then she
prayed over me, and asked the Holy Spirit to guide me through everything I do. J
After that, we had our
Inner Healing Prayers. This, was the most memorable and fabulous part of the
Life In The Spirit programme. I remember as the Emmaus group of aunties and
uncles prayed over us, we were suppose to let go of our past and worries into a
little candle. Then we were supposed to go to the foot of Jesus’ cross (on the
stage) and hold on to him, asking him to forgive us and help us forgive. Then
we would walk over to the uncles and aunties and they were supposed to pray
over us.
As the Emmaus' group of
aunties and uncles prayed over us, I held on tight to my little candle, and
prayed to God the Father and the Holy Spirit, humbly asking them to assist me
in forgiving people that hurted me, and to help me forget the past. As I was
praying, tears eventually trickled down my face, and I couldn’t control myself.
I tried to cover my face, and then I realized that almost everyone around me
was crying too.
I was looking around for
tissues, and saw the box on the table, but it was too far to reach! But
luckily, one of the aunties took the box over and left it in front of us.
(Thank goodness.)
Eventually it was time
for us to light our candles; I took all my past, regrets, wrongdoings, and
walked towards Jesus. When I knelt down, I realized what a sinful Christian I
was, and promised myself and Jesus, to try not to sin again, and to forgive and
forget. And when I closed my eyes, I saw bright lights. I remembered what the
aunty told us, that It could be a 'vision'. But I myself wasn't sure if I was
Imagining it or it was really there.
Then I got up, walked
towards the group of aunties and uncles. I felt a lot lighter, as if I left
down all my burdens with my little candle. The aunties and uncles prayed over
me, and I felt someone pushing me, I struggled to stand still, hoping I'd not
fall. But the aunty behind me whispered to me, to ask me to "Let go and
relax" and I did, and I just fell and rested in the spirit.
And once again, I saw
bright lights. I was hoping I could see something more, perhaps a vision of
Jesus, the lights got brighter and brighter, but I didn’t saw anything else.
And suddenly, I felt my legs shaking, and I couldn’t control them. The lights began
to fade away. I didn’t want it to go because the feeling felt so nice, as if my
heart was at peace. Then, I just got up.
I felt peace, joy,
warmth! I felt the Holy Spirit dwelling within me! I felt it, and that, I must
say, is the best feeling one can ever have! After that, we had our supper and
prepared ourselves for bed.
Then it was Sunday
morning, the last day of our ’08 LSS programme. We had a few more talks on the
Holy Spirit. Then, it was time for the baptism of the Holy spirit. I did rest
in the holy spirit once again, but this time, when I got up, my whole body felt
weak. I never saw the bright lights again.
Then there was our skit,
the mass, and sadly, the LSS programme came to an end.
Since then, every time I
sin, it hurts me as I realize it hurts god. During temptation, I remember the
comic about the sin monster and also what Uncle Michael and aunty told us, that
Saturn is the father of sins, and was tempting us to go against God and sin.
And I just smile, turn a cold shoulder towards temptation and walk towards God.
For every
sin we commit, we owe a debt to the demon. And when we die, the demon will come
and collect it from us.
Kimberly Ann Ngieng
FFC Form 3