This, at least, proved to be true for the NECF Malaysia National Youth Missions Camp II which had a pressing objective – to stoke the flames of missions in the hearts of the youths. Through simulation games, which were thoroughly enjoyed by all the campers, the serious messages by the various speakers hit home.

As a result, over 60 percent of the 180 campers pledged to be directly involved in missions. For the rest, the organisers believed that God has planted the missions seed in their hearts.

Participants of the camp, held in July at Genting Highlands, came from all over Malaysia and beyond, including the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Africa.

Guest speaker Bob Sjogren’s message generated a great deal of cat-and-dog discussions among the campers and provoked them to think about living God-centred lives. In his illustration, the cat says, "You feed me, you pet me, I must be God" while the dog says, "you feed me, you pet me, you must be God." From the illustration, campers surmised that the cat is self-centred while the dog is master-centred. Thus, Sjogren, the president of UNVEILINGLORY in the US, challenged the youths to be God-centred.

Philip Chang of Intercare shared how men and women are making a difference through tentmaking in countries whose doors are closed to missionaries. This helped campers to think about missions in non-traditional ways.

Brian Chung of Operation Mobilisation challenged campers to consider participating in short- or long-term missions while Dr Tan Kang San of OMF clarified that everyone can be involved in missions, either as ‘senders’ or ‘goers’.

What did the youths think about the camp? Judging from the many eager questions thrown during the question-and-answer session at the end of the camp, the two-day outing was well worth the many months of preparation.