NSCF 2: Common Ground

roommates, originally uploaded by mincaye.

When Simon (left) and I stepped into room 2E12 (the very room Soo Tian and I shared for d'NA last year) at STM, we were joined shortly by Ken Jon (centre).

One of us--I cannot remember who--asked, "So who will be sleeping on the floor?" as the rooms there are meant for only two occupants and thus have only two beds.

Ken Jon remarked, "Is that a question or a statement?" to which we all laughed. He promptly marked the floor mattress as his. (I wonder if the fact that Simon and I are two years his senior, had anything to do with it).


Being somewhat ambitious, we opened a window on the first night, and did not rely on electric mosquito mats. In STM, this is usually invites hordes of the resident 'monsters.' However, before sleeping, we said a 'mantra':

Simon: "Mosquitoes, do not enter."
Ben: "Mosquitoes, do not enter."
Ken Jon: "Mosquitoes, do not enter."
All: "Amen."

None entered; if any did, none bit. Most of the other rooms either used mats, or shut their windows, or suffered casualties in the morning.

Simon and I awoke early on Tuesday morning, and made our way to the new pondok in the STM garden for some quiet before the day ahead. We switched on the light and had some fun with 'enlightenment.'

(Note: although the new 'hut' is pretty nice, it would've been somewhat more fitting to build it out of wood rather than concrete).

We moved to the edge of the garden facing east to await the sunrise; there, we were fiercely attacked by the mozzies. However, all was not lost, as I managed to shoot one of them (using my arm as bait) before smacking it.


On the second night, during group reflection, I suggested (much to the horror of my group) that the mosquitoes may really be agents of God to prevent campers from falling asleep during quiet time and/or prayer. Still, I must admit their incessant attacks may prove more a distraction than anything else.

Nevertheless, I will always remember a mosquito-wrought incident which brought more long-term good than evil: Jon's dengue fever at d'NA Stage One in 2003.

Throughout the second half of camp, virtually everyone was united in prayer for him. God used what was meant to harm, to bring us into a closer fellowship with one another.


All said and done, I am very grateful to Abba for answering my prayers for health. In the week before camp, I came into contact with flu-ridden friends in school (i.e. Denise) and was in many another position of vulnerability in that period.

But God kept me healthy during camp, in every sense of the word. Apart from some difficulty getting up on the last day (due to a really late night up on Friday--slept only at about 3:30 a.m.), the rest of camp was a joy-ride physically speaking.

His protection upon us all is indeed magnificent. We shall pick up serpents and be unharmed; we are bitten by Aedes and are spared from dengue. But for God's grace, not only would we not be in the pink of health--indeed, there would be no health to speak of.