Camps to enrich family life

By FRANCIS NGOI

A HIGHLY-SUCCESSFUL two-day "Family Life Education Camp" held last year to motivate parents to get involved in transmitting faith to their children and nurturing them through family life has encouraged its organiser to open more of such camps to church members and even non-believers.


The Oasis Family Life Education Centre at Wishart Road is now prepared to organise two-day mini-Family Life Education Camps for anyone interested in enriching family life. Each camp can take in five to seven couples.


Last year's camp was well accepted by the participants. It was highly recommended to other participants after some young parents gathered six other couples, including three non-Christians, and invited the centre to conduct a similar camp in a hotel.


Their feedback and comments, including three of them who came to the Lord at the end of the camp, convinced the centre to take bolder steps to work with anyone who wishes to organise such camps.


Said a participant, Guo Yihua: "By the help of God I could open my heart for the first time to clear the doubts that had been hidden for years. It is my first exposure to the doctrines and beliefs in God but I am greatly inspired and determined to know more about the Bible and Christ. I also wish that by God's grace my family and I will be led to walk in the light and share the joy and blessing with others."


Mr Au Bok Soon said: "I am grateful to God that my beloved wife accepted the Lord through this camp. I pray that by the help of the Holy Spirit I will practise all that I have learnt about Christian family life in order to bless my family."


Ms Joanna Huang said: "We have longed for this invaluable knowledge for a very long time. Now I see how precious a family is and I truly want to work towards a healthy and godly family lifestyle."


Another participant, Sha Yiing, found the presentations of the course lively. He said: "The course deepened my understanding of family and marriage relationships, and parenting. As this is my first encounter with Christianity, I will like to study and understand more about it in order to benefit more from Christian living."
God planned to bless humankind through the marriage of Adam and Eve. Unfortunately, they failed to receive the blessing because they disobeyed God's command.


However, God tried relentlessly to restore the original destiny of humankind through raising up godly families such as Noah's and Abraham's families in different eras. After both of them failed to fulfil God's desire He opened a new avenue to save the individuals and their households through His only Son by declaring, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." (Acts 16:31).


Churches today work well on saving individuals through evangelism and missions, but generally do not focus on the household ministry.


As one Bible commentator, J.M. Sherwood, said: "The family power is the fountain of all moral power in the world. Without such an agency we cannot see how religion could ever have gained a footing in it. During all the patriarch ages the family alone preserved the knowledge and worship of God. We cannot estimate the full value of such an agency. We cannot tell all its vital bearings on the Kingdom of Christ, or on the world. When the family power is neglected or perverted religion has nothing to build upon. The only way to build up Christ's Kingdom is to make the family what it should be. The household must be sanctified. There is no agency that can substitute for the family."



The Rev Francis Ngoi conducting a session on family life at Toa Payoh Methodist Church. -- Oasis Family Life Education Centre picture.

The Oasis Family Life Education Centre is deeply committed to the mission of strengthening families in the Christian community so that parents may be equipped in integrating their faith with their family lives, and so that they may transmit their beliefs from generation to generation through their lifestyle. This may enable generations of Christians to evolve or grow towards perfection "until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ". (Eph.4:13).


Church members, relatives and friends who are interested in attending a Family Life Education Camp can contact the centre for details. The telephone number is 6274-7480, the fax number is 6276-0024, and the email address is oasis@methodist.org.sg

The Rev Dr Francis Ngoi is the Director of Oasis Family Life Education Centre.