| How I Spent My Valentine’s Day |
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By Germaine Tay On 14 February 2009, I celebrated my Valentine's Day in our church event called 'The Anti-Valentine'. Along with some of the YF members, we decided to call it The Anti-Valentine because we thought of doing something different besides our annual valentine event. On that day, some people came early to help out. It was a wonderful sight, as most of the helpers were mostly from Form 3 or Form 4. They were so dedicated in what they were doing and were looking forward to the event that they planned together for more than a month. The event was supposed to start at 4pm, but, as we're Malaysians and punctuality isn't our norm, we started the programme instead at 4.30pm. I was the emcee for the day and gave a welcoming speech. The YF-ers warmly welcomed the newcomers with a big smile and claps. The time was then handed over to Han Jung and his musicians to lead a short introduction and worship session. He started off with an ice-breaker and followed with two songs. The first song was a familiar song, “With Christ In The Vessel". I like this song as it’s a happy song. Plus, it was accompanied by actions, and everyone was sporting enough to follow the actions according to the lyrics. The second song was a new song, called "How Can I Keep From Singing" by Chris Tomlin. It was an amazing song about singing to God in every situation and knowing that He will always be there for us! After that, it was the time everyone was looking forward to: games time! We were all separated into groups. The games were based on an origin of Valentine’s Day, which Eugene Phua introduced. He imitated a supreme high prefect of the Roman captain's guard. Everyone was given a chance to participate in this games session, and many contributed creative ideas in the hope of winning. Next up, we have a short but meaningful message by Brian Simon. The topic was based on our theme, "Standing Up For What You Believe In". It was greatly elaborated with three main points:
I think that, sometimes, we are so easily influenced by those around us that we give up on what we believe in. This message clearly speaks to us – we should stand up for what we believe in. Although we need to sacrifice something, we need to face our fear. No matter what, God is always there. As our favourite YF bible verse says: Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12) We ended up the event with dinner. We had macaroni, salad, fried chicken and jelly in their cans that they brought. We asked them to bring cans as we wanted dinner to be like eating in a prison. After eating, everyone cleaned their own table, and the event came to an end. It was awesome seeing people bringing friends, giving a chance for people to mix around, and being able to let the YF-ers help with this event. At the end of the day, all of us brought back the message of standing up for what we believe in, like how Valentine stood up. We praise the Lord for He was always with us throughout the whole event and the whole planning process. Thank you. |
