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Beacons
of Light
– Kairos Youth Gather in Malaysia
2016
by Pauline Marie
Belmonte
The Lord has been busy in Asia. A hundred
young people, inspired by the work of God at
last year’s Asia Kairos Youth Camp in Manila,
gathered in Penang, Malaysia, this July for
this year’s camp, entitled Kairos 2016:
Beacons of Light. They sought to fan the
Lord’s flame into a great fire.
Penang, a state which once served as the
convergence of Asian and European cultures,
with its hills and quiet yet urban air, and
home to Covenanted for Christ Community,
provided the backdrop for this year’s Kairos
camp – a meeting amongst youth from Malaysia,
the Philippines, and Singapore. At the
four-day event, the call went out for the
youth to become beacons of Christ’s light,
ushering forth his glory.
Living together -
building brotherly relationships
The Kairos camp was built upon Prep 7 – a
group of thirty young people who came for 7
days prior to the main event to receive
training to serve at the camp and also to grow
personally in Christ. We lived in households –
a men’s household and a women’s household. We
did house chores, went out to the poor and
needy, whilst living a life of prayer,
scripture meditation and Christian
relationships. The men’s Prep 7 built
brotherhood through service and responding to
God’s mission to the Sword of Spirit. At the
place where the men’s household was living,
the brothers helped out with serving the
homeless and also helped with preparations for
the upcoming camp. Meanwhile, the women’s
household meditated on Christ’s “I Am”
statements in scripture, and their activities
included outreaches to children and spending
time with the sisters in the community.
For participant JM Tallas, a Filipino living
in Singapore, it was an extraordinary time of
building brotherly relationships with
guys whom, despite his having just met, he
felt he had lived with for years. Sam Rentap,
a brother from Malaysia, found household a way
of growing in confidence to praise and worship
God, encouraged by the presence of his
brothers in the household who were unabashedly
doing so. For Janica Javier of the
Philippines, the household experience
stretched her abilities to love and serve God
and others as she was constantly challenged to
do more and more – to look beyond her own
abilities and look to God’s grace for her.
The
two households with over 30 young men and
women made a significant impact on the
participants. Decisions were made to live out
a regular prayer life, be witnesses to the
faith, and to be simply extraordinary
disciples of Christ. The households were not
only memorable for those who participated but
memorable for hosting Covenanted for Christ
Community, as the households were the first of
their kind in Penang. And the households
received generosity and hospitality from the
community, who welcomed them at the Lord’s Day
celebration and joined them in fellowship.
Kairos Camp - disciples in
training
The venue for the main Kairos camp, after Prep
7, was at St Anne’s Church, in Penang. One
hundred participants gathered there: some of
them had travelled the previous night from
Singapore and from all over the Philippines.
Some even came from Sabah, a province of
Malaysia near Borneo, and some participants
came from the U.S. The event served as an
intersection of people from different cultures
and backgrounds.
The days began with a times of prayer, worship
and scripture meditation, followed by
inspiring input from Raoul Roncal and Jake Yap
who have been for many years closely involved
in serving the youth of Asia. They are members
of a brotherhood of celibate men, the Servants
of the Word, and are also part of the region’s
largest Sword of the Spirit community in Asia,
Ligaya ng
Panginoon, in Manila. Their
presentations focused on training men and
women in skills to defend the faith and to
share Christ with others. There were sessions
in the afternoon to help equip leaders.
And of course, the camp wouldn’t be complete
without letting out youthful energy in amazing
races and competitions, and unleashing the
creative juices in entertainment nights and
music nights. Playing the entertaining games
and concocting the imaginative performances
were times for the participants to relax and
to build relationships with one another.
Beacons of light to overcome
spiritual darkness
Raoul spoke on being a beacon – that there is
a need to gather the light, for a lighthouse
without a light is essentially pointless. He
pointed to the unsettling darkness in our
world which we can see in secularism,
relativism, and atheism. He exhorted us to
overcome “spiritual blindness” that has been
caused by this darkness.
Jake reminded us that light shines in the
darkness, “Light springs up in the midst of
despair.” This light springs from God who sent
his Son to overcome this darkness and, as St.
John writes in the first chapter of his
Gospel, “The light shines in the darkness and
the darkness has not overcome it.” So, the
question for those at the camp was this: “Have
I chosen the light?” We were exhorted by Raoul
that all have been called and been given a
choice to be bearers of Christ’s light into
the world. While there is a joy in standing as
beacons of light, there is also the challenge
of feeling different, rejected and unworthy
when one ventures to share and defend the
light.
However, despite this seemingly immense cost,
Jake explained that the cause of being a
beacon of Christ’s light far outweighs the
cost. He shared the image of a lighthouse that
in its role of lighting the way for ships it
is not spared the onslaught of incoming ocean
waves. Only because of its strong foundation
can the lighthouse endure the storm. Jake
invited us to be beacons of light against the
darkness, and strongly founded on Christ.
The call to choose for Christ
“To be beacons of light for a cause far
outweighing the cost.” This was the call, and
it was in need of a response. The young people
rose to this call in a powerful time of prayer
and worship after the Saturday evening
celebration of the opening of the Lord’s Day.
As the appointed time came to respond to the
call, people slowly began to kneel and raise
their hands in awe of the mighty God who
called them. Many young men and women had
vivid personal encounters with God that night.
This time proved be a highlight for many of
the attendees.
As each person committed or recommitted
himself or herself to Christ, we were
encouraged to go around to pray for our
brothers and sisters. The session hall filled
with prayers, lifting up to God their new
commitment, chosen ministries, and individual
concerns. Undoubtedly, the Holy Spirit was at
work. Josh Miranda of the US said that these
prayers allowed him to open up to God’s love
and set aside inhibitions he had felt before.
Denise Choon of Malaysia was struck by how God
can use anyone to pray for her.
More confident faith
“Be a beacon of light and shine.” That was the
challenge posed by Avi Leong from the
Philippines at the camp’s closing gathering.
The challenge was to shine – stand firm,
listen to the Lord’s command, initiate, never
back down, and be excellent. And with this war
cry, Kairos 2016 concluded with powerful and
confident worship.
This Kairos Camp 2016 in Asia saw the Holy
Spirit forming and building up the youth to a
more confident faith. Monica Pontejos of the
Philippines shared that by the example of the
brothers and sisters who were brave in living
out their faith, she was encouraged to a more
radical expression of her own faith. Adelene,
who is from Malaysia, was reaffirmed in her
identity as God’s daughter and her shared
mission to shine Christ’s light.
God has put a desire in each person to take a
step forward in their commitment to him. One
of the radical responses of the youth of the
local host community is a commitment to start
a youth outreach in Penang, to be called
Christ’s Youth in Action.
God is doing tremendous work with his youth in
Asia. He never ceases to amaze. Kairos 2016:
Beacons of Light is but one of those events
that give testimony to this. And with every
spirit-filled encounter between the Lord and
his young people, he invites them to a deeper
commitment to himself and to do greater things
for him.
With God, something great and awesome is
always brewing. How will the youth of Asia and
the world respond next?
[This
article
was originally published in the Sword
of the Spirit web site.]
Pauline Marie Belmonte recently
graduated from university. She served as
part of the core group who led the women’s
Prep 7. Photos: Pauline Belmonte, Kaina
Sitoy, Michael Cheong, Ian Ling.
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