Date: 1st-3rd Nov 05
Venue: Benum Hill Eco Resort, Raub Pahang
Cost: *undisclosed*
On the 1st to the 3rd of November 05, the RR leaders of Sel#6 organized its long-overdue leaders retreat. This time around, it was held in the beautiful hilly Benum eco-resort...and what a beautiful place it turned out to be! Lush, green, hills, rocky mountains, ponds filled with fishes and aquatic life (I was sure I saw a mermaid), breathtaking morning mist...everything you could ask for as a ranger!
After a healthy bak kut teh breakfast at Eng Ann, the 5 cars and 22 campers headed straight to Raub. Right from the start, the mood and atmosphere was fantastic, and this was a perfect start for what was to be a very relaxing and refreshing retreat. The drive took us almost two and a half hours to reach there. After literally driving through an oil palm estate for the last 15 mins, we finally reached the campsite. The resort basically popped out of nowhere! But what a beauty the place is...
From the pictures posted, one can tell that it was a superb trip! First group activity for the day was kayaking. The rules for kayaking were simple :
1) Do not try to to overturn your friend's kayak.
2) Do not use the oars as a weapon.
3) Always wear a life-jacket PROPERLY.
4) Do not try to fill up the other person's kayak with water.
5) Always remember that yours kayak is NOT a motorboat. It wasnt designed for racing!
So, with the rules all layed out before us...we're sad to say that we failed to follow every single rule! haha...at least we were consistent! Man...i tell you...when all the leaders got into their boats, its was total chaos! There was splashing...some were trying to overturn each other's boats...some even brought a scoop to fill up other people's kayaks with water. Some even resorted to using the oars as a weapon...using it to splash water and to redirect other kayaks! At the end, everyone got wet and it all ended with a smile.
Next up, fishing! Man, I tell you...you all should have seen cmdr Gideon in action! According to the legend, he's been deprived of fishing for almost 4 years. So he came for this retreat with a mission...to drain the pond of fishes and to fill his booth with talapias. You guys should see him in action. Some of his methods include talking to the fishes, and talking to himself. And not forgetting...checking out his hair in the reflection of the water most of the time! From the 2 days of fishing....here's the fishing results:
1) Cmdr. Gideon - 14 fishes, another 2 that got away, plus 1 labi labi!
2) Cmdr. Reuben - 4 fishes, and 1 that got away.
3) Alison - 1 fish...and sadly, that fish went missing. We suspect it was the fault of the local iguana that patrols the area.
This camp had it all...good food, a fantastic bbq, a nice cafeteria with astro that we were able to watch Champions League at 4am in the morning, nice comfy beds, and most of all...we had each other! just a word of advice...for all those who watch Animal Planet, please do practise caution when watching shows such as Crocodile Hunter which features a crazy Aussie who jumps onto crocs and chases after snakes. This kind of shows have a strange way of influencing youths to think that they too can become crocodile hunters! Ask cmdr Kenny about it...esp since he was the 'crocodile' underneath a pile of 'hunters', namely Zhi Fung, Daniel Pua, Julian, Wei Chuan, and Eric!
On the last morn, we has a short time of prayer and each leader was given a chance to share whats in his heart regarding the Rangers ministry. It was ecouraging to see every leader re-affirm their commitment to the ministry and dedicate their lives once again to God to be used to touch the lives of others around them, especially their rangers. After a time of prayer, we finally made our way back to Klang. We knew something special had happened in that camp. It was something that can't be explained, but was felt in our hearts.
Basically, we caught the vision... now its time to spread the flame
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