JIL NL Outdoor Fellowship
This year’s JIL Netherlands Outdoor Fellowshipping took place on the 22nd of August in the Haarlemmerpark. The event pulled around 140 participants, from Amsterdam and Den Haag including several guests from Germany representing Berlin, Wiesbaden and Braunschweig.
For a moment, it seemed that rain and other unpleasant weather conditions threatened spoiling the festivities, but then it quickly turned into a nice, warm Summer day with plenty of UV radiation to bronze our already colorful tint some more.
The event started with praise and worship celebration led by Sis. Herline Mutas; followed by a prayer and note of welcome.
Obviously, no proper outing is complete without food, so the chafing dishes and plastic containers filled with varieties of delicious edibles were brought and served, as well as several liters of soft drinks and juices, and of course, barbeque grills were once again filled with varieties of meat.
There was an opportunity for those who were not yet baptized, or wanted to be rebaptized for the second time, to be water baptized in the park’s lake. The water baptism, conducted by Pastora Gigi Aballe and Pastora Mimi dela Cruz, assisted by Bro. Rico Casunuran and Bro.Joel Aballe, was the central, most important event of the day. So it came to be that the twenty-three participants clad in white were baptized, signifying their faith in Christ publicly.
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Games were played for the rest of the day. The children were divided into two teams, red and white, and mostly played relay games, which were led by Sis. Shirley Galicia, assisted by Sis. Dolly Llaneza and Sis.Joy Roxas.
Also notable were the intense battles between the “Inner Beauty” and “Forever Beauty” women groups, which took place on the playgrounds and were coordinated by Sis. Luz Anacta and Sis. Cerelyn Andres, involving jumping ropes, hula-hoops and the wearing of several silly hats. Most of the other visitors participated in either volleyball (led by Bro. Mike dela Cruz and Sis. Girlie Apalla) and basketball (led by Bro. Pamping Anacta and Bro. Dick Alava). Badminton games were planned, but were alas cancelled due to the weather conditions. Everyone gave their all, and the eventual victors received their shared rewards for their achievements and abundant amounts of sweets and treats.
The day ended with a raffle draw – a principle of giving and sharing with fun. Prizes included a printer, digital camera and Nintendo Wii with a Laptop being the grand prize which was received by our sister of JIL Den Haag.
Article written by:
Bro. Jordy Boerema
C.A.M. Projection Head