We usually set a summer camp each year. But this year, we held the camp in Autumn for the first time. 23 Agape House brethren from our fellowships in Chihaya and Ito camped on October 7-9, 2017 at Isanoura Park Cottages and Bungalows, Saikai City, Nagasaki Prefecture.
The theme verse of this camp was 1 Corinthians 1:9: “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
There was a slight delay in our departure on the first day because one of the vans had a flat tire before we could leave Agape House-Fukuoka. But we are grateful to God that it did not happen along the way that we could have it fixed while still in Fukuoka. We are also grateful that we still arrived the camp safely and on time. The group spent the rest of the first day starting with an orientation and prayer then enjoyed fishing, roaming around the camp site and fellowshipping while having a barbeque beside the lake. And we celebrated the 11th birthday of Elone.
We started the second day with participants having morning devotions, jogging around the park and cooking breakfast. Everyone enjoyed the french toasts, Korean ramen, and stir-fried vegetables. Sis. Piepie and Sis. Amy prepared the curry rice right after the breakfast while others wash the dishes and prepared for the worship service held later in the morning. The worship service started at 10:30 A.M. with singing of songs and hymns of praise and worship for God’s great faithfulness. Pastor Julius shared a message of God’s faithfulness from 2 Timothy 2:11-13.
After lunch, the group went to visit Nanatsugama Limestone Cave. It was a national designated monument found in Saikai City. The features of this limestone cave are said to be atypical to other limestone caves in the world, making it unique and well worth a visit. The cave have a length of approximately 1500 meters and an internal temperature of 14 degrees. But, only around 500 meters of the cave were allowed for tourists to enter.
Then, the group drove around 40 minutes to a theme park reproduction of a Dutch street that was created out of a part of the former Nagasaki Holland Village. This was just opened to the public on June 2016. It’s called Port Hoorn.
Late in the afternoon, the group drove around 30 minutes to Saikai Bridge. This bridge was said to be longest in the East when it was built in 1955. The New Saikai Bridge was built in 2006 adjacent to the first. We could observe the whirlpools from directly overhead on the walking path under the bridge beam. After spending some time together and taking a lot of pictures, we returned to the camp and had carbonara and tomato sauce spaghetti for dinner. Later that evening e spent time talking about the Holy Scriptures.
On the last day, we enjoyed delicious pancakes and fruits for breakfast. And we checked out at 9:30 A.M. But just before we left the camp, the kids demanded to ride the foot-pedal-driven duck boats. We had a fun time and a good exercise pedaling the duck boats around. Then, we took an hour trip to Sasebo City and visited the popular Tenkaiho Observatory, which is overlooking the scene of many green islands of Kujushima (99 islands) floating beautifully on the azure sea. Then, we went to Hotel Lorelei for the lunch buffet before we head back home.
We praise the LORD for His faithfulness, for allowing us to enjoy His presence, each other and the places we have visited, for the perfect weather He has granted during the entire camp, and for protecting us going to the camp and back to our respective homes.
Agape House-Fukuoka 