To all our prayer partners and those who sent their financial support to sponsor youths for Camp Forever XV – Thank You! May you never tire of pouring in your encouragement and generosity to the Lord’s work. God be praised!

Groped in darkness, slave to sin
Lived my life for glories vain
Wayward, weighed down and wandering
Bound and blind until Your love came

On that cross You suffered instead
Of a sinner deserving that death
For who could love an enemy?
My Jesus died and now I am free!

Chorus
Thanks for this new heart
Thanks for this change
From a heart of stone to a heart of flesh
‘Tis the work of Your redeeming grace
I’m redeemed, I am home, I am blessed!
This is Your promise, this is Your gift:
Jesus, Restorer of undending peace
Peace with the Father, the Son has giv’n
The Word became flesh
The promise fulfilled

Prone to wander my heart may be
Then Satan hurls his lies at me
That sin can destroy salvation’s plan
My faith still holds on this assurance:

“It is finished,” the Savior has said
With an outstretched arm
and a mighty hand
For who could separate us from His love?
Not life, not death nor powers above

(Repeat Chorus)
The Word became flesh
The promise fulfilled
Hallelujah, the promise fulfilled!

Camp Forever XV: Fresh Heart brought together 130 youths at the mountain resort of Rafael Salas National Park in Bago City, Negros Occidental last December 26-30, 2009. For 80% of the campers, it was the first time for them to attend an SMO youth camp. After five days and four nights, their responses were unanimous – it was an experience of a lifetime.

With solid biblical nightly messages from the speakers, the staff prays the impact to the youths would be lasting. Pastor Richard Guion kicked off the night with a message on “The Fallen Heart”; he continued it the morning after. Pastor Aeron Caldeo gave a powerfully-charged message on “A Fiery yet Forgiving Heart” focusing on the holiness of God and (justice and righteousness) and the love of God (mercy and grace). Pastor Reuel Ben “Arbi” Seijo kept the momentum with his message on “A Frenzy/Freaky Heart” focusing on the confuse state of the youth, youth conflicts, and struggles over sin. Pastor Renato Bravo during the final morning message preached on “A Fresh Heart” focusing on regeneration and sanctification, with a call of commitment from the campers. And finally, Engr. Xerwin Ceballos wrapped up the event with an exposition on Ezekiel 36:26 giving importance on the God who can change a “heart of stone” to a “heart of flesh”.

Morning group devotions were held at the break of dawn each day with facilitators putting much emphasis on the campers’ need of a Savior. The rest of day were set aside for group games which serves as object lessons.

This is the 15th year SMO Bacolod organized this evangelistic camp. The staff expresses its gratitude to churches, individuals, and alumni who have prayed and extended their financial support to make this event, indeed, an experience of a lifetime, for the youths.

What the Campers were Saying…

I was rebuked to know that no matter how big or small sin is, it is still sin. But there is victory in Christ.” – Manna

“Before I thought that God is only powerful, but the camp taught me that He is more than just powerful.  He is perfect and He saved me.” – Chello

“From the games, I learned that when one violates a law, he violates the whole law.” – Emberr

“The camp strengthened my relationship with God.” – Barbie

“There were misunderstandings during our camp games, but being brothers and sisters in Christ made the campers united after all.” – Shane

“Praise God that I was able to hear His Word and I learned that with God, all things are possible.” – Judy

“Here, I learned to love God and hate sin.” – Junel

“I thank God for the friendships that were made here.” – Jolly

“I’ve learned that even if I believe in God but if there’s no change in my life, it is useless.  I promised myself that this camp will be the beginning of a change in myself.  – Ailyn

“God is really magnificent! I know that words are not enough to express what I felt inside, but surely God sees how grateful I am for having Him as my personal Savior and God.”- Joan Mir

“I realized that joining the camp is not only for having a vacation but there’s really a purpose—to cause a change in my life.” – Irica

“I can’t believe God continues to love us even if we are sinners. He’s the One who’s offended but still He made the first step.  Because of the preaching, I said, “Lord, I surrender my life to You. I can do nothing because I’m helpless.  Lord I’m scared of hell. I want You, Lord, to change my heart.”  I get to understand God even better when we meet with our counselors.” – Anonymous

“I thank God for using someone to sponsor me in this camp. Through it I learned that God can change my heart of ‘stone’ to a heart of ‘flesh’.” – Cris

“I learned how important God is in my life.” – Christie

I’ve learned how filthy I am in God’s eyes. Even if I am a sinner, still, God gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, as a ransom for my sins. I learned that we should live according to His word for apart from Him I can do nothing. – Stephen John

The restless heart needs to be tamed.

Fresh Heart brings a new beginning to the heart of a restless youth. Many a times in our adventures and discoveries we find many detours and dead ends, pitfalls and cliffhangers. We seemed to be so restless and untamed in our spirits that in one instance we realize we just go around in circles and no sense of direction, passionful yet aimless.

God said, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh,” (Ezekiel 36:26).

Joining our Camp Forever XV: Fresh Heart will lead you to a settled heart, a tamed passion, and a fresh direction in your youthful life.

The five-day camp will be held at the mountain resort of Rafael Salas National Park in Bago City. This place boasts of a wide-angle view of the plains of Negros, cool air, refreshing spring and waterfalls, and convenient amenities.

To pre-register, contact us at 4336923 or 0919-6544-654. Or write to us at smoconnect@yahoo.com.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon on Regeneration: “When God first begins the work of changing the heart, he finds man totally averse to any such thing. By nature man kicks and struggles against God: he will not be saved. I must confess I never would have been saved, if I could have helped it. As long I could I rebelled and revolted, and struggled against God. When he would have me pray, I would not pray: when he would have me listen to the sound of preaching, I would not. Moreover, when I did listen and the tear rolled down my cheek, I wiped it away and defied him to melt my heart. When my heart was a little touched, I tried to divert it with sinful pleasures. And when that would not do I tried self-righteousness, and would not have been saved until I was hemmed in, and then he gave me the effectual blow of grace, and there was no resisting that irresistible effort of his grace. It conquered my depraved will, and made me bow myself before the scepter of his grace.”

Camp Forever, an annual Christian youth camp organized by Student Missionary Outreach, will carry “Regeneration” as this year’s theme. Our goal is for the youth to have a true understanding of the Gospel and how this Gospel will impact their lives forever.

We’ll have the camp at Hacienda Kaftrees in Murcia, Negros Occidental on 26-30 December 2008. A registration fee of 500 pesos ($10) is required. For inquiries, please contact us through this site or send SMS to 0927-6766-361.