2023 - Church Family Retreat
2023 Church Family Retreat
Map
Dr. Joseph Chan – (714) 267-3069
Dr. Renee Lin – (714) 351-7902
For medical emergency, notify FCBC leadership immediately, request 911 services or notify any Forest Home staff.
For shuttle service at retreat, contact brother TC Chang
Schedule
8:00 AM | Leaders Check-In | ||||||
9:00 AM | Setup Receive Wrist Bands |
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10:00 AM - 12:00 PM |
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12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Lunch | ||||||
1:15 PM | All-Retreat Photo | ||||||
Check-in Receive Room Keys | |||||||
2:30 PM - 5:00 PM | 2:30 - 3:30 Prayer Workshop (Hormel Hall)
Recreation (1:30-5:00): Mears Lake: Swimming, Boating, Water Slide & Blob Canyon Park: Sky Trail & Giant Swing Counseling: Counselor 1-1's (4:00 - 5:00) Counseling & Prayer with Pastors |
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5:30 PM - 6:30 PM | Dinner | ||||||
6:30 PM - 9:20 PM |
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9:20 PM | Snacks, Fellowship | ||||||
10:00 PM | Cabin Time | ||||||
11:00 PM | Bedtime (Counselors, please enforce) |
6:30 AM | Morning Devotionals | ||||||
7:15 AM - 8:00 AM | Guided Prayer (Hormel Hall) | ||||||
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM | Breakfast | ||||||
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM |
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12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Lunch | ||||||
1:30 PM - 5:00 PM |
1:30 Arts & Crafts (Hurtt Hall) Recreation (1:30-5:00): Mears Lake: Swimming, Boating, Water Slide & Blob Canyon Park: Sky Trail & Giant Swing Counseling: Counselor 1-1's (4:00 PM - 5:00 PM) Counseling & Prayer with Pastors |
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5:30 PM - 6:30 PM | Dinner | ||||||
6:45 PM - 9:10 PM |
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9:20 PM | Snacks, Fellowship | ||||||
10:00 PM | Cabin Time | ||||||
11:00 PM | Bedtime (Counselors, please enforce) |
6:30 AM | Morning Devotionals | ||||||||
7:15 AM - 8:00 AM | Guided Prayer (Hormel Hall) | ||||||||
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM | Breakfast | ||||||||
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM |
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12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Lunch | ||||||||
1:00 PM | Checkout, Go Home |
Retreat Rules and Sharing
Spontaneous Prayer
- Pray with and over each other at any time, in any place
Participation
- Make the most of every opportunity to glorify God and bless your fellow brothers/sisters here at the retreat.
Campground Environment
- Safety first! Supervise and know where your children are at all times.
- Prohibited: profanity, abusive or inconsiderate language, use or possession of tobacco and alcohol products, lewd or pornographic materials or publications.
Lodging Areas
- Respect lodging areas. Keep noise to a minimum. Curfew is 11:00 p.m; enjoy your cabin time in your apartments. Quiet hours are 10:00 pm to 8:00 am.
- Youth must avoid opposite gender quarters.
Electrical Devices
- Silence phones during worship and general meetings.
- Use electrical devices in a God-honoring way.
Testimonies & Small Group Sharing
Testimonies: Sharing God’s Goodness
- Audible: tell us your name and introduce yourself.
- Brief: limit your sharing to 3 minutes.
- Christ-centered: confess Jesus Christ publicly, especially if you have accepted Him or re-established your relationship with Him.
Small Group Sharing
- Open the time with prayer.
- Get personal – talk about your Christian testimony, your family, some current life challenges and joys, why you are here at retreat.
- Prayer – Pray for one another and the retreat.
- Share a recent experience or praise God for what He has done or quote something from God’s Word.
Welcome
Have you ever had this very disorienting five-second experience in life, in which you wake up one day, not knowing where you are or what day or time it is?! For those brief five seconds, you are in a panic—or, at least in a mild “twilight zone”—until your brain catches up to your eyesight and connects what you see with the facts in your short-term memory. You then realize “OK, everything is fine; I know where I am (or what time or day it is)!”
Open Our Eyes to Jesus
Our church’s annual theme, and theme for this year’s retreat, is “Open Our Eyes,” based on the words Jesus spoke to Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 26:18). How must Paul have felt when he was blinded by the brilliant light and booming voice of Jesus? What went through his mind after Ananias laid his hands on him and the scales fell from his eyes? How disoriented it must have been for him to be baptized as a Christian, instead of being a persecutor of them!
Some of you “opened your eyes” to the reality and goodness of Jesus Christ a long time ago, while for others of you it was a more recent opening. Still others of you have not yet had the life-transforming experience of seeing and believing Jesus as Lord and your personal Savior. Consider what Jesus said about those who open their eyes and believe in Jesus: Acts 26:18 (NASB 2020) 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’ To open one’s eyes to Jesus means a life transformed!
Open Our Eyes to Brothers and Sisters
Besides seeing God, may He also open our eyes to see one another as brothers and sisters in the same family. In another famous John 3:16 verse, John wrote: 16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters (1 John 3:16). If our eyes have been opened to believing in Jesus as the Great Sacrifice who paid the price for our sins, then may our eyes stay open to loving our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Friends, I urge you to pray and seek out opportunities to love and make sacrifices for your brother or sister. Who needs a friend, a listening ear, a love gift to pay a bill, or a laying on of hands in prayer? Who needs to be encouraged that God has not forgotten, not given up and not forsaken him/her? Who needs to be made first in Christ after being in last place their whole lives? Open your eyes and see! Your sibling in Jesus is out there waiting for you to love on him/her!
Five Seconds of Life Transformation
I pray that we might each be somehow disoriented by the Word and Spirit of God this weekend. Perhaps the Lord will speak to us during a five second stretch this weekend—in a sermon or in a quiet time. But...instead of resuming our old ways after those five seconds, may we be reoriented to a new way of living! May we wake up to a new reality because we’ve been blinded by the brilliance of Jesus and seen His majesty and glory!
With Open Eyes and Arms,
Pastor Godfrey
Speakers
For almost 18 years, Albert devoted his life in theological education to train faithful servants of Jesus Christ. In the later years of his teaching ministry, he was called to be the President of Singapore Bible College from 2006 to 2014. Upon fulfillment of God’s calling and purposes for his ministry in Asia, the Lord led Albert back to LA and called him to be the Senior Pastor of FCBC Walnut in September 2014.
Albert enjoys reading, hiking, movies, music, Lakers basketball, good food, Vietnamese coffee, cooking and spending time with family and friends. He is happily married to Rebecca and together they have two grown children, Jeremy and Adeline.
Lois grew up volunteering in Kids Ministry and has served in full time vocational kids ministry since 1996.
Lois is very happily married to the newly retired Dr. Nick Sherwin, who served 26 years as Strategy Professor at Biola University. They have two adult children, Jennifer and Nick Jr, a beautiful daughter in love, Meghan, and three precious grandchildren, Lillie, Eva, and Lachlan.
Lois grew up in Southern California. She lived for two glorious years in the Pocono Mountains of Northeast PA. Lois currently serve as Children's Pastor at Creekside Christian Church in Elk Grove, CA, close to her son and his family!
Lois enjoys hiking, reading, baking, swimming, biking and listening to Nick play music. She is a certified scuba diver and loves the ocean. She is a DMin student at Talbot School of Theology studying Spiritual Formation and Soul Care as it relates to children and families.
Favorite Verse: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17
Life Verses: And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose! Romans 8:28
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Message Outlines
English Adult Messages – Dr. Ryan Peterson
Complete English Message Outlines & Small Group Questions
Saturday Morning, August 5
“From Darkness to Light: Creation and Salvation in Christ Jesus” Colossians 3:1-11Saturday Evening, August 5
“Sanctified by Faith in Jesus Christ: Made for God’s Presence” Hebrews 10:19-25Youth Messages – Pastor Mathieu Pau
Complete Youth Message Outlines & Small Group Questions
Saturday Morning, August 5
Session 1 – Introduction: Stewarding All That We Have (Matthew 25:14-30)KEY IDEA: In this fallen world, we are all afflicted in various ways. But rather than be hopeless victims of circumstance, we can find hope when we seek to honor God by being faithful stewards of what He has sovereignly placed in our lives.
Saturday Evening, August 5
Session 2 – Anger: What’s Got You All Worked Up? (James 4:1-12)KEY IDEA: When we are angry, God gives us grace to respond in Christ-like ways.
Children’s Schedule & Messages – Auntie Lois Sherwin
Key Verse: “To open their eyes. I want you to turn them from darkness to light. I want you to turn them from Satan’s power to GOD. I want their sins to be forgiven. They will be forgiven when they believe in me. They will have their place among God’s people.” Acts 26:18 (NIrV)
Saturday Morning, August 5
Zoom – The Book of GenesisBig Idea: Jesus defeated sin, so we can have a friendship with God.
Bible Basis: The Book of Genesis
Key Verse: “Nothing at all can separate us from God’s Love. That’s because of what Christ Jesus our Lord has done.” Romans 8:39b (NIrV)
Saturday Evening, August 5
Zoom – The Book of ExodusBig Idea: God has the power to provide, so we can trust that He will give us all we need.
Bible Basis: The Book of Exodus
Key Verse: “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 (NIV)
English Adult Messages – Dr. Ryan Peterson
Complete English Message Outlines & Small Group Questions
Sunday Morning, August 6
“Knowing and Loving God and God’s People” Genesis 1:26-28Youth Messages – Pastor Mathieu Pau
Complete Youth Message Outlines & Small Group Questions
Sunday Morning, August 6
Session 3 – Depression: When the Darkness Won’t Lift (Psalm 42-43)KEY IDEA: Depression often feels hopeless. Yet God gives us hope to live faithfully in the midst of the darkness.
Children’s Schedule & Messages – Auntie Lois Sherwin
Key Verse: “To open their eyes. I want you to turn them from darkness to light. I want you to turn them from Satan’s power to GOD. I want their sins to be forgiven. They will be forgiven when they believe in me. They will have their place among God’s people.” Acts 26:18 (NIrV)
Sunday Morning, August 6
Zoom – The Book of LeviticusBig Idea: Jesus is the ultimate atonement, so we can put our faith in Him.
Bible Basis: The Book of Leviticus
Key Verse: “Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:2 (NIV)
Sunday Evening, August 6
Zoom – The Book of NumbersBig Idea: God takes sin seriously, so we should live our life His way.
Bible Basis: The Book of Numbers
Key Verse:“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 (NIV)
English Adult Messages – Dr. Ryan Peterson
Complete English Message Outlines & Small Group Questions
Monday Morning, August 7
“Sent as Witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ” 2 Corinthians 5:14-21Youth Messages – Pastor Mathieu Pau
Complete Youth Message Outlines & Small Group Questions
Monday Morning, August 7
Session 4 – Anxiety: Gripped by Fear (Luke 12:22-34)KEY IDEA: God doesn’t condemn our fears, but he encourages us to move toward Him with trust even in the midst of our fears.
Children’s Schedule & Messages – Auntie Lois Sherwin
Key Verse: “To open their eyes. I want you to turn them from darkness to light. I want you to turn them from Satan’s power to GOD. I want their sins to be forgiven. They will be forgiven when they believe in me. They will have their place among God’s people.” Acts 26:18 (NIrV)
Monday Morning, August 7
Zoom – The Book of DeuteronomyBig Idea: God takes care of us, so we should remember the many things He has done.
Bible Basis: The Book of Deuteronomy
Key Verse: “Remember the days of long ago. Think about what the LORD did through those many years.” Deuteronomy 32:7 (NIrV)
Devotions
Children’s Morning Devotions
Thank God for this day. Thank God for FCBCFV Family Retreat.Children’s Morning Devotions
Tell God Good Morning. Thank Him for this beautiful day. Thank Him for His great love for you. Thank Him for your church and your family.Family Retreat Team
Program
Worship Song Leader & Musicians | Katie Leong, Nathan Kwong, Venus Tong, Matthew Tong, Mike Nguyen, Weiwen Li, Chi Ming, Michael Wong, Percy Cheng, Meng Fan Cheng, Caleb Cheng, Josephine Yee, Chelsea, Lin Zheng, Albert Weng, Fred & Vivien Lee. |
Messages | Dr. Ryan Peterson, Pastor Albert Ting, Pastor Mathieu Pau, Auntie Lois Sherwin. |
Interpreters | Pastor David Lin, Annie Chow, Polly Sequeira, Patrick Sum. |
Praise & Presentations | Albert & Melanie Weng, Katie Leong. |
Testimony Night | Pastor Godfrey Hom |
Pray for Meals | Kent Lee family, Lannie Quan family, Kevin & Cathy Lai, Beverly Tam, Conrad Shiao family, Sharon Yung family, Kelly Deng family |
Caring
Little Kids’ Camp | Debbie Yau, Stacey Hom, Carren Chang, Roxy Chan, Nathaniel Chang, Sarah Hom, Stephen Lam, Stephanie Lam, Albert & Melanie Weng, Katie Lee, Ada Cheng, Adrienne Lee, Angie Lee, Jennifer Lee, Jenny Sy-Munoz, Matthew Chan. |
Children's Program | Pastor Steven Lee, George Chiu |
Youth Camp | Pastor Steven Lee, Scott Lee |
Counselors | Caleb Cheng, George Chiu, Brian Hong, Thien Han Nguyen, Jeffery Nguyen, Edward Pauw, Robert Sie, Jeffrey Sie, Matthew Tong, Jonas Choi, Nathan Kwong, Scott Lee, Michael Nguyen, Tony Nguyen. Crystal Peng, Chris Wong, Josephine Yee, Marsha Kwong, Samantha Wong |
Small Group Discussion Coordinators | Jenny Sy-Munoz, Pastor Frank Cheng, Pastor David Lin |
Small Group Discussion Leaders | Pastor Tony Lin, Conrad Shiao, Lorden Chang, Michael Wong. Rose Lee, Dana Nguyen, Lynnette Woo, Michelle Sha. Chi Ming, Daniel Lim, Lin Zheng. Cathy Niu, Rachel Li, Erica Wu, Yang Ying (Judy). Victor Siu, Wai-Mui Lau, Albert Choi, Edith Lee |
Ushering-Greeting | Wei-wen Li, Roger Peng |
Activities
Craft | Dian Choi, Naomi Suzuki |
Camp Photo | LiHui Hsu, Roger Peng |
Slide Show | Nathaniel Chang, Chris Wong |
Support
Brochure, Banner, etc. | Melanie Weng |
Promotion | Percy Cheng, Joseph Chan, Danny Choi |
Registration | Melissa Sum, Connie Chen, Jenny Sy-Munoz, Debbie Yau, Juny I, Christine Siu |
Audio/Visual | Jonas Choi, Robert Sie, Caleb Cheng, LiHui Hsu, Wynstan Tong |
Handbook & Translation | Patrick Sum, Dian Choi |
Camp Info Microsite | Scott Lee |
Check-in | Melissa Sum, Debbie Yau, Dave Yune, Jared Yune, Jenny Sy-Munoz, Judy Li |
Hospitality | Nipa Halim |
Snacks/Refreshment | Erica Wu, Min-Hsiu Chen, WeiWen & Judy Li, Meng-Fen Cheng, Teresa Sha, Cindy Zheng |
Medical (714) 267-3069 | Drs. Joseph Chan, Renee Lin, Josephine Chen |
Camp Shuttle | TC Chang |
Name Tags | Patrick & Melissa Sum |
Camp Planning | Pastors Godfrey, Frank, David; Connie Chen, Debbie Yau, Albert & Melanie Weng, Patrick & Melissa Sum. |