FOE Leadership Camp at Sida Resort, Nakhon Nayok Thailand

On February 2 to 4 the Faculty of Education hosted a Leadership Camp with a theme Empowered Youth which was held at Sida Resort, Nakhon Nayok, Thailand.

On Friday, February 2nd, bright and early at 9:00am, the EDSO team, including the Secretary and four officers, left the campus to prepare everything at Sida Resort.

At 3:30 pm, two buses arrived with students. After disembarking, the EDSO officers distributed room keys, allowing the students to settle down with their belongings.

Then, at 4:30 pm, everyone gathered for Community Service. In the evening dinner was served, and Friday Vespers was enriched with fun activities called Candy Introduction and Strength Bingo.

Here’s the explanation to Candy Introduction activity: Each person picks a candy that represents a question. For example, if someone chooses a red candy, they might share their favorite memory verse. It’s a cool way to get to know each other.

After that, we played Bingo with spiritual themes to encourage the good qualities and characters of leaders.

On Saturday, February 3rd, as future leaders, and responsible students, we woke up early and had our breakfast at 7:00am.

By 8:30am, all the students assembled in the conference room and the responsible officers gave them instructions for the Journey to the Promised Land activity. After that, we had morning prayer and headed for outdoors activities.

Traditionally, on the Sabbath, teachers share messages, but we added a twist to this program this time. We changed the strategy by doing activities to encourage student participation and keep everyone engaged and involved.

The pictures below will tell you the story of how we enjoyed and were engaged in the activity. The lessons from this activity included the importance of communication in teamwork, the significance of patience in teamwork, and the vitality of guidance in leadership.

For Showing Inspiration as our second activity, due to hot weather conditions, all of us went back to the conference room. In this activity, participants were in a group; they were given a pen and a piece of paper to write down their inspirational quotes.

Each group member discussed among themselves what inspired them in life, and later, everyone in the group took part by sharing their inspirational quote with the others. Dr. Mark Vodell closed this activity with some serious words of wisdom.

This activity taught us to be an inspiration for humans and especially as leaders. A life without inspiration is a life without a purpose. Every person with a vision has an inspiration.

The third activity was Artwork led by another two EDSO officers. Each group of participants were given a Bible verse and asked to create artwork. Later, they were to come up with a valuable lesson from their artwork

This activity encouraged critical thinking, teamwork, and acquiring some Bible insights. These are the qualities and skills required for leaders to manage a team.

The fourth activity was Nature Hiking: In preparation for this activity on Friday afternoon, a survey was conducted by the EDSO officers and the camp guard to check the conditions of the trail, ensuring its safety for the students.

As the responsible officer for this activity, I addressed the safety rules, the condition of the trail, and provided guidance on what the hikers should wear and bring along.

At 3:30 pm, we set out for a nature hike. We hiked for 15 minutes and arrived at the foot of the mountain. At some point, our camp guard refused to let us go further, stating that there were wild and dangerous animals in the dense. As a blessing in disguise, we noticed a waterfall right below where we stopped.

So, we went down to the waterfall and spent about 50 minutes taking pictures and enjoying nature. After that, we headed back to the campsite. The lesson I learned from this activity was that sometimes God works wonders in ways we can’t fathom.

We ended the night with BBQ and Open Mike.

On Sunday, February 4th, in the morning, we still had a few more fun activities like rafting and swimming.

In summary, the Leadership Camp at Sida Resort was a triumph, fostering camaraderie and personal growth through engaging activities such as Candy Introduction and Artwork. Despite challenges during the Nature Hiking activity, participants embraced unexpected moments, finding beauty in adversity. Open Mic and BBQ time offered the perfect opportunity for bonding and creating lasting memories.As the camp concluded, participants left with strengthened leadership skills and cherished friendships, marking the event as a resounding success.

I, on behalf of EDSO officers, wish to extend my sincere gratitude to the students, teachers, and officers for their active participation and facilitation in our Leadership Camp, which has contributed to the creation of lasting memories.

Additionally, all of us would like to express our thanks to God for keeping us safe throughout the event.

Lastly, a special thank you to the readers for thoroughly reading this article.

By Mr. Su Klay Moo, Education Faculty Public Relations Officer