Dec 9th, 2012 by Adeline Lum-
A total of 120 young people clicked their cameras away, turning from a zero to hero in mastering photography and videography skills.
Fondly referred to as a “campference” by the participants, The GAP is a five-day conference organized by DUMC, from 9 am till 9 pm. It is specifically designed for the Facebook and Twitter generation, spanning across the age of 13 to 25 years old.
Coordinators of The GAP—Pastor Alex Tan, Pastor Michael (Mike in short) Ngui, Alex Lam and Eileen Wong —resounded that they wanted the young people to experience the world outside through the lenses of their camera. And through its lenses, they hope that they would capture and be captured by the pain and suffering of the people through Jesus’ eyes.
On December 7th, I walked into the auditorium in high heels as I savored the feeling of arriving at an Academy Award show. This was the day when the participants’ 60-hours of hard work, funneled into a few-minutes video, shown on big screen!
Vivacious girls stride past me in their beautiful and elegant dresses, while boys stood taller and smarter in their collared shirts. Parents, on the other hand, could barely contain their excitement as they waited with anticipation on their seats! The event began with a showcase of each group’s video, followed by a testimony by a member in each group.
Over the “campference”, younger youths explored their creativity within the safe compounds of the church, while older youths and young adults ventured into the streets of Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Old Town and Kota Damansara. There were ten groups with 12 youths each. Each group was given different courses or ministries to showcase, including parables, sermon introduction, church announcements, children, older generation, urban poor, street ministry, single parents, education and music.
Watch a video of GAP over five days!
“By doing a photo essay or video recording, the world outside could be introduced to the young people without intimidating them,” said Pastor Mike.
“We wanted to adapt the summer school concept by including more hands-on activities,” said Pastor Alex. “We also chose media and entertainment because they are most relevant to the younger generation. Thus through media, we hope to bridge the gap (between the young and older generation).”
Naming their group under well-acclaimed movie studios, their short films or photo essays demonstrated promising talents considering the participants’ limited professional skills in using media.
Stories were spun from a fresh and different perspective!
Universal Studios under Juwita Suwito produced a video about ways Christians can survive in the arts and entertainment industry without losing their identity.
Touchstone Pix under Pam Dibble brought urban poverty to live through photo essays and video-recording of interviews. Lim Yi Yang, member of Touchstone Pix, was touched with the state of poverty from experiencing the foul –smelling human urine at the staircase and the dilapidated entrance to the building.
Representative from each goup
Paramount Pix under Mary Anne Tan weaved a beautiful photo essay of the unseen struggles of single mothers, inviting a silent and contemplative pause amongst the audience upon ending.
Lim Siew Jinn, representative of the Warner Bros under Hieu Kau Sern, pleaded with the audience “to really appreciate” his work which took four hours to complete! Using a green screen, they created a hilarious parable of the wedding banquet where by one cast danced the “Gangnam” style.
Pixar under Alex Lam produced an attractive video announcement to invite the audience for a Christmas stage production and New Year's Eve Watchnight Celebration.
Other talented groups included Dreamworks under Pastor Mike Ngui (Sermon introduction), Disney under Pastor Jonathan Yeoh (Children’s ministry), MGM under Keong Fong (Bridging the younger and older generation), 20th Century Fox under Steve Yew and Jerry Teo (Street ministry) and Marvel Studios under Victoria Wong (Education ministry).
Each leader of the group is an expert in their field who is passionate for the Lord! For example, Victoria Wong, a school teacher, shared how she spread love in school by asking her students to thank and apologize to five teachers. The response was unexpected and overwhelming. The teachers were moved to tears, which made the students cry in true gratitude as well. How amazing is God’s love!
To add variety to the night, three groups came in between the video showcase to perform an advertisement on selected items, i.e. DSLR camera, Samsung Galaxy and a hair gel. One group sang with lyrics thought on their feet while another group popped and locked at a rhythm of a human beatbox. This performance goes without saying that the young has much talent to offer.
“When we organized The GAP, we were surprised to receive requests from young people younger than 13 and older than 25 interested to join The GAP. I thank God for this event because I think we got more than we gave,” said Alex Lam.
Indeed, the skills and friendships acquired by each person transcend The GAP itself.
Would you like to sign up for the next GAP?
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