It was a regular Sunday like any other, but the Young Adults Committee had planned a barbeque session for the evening of 25 September 2022, at Calvary Church Bukit Jalil.

By 4:30 pm, the pit was lit, and the skewered chicken wings were laid to grill. By 5:00 pm, many had arrived, hungry and in anticipation of the entire programme (mostly, the food). Some helped out wherever they could – at the grills, assembling burgers, arranging catered food at the tables, at the registration counter welcoming participants, whilst others engaged in conversations of getting to know one another and catching up on the latest ongoings. The atmosphere was abuzz. 

Finally, at 6:30 pm, dinner was served. The food from the grill was snapped up in mere minutes, and the troop of helpers worked hard to speed up production.

After everyone’s tummy was satisfied, the session moved on to some light ice-breakers, getting everyone on their feet and moving to digest all that food. 

Carmen Chong, one of our young adults, then stepped in to share a very interesting bible story about “the One Who Calms the Sea”. She recounted from Matthew 14:22-33 about how Jesus not only walked on water but also calmed the raging seas, and called Peter to “come” walk on water too! She then related to how this event that had happened more than 2000 years ago is still applicable in principle to our lives today by sharing her own personal life story.

We face illnesses, suffering, injustice, hardship, and evilness in this life, and whilst having a relationship with Jesus is not an escape pass from the trials and vicissitudes of life, Carmen expressed that it does make life a whole lot less burdensome and does give us greater wisdom in managing the challenges we never asked for nor deserve. Most importantly, this relationship with Jesus is where we find assurance that the same God who created the entire world, the same God who has the power over the seas, the clouds, and the mountains, is the very same God who is looking after every single one of us individually.

And then it was quiz time! We were quizzed on the Bible facts that Carmen shared, and this was why this event was stylised as “BiBle Quiz” to marry the acronym “BBQ” with “Bible quiz”! It was a time of organised chaos as everyone raced each other to be the quickest to answer accurately on their respective mobiles through a game-based learning platform. The winners walked away with ice cream vouchers and bragging rights.

This September’s YA ToGather drew more participants than anticipated. We had a whopping number of 106 attendees that evening whom all came to fellowship over food and quiz. Many shared having an amazing time that day whether they were in their roles of helping or participating as attendees. One even said that it was “the best BBQ ever in (sic) my life”! We are glad to be able to bring young adults together to have a community to belong to, to give them an avenue to serve, and to build new relationships.