I just completed my 4 star kayak training in Ramunia, Malaysia.It was a tremendous experience, fun but challenging as well.
For so many yrs in OBS, kayak has never been my area of expertise and I always had the fear of capsizing and not able to roll up. I had been practising my rolls prior to this training. I know I can roll up but when placed in the sea I tend to panic. I realise it's a psychological barrier that I have to overcome.
This ramunia trip to me is not about some kayak training. I know God wants to teach me something in this trip so it's more of a spiritual trip rather than a skill training.
The people I went with were all familiar faces and people I know well. I'm glad that God put me there with all these good friends.
Then came the first day.. Goodness. The wave was like 2m high!!!! Overwhelming!!! But I still went out and trained. Capsized twice but I didn't roll up as I was afraid. I was still not comfortable at the end of day 1.
Before the start of Day 2, we were supposed to write out mistakes on a duct tape and paste it on our kayak. This serves as a reminder when we kayaking. So I just wrote 2 words on my kayak. "Have Faith". Fear represents a lack of trust in God and that is not what I want. So I put my trust in God and prayed. I thank God for His assurance as His words says in Isaiah 41:10 "Fear not for I am with you". I really thank God for his words as it brought assurance, comfort and confidence in me. I had never felt so vunerable before and this allowed me to really depend on God. Another verse that really spoke to me was in Deuteronomy 31:6 "Be strong and courageous... He will never leave you nor forsake you".
One funny incident happened. On day 2 when we were punching through the waves to get to the green. The waves were like crashing at us on the start and it was so tough to get out. Elton was the first one out and he got hit by the waves time after time.. But finally he got through. 3 girls also attempted to launch but couldn't as the waves were so strong. Eventually 3 of us managed to punch out. It was Elton, Evan and myself. When all 3 of us were out, we were like. Eh all christian.. Yeah!! And we were praising God there and then. It was a great feeling.
So needless to say I passed my 4 star award but with the grace of God upon me. Most importantly I learned a valuable lesson from God this week which I will hold dearly!!
Thank You JESUS!!!
My partner - Jasmine
Red Team - Yen Leng, Evan, Jasmine, Gek Fong & Elton
