CERC Camp 2026 – Raising God’s Church: A Generational Work of Wisdom 

by Elsha Liew

The CERC family—young and old—waving together during a camp photo session. 

Recognition of an Epoch  

“This is camp in a nutshell.”  

The summary remarks of the 1^st session of CERC Camp 2026 from Pastor Robin Gan, Founding Elder, were forceful, enunciated in staccato.  

“The No. 1 concern for the church is the recognition of this epoch that we are in. We must raise God’s church!  This must be a multi-century project!” Pastor Robin Gan continued.  

“You and I must be the people who can raise God’s children for the future. Are you able to transmit God’s glory to the next generation, and the next generation, and the generations to come? If you and I are committed to God’s Spirit being passed down to the next generation in our purposeful family-ing, then we must not let this fail. What is at stake is the church! All it takes is one generation to bring it all down.”  

Pastor Robin speaking at the 1^st session of camp  

It was on such a high note that CERC Camp 2026: Courtship began. This year’s camp was part 3 of a 4-part camp series on family which the church had commenced in 2024, beginning with Love, Sex and Babies, followed by Family and Idolatry in 2025. The series will conclude with Parenting in 2027.   

This year’s annual church camp was held on 29^th May to 1^st June 2026 in the French-themed resort, Colmar Tropicale in Berjaya Hills, Bukit Tinggi, in line with the topic of Courtship.  

CERC at Colmar Tropicale, Berjaya Hills, Bukit Tinggi for CERC Camp 2026: Courtship 

Pastor Robin Gan’s address focused on the importance of recognising the present moment in the church’s development, set against CERC’s mission, now on its 18-year, to build a Christ-centred witness in the Klang Valley through faithful Word preaching. In addition, earlier this year, Pastor Robin had highlighted to the church that CERC’s recent purchase of its own building for expansion—while a significant step forward—also carries risks that can accompany growth, including potential compromise in organisational culture and dilution of the church’s original gospel distinctives. 

However, for those familiar with CERC’s broader theological trajectory to grow Christ-centred disciples in Malaysia through faithful Word preaching, the 1^st session preamble provided the anchor for the church’s historical vision once more by grounding the topic of Courtship in the nature of reality the way God orders it – a return to “basic Christian ethics 101,” as Pastor Robin Gan noted.  

By drawing on Proverbs to show that wisdom leads to life while foolishness leads to death, Pastor Robin pointed to a pattern that carries through to the church today. 

“The Old Testament DNA is the New Testament DNA for the church today,” said Pastor Robin. “To operate in wisdom is to live as we will live in heaven. No Christian is ever released from this paradigmatic existence. This wise and righteous living should be the driving impetus on decision-making and the shape of courtship and family-building amongst Christians.   

The Way of the Fools Corrected 

Listen to advice and accept instruction,  

that you may gain wisdom in the future – Proverbs 19:20 

Many campers took Robin’s warning against foolishness to heart, with much rebuke from the teachings of Proverbs.  

“I have a new perspective on fools. I didn’t know how much it hits to the soul… being foolish is almost beyond saving,” said Wei Kin, Growth Group (GG) leader of Cheras GG, when asked about what impacted him the most at the end of Day 1.  

Wei Kin, GG Leader of Cheras GG 

“The talk was very sobering because it helped me understand that marriage is not just about yourself but a bigger gospel reality that extends beyond your own personal feelings. I’m thankful for this being revealed to me. It has challenged me to think better about how I view dating, not to be a coward when dating but starting with courtship, I should be brave from Scripture to change the world,” said Daniel Ong, from Klang GG.  

Daniel with his fellow Klang Growth Group members (from left, Daniel Fayusahan, Jia Jiat, Daniel Ong, Sam Tan, Sok Yan and Christie) 

The campers’ reflections mirrored the soul-searching questions posed by Pastor Robin himself during the sessions. Church members and regulars were challenged to consider: What kind of people are two people before courtship? Are you able to exercise discernment through the lens of wisdom? As parents, are you modelling wisdom for your children in daily life?  

Mun Vee, CERC member since 2021, also shared her reflections as fiancé to Julius, a membership candidate, after learning of the triangulated reality of relationships between God the Father, the couple as husband and wife and Jesus’ Church living in the reality of Christ by His Spirit (Diagram 1) on Day 2.  

Mun Vee with her fiancé, Julius 

Diagram 1: The triangulated reality of families living purposefully as God’s family 
 
“This is my camp, man!” she gushed, by which she meant that God had been faithful in growing her understanding of the Christ-centred family unit for His world-changing purposes from 2024 up till now.  

“When I first started with Love, Sex and Babies in 2024, I was single. That camp challenged my understanding about marriage and pushed me to see myself clearer in terms of how selfish I was with my own preferences and wanting to live my own way. Underlying all that was just me being afraid of taking on responsibilities and failure until the Word confronted me of my hypocrisy. I started dating soon after via recommendations through Cinder, a CERC ministry to assist singles in dating. Then Family and Idolatry in 2025 helped me to see how our relationships can be very self-idolizing in the way we treat one another and how we might want to build the family in an inward-looking way, instead of being outward-looking towards the church.” 

Mun Vee also recalled the cone diagram (Diagram 2) shared by Pastor Robin in last year’s camp. “This diagram was very edifying to capture how each household has its own cone in multiplying families for God. To nurture our children in the future, we need to start from now; we start from being the right ones now.”  

Diagram 2: Cone-shape diagram to illustrate the point that all families begin with God, and all families of God are meant to multiply as godly families being part of His family  

“The last two days of this year’s camp has been a [time of] reinforcement of [the idea that] marriage itself [has been] designed for God from the start, for the both of us, not for the purpose of fulfilling ourselves but really, being 1+1 = >2,” continued Mun Vee, referencing a common epithet known among CERC members of the mindset behind the goal of building a productive marriage for the gospel mission which was reinforced again in Session 2 of camp, under the heading The Who. This session emphasised that who you are matters, calling each person to be the man of God’s dreams and the woman of God’s plans. 

The camp also helped those struggling with heartbreak after making the wise decision to break up, rather than continue in relationships of idolatry.  

‘Continue to think hard and struggle hard to protect God’s church,’ wrote a CERC candidate in her own notebook as a cautionary message to herself, a sharp and apt rebuke to the rest of the church as well.     

 
The camp small-group bible studies provided a robust complement to the campers’ learning, with Study 1 covering The Fundamentals to Christian Marriage, Study 2, titled Who, How, Why? echoing the triangulated reality of God, the church and marriage/family, and the last study titled, Being Wise, which encouraged singles and marrieds to examine their relationships retrospectively and prospectively in order to become the people God is pleased with.  

Small group bible studies happening on the afternoon of Day 2 in Le Chevalier Main Hall 

Additionally, this year’s camp offered a plethora of relationship and family-focused electives, including catchy titles like, Help! I’m in a Situationship, Dealing with Same-Sex Attraction, Dating as a Church – May the Best Man/Woman Win, How to Ask a Girl Out and Handle Rejection like a Godly Man, Wedding: How to Prepare for the Big Day, Things I Wish I Knew Before Marriage: Sex & Intimacy, Thinking through Schooling Decisions (Private, Government, Home-school) and Motherhood Decisions (Working Woman / Full-time homemaker).  

One mother of three, Hui Yan, shared her reflections after attending the schooling elective. “What I learnt is that our active parenting ultimately plays the most important role in shaping their Christian values and building a solid foundation in their lives.” Below was the take-home message for her on the goal of education as Christian parents.  

Central goal of education from the ‘Thinking through Schooling Decisions’ elective (Written by: Hui Chuin, Elective Leader) 

Racing the Next Generation 

The children were also not forgotten in growing in maturity alongside the rest of the church, with a little bit of fun mixed in.  

Baby Race Contestants from the Crawler category being introduced with their parents on-stage  before the race – (from left) Phineas Liew, Lois Lo, Bilney Su, and Marie Liew 

The Baby Race was held for the third year running, with two categories this year—Crawlers and Walkers—while champions from 2024 and 2025 looked on. 

“We actually started training at home, for about a month prior,” confessed Bolwin Su, father of Crawler Champion 2026, Bilney Su, a sheepish look on his face at revealing how kia-su he really was to the rest of the church. Mother to the Walker Champion 2026, Alethea Ng, cited “good food” as the secret to her winning.

Aside from the much-anticipated race, whilst the adults had a full camp schedule, the children also had four jam-packed sessions of Sunday School on a mini-series called Be Wise @ CERC Camp, on the sobering theme of needing to be ready for the King’s return.  

Tots class (2-3-year olds) learning about the One they should treasure, Jesus 

Encouragement Across Generations 

Even the older married people had some good reminders and insights from the camp.  

When asked what advice she would give younger married couples, Lucy Leng, mother of Pastor Jerome Leng said, “As Christians, God has to be the centre of the marriage.” She also shared that it would be wise for younger couples to pay attention to practical wisdom, namely, mastering communication skills, resolving conflict sooner rather than later, and having wise financial planning, in accordance with the importance of a wise character, which was highlighted in Session 3.  

Jane Au, mother to Soung Hui, Church Minister Apprentice (CMA), shared her reflection on how she would model faith and wisdom to her children and grandchildren. 

“If I do not have a proper and correct understanding of the gospel and what it means to belong to Christ, I will end up modelling to my children a morally upright and pious life apart from God. To model faith and wisdom to my children, I must faithfully live out this redeemed and transformed life that I have in Christ by His Spirit’s work. To show my children that as people belonging to God, we are given His wisdom to live godly and holy lives pleasing to Him, people who love and obey Him and His Word and love His family and whose desire is to share His gospel to others.”  

Psalm 92 women’s ministry team celebrating Lucy Leng’s (centre, first row) birthday together at camp 

Shaping the Future through Godly Parenting 

“The preservation of the household unit keeps God’s design intact,” said Pastor Robin Gan in the final session of camp. “God’s redeemed design is produced in imaging. That is, through godly parenting… the future of the world depends on you… All the work of CERC depends on you.”  

As the camp concluded, campers left with a resolve to continue the work of building families in Klang Valley to the glory of Christ.  

“I hope to become a spouse that stays clear on God’s purpose for marriage and family, on my JD from God, and one day, I hope he (Jeremy Leng, her husband) appreciates me for influencing and shaping our household to be one that is more ambitious for Jesus,” said Elsha Liew, CERC member from 2010.