CERC Camp 2025: Family and Idolatry – A Family’s Reflection
14 Apr 2025
by Elsha Liew
“You are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” – Ephesians 2:19
CERC group photo on the final day of CERC Camp 2025: Family and Idolatry
What is Family For?
The hall broke out into a wild cacophony, peals of laughter echoing up to the high ceiling of the cool sun-lit Garden Terrace at Swiss-Garden Hotel, Genting.
Bodies pushed against one another. Fresh-faced young men held on to one another’s shoulders while proceeding single-file around the room. Mothers carried their toddlers koala-bear-like whilst attempting to find their family groupings based on mysterious lines from a riddle.
‘What is the point of this game? I don’t get it!” one bewildered mother exclaimed to another. The other mother, Joni Sam, long-time church member, shrugged and laughed, clearly enjoying the unavoidable chaos of the first family game at CERC Camp 2025.
This year’s camp, organised on 29th March – 1st April, was a sequel to 2024’s camp: Love, Sex and Babies.
Why do we gather as families at camp?
Is it just for bonding—or something deeper?
No doubt, CERC camps are extremely enjoyable for the entire church, but the pleasure of spending time with one another is more than simply about having another holiday.
Shu Yan, a CERC member, having fun at camp
“I love CERC Camp 2025 because so much of our time together was carefully and lovingly curated to give us the opportunity to reflect on our own families and idolatries; from the sermons, to the bible studies, games, down to even Performance Night. It wasn’t just about us absorbing new knowledge but about us being prompted to reflect on whether our perspectives truly aligned with our Father’s,” said Shu Yan, one of the young working adults.
The four days at camp were interspersed with talks, studies and performances geared towards the goal of CERC learning a biblical-theological vision of family. Family is a gift designed to serve God’s eternal purpose—to image Him by forming a holy household in His Son within the life of the larger family of God, the Church.
Sisters-in-Christ doing Heart-to-Heart reflection session together on Day 2
II Life-Changing Truths Leading to Repentance – Sessions
Camp sessionsfocused on the biblical-theological framework of how to understand families and God’s express purpose to create a humanity (a family) that is just like Him. The real (or true) expression of family is through union with Christ by faith in Him. This is why earthly Christian fathers as God’s chosen officers (leaders/heads) are tasked with the heavy burden of running families in Christ.
“The best thing about CERC camp was realising that another Christian is not just another church member or a ministry partner but family,” said Lynette Kee, a student from Xia Men University, when asked about her takeaway from church camp.
Another campus student, Ehud Lojuin, from GG BXM, reflected on the framework presented from the angle of identity and manhood. “It is in this camp I learnt that God’s family is not like any broken family in this world but is a family that is good and glorious…. What His family is, and what it took for Him to create it now makes me appreciate my other adopted brothers and sisters more. I am especially grateful to the older men in CERC. Although they may not have noticed it, I learn a lot from them about what it means to be a real man, one which the world failed to show me.”
Other attendees from the working adults group also echoed sentiments of having to recalibrate and reflect on their theological understanding of the family unit.
Bandar Utama 5 Growth Group
“It has always been emotional seeing how we have grown in numbers and depth for our love for God and one another. This year, I’ve been able to reflect a lot with regards to how I’ve been understanding marriage and raising up godly offspring in the Lord, together with the church as my village, even in my 10th year attending CERC camp. I pray we will continue to hold each other accountable,” shared Rebecca Lau from Bandar Utama 5 (BU5) GG.
All things—including parenting—are directed toward God’s ultimate goal, the glorification of His Son and the formation of a redeemed people in Him (Eph 1:9–10). Thus, parenting cannot be rightly understood apart from this God-centered, Christ-oriented vision. This shapes how and why we parent. Ultimately, we are not architects of our children’s destinies; God is. We are not merely stewards of personalities or talents; we are entrusted with souls made to image God.
Matthew and Ruth Leong, son and daughter of Mark and Hui Chuin Leong
Parenting, then, is a holy calling to form our children within the story of redemption—to catechize their hearts, model Christlike love and discipline, and orient them toward participation in the life of God’s Church.
The fruit of such a grounding in the lives of CERC pioneers Adrian and Erin Miller was captured succinctly when their daughter, Katie Miller was asked, ‘Why do you love CERC Camp?’
“Because there’s Sunday School every day!” was the beautiful albeit encouraging answer from the seven-year-old, schooled as she was by her parents to value growing in the knowledge of God.
Erin Miller, CERC member, with her toddler son, Ezekiel
Overall, the talks were an edifying corrective to many of those who attended, and helped them to see their futures with gospel clarity and motivation. As a TGG student Pon Yi put it, “I love CERC Camp because the camp urged me to fix my life and walk in God’s Word so that I can walk the path that is acceptable to God for the next generation to model in the future.”
III More Fun and Learning Together – Electives for Living Out the Gospel as God’s Family
The electives on Day 2 and Day 3 aimed to cater to the diverse age groups within the camp.
From electives such as Help I’m in a Situationship for struggling teens and college students navigating dating and courtship to those such as Household Management & Hospitality on a Budget for young families eager to open their homes, the electives covered a wide range of relevant challenges the church faced in the united pursuit of building a godly household.
Even four months post-camp, Penny Lai, General Manager of CERC who led the elective on Friendship says, “I remember struggling to deliver the elective,” belying the weight of the burden she felt as an elective leader tasked to encourage others.
Likewise for other elective leaders like Jeremiah Tay and Steffi, his wife, who led the Sleep Training elective for new parents, designed to open up the horizons practically on how new parents might navigate the ups and downs of parenthood to the glory of God, as well as Pastor Jerome Leng, who ran the elective titled The Godly Husband, Father and Man.
“The one thing that stayed with me was this – ‘What makes one truly a man is the strength to love,’” shared a young working adult and single lady, Charlotte Liew from Bangsar South GG, when asked about a key moment from electives.
Another single man and working adult, Carson, also shared his experience of the elective, Asking a Girl Out (And How to Handle Rejection as a Man), where he was challenged on the need for men to be able to handle the responsibilities of serving in church primarily, before taking on the responsibility of pursuing a wife.
All in all, through the various electives, CERC was confronted with the necessity of shifting their mindset and sharpening their focus on loving the church family whilst persevering as a witness to Klang Valley.
IV How will CERC Continue to Live Out Its Mission in Klang Valley? By Raising Families Which Rightly Reflect Christ
In a world that increasingly fragments identity and confuses family purpose, Christian homes become small, tangible outposts of the coming kingdom—a glimpse of the Father’s love, discipline, mercy, and truth. A God-imaging family is not isolated but lives as part of God’s larger household—the Church.
This Christ-centred perspective of family offers both sobriety and hope.
Sobriety, because we are dealing with eternal souls, not just temporary phases.
Hope, because the power to raise godly children (and future generations) does not rest in our perfection but in God’s sovereign grace and the transformative work of Christ in us even as we wait for Christ’s return.
These two CERC members, Ernest and May Ling, ended camp deeply heartened by the knowledge that they are the family of God in the midst of God’s eternal plan for a holy household.
“I’m able to see the whole CERC family in one place, enjoying our time together in laughter, in joy and in pain. It’s a foretaste of heaven, that never fails to leave me in tears when camp ends,” said Ernest.
May Ling (yellow shirt) with her Growth Group, Bandar Sri Damansara GG (BSDGG)
“And I really want us to get to heaven together, and not just get there, but be shaped as sons of God for this future together, so help us God!” added May Ling.
As a continuation of this year’s topic, CERC camp 2026 will be on the topic of Courtship, happening on 29th May – 1st June 2026. Sign ups are open here – https://cerc.com.my/camp
