Verbum Dei Family Camp 2025 - Beautiful In His Time
By Michelle Lim. Posted on 17 Apr 2025.
It was a different type of holiday for the whole family with Christ at the centre during the March School holidays! More than 70 participants participated in the 2025 Verbum Dei Family Retreat, which was held at HARRIS Resort Batam Waterfront in Indonesia from 15-17 March 2025, a short 1-hour ferry ride from Harbour Front Ferry Terminal.
Themed Beautiful in His Time, the camp catered to all family members, ranging in age from the very young (3-year-olds) to the young at heart. With concurrent sessions for parents and the kids, it was a time for everyone to spend much-needed individual and couple time with God in a relaxing environment.
Organised by the Verbum Dei Missionary Sunday Couples Disciples, the camp kicked off with Mass celebrated by Rev Fr Marcelo, a missionary priest based in Batam. Setting the tone for the camp, all of us were blessed by his prayers for the family camp.
There were three talks given over the next 2 days. Gary, one of the Missionary Disciples, giving a talk on the perfect parent, God the Father, through the passage of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15 11-32). Debbie and Kenneth followed with their sharing and experiences on being parents to young children through reflecting on Corinthians 1:13. Mark gave a talk on the importance of building God’s kingdom, because each of us has been chosen, and to build His kingdom beyond just the family, but also to those around us. The importance of this outreach requires the community. All sessions allowed the couples some time to pray on their own as well as time to dialogue with one another.
While the parents were spending some well-deserved couple time together, the rest of the missionary disciples were also busy taking care of their little ones! The children were organised into age-specific groups, each with activities tailored to their respective ages.
There was time for the families to come together to do more activities. Time was set aside to say a very special style of Rosary, asking Our Lady to pray with and for us. Special offerings were created by each family as an offering to Our Lady, as a token of appreciation for her constant love and attention. Creative gifts were created from clay, representing what our Lady means to each family.
And what’s a family camp without a bonfire? One evening, we had a bonfire session where songs and games were played, adding more fun and festivities to the camp. The action song taught from Day 1 was also played and participated in by all.
In all, it was a great camp that nourished the soul, filled the tummies and thrown in with a dash of fun and laughter.
Some reflections from the participants:
- Remembering that my family is the perfect one for me, that Love and God are the centre of our lives.
- What we need to say and do in this season of change to help our children thrive
- Placing God at the centre of the family always
- To grow a heart of charity. To consciously help the kids develop a deeper relationship with God.
- Regular prayer life as part of family, community involvement and support.
- Community is an important element for family spiritual growth
- God loves us unconditionally, we need to be in this world and not of this world by making time for contemplative, scriptural prayer, and we need community support to live the gospel values!
- A reminder of what it means to love my family
- It was good to have a reminder of all these things - that first and foremost, I am a Beloved child of God, made to love, and it’s a lot harder to do it alone
- Family time with God in a safe environment.
- Relaxing & Bonding with family and dear Bro and sisters of Christ.