Marina South, Singapore

31 August 2002

By Eric Ho

Safehaven had its first ever Family Day on the 31st of September, and it was a blast! The heavens obviously approved the event as showers of blessings came from above early in the morning, Arthur, who was the main organizer for the event had planned for a soccer match, kite-flying, a short worship session and then dinner.

Yes, you heard me right. I did say soccer. Apparently, when he first asked for participants for the soccer match, responses included "Soccer? But that's so not me!", "But … I'll dirty my shoes …" and "I think I might run away from the ball if it comes towards me…."

The event started with bowling at Victor Superbowl. All the Grace Young wannabes took to the lanes and threw colourful balls down the bowling lanes. Alas, half the time, the ball went everywhere but towards the pins. Arthur, who upon throwing a ball into the "longkang" or gutter, leaned over and insisted, "well, at least my pose was good from behind! That's all that matters." I suppose….

Lesson One: If you didn't get a strike, at least strike a pose.

We then adjourned to the field where a few of us tried to fly kites. With a bit of patience and some skill, Kenneth coaxed a kite up into the sky, riding the breeze and climbing higher and higher.

More people turned up and we decided to kick off the soccer match. Yep, despite a muddy field and a bunch of guys who were short on ability but long on enthusiasm, ten of us played soccer. Splashing across the wet field back and forth, we got dirty, really dirty. No one bothered about dirty shoes and certainly no one ran away from the ball.

Sliding several times across the mud, Clarence was our David Beckam, scoring no less than three goals (nope, luckily not own goals) and was our top scorer! It was hilarious watching Arthur not know what to do for a couple of seconds when the ball was going towards him before deciding to kick the ball. Danny, JasonY, Gerald, AndrewL, CT, Roger, Kenneth and I all had our moments of glory scoring goals and erhm… at least one own goal too.

At the end, the score came to a close 8-7 with Clarence, Kenneth, CT, AndrewL and Danny in the winning team. We did contemplate exchanging our mud-soaked and sweat drenched shirts like that they did in World Cup but then we decided to trade hugs instead. For some unknown reason, the others who didn't play absolutely refused to come anywhere near us. I really wonder why ….

The Family Day did feel like a family event although Clarence was the only one who brought his mother along. I had a fabulous time chasing after a silly blue ball with my brothers-in-Christ. Sometimes, we have to make up our own family.

Lesson Two: We may be avid gym goers, but Safehaven guys can play soccer too.