Chapter 2 of Sarawak Mission Trip (Day 2, 19th May) - Update

There is just no end to the classic-ness of Daniel Chi Wei Wen. This is a picture "of an ant carrying his dead friend." LOL

I forgot to mention in chapter 1 that our initial plan was to stay at Pastor Daniel's church for a night, and head out early in the following morning to Debak, but the change of plan saw us head for Debak first instead, and get a good night rest over there. It turned out to be a good move, as most of us slept very well on our first night in Sarawak.

8 a.m

Rise and shine! Beautiful second day in Sarawak, not because of the sunshine, but the rain. The weather was perfect, as it rained the whole night. I woke up half an hour later. =P 15 minutes towards 9, and breakfast was served. And guess what? We had yao cha quai for breakfast! How cool is that! Well, didn't really expect that to come from Iban people, but then again, they are full of surprises aren't they? Anyways, it is known as "cha kuih" among the Ibans, so we enjoyed a little bit of Chinese cuisine, and hot Milo.

And coffee. Apparently PC brought along a tin of Nescafe, 'cause it seems that she can't live without it. XD Well, coffee lovers enjoyed the share, and some even mixed it with Milo, which becomes Neslo. Smart eh? ;) We finished breakfast in 45 minutes, and washed up our respective plates and cups.

First morning in Sarawak, and it's beautiful already. =)

10 a.m

It was prayer and devotion time, and Pei Lee led us into a time of worship. PC then led us to read a Scripture on boldness, and all of us learned that we need God to help us to be bold to speak to others. However, PC did also mentioned that sometimes it has to start from somewhere, and it can start with being bold to speak up among one another. We prayed for almost an hour, praying for Oi Kam who will be sharing her testimony on that night, and KL, who will be preaching on the same night too.Happy ladies... =)

... plus two slumber guys and another happy lady

12.05 p.m

Lunch! Menu: unknown vegetable and chicken (if I recall correctly), and man, was it delicious!!! Sarawakian folks are really great cooks, but they also told us that it's thanks to the freshness of the vegetables that enables them to cook it so delicious. Anyways, we totally enjoyed ourselves totally, and proceeded on to wash up our plates.

One thing about Sarawakian people: They are very hospitable people. They'll always make sure you have enough to eat and drink, and they'll always encourage you to eat more. Guess perhaps this is the way they treat their guest. Well....

1.30 p.m

Since there was nothing much to do except to wait for nighttime to fall, most of us went into our respective preparations. Some of us including yours truly took a nap, as the weather was a bit hot by then, making us feel sleepy. Hee ^^v Anyways, we were suppose to practise the body mime again, but decided to let KL finish her preparations for that night, hence waiting till 3 hours later. Practise went well, and we went to clean up ourselves and prepare for dinner.

Ohh by the way, I missed out the part in the earlier post that we're presenting a body mime to the people over there, using the "Set Me Free" mime as our theme. The presentation will be o Friday night.

6 p.m

We had yet another fantastic meal. And that's all I can tell you, 'cause I did not record down details about every meal that we had. It's just frigging delicious. Man you've just got to go there and try it out yourself. =D Anyways, finished dinner, and we're all set for our first longhouse called the Muton longhouse.

Before this the team was informed that there will be a change of plan concerning Thursday and Friday. Apparently we're not going to the Kerepok longhouse, but instead going to a different one, not only meaning that we're not staying overnight at that longhouse as planned, but also that one of us (between me and Daniel) was not going to share our teaching. I was kind of hoping it was me, 'cause was kind of scared too =P, but anyhow, waited till after the Muton longhouse visitation to find out who will be sharing the following night.

7 p.m

The journey to the Muton longhouse was a bit short - 25 minutes to be exact. When we arrived there, the longhouse I saw wasn't what I expected. It looked more like modern houses, not those standing up tall, and us having to climb a staircase to get up there, sort of thing. What's more, it a double story longhouse too. Fancy that.

What a modern longhouse looks like...

The cell group started at about 7.30 I think (didn't really check on the time). Pastor Liang led us into a time of worship, and it was our first ever worship session singing songs in Iban. It's kind of interesting, as their language is a bit different from BM. After the worship, we were to introduce ourselves, but the one funny thing we were to say was...

Pastor Johnny: "You have to mention whether you married or not. Ahh..."

Well, basically none of us are. Heck, none of us are even attached to anyone (minus SOMEBODY). Anyway, we went ahead with the introduction, and they were joking about having us to get married to a local. =D

Time of worship together. Singing Iban songs.. =)

Next up was KL's preaching (and also the children's ministry, conducted by Daniel, Joyce and Patty). Hats off to her really, 'cause she was willing to do the preaching despite having cough for almost two months already. Halfway through, she invited Oi Kam to share her testimony, and Oi Kam shared about how Jesus is Lord in her life. That was the topic of KL's message by the way.

After finishing, Pastor Johnny spoke a little more (but what I don't know, 'cause he talked in Iban and none of us understood =P). Anyways, he requested to those who need prayer to come out in the middle to be prayed for. Four people did (two ladies, a man and an apparently very sick kid). One of the ladies shared about how she always end up having to face some sort of trouble as she leaves for cell group. It was as if Satan was working against her, she being a new believer. The man shared about how sick his daugther was, and Pastor Johnny prayed for the both of them. After praying, I went in to check on how the three of them were doing with the kids, and they seem to be enjoying themselves, helping the kids make mask.

KL preaching....

Oi Kam sharing her testimony....

Patty, Daniel and Joyce with the kids

Fellowshipping with the longhouse folks....

9.30 pm

It was time for tea-fellowship. The locals over there brought out plates of biscuits and cups of tea. All of us took a bit of strawberry-sandwich-biscuits, and a cup of tea each. Some were mixed with milk, and I took THAT. =D

Anyways, it was during this time that I managed to take the opportunity to chat with the man whose daugther was sick. Apparently, he lost his wife 6 months ago, and has 6 children under his care. The worse part was that his income wasn't much - RM15 a day is all he gets, and he has no money to cure his sick daugther. I really pitied him, 'cause with such a condition and having no mother to take care of them, it's really painful, though I have to admit, I don't understand how painful it was. I also took the opportunity to pray for him, and I do hope that he'll continue to have faith in God that everything will work out fine.

We departed at about 10 p.m or so, and as we bid goodbye to that longhouse, I realised how beautiful the sky is in Sarawak. I was already amazed by the food, but the sky... Well, there's really no suitable work to describe it. Or as Daniel sings, "Indescribable."

It was full of stars!!! The moon was also very clear too. Magnificent really. I went crazy and sang, "When I look at the stttttaaaaaarrrrrrrrrsssss, when I look at the ssssttttttaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrsssss...." It was beautiful. =)

We got back safely, and it was decision time. PC got the decision from Pastor Johnny, and my topic "Be Faithful" was chosen.

GG.

10.40 p.m

It took me awhile to swallow the news, but I acknowledge that this is God's will being done. My co-teacher Ee Chiet, was kind of excited as well, so there we go. And I praise God for the following event.

I was talking to Daniel about what we have seen and heard in the Muton longhouse, and Daniel suddenly thought about how he could help me improve my message (since he has nothing to worry about now. He was totally relieved to hear that he did not have to share anymore btw. =P)
He then told me, "Now that we have learned a bit about the Ibans and their livestyle, maybe you can apply a bit about it into your message."

I praise God! 'Cause really, I needed something else to change my message. Not that my first draft was not ok, it's just not... convincing enough? Re-drafted my entire message, and with the help of God, PC, Ee Chiet and Daniel, I managed to do finalise what I need to say tomorrow.

1.30 a.m

At last. More or less finished the entire thing. Now is just to check again tomorrow to see what I've missed out. Drained. Exhausted. But thankful. At least I get to sleep in peace. =D

Waiting for tomorrow....