Mission Trip to Sibu, Sarawak  
Date:8th Aug to 11th Aug 2003
Team: Pastor Paulus, Bro. Joo Tatt, Pastor Sanusi (of Orang Asli Settlement), David Chan, Philip Chye, and Lee Tee Choong (Chinese section), Michael Chang, Eunice Tan, Swee Nyuk and the youngest in the team, Kenny Yap (English section).

Pastor Paulus
Pastor Sanusi
Tee Joo Tatt
David Chan
Philip Chye
Lee Tee Choong
Michael Chang
Eunice Tan
Pang Swee Nyuk
Kenny Yap

Day 1:
On arrival, having lunch here in Sibu Central Market. Food is relatively much cheaper, a bowl of noodle equivalent to a double "wan tan mee" costs only RM1.50. Tastes good too.
Taken at the River Rejang, longest river in Southeast Asia, also one of the major means of transportation in Sarawak.
Back - left to right, Pastor Paulus, Joo Tatt, Pastor Sanusi, Kenny, Philip and Michael
Front - Swee Nyuk
Pastor Chik (left), senior pastor of Sibu Calvary Church (with a local BM interpreter), lone pastor from peninsular who crossed over to East Malaysia to pioneer a church. Despite the hard work and demanding schedule, she has been a great host to us. May the Holy Spirit continue to strengthen and guide her in her work for God.
Sibu Calvary Church, on a Friday meeting. About 20 odd people came for the meeting; Pastor Paulus is the guest speaker. We put up 2 nights here before we travelled to the far remote areas of the "long houses".
Day 2
Kenny posing in front of the long house, the first that we visited.
Long houses are like terrace houses with a long veranda or common hall. Seen here are Swee Nyuk (left) and Eunice standing in the middle of the "hall". Notice the object hanging from the ceiling, its a human skull, almost all the long houses have it; natives believe it can drive away evil spirits.
Children's ministry: Joo Tatt and Pastor Chik telling the children the story of the prodigal son. After the story telling, Joo Tatt led the children in the sinner's prayer. Before we called it a night, we had our devotion.
Day 3:
For Sunday Worship, we went to Full Gospel Church in Sibu Town. Pastor Um, a Korean pastor is the senior pastor. There were about 30-40 people, mostly children, attending the church. Pastor Sanusi was the worship leader while Bro Joo Tatt shared the word of God.
Pastor Sanusi and Bro Joo Tatt, together with Pastor Um (far right) and his family. Pastor Um was sent from Korea on a mission trip here to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to the natives of Sarawak. Over the years, he has learnt to pick up their language and is able to adapt to their way of living.
After lunch, we started our journey to the 3rd long house, situated in the far remote area of Sarawak. It took about an hour. The long house is along the river Rejang, where the Ibans bathe and wash their clothes.
(Left to right): Pastor Um, Joo Tatt, Pastor Sanusi, Michael and Eunice enjoying their dinner in the long house. Much effort was put in to prepare this meal that lay before us, but greater effort was involved to get buckets of water from the well to the kitchen, as pipe water is not available.
During our night service in the "common hall" we did a small sketch, called "Lazarus & the Rich Man". Notice the white light from the ceiling; electricity is not available here, it runs on generator. On a normal day, they usually use candles and oil lamps to save cost. Pastor Sanusi shared the word of God related to the sketch.
Before we called it a night, we had a good fellowship with the "Orang Ibans" after the worship, learning about each other's way of life. Pastor Sanusi asked if they have a bit of prawn for dessert, we ended up having a big bowl of it.
Day 4:
We left early for the airport the next day. Seen here is Pastor Paulus behind the glass window as he was about to fly to Bintulu & Miri. The rest of us headed for KLIA.

This trip had been an eye opener for us, having travelled from Sibu town to the far remote places of Sarawak, and the long houses. We looked at life from a different perspective, having experienced different cultures and way of life.

Being in the city most of the time, we wonder if urbanites can get used to the lifestyle here. Public utilities such as electricity, water and telecommunication are taken for granted, whereas, its not even available here. The people were cut off from the outside world. Basically, they are on their own.

On the other hand, life is very much more peaceful here, away from the stress and pressures of work that urbanites can't seem to escape from. For people who breathe city air every morning, we seemed to have forgotten the freshness of air at the crack of dawn, until that particular morning, when we got to feel and taste the freshness of the morning air. In this respect, rural people have the advantage in terms of "quality living"; a very familiar thing urban people constantly try to achieve.

Looking at the population here, most of the people are children and senior citizens. The youths and working adults have gone to the city either for further studies or employment.

Lord, Your eyes are ever watching
In the rural as well as the urban.

Help us Lord, to reach out to them
And they to us,
As we learn together
In reverence of each other's way of life.

Father, Is it not your will
To see us worship You
In one voice
Wherever we may be?

By Michael Chang


 

 


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