Mission Trip

This post was written quite some time ago... I delayed in posting it because my dear hubby wanted to publish it in the church magazine.  Wives, you ought to submit to your husband, right?  :p  Well, as my faithful blog followers, you are rewarded with the editor's version (i.e. the 'bonus' paragraphs are highlighted in red).

Wesley Melaka has recently adopted an Orang Asli village, Kampung Inoi as part of their missions project.  The church is partnering with Pastor Joseph from Jasin.

The first mission trip was launched December last year.  Both pastors, the mission chairman, and a few members of the church visited Kampung Inoi and stayed overnight at another village, Kampung Ridan.  This visit opened doors for us to reach out beyond the four corners of the local church.

On 14th March, a second mission trip was organised.  Tengkera 3 DG was invited to participate with a special hair-cut service for the Orang Asli.  Well, who else are more qualified than our very own hair stylists, Cornelius and Irene.

Honestly, I was not keen to join the mission trip when my DG decided to participate.  Two reasons: First, my boy is a bit too young to go for such a trip. I do not want to go all the way there just to take care of them instead of meeting others' needs; secondly, the poor sanitary system put me off.  Basically, there's NO TOILET at all!

However, when hubby and I mentioned this mission trip to our daughter, she was very enthusiatic.   We then decided to bring her along for an eye-opener experience.  Our intention is that she may get a glimpse of how the other part of the world is living.  Now, how about my boy?  Well, God's timing is always perfect!  My mom paid us a visit that week, and so Erwyn was under her care with the help of my father-in-law.

We left for Muadzam Shah as early as 8am.  There were altogether 10 adults and 4 children squeezed into two four-wheels and one Exora, with loads of food packed for the villagers.  After a 3 hours' drive, we finally reached Muadzam Shah and met up with Pastor Joseph.  We stopped by at one grocery shop to purchase more food to bring in to the villagers before proceeding to a mamak stall for lunch.  This would be our final toilet break.

The journey into the village took another 40 minutes with half of it driving on dirt road.  We parked the Exora at Kampung Ridan as it could not withstand the journey into Kampung Inoi.  Pastor Joseph drove a Kembara and an aditional two vans carried all the goods, ie rice, oil, instant noodles, biscuits, etc.

We had quite a bumpy ride but thank God for a sunny day as the road could become quite muddy when it rains.  The Orang Asli village is located deep inside a plantation.  Their livelihood depends on rubber tapping, fishing and some of them left home to pursue a better life in the city.  They live a simple life with no TV or any form of entertainment.  Many women are married and have children as young as 14.

The pastor showed us the kindergarten which was sponsored by Wesley Melaka.  It was still under construction but the main structure has been completed.  It is expected to be fully functional by the end of the month. This piece of land was donated by one of the locals there.

One of their biggest problem is the water supply.  The government has built several water tanks but it is all empty.  The reason being, due to the distance and weak pressure, water is unable to reach the tanks in the village.  So the villages are dependent on wells.  This has been going on for years. 

We proceeded to the church for their weekly service.  The church is just planks of wood with no fans, needless to say air-cond.  The weather was humid and warm, yet their heart for the Lord is warmer.  Some of them had to walk for 30 minutes to attend service.  This, however, did not hinder them from worshipping God.

It is indeed a miracle for this precious people to come to know the Lord.  The story was told of how the church started.  One of the villagers was sick and had gone for medical check-ups, one after another, yet with no improvement.  One day he asked to be prayed for and was instantly healed in Jesus' name.  His testimony was so powerful and convincing that several families accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.  Does this sound like what happened in the book of Acts?  It certainly is!  Our God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Amen.

Such conversions usually cause uneasiness amongst some "outsiders".  In another village a huge sum of money was offered to the Ketua Kampung if he would deny Christ.  It may not seem a lot to many of us, but for the Orang Asli, the amount was enough to last a lifetime.  It is tempting as they have been living in poverty for many generations.  Praise God that he remained faithful.  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.  (James 1:12)

Our hair-cutting service started right after the church service.  Cornelius, Irene and Karen were given the honor (and hard work) to trim those locks; whereas Jerry was assigned the task of treating lice.  As for the rest of us, a factory production line was formed: One got ready the plastic bag, another place a packet of oil in the bag, yet another put in two packets of biscuits... etc.  This was so much easier compared to the 'jungle saloon'.  In less than half an hour, the production line has completed its job.

A namelist was prepared with all the names of the head of the families of the entire village.  Each family was given a packet of rice with 2 plastic bags of goods.  Pastor Andrew distributed it to them one by one.  However, there were some who were absent due to various reasons.  The remaining goods were kept by a trusted church member, to hand over to the rest of the families.

Later, we found out that the government also delivered some goods to the people.  However, the goverment only gave a packet of rice to be shared among a few families.  The church instead, gave one bag of rice to each family.  The generosity of the church was a good witness to the villagers.  We pray that this would plant a seed in them and in the near future, they too, will come to the saving knowledge of Christ.

The children were also given a handful of sweets and goodies.  Most of them were very shy.  They do not interact with us much.

When the 'jungle saloon' finally completed their God-given task, Pastor Andrew took us further deep into the village to discover the simple life that these Orang Asli have been living all these while.

After the tour, we came back to the church compound  only to find a big feast has been prepared in honor of us.  A few of us ate a mouthful.  The presentation of the food may not be apetizing but their generous hearts have touched us deeply.

As the sun began to set we started our journey home. We were exhausted, but for most of us, seeing the poorer side of Malaysians helps us to appreciate the many blessings that God has given us.  No, we are no heroes.  We were just there to help, to share and to bless.


* My DG leader made a video presentation of the trip.  It included pictures and interviews with a few of us.  It was presented during the Missions Sunday.  My boy was so upset when he saw the video in church.  He asked, "Why I didn't go?  When I can go? Why Jie Jie go but I didn't?"  I have since changed my mind that I should have brought him along.  Age is never an obstacle in reaching out to others.  As a mom, I am concerned of the well-being of my children.  Stricking a balance is never easy, and I pray that God will give me the wisdom to handle.

p/s: All photos are courtesy of Karen, wife of the Missions Chairman.  

The Unsung Hero

I was taken aback when I read the news on the earthquake that struck Sabah which left hundreds of Mt Kinabalu climbers stranded.  The memories of climbing this magnificient mountain still lingered at the back of my mind.  It was only 3 months ago.  I followed the news closely.  I couldn't imagine how the climbers survived under the freezing cold wind at the mountain top.  I remembered how I struggled to keep myself warm.  "I hope my mountain guide is safe.  He should be.  After all, he's very experienced and agile."  That's my thoughts throughout the day.

The next morning I scrolled down the computer reading all the latest news on the Sabah quake.  My heart sank when I came across this post from Amazing Borneo that mentioned one of their mountain guides, Robbi Sapinggi, has passed away.  Tears were rolling in my eyes and I mourned for the loss of such a great man.  No, he ain't related to me at all.  Neither was he consider my friend.  Somehow, at one point of our lives we crossed path.  And that itself has left a great impression on me.

I was introduced to Robbi when we reached Kinabalu Park Headquarters.  He was our mountain guide for the climb.  My first impression was he's quite small size for a man.  He was very helpful in renting the hiking poles, giving us our ID and packed lunch; he even offered to take a photo for us.  At Timpohon Gate, just before we entered the trail, he checked our bagpacks, making sure that nothing was obstructive to our movement during the climb and advised us to remove our windbreaker though the temperature was a bit cold.

We started our climb without Robbi.  Yup, he was no where to be seen.  I was pretty upset coz I thought our guide is supposed to be with us all the time!  Nevertheless, we continued on.  We met him on and off throughout the trail.  But he was never following behind us as it should be.  Finally, I concluded that his presence was unnecessary since the trail was quite straight forward.  At one reststop, he even flirt with one of us.  That caused us to be rather uneasy.

When we finally reached Laban Rata, Robbi checked us into Waras Hut and briefed us on the climb the next morning.  He left us after that and we saw him again at the empty field where the porters and mountain guides were playing handball or something.  He was the referee sitting on the high chair, keeping the scores.

The next morning we continued the climb.  This was far more challenging as compared to the day before.  At one part of the climb the level of inclination was almost 70 degrees.
 
Quote from my blog dated March 11th:
Robbi, our mountain guide was with us all these while.  He was very helpful in instructing us where to put our foot on, even holding our hands leading us the way.  Did I mention he has been a mountain guide for 11 long years?!  No wonder he is so experienced.  He doesn't even need to hold the rope while climbing.  If any one of us lose our balance, he'd pull us back up. 

My perspective of Robbi changed.  I realised perhaps he knew that we could complete the first part of the climb without him, and probably we would be more relax without a stranger around.  But in this second part of the climb, his outstanding service was clearly shown.

When we reached Sayat-sayat Checkpoint, we expressed our concern on continuing the climb.  Robbi, did not force us to go on, but happy to assist in anyways we wished to.  He left the decision in our hands.  We've decided to continue.  However, Robbi stayed behind puffing on a cigarette.

Herein after the trail was plain rocky boulder.  One of my team-mates stayed behind and amazingly Robbi found her in the nick of time.  He brought her back to the checkpoint and attended to her needs.  Then he came back to look for the rest of us at the summit.

As we descended back to Laban Rata, Robbi must have noticed something wrong with me.  He asked me a few times "Are you ok?"  Seriously, I was feeling extremely cold.  Although there's nothing much he could do, I appreciate his sensitivity and his kindness shown.


From Laban Rata back to Timpohon Gate was really a test of endurance.  Two of us were moving very slowly but Robbi was following behind us most of the time.  At times, he would stay a little longer at the restpoint to smoke but he caught up with us in no time.  The last 3km Robbi practically holding both of our hands down every steps.  He jokingly told his friend, another mountain guide who was on the way up, that he had two wives, ie me and my team-mate.  I noticed that Robbi seemed to know most if not all the mountain guides and porters.  Almost everyone he met on our way down he greeted them.  He also offered to carry our backpacks without any charges.  I declined graciously though.  However, his thoughtfulness is well-remembered in my heart.

No, he's not a perfect man.  None of us are.
Yes, he has his weaknesses.  All of us have.
But his kindness, thoughtfulness, selflessness are qualities and characters that not many possesses.

His passing was truly a loss to many.

A Facebook posting by Amazing Borneo:
Robbi was accompanying a climber when he was hit by falling rocks.
“Despite being injured, Robbi’s only thought was for the welfare of his guest, urging his guest to continue ahead to climb down the mountain to safety.
“He bravely chose to remain alone and wait for help rather than to put the guest’s life at further risk.
The Facebook posting revealed that Robbi was unable to make it down the mountain in time to receive proper medical attention and he died due to loss of blood.

I am honored to know of a hero, his name is Robbi Sapinggi.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.  John 15:13

p/s: My heart goes out to all the mountain guides and porters.  To us, Mt Kinabalu is just a mountain.  For them, it is their livelihood.  Many porters carried heavy stuff up the mountain.  Some of them are women and seniors.  Robbi told us he climbed the mountain 3 times a week.  These mountain guides know Mt Kinabalu so well that I believe it meant more than money to them.  They recognise their calling.  And they embrace it with their lives.

母亲节

女儿长大了！

今年的母亲节，女儿非常贴心，让我深受感动。过去的几年，女儿都会送我小卡片。即大多数都是来自于幼稚园，美术班或是主日学的成品。于往年不同的是， 今年女儿还送了一份小礼物给妈妈。更甚的是，这份礼物是她自个儿掏腰包付钱的。

那么，她的钱是从哪儿来的呢？

自去年年尾，女儿就开始上补习班。补习班老师几乎每个星期都会给她听写或默写。 有几次的默写更是超过150字以上。小小年纪就必须背诵150个字以上的作文，女儿虽稍有怨言，但也应付有佳。公公得知以后，决定以奖金的方式鼓励小女。只要是小女得到100分，她都会兴高采烈地展示她的辉煌成绩给公公。因而领取她的奖金。女儿把这些奖金默默地收存起来。有时候会炫耀一番。但从来不曾提出使用奖金来买她心爱的玩具。

母亲节即将来临之前，女儿悄悄地向爸爸提出她想买份礼物给妈妈的心意。俩父女偷偷地趁着妈妈不在家时溜出去买了份礼物。星期天早上，我正在忙着准备去教会之时， 女儿默默地来到我身旁。“Happy Mother's Day, Mommy!" 随即一双小手递上一张卡片及一个小盒子。女儿的那份心意，温暖了我的心怀。而她选的礼物竟然是一个音乐盒。

小时候一直希望有个音乐盒。 打开来， 一个美丽的小女孩在跳舞。虽然现在已有能力自己购买，却始终没这么做。而这个梦想 尽然由自己的女儿来达成。 

谢谢妳，宝贝！妈妈永远爱妳！

Church Camp 2015

Missing in action for awhile… Thought of taking a short break trying to concentrate on my studies, ended up doing lots of other things.  One of those was preparing for the children ministry at the church camp.  I have no intention of taking up the responsibility of planning or conducting lesson and activity for this year.  Time to take a break after two years of teaching consecutively in the children ministry at camp, right?  After all, I have been involved in children church almost every Sunday and the children are probably tired of seeing this Aunty Shally.  So, for this year, we have invited a group of dynamite children church teachers elsewhere to take over the children ministry.  However, due to the small group (only 13 children), they had graciously decline and so we took over the baton.  Haha… no running away, ya?

Honestly, I did not spend as much time as the past two years in the lesson planning.  It was simply because I was not given as much time to prepare.  After all, I only took care of one lesson.  Hooi Poh and Michael took over the other two sessions; and the final session was a movie time!  The lesson was in line with the camp theme: Let the Flame Burn Brighter. 

The teaching part was quite simple and straight forward.  However, if I plan to dig deeper, there’s too much to cover in a single lesson.  So, I just briefly explained to the children the 3-points outline with an object lesson each.  The 20-minutes lesson took me 2 hours to prepare.  Too much time spent, huh?  Maybe it is because I have higher expectations when in comes to children ministry.  I never thought of children ministry as "baby-sitting".  Each time a child comes to children church, it is a divine appointment for him/her to connect with God.  If we could spend an X amount of time and effort for an adult service, children deserve the same, if not more.

Putting that aside, the 13 children consists of the youngest being 2+ to the oldest 11+.  Quite a wide gap.  I was told that our camp speaker, Pastor Steven, is one who takes time to minister during the altar call.  Since my session was the 2^nd day night, which is also the last night of the camp, I expected the altar call to be extra long (from my previous experience in other camps).  So, how to keep the children occupied after the teaching?  My main concern was the older kids.  With all the technologies that they are exposing to, what kind of activity that could keep them focus and interested?  And something that required limited amount of preparation time (in less than 7 days).

My first idea was something to do with circuit board i.e. with LEDs blinking like a fire and maybe some buzzers or buttons to control the LED lights. and etc.  Doesn’t this sounds like an interesting project and it has everything to relate to our camp theme?  However, Andrew, being the electronics engineer who has to do most of the design, was very unsuportive of the idea.  Not because he didn't want to help, but his complaint was that he can't get any equipment or electronic materials in Melaka within 7 days.  "In KL, no problem, just go Jalan Pasar and you have tons of shops there ... blah blah blah", as he continued to compare KL and Melaka.  Well, anyone out there would like to use this idea?  Copyright reserved, ya!  So, that left me with my second option: T-shirt painting.  I’m not sure whether the kids have done it before but I thought if done well, the kids could actually wear it after the camp.  Thus, creating a longer lasting impact.

If you have been following my blog, last year I organised a water gun fun time.  A few children actually still remember it today (I’m surprised) and they were so hoping we could do it again.  That is the kind of impact I wished to create.

However, I have a hard time finding fabric paint or fabric marker.  Perhaps I am still ‘new’ to Melaka and have no idea where to find those materials; perhaps I need to befriend local people who are more resourceful.  I was already prepared to make my purchase in KL since our camp this year was held at Pearl International Hotel.  Finally, I stumbled upon this new shop ‘Golden Egg Crafts’ via web search which will only be opened officially on 9^th May.  I called up the owner, Jean, and she agreed to open up her shop just for me!  Isn’t that awesome?  Guess what… I am her first customer.  The shop hasn’t even had their cash register ready yet.  Here again, Andrew continued to nag on how easy it would have been to find fabric paint and even fabric marker in KL.  Unfortunately he was right.  The day before the camp we went to MPH in Subang Jaya and immediately on the shelf we found fabric marker pens with assorted colours.  Seems like something so common there (like colour pencils).

Meanwhile, Siang Ling graciously helped me to order the white t-shirt from a t-shirt printing company.  The order was supposed to be collected on Thursday noon but the delivery truck was delayed and it only reached Melaka at 9:45pm.  Both Siang Ling and I were a little bit nervous as I planned to leave for KL on Friday noon. 

To be honest, I am not good with art and craft.  At the same time, I do not want the children to simply paint on the t-shirt just to fulfil teacher’s order.  So, I printed some pictures and cut it, thinking that this could be used as a stencil.  The children are free to paint anything they want with an exception that the camp logo must be painted somewhere on the shirt.  The stencil serves as a guide especially for younger kids.  It turned out to be rather useful.

Meanwhile, Debbie was having second thought of helping me in the children ministry.  She was a great help to me last year at the camp.  This year, she was also involved in the worship ministry.  I am so thankful that finally she agreed to serve together with me. 

Through this activity, I discovered a different aspect in some of the children.  I am totally amazed at Kok Weng and Samuel, they did such a marvellous job with their shirts.  Kok Weng claimed to be a perfectionist.  Jia Ning has fantastic idea although her shirt did not turn out the exact way she wanted it to be.  Bryan and Joel are both lovers of Captain American.  Nathaniel may not be very good with painting, yet his imagination carries him far beyond the galaxy.  Carryn chooses to be on the safe side.  I love Erwyn’s handprint on the shirt.  Will definitely keep this for a long long time.  Elyse’s love for God is shown clearly on her shirt: Jesus loves me.

All in all, I am quite proud of the final product.  Seriously, that was my first time painting on a shirt as well.  And out of 13 kids, at least 3 of them treasure the shirts, ie my two children and another older boy.  I am thankful to God that serving Him has given me the opportunity to tap on something that is extraordinary; something that I know I would not dare to venture in.  Truly, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

Who could resist Olaf?

Product of the youngest child amongst us.  Of course, with a little help with the parent.

Parents came in to help after the service

Happy children, happy teacher

UK Agro Farm

After my Mt Kinabalu blogs, I thought I'm going to hibernate for at least a month or so.  I'm running out of time for my study, assignment and project.  And I think my brain is currently under 'construction', need some time to rejuvenate from all the exhaustion.  So, let the pictures 'speak' to you instead of written words.

I came to know about this UK Agro Farm from my sis.  She has been there a couple of times.  After browsing through the web for some reviews, many recommended this place.  So, I purchased 6 tickets from Matta Fair last year.  The tickets have been collecting dust since then.  Couldn't find the right time to go until this school holiday.  After all, it's going to expire by the end of April!

It was a two-hour journey from Melaka to UK Agro Farm.  We reached there around 9:30am.

We saw a few cows as we turned into the farm premise.  The sight of these creatures triggered some excitement in my children after a long drive.

Upon arrival, Andrew purchased two bags of feedstock and corn to feed the goat and ostrich during the tour.

 While waiting for our bus, we walked around the reception area and saw this iconic sheep statue.

Since it was still early, we dropped by the mini zoo and saw this beautiful peacock showing off his feather. 

Not a lot of animals there though.  So we went back to the reception and waited for our bus.

The bus was here but not the driver... 

The 3 hours tour is guided by a in-house-guide to visit feedstock processing factory, sheep and goat pen, goat milk processing centre, tropical aracde and fruit farm, turkey and ostrich farm, Jakun village, and mushroom farm.

Our tour guide spoke in Mandarin, so hubby, my FIL and the children couldn't understand much.

You may upgrade your ride to a horse cart with an additional fee.  We saw one on our way and took a picture with it.  Of course, the children wished they could ride on it.

The first attraction is "Sheep Grazing".  You will see the herds of goats galloping towards the grassy land for food.

Our next stop: Goat and sheep pen

Feeding time!!!

Such a hungry bunch of lamb and goats... they finished the bottle of milk in a blink of an eye!

The lamb is so so cute!!!  And it's very light compared to my children.  Apparently she's very hungry also, sucking a corner of my blouse while I was carrying her.  Erwyn dared not to carry her though.

After the feeding, we proceeded to the next station: Feedstock proccessing factory.

The field of grass could not satisfied the hunger of these goats and sheep.  So more food is processed here when the herds are back in the barn.

The milk proccessing factory is where they milk the goat, using air pressure machine to suck the milk out.

Slurp... milk is my favourite!!!

A cup of goat milk ice cream in a warm weather like this is definitely a must!

Looks like the bird in the farm doesn't mind a close encounter with my boy

An awesome scenery of the grassy land with the herds

Our fourth stop: Turkey and Ostrich Farm.  Only one ostrich was there and all the children fought to feed this big fellow...

On the other hand, these turkeys were not hungry at all and refused to eat any corns offered to them.

Moving on, the Jakun Village where the 'Orang Asli' demonstrated to us how they catch a prey up on the tree.

Tree house

Can you spot the two little kiddos?

Chill out time!  Refreshing coconut water at the fruit farm.

Finally, the Mushroom Farm.  Something else attracted the kids more than mushrooms itself.

My two kiddos love climbing.  Where there are stairs, they climb...

Presenting to you: the Lingzhi mushroom

Mushroom snack

The last activity of the day: Sheep Challenge!

Seriously, it is no joke chasing after these four legged creatures.  Fun but tiring.  After 2 minutes, my boy was so exhausted, he gave up.  So hubby took over.  We did not even managed to touch the fur on the sheep, let alone catch it coz they were really fast.  The staff told us that 5 people stand a better chance of catching them.  Anyone interested?

We left UK Farm around 1pm and headed for lunch.

Look at how tired my little boy was!!!  How can I miss this candid shot... :p

Overall, I think the farm is only average.  I was quite disappointed that the mini zoo is truly 'mini', only one peacock, a few ducks and a pig; there's only one ostrich at the Ostrich Farm and even the herds of goats aren't that many.  Maybe our timing was wrong.  Many other reviews mentioned that they saw hundreds of goats and sheep at the 100 acres of grazing land and the view is simply magnificient.  hmm... or perhaps my expectation is too unrealistic?  I was thinking more like the New Zealand kind of scenery.  So long, farewell, UK Agro Farm.  I don't supposed I'm going to visit you anytime soon.