Yeh, I get to carry baby

Santa left, and the stork came

and dropped a little boy that looked like Ryan

Getting to know you

Hi Aren, I am Izac

SIB Liau Ulu - an indigenous church in interior Sabah

Out of the blue, an ol' university friend contacted me two weeks ago asking me to identify a church with real financial needs, so that he can channel some funds.  Ah, an early Christmas gift maybe. 

Of course, every church would gladly welcome any amount of financial support. I observed that among the Mandarin-speaking churches, it's hard to find one with desperate financial needs. However, most indigenous churches are in need, a reflection the lower socio-economical circumstances of our bumiputera brethren.

Somebody once said that the bumiputera church is the backbone of Christianity in Malaysia. Notwithstanding the government-sanctioned Islamisation of our country, nobody can say that Christianity is a pendatang religion. The indigenous church has been in Sabah way before our country achieved independance, and is here to stay. Unfortunately, many of these churches are left to fend for themselves, while the rest of Malaysian Christians celebrate God's blessings in the cool confines of carpeted churches with top-notch audio-visual equipments.

After a quick discussion with Pastor Omrinus, the Ketua Kawasan of the Keningau area SIB (Sidang Injil Borneo - Borneo Evangelical Church), we narrowed down the search to a little preaching point called SIB Liau Ulu. For the uninformed, Keningau is located in the heart of interior Sabah, a place where government teachers and doctors loathed to be sent to... which happens to be where your's truly is placed in exile. This little town serves as an administrative and commercial centre for interior Sabah, supporting the surrounding districts of Tenom, Tambunan, Sook, Nabawan, right up to the Kalimantan border. No, people here no longer live on trees... but there is still no McDonald's or Sushi-King in sight, not even a cinema.

SIB Liau Ulu is a preaching point located about 20 km from Keningau town. It is currently under the care of the nearby SIB Bunga Raya. I have arranged a field trip with Pastor Omrinus to go on-site to take some photos and write a story for the kind donor, so that he knows where his money is going to. The kawasan treasurer brought us there in his 4WD.

About 15 km along the Keningau-Tambunan main road, we turned left into a stretch of untarred road. The locals call these jalan kampung, or jalan belum aspal. 

After crossing some rivers and climbing a few hills, we arrived at the destination.

There it was, the cute little church. To my surprise, the good pastor has called up a little group to meet us there. No it's not a new building under construction. It's a functional church that conducts weekly Sunday service and other fellowship activities. It's just that due to limited funds, covering the brick walls and a coat of paint are lower on the priority list.

Most of the menfolk were out at work, leaving the ladies and kids, plus a few church deacons there to witness the handing over of donation. Compared to your church, you would probably notice some subtle differences... the interior walls were bare, the pane-less windows offered a wide view outside, and the floors looked like it needed some tiles. The thin zinc roof did little to keep out the midday heat.

It was the pastor's idea to have the congregation over to witness the handing over of the cheque, so that the whole transaction was transparent.

The pastor gave a little explanation about how the donation from a West Malaysian towkay came about (I had to correct him... the donor was a jobless father), and encouraged the congregation to be steadfast in faith and thank God for the blessing received. 

The battered musical instruments in the background were a far cry from the shiny ones that I am used to, but they served the purpose.

The little ceremony ended with everybody praying for the donor and his family, the congregation, and the church.

Field report done.

STS graduation

Went to KK last weekend to attend classes... Seminar Misi Lintas Budaya. The speaker was Dr. James Hudson Taylor IV, the 5th generation grandchild of Hudson Taylor who started the China Inland Mission (now OMF). You can't imagine listening to an orang puteh speaking perfect Taiwanese Mandarin, with some Hokkien thrown in.

And we got to celebrate the graduation of uncle Rommie, who received his Master in Theological Studies.

The Christmas / New Year splurge

Now lets figure out how to use this thing.

New year eve

Played with little cousin.

Took a photo before going to church.

Kampung church fully packed and overflowed... despite without aircon and cushioned seats. Amazing.

The manja boy ushering in 2012 with a new hairstyle.

Ending 2011 with Thanksgiving

Irene's mum organised a Thanksgiving in the house in Tenom on the day before new year's eve.

Sharing the word.

A time of prayer.

Makan time.

Ryan found an elder sister in kampung.

SIB Likas (E) - Christmas weekend - 24-25.12.2011

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year 2012!

It was great that the New Fellowship Hall was completed in time for Christmas, and for ushering in the New Year 2012.

Our student friends from SIB Alive presented a Christmas medley in the New Hall.

Young Christians and pre-Christians from Malaysia and China.

Backed by an international team of musicians.

After that, we were entertained with an action-packed movie clip produced by the church media team. I could imagine the amount of sweat and labour put into the production... the actors, costumes, shooting angles and motions, lightings, sound tracks, editing... everything done to excellence. I salute you guys. More to come?

Then auntie Janny shared her story of surviving breast cancer, and the miracles she experienced along the way... such as having an Oncologist right in our church, and the government employing a Cardio-thoracic Surgeon in KK. Many times, we see illnesses break even strong people. Not very often do we see people emerging even stronger from a horrible illness. My mentor Steven Wu also had a close brush with death while battling NPC. Today he goes around telling everybody how he was transformed from a church leader near despair, into a spokesperson who could not stop talking about the power of God.

This year we had an invited preacher who flew in all the way from Delhi... Dr. P.G. Vargis, the founder of the Indian Evangelical Team. Despite his busy schedule, he HAD to come... coz our pastor has the same name as his wife, and therefore commanded the same 'fear & obedience'... hehehe.

The evening before, Dr. Vargis had a session with church members. He was a very good story teller and actor (I think dancer as well). He shared with us stories about his missionary work in India, how he walked in unwavering faith, and experienced the realness of God first-hand.

• Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What He did in the New Testament days, he can still do today.
• pray for your own train to come back. Don't just harap Dr. Vargis, or your pastor to pray for your train.
• 'I will keep praying and keep coming back to check my blood, until I get my miracle'... and he got cured of chronic diabetes in 5 days.
• he prayed for his mentally-retarded little girl to be accepted into a regular school. She did. She finished 49th out of 50 pupils in the first year, and kept getting better and better. Today she is married and doing a PhD in the USA, to be conferred 'Dr.' Annie Vargis soon.
• what gift did you bring for God this year? He does not need your money, or little presents. Did you win any soul for Him?
• don't think that evangelising in India is easy... preachers and believers get ostracised, tortured, even killed. But we still baptised 600 people in a day! How did we do it? We never stop telling people about Jesus.

On Christmas day, Dr. Vargis chose not to preach on Jesus' birth... coz everybody else would be talking about it, and Jesus was definitely not born on a cold winter night. He talked about the story in John 21 (google it) about the risen Jesus appearing to his fishermen disciples.

• John 21:4 Why did the disciples not recognise Jesus? Because they have been at sea (the turbulent world out there) for too long.
• John 21:6 They were still casting nets the usual way, but got a bountiful harvest this time... what made the difference? Before that they were labouring in their own strength, this time they laboured in obedience to Jesus.
• John 21:7 Why did Peter acted so kiasu? Because he was a Singaporean. Hahaha... no la. He wanted to be first to meet Jesus. He had only Jesus in his mind... the other disciples were still thinking about their catch, the boat etc.
• John 21:9 Why did Jesus prepare a coal fire? Because he knew the fishermen would be shivering on return from sea at dawn. Jesus knows our basic needs, and he knows how to provide for them. Read 'basic needs', not luxurious fancies.
• Do not be nēpios (little children) that keep running back to your pastor to change your soiled nappies... (rhymes well isn't it). Grow up, folks.

At lunch time, Dr. Vargis came over to lay hands on Izac, and prayed that he will be 'smart, talk, and run, just like my daughter'.

SIB Skyline - The Prodigal Father - 23.12.2011

I was so glad to be able to attend the last show of the Christmas Musical held in SIB Skyline. Words got around that the musical was soooo good, that the final night was a sold-out. Many thanks to MikeChen for the last-minute ticket.

Passionate, energetic, dazzling, extravagant... this musical first-timer was truly impressed! A wonderful fusion of the best of vocal prowess, theatrical drama, clever interplay of lights and sounds, and stunning graphics.

It was told that once upon a time, somewhere in the jungles of Borneo lived a father with his two sons. Older brother was the honest and industrious kampung guy, and younger brother was the tech-savvy free spirit who longed for the lights of the city.

Younger brother got to know a city girl via Facebook. (Lesson 1: make sure your kampung got line, and get a MacBook). City girl invited younger brother to leave the kampung and promised to show him the city. (Lesson 2: don't chat too much with girls on FB). He left home as the family was organising his birthday dinner party. Dad was heartbroken, and left the party immediately to look for his son. Elder brother was wallet-broken and lost face... and that made him really mad... and he sang 'What About Me, It Is Not Fair' in anger.

Younger brother enjoyed dancing around with his city girl friends, not realising that they were prancing on him. (Lesson 3: be careful of city girls). Soon he got into deeper s*it, and became a drug pusher.

In the mean time, dad ALMOST found younger brother in the bar he used to hang out. Elder brother tagged along, and for a while he set his eyes on the pretty sweeties and almost got swayed (Lesson 4: looks can be deceiving). His father's love for younger brother touched him, and he regained focus.

Unfortunately, the long arm of the law got to younger brother first. He was sentenced to death.

Dad offered to take his son's place in exchange for his life. And amazingly, the judge said OK. And so the story ended with younger brother being freed from the punishment of his sin, because his dad paid the cost with his life. Quite similar to the story in the Bible... you got freed because Jesus paid with His life.

And the best artist of the night was... (drumroll...) Dr. Philip Lyn. Man... he could effortlessly rattle off in flawless English, with flowing sentences, perfect tone and stirring emotions... all done in-promptu. Wow! Indeed they saved the best for last.

The team members came back on stage to acknowledge the applause.

I was too tired post-call to stay on to chat. As I was leaving, there was music in the air as a group of carollers sang beneath a tall Christmas tree. What a double treat!