reflections on mission trip

i just came back from mission trip... as daniel n leena asked me how it was, i realized i couldn't really put it into words on the spot... only now an appropriate
word comes to mind...mission trip was...
a humbling experience...
humbling for the way God can use me
humbling for the grace we recieved from a "so-called-lesser" people
humbling for the lessons God can teach us through mighty men of God who choose a harder and more hidden road
i suppose it would be good to go through what happened during mission trip step by step...first of all was the initial excitement when i signed up for this mission trip.. the excitement of that after all these years of being a christian, i'm finally able to
have an *opportunity to proclaim the sweet name of Jesus.. the excitement that i'm finally "going forth to make disciples of all nations"however, then came the briefings on what would actually happen... and the excitement began to give way to fear... not fear of discomfort(haha... i can
proudly say i'm not one to fear discomfort and mere physical hardships like sleeping on the floor and eating weird food and no "real" toilets) but rather... fear
of the unknown, cos' the more i was briefed on wat to expect, the more i didn't know what to expect, not because the briefings weren't detailed... but
because everything suddenly seemed so uncertain... there were concerns of *police n Jabatan Orang Asli trouble, so we couldn't do stuff like simply give even kids anything bcause if reported, they it would be
assumed that we were "bribing" the villagers into believing in Jesus, it also seemed at first that we would have to go around everywhere in long pants and
not be able to wear shorts bcos' the villagers can't culturally accept shorts(this DID seem weird coming from people who normally go about with nothing or
next to nothing except a loincloth)...but heheh, thankfully this was cleared up that we were only required to wear long pants during services because the
pastor there (Pastor Henry) wanted to encourage the villagers to were appropriate clothings during service, and we were to be examples... uncertainties of
how the people would respond to us, cos' most don't even understand BM, uncertainties of even whether we would be able to stay in the village bcos' as we
learnt, the penghulu has absolute say on whether you're allowed to stay or if he doesn't like you, the you have to leave before evening comes,.. and we
were told the penghulu is a fierce man... so well, i think this fear freaked me out the most... oh yeah... and i was also quite worried about having to pray non
-stop for the 6-hour journey from KL to Grik having never prayed for more than even half an hour before...and i kept on having a nagging fear that we hadn't
prepared enough... especially when we only started learning what our purpose of going there was and what we were going to do there only less than a
week before going...anyway, when mission trip came... heh, well... I learned God works in miraculous ways as long as there are willing hearts and hands to be used...amazingly, i wasn't sleeping throughout the 6 hour journey... we actually DID pray and worship God from KL to Grik and even almost until we reached to
village (heh... actually i fell asleep during the last hour or half hour before reaching Grik, but we continued praying and singing even after that until we almost
reached the village and i fell asleep again ;P) although i found this to be extremely amazing, but i wouldn't think much of it until something i learnt of how
effective our prayers were at the end of the mission trip... anyway, i DID find it an excellent way to start leaving behind and forgetting the our troubles and
problems in our family, church... whatever...and start focusing on God and kinda like moving into "God-mode"...we were welcomed warmly by the pastor and his wife, and things initially seemed quite relaxing as we thought we had nothing to do till evening when we
thought we were supposed to go for a service held by the Jehai orang asli for us(we also thought we didn't have to do anything during the service)...
however God reminded us of why we were there as within an hour of resting, the pastor asked us what we had prepared for the women's ministry(we
initially were told we didn't have to prepare anything for them).. this was at 3 and the women's ministry starts at 4... anyway, we hastily put together a short
program for the women... oh yeah... there were only about 5 women who turned up, but a ton of children came along as well.. cos' even though most of the
mothers were less than 18 years old, most would already have about 4-5 kids... there was a grandmother there who couldn't have been more than 30 or
40...so there we were, trying to lead them in worship and tell them the Noah story in our half past six malay, which they couldn't really understand... but
praise God, we got through and we realized that i realized we REALLY need God's help if we're gonna do ANY communicating for the rest of the trip...anyway, this first "service" was actually a good thing although we weren't prepared, cos'... cos' it was from here that we found out how the orang asli would
respond to us and how much they actually understand what we were talking... cos' the people there don't actually understand BM, they speak their own
tribal language which would be Jehai or Tomiah.. and actually very few of the women understood us... so... most of the first day was actually spent preparing for the next day... planning what we would actually do and stuff like that... during the service, thank
goodness... Ps. Henry understandingly did a service for the Jehai although he had thought we would be the ones doing it.. as it turned out, normally their
service was on that day, and the service we were organizing for the next day, wasn't their normal service day... anyway, besides introducing ourselves... it
was pretty uneventful... besides having bak kut teh wild boar for dinner and getting used to "village" life :P...
come the next day, things did begin as planned but as it went on, it became evident that things weren't running by our own power, but by God's...the children's ministry program, which we had planned.. went amazingly well, partly because we were beginning to adjust to speaking malay after the
"testing" service with the women, but... i think mostly because some of the kids had gone to school before, but mainly becuase through God's guidance...
some of the kids had come for the yesterday's women's ministry following their mum's and we had gotten to know some of them... in the afternoon we went
for a picnic at the river with the pastor, his family and some of the orang asli there, but that passed pretty uneventfully, but helped us to understand the way
of life the orang asli there go through and how they make a "living"- catching fish and relying on the forest to give them everything they need- leaves for
plates, wood for fire...but it was during that night that i really saw God move... through our simple sketch, worship and testimonies... we saw people really responding during the
worship, and as i wrapped up the sketch and gave my own testimony, i found it amazing that BM words were just flowing out of my mouth like english and
the people were really listening intently... i really praise God and i pray that the service helped the Orang Asli there to understand what Christianity is
about... after the service, we prayed for the Pastor and his family and their ministry amongst the orang Asli and it was just amazing listening to the pastor
tell stories of the difficulties he has come through with the police and JOA, obstacles amongst the villagers like misunderstanding and difficulties
communicating with them... it was also during then that we learnt that normally, most groups who go there for mission trips, get questioned by the police...
but amazingly, the police had come a few days earlier than us and missed us... so i really found this amazing, bcos' it just showed that God HAD answered
our prayers and protected us even as we were making our way to the orang asli village.... Praise God...
the next day, was pretty rushed as we woke up pretty late and got packing, but there was one last stop at another village to kinda repeat the service... i
was actually quite relaxed and i had gotten into the "get it over and be done with" mood as i knew at we would be a bit rushing as we had to start moving
soon to get back to KL not too late as it was a six hour journey... but God was again reminding me to grab every opportunity to reach out and try to make an
impact even at this last stop... and even though i did not really "say anything" during this service, but i felt God move through the other team members
testimonies during the service... and during the boat rides i got to know this teenager- Indra, whom even from the first night i feel God was introducing to
me... during the first night after the service he taught me how to play their traditional bamboo instrument, and the next day we played football together, and
through my feeble attempts to communicate with him, i feel i and gary got to know him a little better... will be praying for him everyday in the hope that he
comes to the knowledge and saving grace of Jesus Christ.. will also be sending back pictures we took with him...heh, i just realized that every contact with
him was not through anything i did, but through God using Gary.... both the first night, it was he who initiated Indra teaching us to play their bamboo
instrument and the next day, it was he who looked for the football to play with him... heh, i merely followed after through God's guiding although i didn't
know it at the moment..
heh... well, it's been an awesome mission trip and an experience...being used by God, it's really a high that no dotA game can give you...oh yeah, that high continued today as i shared in my sunday school class about how important it is to tell others about Christ and the difficulties some people
are willing to endure for Jesus sake... i was sharing about the girl who converted to Christianity from Islam and wanted to change her IC and by the end of
the lesson, Mark was asking to pray for that girl so that if the courts allow her to be a christian, then he can go tell his Malay friends to convert to Christianity too
:P... praise God...

heh... wah... super panjang gila... congrats if you made it thus far... heh, but i believe this is just scratching the surface on how God can use people... i still believe that if i were more obedient, God could have used me even more... but opportunities knock everyday, all God needs are open hearts and willing hands... Glory to God...