Monday, June 6, 2016

To the Ends of the Earth, Long Mio & Long Pasia

I have this amazing experience of going into the ends of the earth as far as the State of Sabah, North Borneo is concerned. It was a tough 3 day trip to Long Mio the 2nd last village at the border of Sarawak and Indonesia and  I went to Long Pasia twice at the ends of the earth. The Long Mio village is small with only 20 houses but Long Pasia is the more famous sibling with at least 70 or 80 houses most of which are like mansions. There are several home stays and a chalet which cater for regular tourists visiting the place. But the journey from KK to Long Mio is the longest I have undertaken thus far, all 7 hours with the 3.5 hours on gravel and sometimes muddy timber tracks.  By the time I reached there I was famished but dinner was set for 6pm. How I could preach the first night only God knows and He had granted his servant strength. I preached better than I thought at least for the first of 4 sessions and after a 3.30 am wake up and travelling besides. The next morning I was fresher but the change of environment with the toilet outside the church house without electricity was a test of physical and emotional edurance. The temperatures in the morning is a cool 16 degrees but I was warned to bring warm clothing.
At least I did not suffer heat stroke like in Namaus where two fans throughout the night keep me ventilated. 505 people registered and  I think overall attendance reached 600 people on a couple of occasions. The church seats only 200 so there were more people outside in big size tent and canopy. With the use of generator electricity the supply is not entirely constant and break downs occurred a couple of times but praise God that during preaching I had the liberty and all people paid full attention with none fidgeting. I perched for 40 to 45 minutes each sermon except for the last, only 30 minutes. Even my SIB Deputy President who accompanied me throughout said I preached short and concise sermons because invited speakers tend to speak for an hour, perhaps they think shorter sermons might not get them a full honorarium. But money is the last thing on my mind. Twice  shared I preferred to stay home and if I wanted I could return to Singapore and ministry there is like a walk in the park. Perhaps it is time for me to write the last chapter of my book memoirs of a modern missionary and after serving in Ranau, Namaus and preaching in the ends of the earth, no one should question the aptness of the title of the book.

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