Bukit Ridan, my perspective.....

The joyful people...who made it happen..

" The food stuff goes into Sunny's car." " The Christmas Shoe boxes, medicine, clothes, milk powder, drinks and some food stuff goes into the bus." " Some food stuff can also go into Robert's car." That's the early morning instructions belted out by Dr.Alvin Yip, our OA mission trip leader for the Christmas Shoe Box project 2013 to Bukit Ridan, Muadzam Shah, Pahang DM. I feel indeed privileged and honored to be working alongside this man of God, passionate and an encourager. Though he can be one meticulous planner and leader, I like the way he does his planning and there were many salient points and good leadership skills I had picked up along the way.  I am thankful too for good friend like Tan Dau Lim who had been a great encourager and motivator as the youths and I made this conscientious effort to bless the people in Bukit Ridan. I must say that I am way behind these people when it comes to planning for such events but I must confess I have learned a lot from these great people like Tan Jin Hui & Robert Chong from Gateway Christian Fellowship, Richard Lim, Dr. Pang and even Pastor Joanne. What a learning curve indeed.

The crowd....

We started out as early as 6.ooam and with all the shuffling of boxes and loading of goodies to cars and bus, we finally met up for a briefing and prayer 15 minutes before 7.00am. Then , it was off to our destination Bukit Ridan, Muadzam Shah, Pahang DM. Fifty five (55) of us, adults and youths from Gateway Christian Fellowship and City Community Church inched our way to our destination. There was an air of love, peace and joy though it was raining throughout our journey. However, I must confess that the pelting rain did not dampen our spirit that day. We had a divine appointment and a mission of great importance - to bless the children and the community of Bukit Ridan with our lives. Sure, we brought goodies and shoe boxes gifts along but to me, these are the side attractions. The main attraction is to allow the community to feel and be blessed with the love of Jesus through His humble servants in us. I must say that I have been blessed by the entire planning of this trip and I have great leadership examples to marvel at. This itself is a blessing.

My first few shy friends, Yuni & Asmira

Though we had "lost" our way upon reaching at Muadzam Shah, the sight of Ajis from Jus Chapel Selandar and Ton from Bukit Ridan Chapel on their m/cycle in the sweltering, cold and pouring rain gave us all a grand booster in our spirit. Though they were drenched wet, cold and shivering, they led us to Bukit Ridan OA village. It touched my heart to see them weathering and braving the pouring rain to bring us over to the village while we lounged at the comfort of our bus and cars. Upon arrival at the village, the ever smiling Pastor Joseph was at hand to welcome us. I shook hands with him and headed out to greet the Batin, the elders and the surrounding men and women there. I have learnt from my previous experiences that culturally it was good to greet the Batin ( head man ) - small built, graying hair and smiling man and his elders as this is the sign of respect to them as we visit their village. 

Delightful Balloon man, Tan Jin Hui....

Children, the men and the women folk were already seated in the newly built whittish in color Bukit Ridan Chapel. The rain did not let up but continued to pour incessantly but we had a divine destiny and nothing is going to hinder our work. We started to mingle with the children who were very shy and also started getting to know some villagers. Pastor Joseph's team started off with the praise & worship session  and this was followed by the children's skit on the birth of Jesus. 

Gateway youths were next. Under the leadership of Frankie, these youth belted out some nice BM praise & worship songs and rallied the crowd with some fine and fun actions. What a glorious start! The adults and children had great fun. The CCC Youth team led by Kenneth Pang, Joel Tan, Jaireh and Aaron Tay did the simple games that involved the children and the adults. It was a hilarious sight when they did the "Tupai, Pokok and Pemburu" game. Everyone mingled well and soon, the chillness and shyness went off and warmth crept in to warm hearts. I had the opportunity to make friends with three children namely Yuni, Asmira and Ira.I had enquired where the children were from and I was told that there were children from Kg.Simpai, Kg. Sinaling and Kg. Bukit Ibam. 

SLing with"orang tua" and his sister....

I could tell immediately that with their hair color and body size, these children were truly under-nourished. It was heartbreaking for me to see such depravity to these children. Before I could continue on to speak to the children , lunch was underway. Food comprised of wild boar cooked in black sauce and dried chilli, pucuk keledek ( sweet potato leaves ) , jantung pisang, kangkung and nangka lemak ( jackfruit cooked with lemak curry paste ) were the fare of the day. I was disappointed that many of our young people and adults did not try out the food. For me, this was already and exceptional food fare. Though these are simple food stuff, this was all they could offer and it would be disrespectful to decline food from them. I had no hesitation to try out the food and I found it to be tasty and nice especially the wild boar! 

Medical team - Dr.Alvin, Jessie, David, Dr.Wong & Timothy

The medical team, under the leadership of Dr.Alvin,Dr. Pang and Dr. Wong together with help from Manipal team namely David Lee , Jessie Looi and Timothy, then carried out their medical assistance to the villagers. Dr.Wong had the privileged to attend to the Batin who was the very first patient of the day. As the adults and children came forward for their medical examination and so on, we were most happy to hand out "ubat cacing" and multivitamin to these people. It was sad to know that there are still fungi related issues with these adults and children. It was disheartening that the adults had not taken care of their personal hygiene and this had spread to their children. I saw this brother and sister had fungi infection all over their bodies and there were bleeding at some of these patches mainly due to scratching. There wasn't much Dr. Alvin and his team could do except to prescribed anti fungi creobic cream for these adults and children for they knew that this type infection are quite common among the indigenous people. 

Joy to see the children having their meal....

The other thing was that I realised that the mothers are really young youths. I struck a conversation with Bebe from Bukit Ibam in regards to the young mothers. He informed me that most young girls who had reached the age of 14 years old would be married off and it was a cultural thing for their community. It is sad for me because all I saw was children having children. Where had society and culture gone so wrong on this matter - as I battered this question to my soul. My eyes was then turned to a frail,small built young mother breast-feeding her baby. What nutrient would have benefited the young children in such a deprived society? I wanted to take a picture of the breast feeding mother and her child but I refrained myself from doing so as I did not want to offend the people there at that time. That sight of young mothers and the frail breast feeding mothers filled my heart with sadness and more numbing questions. 

"Ubat Cacing" dispensers, SLing, Charlene, David & Timothy

As we gave out the shoe boxes gifts, milk powder and other food stuff, I never expected to be in another shocking sight. When the slippers and the clothes were being handed out at the centre of the chapel, it was like a mad rush and carnivale like atmosphere. Hands, limbs, legs flew in all directions as children and adults rushed for the clothes. I played that scene in my head so many times and I just couldn't help but felt how blessed we have been all these years. Things that we don't think twice of discarding like our old clothes are so precious to these people. I did asked a young man on why the rush for clothes. He told me that clothes would help them to be warm during cold weather. Here is a 17 year old man with two children and a 16 year old wife! As I stood there in disbelief at the grabbing of clothes and slippers, I felt thankful for those who had donate these clothes and slippers for the people on that day. Even Batin had a fitting coat to take home to and shield himself from the the cold. 

Joel,Aaron Y, Kenneth, Aaron T, Jenny, Joellene & Jaireh!

Indeed it was an eye opener for all of us who are first timers especially the youths and even seasoned helpers. That day, it wasn't about religion or boasting of being able to give. It wasn't about spreading the Gospel as we are most often accused of.  We simply cannot outgive our sovereign God. That day, it was spreading the love of God. It was about blessing a community. It was handing out a portion of God's goodness to the needy. It was allowing these people to know that we care.  It was about the same compassion, empathy, passion, love , peace and joy that God had entrusted us to relay on. It was about doing the right thing even though nobody is doing it. It was about touching lives of the receiver and the giver of that gifts. It is never about gifts but the gift seed from the heart for our lives are the only Bible one sees in places such as this. I am blessed though I have many unanswered questions as we leave that place that day. Perhaps when I meet my Maker one day, I shall ask him those question.

For now, I am contented that I have played a part in spreading that Christmas cheer to these people. Afterall, it is more blessed to give than to receive, is it not? I've learn this principle a long time ago! It never fails to cheer the heart! Thank you , GOD for a great outing! Thank you ,GOD for great people and unsung heroes that day - youths and adults , young and old!~