Raw faith....

Being back to a place I had not visited for 7 months, it was indeed an eye opener for me this time around. To be honest, my heart is always at this OA village which I shall leave unnamed for very obvious reasons. The entrapment and greedy hands of the evil are always waiting to pounce at every opportunity of naming the OA village and I can only say that God’s people will always persevered in such circumstances. Anyway, leaving the plays of evilness for a fraction of second, I was extremely glad to have arrived at this OA village together with Errol's family, Edwin's family, Gilbert & Mel.

Upon parking my car, I immediately greeted a familiar face; an elder and the welcome was exceedingly incredible to describe in words. The simplicity of our handshakes, hugs and smiles says it all. This familiar elderly folk was building a new platform for his home. He told me that it would be used for discussion, bersantai ( to relax ) and to enjoy the stillness of the night. We had a good laugh and I was amazed by his skill of building the platform that quick using the resak wood which he had carried out of the woods. My amazement went ballistics when he confided in me that he lugged the wood out on his shoulder while riding the m/cycle. He said that it was faster that way than walking! I tried lifting one of the resak wood and it was pretty heavy despite my best effort in my laterally large frame. I was blessed seeing him tying the knots using clove hitch and quick lashing works using rattan strips also sourced from the woods. What a tremendous effort!

Then I noted the progress of the congregation by the fenced up humbled church building and children church building cum rest house. What a great effort indeed! Though the fencing woods were roughly cut but the effort itself was applaudable  and commendable. My elderly friend informed me that it was through a concerted effort of pulling resources that they were able to buy the chain-linked fence and did what they did. There were just tears of joy in my heart and I teared up that day but away from the eyes of my elderly friend. Even in the little they had, they honoured the house of God and did the best they could muster for His Glory. Gosh! What an effort indeed!

I was and always am at home in this place. The tranquility and the quiet deafening sounds of stillness hits my soul a lot. Together with great friends in Errol & Jessica, Josephine, Bro. Edwin, Sis Lorna, Lara and Ethan, Melissa and Gilbert ( steady and delightful young husband & wife team ) plus my own family ( Soon Ling & Shwu Yuen ) , we had a great time of food and fellowship. The food was simple namely rice, luncheon meat, canned goat curry, fried eggs, baked beans and eggs. Truly camping food at its best. I truly enjoyed it so much and there was such a peak of great fellowship and light hearted laughs. That made it all so beautiful indeed on a night like this.

Then came the moment whereby someone had to share the message for the following morning. It was quite a hilarious moment and I ended up having the honor and pleasure again to share the message. In my heart, I wasn’t gonna struggle like when I was first asked to share the message, Somehow , this place made me real calm and collected though I still had to tag my Bible pages for the appropriate scripture passage and so on. I did it gladly and I re-read what I am going to share before I hit the sack for the night. It would be momentous again for me to share the Word in BM! I told myself , "Forward march, you soldier!"

Morning comes soon after and after a good morning shower, we were all ready for Sunday service. I met the young man who was driving the people to service and I was warmly welcomed and hugged. I guess, that is the specialty of this place. The people are so warm and friendly though they do eye you with curiosity at the first time because they had to; for there had been far too many evil people coming around with devious schemes, evil intent and evil plans. Rightly so that they are wary of such people.

Somehow, maybe, just maybe, God had given that wisdom to them to differentiate and sieved between the genuine from the fakes. It would definitely seemed so, I would say. As the people slowly trickled in for Sunday service, I must say, I wasn't nervous at all. Testimony by a young Semai woman was truly encouraging and I was really encouraged. The gist of it all is that she trusted God for her provision and even a ticket fare home was a welcomed miracle from God. It was the awesome rawness of her testimony sharing that set the wonderful praise & worship atmosphere that had ensued. As the P&W session ensued, you could feel the eclectic presence of the Lord.  It was the right setting and when the opportunity arose, I took it by sharing the Word, from the depths of my heart and gave my all that morning. I knew God's presence was there at that hall that day. I wished I could describe it but  the tangible presence of God and peace was really indescribable. By the time I finished the message that I had shared, I realised that my T-shirt was soaked wet. It was that intense for me that I had sweated profusely as I was told it was a hot day indeed. Never mind the sweat and the heat! The most important is that the message was presented in a great manner for the listeners. I was most touched as the people listened intently and gave me encouragement by their "Amens" and clapping. God, you deserve all glory....All, Lord!

I shared from the very depths of my heart that morning though I felt that a more qualified person or preacher could have done more or better. I am just thankful and humbled ; standing up there and shared my life story in the best manner I knew how. Hopefully, the message had blessed the people and touched their hearts and give glory to God. .May the storm sweep the evil away while rebuilding many more lives in the OA village with hope and a future. Let us never to forget that God is a good God and He is in control of everything. I am deep believer that God had made this day such a special day indeed.

As I bid farewell to my OA friends that day, I felt as though I had left a big chunk of my heart there at the village. Though I do not know them that well and I would love to get to know them more especially their way of life but the love for a loving God binds us together. As I pondered on, I know deeply in my heart that this is what is lacking in this disturbing world and society today - A good dose of His love and the fear of God. A good dose of God's love would definitely help our ailing society today...........I am sure of it!