Water! It flowed freely that day.....

The team ....

"Dari umur saya 8 tahun, tidak ada air paip sampai ke rumah. Tapi sekarang, Puji Tuhan, sudah ada sampai ke rumah. Air Paip. Mencecah umur saya 21. Saya rasa macam mimpi saja." - Isan, 21 years old.

This was the whatsapp message long after we completed the laying of water pipes to flow good and clean water to the families in one of the OA village. Praise be to God for enabling the water team of CCC Melaka to finish the timely works for the OA village. It was like the best CNY present ever from all of us in CCC Melaka to the OA community.  For 13 long years, these villagers had to endure a 10m walk down to collect water from the river below, the source of their drinking water, bathing and washing too.

The team

The river had long gone in terms of cleaniness and it was inhumane to let this people suffered for 13 years and counting more had it not been God's mighty hands of intervention that prevailed. GOD placed that burden in our hearts and the water team just obediently followed that call. It wasn't easy. It wasn't an ego trip. It wasn't proudness or showing off. It was humanity in the grace of a miracle! It was mukjizat Tuhan! 

There is no humanly glory nor personal glory nor prideful gloating/boasting that the team sought after by carrying out this water pipe laying works. Instead, we were just thankful and felt the joyous feeling in our hearts. The smiles and the thankfulness look on the faces of the OA community were good enough for us. It was worth it all - the sacrifices, the physical exertion to go the extra mile and all the hard work!

The pipes and helpers....

Sure, there were challenges ahead but miraculously, God smoothed it all out in His time and in His ways. I am thankful and humbled to be part of this team. These people had become like family to me and I am so appreciative of their effort. Pastor Joanne, Pastor Chua, Capt Edwin and Sis.Lorna had been instrumental in bringing water; good clean water to these simple folks. What a great effort indeed!

As usual, Edwin and Lorna had arrived earlier on Friday morning at the OA village to supervise the placement of the ordered water pipes in rolls and the accessories. They had made arrangements that the water pipes were delivered and in place but we weren't sure how many OA youths and community would turned up to help in the works.

The kuli kangs are at work....

I guess, it was on my mind too as Errol & Jessica, Jin Hui and Zach, SYuen, SLing and myself drove to the OA village after working hours. We arrived shortly before 1.30am on Saturday morning after an arduous drive in the midst of drizzling rain and heavy downpour. It was tiring for me personally as I was working in Segamat that morning and I had a fall while at work. Though the back and bums hurt, I was not going to miss that opportunity to be part of this band of brothers! I must thanked the people who had came alongside us to work on the water project all this time but were unable to come for this finale. Thank you for your sacrifices. The people had not forgotten you and so do we! 

The water source...

We hit the sack after our arrival as everyone needed the much needed rest as it was going to be a long day the next day. I guess, with such great responsibilities in our minds, we did not sleep much. I guess, it kinda wedged in our minds that we just needed to let the water flow through the pipes and in homes, no matter what! So, we were up early and eager to do our work despite a gloomy day with pendulous hanging dark clouds signalling the imminent arrival of showers that morning. Never mind! showers of blessings,  we shall call it! Our spirits would not be dampened by such hindrances.

As we got ready, the helpers from the OA community began to trickled in. It was amazing to see about 27 people coming out to help us lay the water pipes from the waterfall to Ibu Leha's house signalling  the beginning of the flow of water after 13 years of wait. After a few minutes of getting to know each other and some last minute instructions, we were off to the waterfall nee the water catchment area. These OA blokes carried a roll of polypipe each and strolled along in the secondary jungle while we , the city folks tried keeping up with their paces. It was drizzling, wet, slippery and difficult terrain this time. 

My two buddies - Edwin and Errol,,,,

I must admit that I was extremely tired than usual, maybe because of the wet, slippery and soft grounds we were threading that day. Slips and falls were the order of the day even though, I wanted to stay as firmly as possible as a fall would mean more pain to my bums. Thank God, I was more careful not to fall on my bums but it still happened. Nevertheless, just bite the tongue, made a quick swear under my breath, pick myself up and moved on. Slowly but surely the cleared path which was carried out by the villagers earlier helped us all a lot. Equipped with the convicted encouragement and determination to bring water to the community, we threaded on until we reached the waterfall.

At the water source....

At this place, there was talk of a cleaner pool of water and a great place. At first , I must admit that I was agitated by all these insistence of climbing higher at a steeper angle to get to the so-called ultimate place to flow the water. I must thanked Errol and Edwin for calming me down and asking me to focus on what that matters and who are serving. So, I climbed up another 30m up at a 60 degrees angle climb on big boulders to reach to the ideal water catchment area. At first,  I was just exhausted while my thighs had started to cramp up due to the tremendous amount of stretching done and it was a physical challenge but words of encouragement and spirit of cohesive togetherness helped me get through this indefinitely.

Jin Hui , Zach and  myself were at the water source while Edwin and Errol were at the bottom section joining the water pipes with the OA helpers and Pak Panjang.

Errol Gan..that's one helluva climb!

I must say that Pak Panjang and Pak Sabri were instrumental in ensuring that the pipes were properly affixed and ready to contain the voluminous water which would flow through the pipes. After some anxious moments of fixing and filling up the water pipe, water gushed out with such tremendous power and volume. It was a great success. The OA helpers cheered and shouted in joy each time water shoots out of the affixed water pipes.  After securing the water trapment container at its place, it was a huge sigh of relief . It was such sweet success indeed! 

Edwin coming down from the water source...

Coming down the waterfall was the tricky part though as the boulders were wet , slippery and rather big. One has to carefully manoeuvred through the cracks and smooth area to slide down indefinitely. After some time, we got down and it was time to check the fixed fittings to ensure no leaks and no wastage of water. Everything went on smoothly with occasional repairs to the fittings. Soon, the one and a half hour trek back to the original point seemed insignificant important as we just water to continue to flow from pipe to pipes soon enough. It was challenging zig-zagging around the mountain with rain showers being our companion as we trudged along to reach our final destination , Ibu Leha's house! 

Zach, myself and Edwin...

When water flowed from the affixed pipes and reached Ibu Leha's house, the joy was unspeakable. The lighted faces says it all. After fixing all the required fittings, it was time to hand oven the pipes to Pak Ya and Ibu Leha. It was such a wonderful feeling of accomplishment but very hard work. I was pumped out of my energy and I was extremely tired. There are just no words to describe how I felt that day - pure bliss and joy for the OA community. GOD , you are so good!

A stop to repair a leak.....

Now, 27 families will have the privilege to have water after a 13 years wait. To me, equipping that one house ( Ibu Leha's house ) was the ultimate joy for me. It is significantly important to equip her home as she was faithful and have caring heart towards her community. It just goes to show us that God is a wonder working miracle giver. Ibu Leha's  faithfulness in God had come to fruition. Due to her diligence, steadfastness and faithfulness in God, her community had benefited and been blessed. It is a miracle indeed!

The finished water pipe at Ibu Leha's house.

The resonant wave of relief and mood in the OA community had changed from one of bleakness and downtrodden feeling to a joyous and uplifting in spirit occasion. A miracle had happened after 13 years of wait! Fresh clean water had arrived in the pipes! It happened because there were people who dared to make a difference even if it was like throwing pebbles in a vast pool of water but the resonant ripples seemed bigger and more effective. God listens and God cares! I am just so humbled to be part of this team of wonderful brothers and sisters!

Knowing who the miracle giver ( pemberi mukjizat ) will always bring cheer to the heart. For me, it is never the miracle that I sought but always the source of the miracle - the miracle giver. (GOD)

Enjoying a meal from Ibu Leha and the mothers.

I leave you with this : Wayat nak Yesus: "Menda haq head kugyerg ouq benusieq, Kugyerg ouq Allah." - Lukas 18 : 27
( But he said the things which are impossible with man are possible with GOD - Luke 18: 27 NKJV )