Pearl's Insights

Hello to you who are reading this! My name is Pearl and I've just been on my first trip to Living Waters Village in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. I've been reading and hearing about the ministry for the last two years and this time round, to witness the progression of the work going on there was an eye-opener.


Right from the beginning of the trip to the time we were almost due to leave the place, surprises seem to keep knocking on our door. Communication was lagging between team members as half of them resided outside of Singapore. The ticket we were supposed to book for our flight to Kuching was fully booked, so we had to fly without the team leader. The day before overseas team members were to fly in, one hasn’t got her passport, another was stuck in the floods of Bangkok. How very exciting.

Nevertheless, with the exception of our beloved team member who stayed back in Bangkok, the rest of us made it safely to Living Waters Village :-) As I mentioned, surprises knocked on our door pretty often. On the morning we were due to conduct Sunday school for the kids, we realized there was no available interpreter! How’s that for a start? Thank God that He brought Laura to us. We met over breakfast and realized she’s one- Malaysian, which means she can speak Bahasa Melayu and two-she’s the main person for children’s ministry in her own church. She was definitely God-sent because I had no prior experience in conducting children’s ministry! Was I grateful to both she and God.


Now, if the morning episode was not enough, another surprise came in the afternoon. The team met up with Rachel and Marlinde, both whose families are based there. They liked what we taught in Sunday school on creation and wonder if we could teach English in the school next week (which is the very next day) riding on that theme. Well, that didn’t sound very exciting for me – not for me who thinks she has goofed up badly earlier in Sunday school. Moreover, we all came with the mentality we were here to do intensive labour work. No where did my team leader ever mention in the meetings that we’re going to teach but still – we taught.


Can I share with you something I learnt on this trip? No matter how bad we think we goofed up. No matter how unprepared we are. No matter experienced or not experienced, if it’s part of His plans, His grace will carry us through and carry us did it. Five not-so-familiar people gathering together to try to plan a teaching curriculum with very little background knowledge (we know there are 5 classes and their age groups and that’s about it), that sent P-A-N-I-C running across my face. Apparently God knew me better than I know myself. Just as I was doing my reading before bedtime with my Daily Bible, Exodus 3:1-4:31 was waiting for me. Moses met God, whom wanted to send him to Pharaoh. Moses, like me and some of us in the team, weren’t too excited. He out rightly told God, just as I did that “I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” Yet the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach what you shall say.” There was no argument.


So Monday came. We worshipped, prayed, planned and prayed. We had a good start though the students were shy in responding. Still, it was good. We did more planning and praying. By His grace and anointing, we managed to plan out the teaching a day at a time, everyone taking different responsibilities. There were no major disagreements; we worked well on a whole, just as how the body of Christ should work. The students were also warming up to us. Before we knew it, Friday had come! There are so many more things I would love to share (which I would on my website at telawi.multiply.com) but in a nutshell, this journey was simply amazing.


On this journey, God was speaking to every one of us. He was reminding one of His faithfulness. He was showing one how planning is essential (as the saying goes: we fail to plan, not plan to fail) Showing another how time could be better used than just having fun. Renewing the strength of one. Revealing the destiny of another. Isn’t it amazing what God can do on just this one trip?


We saved no souls on this trip but we built relationships and I look forward to seeing them grow when I go back. That’s where making disciples starts... in building relationships. In your backyard, build relationships. At your workplace, build relationships. In school, build relationships. Personally, this trip taught me that missions starts in the heart. And it can be wherever you are, not just when you step out with your passport. God bless.

Kimberly's Thoughts on Team Trip to Indo

the place

Spending time in West Kalimantan, I realised how being so low tech has made me see the beauty of God's creation and feel so much closer to God and His work.

what we gave and how we served

now this was one big eye opener. i was actually amazed that we took 3 to 4 hours to plan one day's lesson for 5 classes (for kindergarten, Grade 1,2,4 and Packet class), and that was 5 of us in the team working together!!! can you imagine if it were just one person teaching - me? it would be much worse! i should be spending like what - 5 hours per day's lesson planning? arghhh it goes to show my lack of commitment and effort i have in my job compared to some others without the certs and degrees.


besides the talents and creativity some people have, it was really the unselfish efforts of some of my teammates that made me wake up and ask myself,

"Am i giving only THIS little to God?"
"Why am i not rising and giving my all or my very best or even trying hard?"
"Have I been too critical or questioning of my motives to notice what I CAN DO and CAN GIVE and then give my best efforts to it?"


The d-day (testimony)

that was the day i worked my hardest and God showed me His power thru weakness and gave me strength to live the whole day and survive through, what I considered, an embarrassing testimony. i slept 3 hours the night before, being stressed about teaching the next day. and i didn't feel any one in my team contributed ideas to my lesson. which was frustrating and tiring. then i had to share my embarrassing testimony about my 14 year old experience about being suicidal, to these 300 people! arghhh! though not all would be there. there would be at least 200 in the hall, including missionaries from everywhere in the world who had just met me. what if they saw me differently, just as i'm making friends with them? what if the kids think i'm weird and don't talk to me or be my friend any more? what if i was blacklisted as "lousy" "bad" weird" "different", and they couldn't accept me as I was?


but i don't know how or why, but my whole team was SOOO encouraging. Pearl prayed for me before the evening meeting. she shared her testimony to me too.

i was amazed that 3 people came up to me AFTER my sharing to thank me and encourage me that it was a good testimony. Eddie opened up a lot! We had a long and open conversation where he shared his past experiences, and that it took God and Jesus to heal the wound and walk beside him to get over the hurt.

my deep conversation with Him

i was hungry to connect with God, seriously on this trip. the Lord reminded me on a solo walk down to the pri sch one morning, when i felt abandoned again by my teammates, who had gone ahead walking without me.

He reminded me of what my mentor said in 2006 in NTU. "Why does your security and confidence lie in people? Why is it not in God? Why is it in what you receive from others and what people say? Where does God come in?"

with that, i took a deep breath, tried to digest it, and walked on with my head held high..... knowing that my worth and esteem and who i was didn't rest in how many friends i had, how much applause and gifts i received from man, but rather rested in remembering God's love and unconditional acceptance He had for me, despite ALL my weaknesses and SINS and all the love He had for me??


I begged to hear more from God. then on the bus ride home toward kuching, for some weird reason i just couldn't sleep like the others did, snoozing away. i said "ok its gotta be you God. i want to really talk to you anyway." then HE FINALLY spoke. it was linked to the children's sunday school material each of our team took turns to teach when we taught the lesson of adam and eve's sin. "You will hear me speak....if you are obedient" came the voice. this time it sounded almost audible. like the burning bush voice in the prince of egypt movie. i was just gazing ahead at the trees in front and the long road. so hearing you stems from my obedience. that's a lot of work God, you know the condition of my obedience a LOT of times. "you will hear me speak clearly when you read the bible too, if you are obedient"

obedience

so here i am.........typing this, learning from great role models and examples of obedience too from teammates. as they despite some conflicts with authority are still mostly obedient to them, unlike me, who constantly wants to fight, mostly with my parents and most of the time this leads to spilling over to work supervisors as well, which is very bad. i didn't see the link till now, that God still honors those who respect authority despite whatever.

I see Pearl's obedience in serving and being with her family no matter what circumstances they go through. I see David's obedience in serving You despite no salary. I see Hemdi's obedience in being meek, not demanding for attention nor people's approval or friendship. I see Chris's obedience in sticking to his own church and not church hopping, and serving You in music.

At the end of the whole trip, I just think that God is using me specifically in Friendship/Bonding evangelism. I like sharing my life with people and hearing about their lives. I hope to be that friend to people (pre believers), who can reach that point of bonding / friendship where I can't help but keep on praying for them that they will be in the same place with me and with God, when our physical bodies depart the earth.