Beginnings

Missions to Nias May 2008

Day 13 – Tuesday 27th May 2008

Our night's stay at the Medan hotel was short. I've slept barely four hours. Stayed up late with Gilbert and Darren, talked about all the stuff there is in the universe. From Relativity, to Genesis, to .... ... ....

Checked out of the hotel early, then proceeded to the Airport to settle our flight arrangements. Rev. Haposan drove a few of us, while the rest who cant squeeze in took a taxi. We reached the airport early, so we'd decided to check in our languages and get our boarding pass.

At the departure hall, we were greeted by these two men who were very well dressed and had good manners. They claimed to be part of the staff from the airport, and decided to be very kind to us by helping us with all the checking-in procedures. Little did we know that they were in fact "helpers" who at the end of it all, require certain form of repayment(tips). Ok, i know.. we had been warned, and vowed not to allow them to help, but we couldn't detect it. Anyway, we were all exhausted from the extended trip, so i guess it's good for someone else to help us settle all these stuff.

As we finished checking in procedures, we thought we had some time, so we exited the departure gates to meet Rev. Haposan for breakfast. But we were called back by the two men who helped us check-in. They informed us that international flights requires passengers to board 30mins before flight! O no... had they not told us that, we would have ate breakfast, and delayed the flight, or worse... missed it! - God works in mysterious ways...

Nias Team photo at Medan Airport

It's time to bid farewell to Indonesia.... The journey has been long, 13days in total. We had our fair share of joy, excitement, times of desperation, disappointment, regret, fulfillment. Such feelings never wears off, and will be sweet memories to stay. We boarded our Budget carrier, and waved off Indonesia.

Yes, we are going back...

Throughout the almost two hour flight, memories of the trip overwhelmed my mind... But something stood out from all. The lack of sleep. If i could, i would have slept throughout the flight!. Anyway... we are all in good spirits.. knowing that we have accomplished our mission.

~some photos taken onboard

Touchdown Singapore~

It feels really amazing to be back in Singapore. Although it was only 13 days, i miss Singapore so much. Peering out of the cabin window, the words SINGAPORE CHANGI AIRPORT is a welcoming sign - telling me... welcome home my child.

~And guess who fetched us at the airport!

Who are those people? They seem so strangely familiar... Pastor Alvin, Jenny, Daniel, Eileen, Pearlyn and Andreas came to receive us. We were all so grateful that they had took time off to receive us at the airport =) There's just too many things which we want to tell them, yet.. at the same time, even if we had the abundance of words, it can never be conveyed fully. It has to be experienced.

Had a light meal at the cafeteria before leaving for our homes. The Nias team concluded our trip with a short debrief and experience sharing, AND of course prayer.

It’s both a joy and a privilege to be part of this mission team as we recall the good and bad times we had throughout the trip. Even though conditions in Nias has been tough, we have managed to endure through this journey together with God's Grace.

Our God is Faithful, as seen in Isaiah 41:10 ‘Fear not, For I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes I will help you, I will uphold you with My Righteous right hand.’ Fear not He says because there isn’t a mountain too high, or a valley too low for Him to conquer. Fear not because we can find strength in Him. Fear not.'

With this, we’ve concluded our trip to Nias. May we stay strong and focus throughout our walk with Christ. Not how fast we walk, run or sprint, but how loyal and faithful we are to the cause of Christ, and we will never know where is the finishing line until we meet Christ face to face. Till that day, we shall always be good stewards and servants of our Lord Jesus Christ. For where our treasures are, our hearts will be. In Christ alone shall we place our hearts.

Final Words: Something's growing in me. It must be the seed which Jesus has planted in my heart. May it flourish to bear His fruits.

Final Final Words: ......

Day 12 – Monday 26th May 2008

It's time to say goodbye to Nias. The small tropical island west of Java. Goodbye is never easy. Especially when we need to wake up at 5am to reach Telok Dalam airport to catch our flight at 845am.

Auntie Damai specially prepared some "light" (sumptuous by Singapore's standard) breakfast to fill our stomachs before we embark onto the last leg of our journey. Breakfast is always the time for us to sit together, talk about the day's programme, work out details and jobscope of each member. But today, we did not. There's this aura of unwillingness to leave this place. Uncle Famachoi & Auntie Damai have been excellent hosts, taking care of our basic necessities plus much more! Breakfast took longer than usual. And we are late!

So in a hurry, we began loading our barang-barang onto the van. Then as usual, when we hurry, we will tend to remember that we have forgotten to do some stuff!! haha... Jessica forgot to collect pictures from her dad's camera, i've forgotten to bring certain barang barang. Said our last goodbyes to the house and Auntie Damai. Robin came along with us to the airport. Then with the last goodbyes and kisses, we departed for the airport.

9 adults + barang barang packing into the small van.

Not the most comfortable place to sleep, but i slept anyway. 2.5hrs journey through paved roads littered with potholes. Same road i've travelled three times, this time it felt different.

Finally at the airport, we checked-in and took some pictures together. Then Uncle Famachoi met with his friend. His friend was hurting. He just lost his wife in an accident in which he was involved too. I can only imagine how much hurt he has to bear.. losing his spouse. We can only comfort him, but God heals. So we looked to God in prayer, to ask for his blessings of healing to heal all wounds, both physical and emotional.

 

 

 

Time now: 830am - time to go. Merpati, dual prop

 

Nonetheless, we had to go. Many of us are homesick and looking forward to the company of our family members back in Singapore. Maybe not so for the princess, but we took comfort in God’s shelter, wherever we may go.

 

 

We love the plane!

 

 

 

 

 The journey back too a little more than an  hour. Reached Medan Airport early. Waited a little while for Rev. Haposan. And then, he appeared in his small van! And of course, not everyone of us can squeeze into it, so a few of us took a taxi, while the rest took his van. I was in the taxi. And boy was i terrified. Firstly traffic in Medan is chaotic, if orchard road/chinatown/(name the most congested road) was bad, Medan is beyond description. Secondly, when i asked around for who knew the hotel's name, we just stared at each other. Thirdly, we were suppose to follow Haposan's vehicle, but once we exited the airport, we lost them. But everything went well, we managed to find the hotel. Thank God.

Welcome to Hotel Medan, a 5 star luxury hotel with a huge swimming pool plus other facilities. Nahz.. just kidding. We got a even better deal. Gentala Hotel. Rooms with attached showers. Per night about S$18 per person. Where to get?! After a quick check-in, we took a rest in our rooms until it's time for lunch.

 

Lunch was at a local street-side stall. Had so many dishes, prawn, meat, everything. We even ordered some kind of mango juice... oh, it was delicious. And after the meal... we were so full and satisfied. Never had that for a long time... To our surprise, for the food and drinks all in.. it's only about S$50.

Before we left for Nias, we had agreed with Rev. Haposan to give some training to 30 local teachers and at the end of it provide them with a certificate. We only require William and another helper to be present for the workshop. However, we decided to go as a team, to give each other support - Team spirit! William conducted the creative thinking workshop with the rest of us as participants. We learnt many new things and it definitely changed our perspective when we look at things now.

Since we on the topic of creative thinking,

HOW MANY TYPES OF EACH ANIMAL DID MOSES BRING INTO THE ARK?

Answer: 1

Did you get 1? If you did, then you’re wrong! It’s Noah, not Moses who filled the ark. It shows us that our mind works in many modes, but not all at the same time. Thus if we are tuned to calculative mode, we would overlook the actual point of a question. A quick devotional point : Sometimes in life, we are so fixated on the idea of what God’s works are. We have to do house visitation, prayer meeting, do bible studies, street evangelism. However, God told us to do all these and much more! We are to live our lives in His glory, thus everything that is edifying would be God’s works.

That aside, in the evening we went for some quick last minute souvenir shopping at the shopping centre with Carrefour. I bought nothing because didn't have any money on me. Uncle Gilbert bought tee-shirts for his children. Darren bought some tees too. Jessica and Esther bought some cookies for us and for those in Singapore. The cookie box was very unique. It's in the shape of a cube, with each face displaying one to six cookies, which makes it a dice!

Dinner was back at where we had lunch. During lunch, i wanted to try their Char Kway Tiao because of strong recommendations by Rev. Haposan. However, i couldn't resist the urge to eat waffles from A&W, so... didn't have much room for it, so i refrained from ordering. Others ordered their share, and we had a nice dinner.

After dinner, we returned to our Hotel to rest for our flight next morning. Uncle Gilbert suggested to see the night scene in Medan, i thought it was a cool idea too. It's our last night anyway.... but we(Uncle Gilbert, Darren and I) were just tired and wanted rest. Before we retired to lala-land, we had a nice chat with each other about the trip =) anyway that concludes our last night in Indonesia.

Day 11 – Sunday 25th May 2008

During the entire duration of our trip, there is always a common complain. “I’ve lost (my shoes, my pen, my scissors”. Then after a while of searching, “I’ve found it!” So is it “lost” or “misplaced”? Sometimes we make certain presumptions when we are unsure about a situation, thus misunderstandings occurs. It is understood that the Devil works very hard to keep us wary and suspicious of each other’s intentions. While we are doing God’s works, he works to stumble us when we work, when we play, when we talk, and also when we talk to God. However, through its only through God’s mercy and guidance can we be victorious over the Devil.

Breakfast as different. We were short of a few members. Jessica and Robin were at their uncle's place to spend a night with them. So the remaining few of us ate our breakfast, at the same time, discussed about the plans for today. Many things will be happening. We've got preparations for Finale, Actual Evangelistic finale evening and light refreshments after. Anyway lots of headache.

After breakfast, we spent time arranging the chairs and all the fans. Learning from past experience, it will be best for children to be seated at the front, on the floor because in that way the children can watch the performance well. And also, fans have to be strategically position all over the hall, else there wont be enough ventilation to keep the guest comfortable. Lastly, we have to cover up the windows and set a white screen for us to project the images onto the wall. And after all that preparations, we still have to prepare our song item for today!

Morning preparations completed. Sound-check done.

Our sound system worked perfectly! We have 4 speakers, but decided to use only two for today because the hall is not large enough to accommodate the loud sound without echo.

At 2pm, children whom came for our camp returned to join us for the Evangelistic Finale Night. It’s also a pleasant surprise that so many of them returned. Even those who reside in villages two hours away were present. In total, we have about 70 children were present. They prepared some song items for the Grand finale. Soon it was time to start the programme.

Evangelistic Finale Night is organised in a bid to create greater awareness for the cause of Nias Hope Foundation. It is also our way of saying farewell to those whom we have met throughout the trip.

Why

"night"

when it starts and ends before the sunsets?

Another cultural blunder we have made. In Singapore, we have planned for an evening of joy and fun, but little did we realise that the villagers actually return home early, night activities are restricted to mainly watching TV.

~Performance Proper~

First performance was by the Children,

 

 

 

 

 

then Singapore Team’s Song items

 

Now the Kindergarten Teachers' song items

 

 

 

 

IKIP College students' Performance

 

It was definitely entertaining and at the same time touching to see that we have touched their lives in one way or another. Then came the highlight of the afternoon, the performance by the family of Wa’u.

 

 

We also showed a movie clip of our journey in Nias. This clip contains pictures, events, sights and taste of life and the activities we have done so far. The children were especially excited when they saw pictures taken during children’s camp.

Shortly after, William gave a message to the congregation while the children had their Sunday School lesson on The Ten Bridesmaid. Due to some miscommunications and other factors, our Ten Bridesmaid Skit was played out by.... Zhihong as the foolish.. But lets not talk further. I had lots of fun doing it =)Unfortunately, not many pictures were taken during this period of time because we were all busy... We ended the session with a sharing of the EvangeCube. Definitely useful to convey the message of the Gospel, though i would like to use a BIGGER CUBE.

  

Everything ended well. Plenty of extra refreshments to go around. Everyone of us including the helpers worked very hard. We've enjoyed ourselves alot, especially for the children!

Some six children stayed back late after the event was completed. Finally some breathing space for us. So since we were all waiting for dinner, we played many games with them =) Thought them "I've got peace like the river" and the Birthday Clap! I guess they would be looking forward for us to return to teach the rest.

<-clip>

We had candlelight dinner, to mark the successful completion of our works in Nias for this trip. Although the dinner was simple, we talked and laughed and remembered all the good times we had throughout the trip.

And having to say goodbye the next morning was a pity.