HOPE KUCHING MISSION TRIP TO PONTIANAK, INDONESIA
There is so much to share about our mission to the city of Pontianak. We want to share the burden in our hearts to go forth from Sarawak to the nations to fulfill the Great Commission.
After our marriage in 2006, our first child came along within a year. The thought of mission became a distant dream. Then, three more years into our marriage, we had our third child and the prospect of mission just seemed impossible. But our God is a God of all possibilities.
A year later, God impressed upon our hearts to look beyond Sarawak to our neighbouring country. That was when we decided to visit the city of Pontianak, Indonesia. Our first mission trip was with a group of working adults fromHope Kuching. We decided to charter a van to visit Pontianak. It was an unpleasant 8-hour ride on rough and bumpy terrain. We were so glad that our three children took the entire trip with ease. This is how we knew that God had shown His favour to us during the mission trip.
Our mission exploration trip was over 5 days and our team was mobilised to reach out to our seed contact, to touch those in the orphanage and old folks’ home. At the end of the mission trip, we were so excited in our spirit by God’s blessings and we eagerly shared our experience with Hope Kuching members. Out of this sharing, the prayer momentum over the land of Pontianak began to build up until today. Amazingly, within the last 2 years, our key contact in Pontianak have been blessed with a Parenting Course as well as Life Group gatherings and visitations to Orphanages. These were only made possible with the many different homogeneous groupings supporting mission trips to Pontianak.
On our recent trip in October 2013, the senior family in their 60’s joined us. The Senior Family unit, embracing the spirit of Caleb, has proven that age is no barrier to conquering the land for God. In fact, God in His great wisdom has prepared challenges so unique for us to experience. These experiences included being detained by immigration and the police. This is how one senior family member, Uncle Chan, described the encounter:-
“ On our way to the equator, after crossing a bridge, all of the sudden, a traffic policeman over took our car and flagged us down. Daniel showed him his document and driving license. Then, he asked Daniel to follow him to the police station. We started praying in tongues in the car. I prayed in my heart the same prayer when Daniel was held back at the immigration department. The bridge that we were travelling on was only open for motorcycles. This was because 2 months before, a passing ship had accidentally knocked the pillars and the bridge was then under repair.... We had been praying inside the car for about 20 minutes, when Mina and Mrs Lai went into the police station. The traffic police wanted to file charges and fine Daniel but there was an officer of a higher rank in the office. With prayer and petition to the Lord, the higher-rank officer's heart was softened and finally let Daniel off. Then Sis Mina and Puan Lai said "Terima Kasih Tuan" (thank you, Sir) to the officer, Praise the Lord. Everything went well and we knew that God's hand was upon this trip. We have stronger faith after each incident.”
Even though the obstacles kept presenting themselves each trip, we believe that they will only strengthen our faith. We are glad that God’s burden to go forth from Sarawak is not just for us but involves many aspects of our Church, the brothers and sisters in Christ in Hope Kuching and our key contact in Pontianak. Praise and glory to God for His wonders and we urge you to keep the city of Pontianak in prayer. We will be going on another mission trip to Pontianak from 6th -8th December with a group of working adults. We would like to see the seed group to be strengthened and continue to meet so that eventually, we will be able to plant a Hope Pontianak.
Daniel and Mina, Hope Kuching
