SARAWAK BM/IBAN LANGUAGE CAMP 2015: BORNEO ODYSSEY
Five months into planning and finally on the 1st of May, 2015, 350 of us gathered at Sibu city (the 3rd largest city in Sarawak) to attend the long-awaited Bahasa Malaysia/Iban language camp. Some participants travelled from other cities and some have travelled from their longhouses far up rivers. It was a relief that all of the participants arrived safely by belon (airplanes), cars and sampans (boats). To know that some had begun their journey as early as 3am to reach Sibu made us feel so blessed and so thankful for His protection.
Registration started at 12.00 noon and that went on smoothly. It was a pleasure to see everyone filled with excitement and zeal in anticipation of the start of the camp. The camp started with an opening speech and briefing by Charles, the Camp Chairman. The theme of the Camp was Borneo Odyssey and it truly reflected the atmosphere whereby many came with expectant hearts to embark on an odyssey with God to win the native communities in Sarawak for Jesus.
To set us off on this odyssey, our special guest speaker Ps Moses Wan from Hope Kuala Lumpur, shared his experiences in farming when he was growing up in the interior of Sarawak as a farm boy. We were delighted to know that the skylines of Kuala Lumpur did not wane his love for farming. The participants were captivated throughout because they could relate very well with farming since most of them are farmers. This farming imagery accurately reflects the camp teachings on A Seed Church; the significance of the seed, sowing the seed, nurturing the seed and reproduction of seed.
Our senior pastor, Pastor Denis Lu, preached in Bahasa Malaysia fluently with confidence and enthusiasm without reference to written note for the very first time. God truly anointed him with a special gifting that night and many lives were touched by the power of God on that evening.
We also heard great and encouraging testimonies from Bro Jessing Awos of Hope Kuching, Bro Wong Sii Riong (Ah Liang) of Hope Nanga Sekeroh and many more. Bro Jessing Awos spoke of the faithfulness of God when he was attacked by two potentially deadly diseases (dengue fever and lestoporosis) at the same time. Bro Ah Liang spoke of how God led him to pray for a villager who had a mysterious illness. The villager was healed by God and joined us in this camp.
Beside the main plenary sessions, the participants were also encouraged by and benefited tremendously from the workshops. Five workshops topics were introduced in this camp they were: Longhouse Ministry by Sis Empina, Parenting Children by Bro.Daniel and Sis Mina, Excellent Worker by Bro Kilat, Excellent Student by Bro Jeffrey and Prayer by Pastor Sam. It is our hope that the workshops would help to spur on the mission work and ministry in the churches of Sarawak.
The third and final day ended with a forum moderated by Bro Kilat of Hope Mukah which raised and highlighted the concerns of the Malay/Iban language groups. The panel (Ps Denis, Ps Moses, Ps Hai Eng and Daniel Lee) spoke on various issues. One significant challenge Ps Moses Wan gave to the participants was to encourage the parents to intentionally invest in the future of their children as this will yield a return of 1000-folds for the family. Finally after three days, the camp came to an end but in times to come, many will look back to this day and take delight to know that this was where it all began.
By Jessing Awos & Daniel Lee
