I woke up one Saturday morning.
Still lying in bed, I began to see a 'vision' of a flight path from Brisbane up to Malaysia, then another path off towards the east.
Then I saw a picture of a longhouse at dusk, with light shining out from the windows.
A missionary-friend had invited me to join a trip to Malaysia - and it turns out the trip was to include a second flight to East Malaysia.
I didn't have any money for the airfares, but I went ahead and made a booking anyway.
As the deadline drew near, the travel agent phoned asking if I was ready to pay. But all I had was $200 which my missionary-friend had given me.
Some days later the agent phoned again.
"This is a faith thing," I said, "I believe God wants me to go - so I'm just trusting Him to provide the money".
"Right - I'll leave it with you," the agent said, adding that he wouldn't be able to hold my seats any longer.
I asked some church friends whether they thought I was going - and two of them confirmed that I really was meant to go.
One of them said he saw me as if I was on the wing of the plane, but God wants you in the plane, he said.
I had to not be half-hearted, but be decided, resolved, committed, believing, and saying I'm going.
One night someone gave me some Malaysian currency. But still I had nowhere near enough for the airfares.
Then on the day before flying, at about midday, someone told me she'd just received word that she would be receiving some money into her account (from an estate) - and she wanted to give me some. The money was deposited into her account that afternoon, and she gave me a gift - enough for the tickets!
I quickly drove to the travel agency, arriving just minutes before closing time. The agent explained that although it was too late for a physical ticket to be issued, they could arrange for an electronic ticket to be waiting for me when I arrived at the airport the next morning.
So the agent proceeded with the sale, and found that a special fare had just been released. Had I been able to pay sooner, I would have paid some $200 extra!
My missionary-friend later remarked, "I'm going to let you handle my booking next time!"
What's more, it hadn't been possible to obtain Malaysian currency in Australia at that time - so I was also able to help my missionary-friend with some Malaysian cash too, when my friend needed it in Malaysia, much to my friend's surprise.
We ministered in churches in Kuala Lumpur, and in Malacca - then after some days we flew over to East Malaysia.
We ministered in churches; then when the time came to leave, we felt that I was meant to stay longer. So my missionary-friend returned to Kuala Lumpur, and left me in Borneo.
I had been invited to take a trip into a jungle, to the Iban tribe. We drove several hours to a village, then collected an outboard motor and some fuel, which was carried on shoulder to the river. The motor was attached to a wooden longboat, then we proceeded, deep into the jungle.
The river was flooded, so we had to avoid logs being swept downstream by the wide floodwaters. Nightfall was setting in - I could see the moonlight shining through the overhanging branches which formed a canopy over a narrow tributary we'd taken.
After 13 hours travel, we arrived. Our group walked up from the riverbank, along a narrow bamboo walkway - and there in front of my eyes was a longhouse. I could see lights shining through the windows, from a generator - exactly as I'd seen in my spirit when I woke up that Saturday morning at home on the Gold Coast.
The Ibans were once feared headhunters. Whole communities lived in longhouses rather than in separate huts, for protection.
Some longhouses are several hundred feet long, all of them with separate rooms for each family, plus common areas, some of them are over a hundred years old, elaborately constructed without nails.
Many such longhouses line the river systems. Some still have human skulls hanging up as decorations. I was told I was the first foreigner to ever visit this particular longhouse.
Next morning everyone gathered together to meet us. I told them the story of how I'd seen their place in a vision while at home in my country faraway, and that I had been sent to them with a message from God.
They looked eagerly at their visitor. I told them the good news of our beautiful Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and His salvation. And we laid hands on the sick, in His Name.
Many of them received the Lord JESUS as their Saviour. One man's face was just glowing afterwards with his newfound faith and joy!
We also made a trip upstream to a neighbouring longhouse on the other side of the river. This longhouse was larger with double-storeys. We preached there also, then came back to the first longhouse.
In the afternoon the whole village went to the river to bathe. The women and children first, then after they got back, we men. The river current was strong enough that I had to hook my leg around a submerged tree trunk to keep from drifting away. I could feel fish nibbling at my feet.
(One thing I enjoyed discovering was that people in the jungle have exactly the same sense of humour as us!)
After a couple of days, we left, despite so many longhouses still needing to be reached.
One of the local pastors in our group committed to visiting the longhouses regularly afterwards, at considerable sacrifice to him and his family. (But I later heard he couldn't keep going.)
I just don't know if the story of this tribe is finished yet.
I wonder how they're going...
Still lying in bed, I began to see a 'vision' of a flight path from Brisbane up to Malaysia, then another path off towards the east.
Then I saw a picture of a longhouse at dusk, with light shining out from the windows.
A missionary-friend had invited me to join a trip to Malaysia - and it turns out the trip was to include a second flight to East Malaysia.
I didn't have any money for the airfares, but I went ahead and made a booking anyway.
As the deadline drew near, the travel agent phoned asking if I was ready to pay. But all I had was $200 which my missionary-friend had given me.
Some days later the agent phoned again.
"This is a faith thing," I said, "I believe God wants me to go - so I'm just trusting Him to provide the money".
"Right - I'll leave it with you," the agent said, adding that he wouldn't be able to hold my seats any longer.
I asked some church friends whether they thought I was going - and two of them confirmed that I really was meant to go.
One of them said he saw me as if I was on the wing of the plane, but God wants you in the plane, he said.
I had to not be half-hearted, but be decided, resolved, committed, believing, and saying I'm going.
One night someone gave me some Malaysian currency. But still I had nowhere near enough for the airfares.
Then on the day before flying, at about midday, someone told me she'd just received word that she would be receiving some money into her account (from an estate) - and she wanted to give me some. The money was deposited into her account that afternoon, and she gave me a gift - enough for the tickets!
I quickly drove to the travel agency, arriving just minutes before closing time. The agent explained that although it was too late for a physical ticket to be issued, they could arrange for an electronic ticket to be waiting for me when I arrived at the airport the next morning.
So the agent proceeded with the sale, and found that a special fare had just been released. Had I been able to pay sooner, I would have paid some $200 extra!
My missionary-friend later remarked, "I'm going to let you handle my booking next time!"
What's more, it hadn't been possible to obtain Malaysian currency in Australia at that time - so I was also able to help my missionary-friend with some Malaysian cash too, when my friend needed it in Malaysia, much to my friend's surprise.
We ministered in churches in Kuala Lumpur, and in Malacca - then after some days we flew over to East Malaysia.
We ministered in churches; then when the time came to leave, we felt that I was meant to stay longer. So my missionary-friend returned to Kuala Lumpur, and left me in Borneo.
I had been invited to take a trip into a jungle, to the Iban tribe. We drove several hours to a village, then collected an outboard motor and some fuel, which was carried on shoulder to the river. The motor was attached to a wooden longboat, then we proceeded, deep into the jungle.
The river was flooded, so we had to avoid logs being swept downstream by the wide floodwaters. Nightfall was setting in - I could see the moonlight shining through the overhanging branches which formed a canopy over a narrow tributary we'd taken.
After 13 hours travel, we arrived. Our group walked up from the riverbank, along a narrow bamboo walkway - and there in front of my eyes was a longhouse. I could see lights shining through the windows, from a generator - exactly as I'd seen in my spirit when I woke up that Saturday morning at home on the Gold Coast.
The Ibans were once feared headhunters. Whole communities lived in longhouses rather than in separate huts, for protection.
Some longhouses are several hundred feet long, all of them with separate rooms for each family, plus common areas, some of them are over a hundred years old, elaborately constructed without nails.
Many such longhouses line the river systems. Some still have human skulls hanging up as decorations. I was told I was the first foreigner to ever visit this particular longhouse.
Next morning everyone gathered together to meet us. I told them the story of how I'd seen their place in a vision while at home in my country faraway, and that I had been sent to them with a message from God.
They looked eagerly at their visitor. I told them the good news of our beautiful Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and His salvation. And we laid hands on the sick, in His Name.
Many of them received the Lord JESUS as their Saviour. One man's face was just glowing afterwards with his newfound faith and joy!
We also made a trip upstream to a neighbouring longhouse on the other side of the river. This longhouse was larger with double-storeys. We preached there also, then came back to the first longhouse.
In the afternoon the whole village went to the river to bathe. The women and children first, then after they got back, we men. The river current was strong enough that I had to hook my leg around a submerged tree trunk to keep from drifting away. I could feel fish nibbling at my feet.
(One thing I enjoyed discovering was that people in the jungle have exactly the same sense of humour as us!)
After a couple of days, we left, despite so many longhouses still needing to be reached.
One of the local pastors in our group committed to visiting the longhouses regularly afterwards, at considerable sacrifice to him and his family. (But I later heard he couldn't keep going.)
I just don't know if the story of this tribe is finished yet.
I wonder how they're going...
No comments:
Post a Comment