Trekking with God in the jungles of Sarawak

By Pastor Benny Ng

AOM Coordinator for Sarawak

“I WILL wear adult diapers if I have to on my mission trip!”

This is what I told my wife when she was worried about my health and thought maybe I should take a break from ministry to get better first. I had been suffering from diarrhoea for three days and nights after ministering two villages in Sarawak. I still had one more village to visit.

Ministry in Long Sukang

I sensed the Lord’s leading and trusted that He would heal me as I wanted to honour my commitment to the church in Long Sukang. Sure enough, the Lord healed me as I got into the twin otter plane the next morning to travel from Miri to Lawas.

Here, nine churches from nearby villages came together for the revival meetings. We were treated like VIPs with welcoming dances and songs, and feted with sumptuous traditional delicacies. And the icing on the cake was the invitation by the leaders to return soon for more meetings and training.

Ministry in Long Jawe

Earlier, my team from the Hong Kong Sha Alliance church and I journeyed deep into the jungles of Sarawak, traversing’s the State’s tough, bumpy trails and long winding rivers to reach the Orang Asli there, namely the Ibans and Melanau living in the villages of Long Jawe and Long Busang.

It took seven hours to get to Long Jawe. Along the way, we saw numerous villages - covering an area double the size of Singapore - that were submerged in flood waters. The villagers were known as Orang Ulu (interior people) and comprised the Kenyah, Kayan and Penan tribes). The flood was caused by the building of the Bakun dam, which resulted in much of the cultural artefacts of the various tribes being destroyed.

The church of Long Jawe, which was once vibrant and now cold, floats 30 feet above sea level --- a rare sight indeed. The area is now home to only a handful of Kenyahs who live in floating houses. Back in its Heyday when the foreign missionaries were here this was a thriving church and we pray for revival fever to return to this church.

Ministry in Long Busang

We took a two-hour boat ride to Long Busang where some 30 % of the Kenyah people are non-Christians. To our surprise, the village head and other non-Christian leaders welcomed us with open arms .We were invited to their homes for visitations and still more amazing, every home requested us to pray before meals.

Before we started our ministry in the church, the pastor used the church’s PA system to invite the whole village to come for the meeting.

During altar call after my sharing, an old lady came up to me to thank me for relieving her from the burden of bitterness towards God for many years because her son committed suicide. She left with newfound joy in her heart when God healed her of her grief when she finally chose to let go of her anger.

God’s Protection

As I travel the length and breadth of Sarawak’s interior, the journeys are always challenging as I never know what to expect when I go into the jungle to minister to the local tribes. Because I am to be obedient to His calling, I know God will protect and keep my family safe, and that He will be in the jungle with me, guarding me too.

Fruit of our Labour

To see these people come to the Lord is my reward. For truly there is no better reward than seeing the people you have touched are also going to Heaven with you.

Gal 6:9-10 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers

The foot soldiers in Vietnam are a group of dedicated men and women who are willing to risk everything to see their people saved.
They are persecuted not only by the authorities but also by their communities, friends and even families. Yet they preserver for the sake of the gospel. How many of us would be willing to risk everything for the Gospel? 


TESTIMONY BY NGUYEN DD – FOOT SOLDIER IN SOUTH VIETNAM

My name is Nguyen D.D. and I am 52 years old. I was born in Central Vietnam and spent all of my childhood there. I married a local girl form the same hometown as myself and we have 4 children. Life was a  long hard struggle for us and we grew up in poverty, just existing from one day to another, with no hope at all for a better tomorrow. In 2001, during a hurricane our family lost our entire home and possessions.  For me, this was all I expected my life to be. I never dared to hope or believe for anything different.

After being made homeless, my wife and I decided to move to South Vietnam, 1500km away to start a new life. There things were even more difficult. I could not find a permanent job, only small menial part time jobs that did not pay much. All I could afford to rent for us to stay was a really small room (43 square feet) and there I lived with my wife and 4 little children. My children had to go to school but sometimes I could not afford to send them. Food was scarce and many a night they went to bed hungry. Sometimes I could hear them whimpering in hunger. I began to feel so depressed and hopeless and I turned to alcohol to relieve this ‘pain’. In my drunken state I was oblivious to the pain and hopelessness of myself and my family.

One day in 2007 I began to see the tangible love of God through a friend and after he shared with me about Jesus and His love I began to feel some small glimmer of hope. I decided to accept Jesus and made him my Lord and Saviour. From that day my life was completely transformed. My family on seeing my transformation also accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. I managed to get a job but things did not immediately get better. I still lived in that small cramped room, never inviting anyone to see where I lived. We faced much persecution from our family, friends and colleagues. My friends and colleagues despised me saying “You said your God is so good and powerful then why are you still living in such a bad state?” But we persevered and we give thanks to the Lord for helping us keep our faith.   

After 11 years, God granted us the provisions to get a new house and he also blessed my children to excel in their studies and get good jobs. I am now a grandfather too and I thank the Lord for all His blessings. My home has been dedicated to be used as a house of worship and I am honoured to become a servant of the Lord.

I would like to thank Asian Outreach for praying for us and supporting us all these years. You have given me the strength to be faithful in serving God and encouraged me greatly. 

Ecc 11:1 “Cast your bread upon the waters for after many days you will find it again”