THE LONG UNAI REVIVAL

Ps Benny Ng - AO Sibu coordinator

Long Unai is the last village of the Belaga District in Sarawak, about 3 km from the border of Kalimantan. The people there comprise of the Penan and Kenyah tribe. The Penan there were the very first Penan tribe to have settled down from their nomadic lifestyle 40 years ago. The nearest town from here is Kapit (3 hours away from Sibu by speed boat) which is a 9-hour drive through the timber trails and 5-hour ride in an express ferry. Almost 75% of the people here are without any birth certificates or National Identity cards due to the long journey and high cost to travel to the main city to register the birth and secure an identity card.  I was in Long Unai 6 years ago for a pastor’s retreat and went back 2 years later to help to start the Christian kindergarten there under the Borneo Evangelical Church. A month after the school was started, government official came to ask the church to hand over the kindergarten to them but the church declined the offer even though the financial gain would be very much higher and future development will be guaranteed. The church – when first started – were strong in their faith but there were not many evangelist or pastors willing to go regularly to mentor them due to the remoteness of their area, so eventually they fell back into their old pagan ways.

Since late September, a revival took place here when some church members started to repent and stop activities that displeased God. Some of the young people still smoke and drink and the older folks went back to animistic practices. The peak was in early October when a group of pastors went over to conduct a revival meeting. That night, one of the pastors, who used to pastor them here a few years ago started to apologize and ask for forgiveness from the church for all the wrongs he had done and for all the rights he has not done during his time there. There was silence and people started to cry and ask for forgiveness among each other and from God. Many were confronted with idolatry issues during that night through the power of the Holy Spirit that enabled the pastors to see things beyond their abilities.

People were told that they kept charms and idols which were hidden in certain secret places.  Initially they tried to deny this but when the places were revealed through the Holy Spirit they confessed and repented. One person was told that the wok in his household was used before to cook human heads but he strongly protested and denied that. However, when asked where the wok originated from, he confessed that his parents dug it from an ancient ancestor’s grave! The wok was traced back to the head hunting period where it was used to cook human heads that was chopped off from their enemies.

Other signs were that many started to receive special gifting such as speaking in different languages. Two young men could pray in Arabic and fluent English which they couldn’t even speak before that. Others received gifting like seeing signs, wonders and dreams.  Borneo Evangelical Mission sent a team to do some documentation and they too were ministered by the Holy Spirit there. The team also conducted meetings to teach them to differentiate true spirit and gifting’s that came from God. They stressed unity in diversity as there were signs that some of those who received the gifting started to be confused and some became proud.

The people there were so hungry for the Lord and would come to the church for the Prayer Meeting hours before the meeting started because they felt the anointing of God was in that place and they wanted more and more of it. Only a handful of people remained disobedient to the Holy Spirit and continued to live the pagan lifestyles even though they called themselves Christians. Although this revival stated first in September 2016, God is still manifesting his glory and awakening in the people there today. I was told that there will be 10 young men and women who have dedicated themselves to serve God and will be enrolled in Belaga Bible School next year.

July 2016 marked our 13 years of ploughing in Sarawak, East Malaysia. I still remember back in early 2005, when God first showed me an indigenous people group and asked me to serve them. Daily, I saw them toiling under the sun in construction sites, many of their children did not attend school, in the evening after work, they drank and gambled at the makeshift living squatters that was without electricity and clean running water but worst of all they were lost without Christ! For six months, I wrestled with God during my devotions in the morning walk to a point that I began to bargain with God. How could I serve them, I am just a poor missionary! His reply was, “Do not be afraid for I am with you. Step out by faith like Joshua, cross into the promise land but take the step of faith to venture into River of Jordan.“

From the beginning of 2016, we have adopted the attitude of waiting upon the Lord’s leading in His ministry. God has revealed more hidden treasures in this land as we gained more talents in hands and are commanded to earn more talents in areas that we never thought we were able to do. He revealed to us to move and embark on another level of ministry that is to delve deeper into the indigenous ministry. The needs and space to develop this were enormous, like the verse ‘the harvest is plenty but the workers are few’! Today, there are many places without shepherds and the Gospel needs to be preached. There are many pastors and faithful servants of God labouring in the interiors with small salaries; serving without pension or social security fund and even insurance! The Bible schools in the interiors also lack hardware and software. Over the years, we have experienced many new graduates leaving the ministry or struggle in their ministry due to inadequate training and counselling of healing and deliverance. 

I realised that many uphill tasks are needed to see change happen! The importance of partnership with churches and Christian communities to help them to grow and be able to self-sustain and help others is part of the plan.  Setting up of more social ministries like kindergarten, drug rehab, children and old folks homes among the native Christian circles are vital judging from the proactive actions of other zealous parties and religious groups. Join me to pray for the Lord of the Harvest to send more workers into the remote areas of Sarawak to spread the fire of revival to other villages and towns. Many in the remote interior have still not heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we must endeavour to rectify this. We need to rise up as there is an urgency to fulfil the Great Commission in Sarawak.

Romans 10:13-15

How then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”