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