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!”

TESTIMONY OF PASTOR NENA

Ps Nena Ibanez/AO Partner in Tacloban Ministry, Philippines

I was born in Lloilo City, Molo, in the Philippines and my parents were saved and accepted Jesus when an American missionary came to our church to preach. I was about 7 years old then and when I heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ I knew I wanted Jesus in my life. My parents were so excited to share the Gospel to everyone they met so at a young age my siblings and I often followed my parents when they went out evangelising. I grew in the Word and in my love for God by listening to them as they shared with others.

We were not rich and our parents worked hard to support us but we were happy. All this ended when my dad passed away suddenly followed by my mother just 4 years later. Our whole lives changed then. My brothers, sisters (8 of us siblings) and I moved to live with my older married sister in Cebu as we were too young to support ourselves or live on our own. My sister and brother-in-law were both in Bible school then. The stress of having us all live with them and having to support us was too much for my brother-in-law and he started to back-slide, quit Bible School and began drinking alcohol every night. It was a terrible time for us as he came back drunk every night, filled with a rage against us and would threaten us with a knife. It was a nightmare experience for us and I prayed and cried out to the Lord to help us. Often my siblings and I had to run for our life and hide in the streets at night till my brother-in-law fell into a drunken sleep. But I felt the presence of God always protecting us. When he tried to force my sister to give up serving God or have anything to do with Christianity she finally left him taking her son with her rather than give up her faith in Jesus Christ. 

The Lord answered our prayers and sent us an American missionary couple who took me and my sibling under their wing, helped us to finish our elementary and high school education so we could pursue God’s call in our lives. Out of the eight of us, four of us went to Bible school and entered full time ministry. But our trials were not over yet. Within a period of 4 years I lost 3 brothers to cancer, my youngest brother at only 23 years old. It was a sad time for us but I found comfort in the Lord and found my peace in Him.

I always knew I wanted to serve God full time so after finishing my High School I entered Bible school and then entered the Asia Pacific Theological Seminary in Baguio. I thank God that He provided my every need and supplied all the finances I needed to finish my studies. I sought the Lord earnestly asking Him what was His plans for me as I wanted to be totally obedient as to where He wanted me to go. In 1987, after graduating, God opened a door for me to teach in a Bible school in Leyte. I was going to a place far from my family where I did not know anyone but I responded to God’s call and went. I knew the Lord would be with me and I was not alone.

I was a full time faculty member of Zion Bible Institute, Palo, Leyte and was also involved in outreaches, bible studies and children ministries. Together with a team in Bible School we planted a church in Palo, Leyte. After many years, I started pioneering a church in Sta. Fe, Leyte by doing children's ministry and not very long the parents of the children also wanted to have Bible studies. 

Thank God that after a year He provided a church building and I became the full time pastor. Later the Word of God continued to spread and we were able to start a second church in barangay. San Roque and now the Lord also provided a church building in this barangay.

Besides my pastoral duties at my church I also teach Bible Study and lecture in conferences and seminars for pastors, teachers, women, youth and children. Praise God he has given us an opportunity to teach Christian values in an elementary school and high school. The Lord has also put a special burden in my heart to minister to children abandoned by their parents. In the Philippines, of the 1.8 million children in the country, more than 1% of its entire population are “abandoned or neglected”, according to the United Nations’ Children's Rights. Some are victims of extreme poverty; others of natural disasters and armed conflicts in the country’s troubled south. Yet the country’s adoption bureaucracy is so tangled up in paperwork that scores of aspiring adoptions take too long to be approved and abandoned children are left to grow up without parents. I have personally taken in two kids to live with me since they were abandoned at one month old (a girl) and a 1 year old (a boy.) These two children have been such a blessing to me and I thank God for them every day. They are now 12 and 14 years old!

Praise the Lord for wisdom and knowledge and strength that he gave me to be able to cope with the demands and problems in everyday life. Though sometimes I feel weak physically with the needs around me and discouraged, but I know I am not perfect and I know God doesn't expect me to be perfect. Praise the Lord he always reminds me that though I am weak he is strong and His power is shown best in my weakness. Every day I remind myself that my ministry is to be the hand of God to reach out to those who are hurting, to the weak and needy people around me. God is really good and every day is a miracle seeing that He provides for our needs and protection. God continues to heal the sick, mend the broken hearted and heal relationships. What a blessing to know that God is working in our midst.

I would like to thank Asian Outreach Malaysia for coming into my life through God’s divine appointment at the right moment when my need was greatest. It was after Typhon Haiyan had struck and left its trail of havoc and destruction in Tacloban  that Ps Eric came to see how he could help my people. Thank you AOM and the donors so much for all of your prayers, financial support and for extending help to us. May the Lord richly bless you in return and prosper the work of your hands.

ISAIAH 58:10-11

“…and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always.”