Interior Trip to Pitas

A write-up by Christine Majimbun

On June 16^th-17^th 2007, 10 of us including a team from Powerhouse and 2 other from SIB Immanuel(C) went for a short mission trip to one kampung in Pitas. None of us had any idea how that place would look like since none of us has been there before. According to Beautiful Feet, the trip will be a little tougher than any other interior mission trip we have been to because we need to walk by foot into the kampung.

So on June 16^th, we met in Shalom at 9am and we had 3 four wheel drives to bring us to Pitas. We went for breakfast and started our journey to Kota Marudu as we have to meet Pastor Kilon Lagadan the Ketua SIB Kawasan Tandek, to lead us the way to our destination. We arrived at Kota Marudu at about 12, had our lunch and head on to the kampung. It took about 30 minutes from Kota Marudu to the junction that will take us to that kampung. And right as we enter the junction, the road was rugged/rough all the way, and we drove on for about 90 minutes on rugged road, crossed 4 rivers, 2 big ones and 2 small ones. Bobby’s truck stucked at one muddy hill after crossing one of the rivers. He tried like 10 minutes going up and down, but finally was able to reverse all the way back. Everyone worked together to pick up rocks from the river to that muddy area, and the team from Bob’s car had to get down as he will try to speed up through that mud. And yes! He did it.

When we reached a place where we parked our car, we walked another 60 minutes by foot up and down the hills and across 2 rivers. All of us were sweating like mad, and it was really tough for some of us who are not used to this kind of stuff.

When we finally reached the place at about 4.30pm, all of us were soaked. We reached in front of a house which at first most of us thought it was the church but it turned out to be a house belonged to one of the church member and the church instead was just 20 meters away and it looked like a chicken coop, it was very small. Smaller than the house.

We put all our luggage down, and rested for a while in the house that was near the church. When we wanted to take our shower, we only then realize that the river is like 30 minutes downhill, and if we were to shower there, by the time we come back up to the house, we’ll all be sweating again. Some of us decided to stay, while some insisted on walking down to the river. But right after they walked out the house, rain started to fall. So everyone just sat in the room, and all of the sudden, Uncle Ronny has a smart idea; he took off his shirt and started showering under the rain. And everyone started joining him, well except for some of us. By the time they finished showering, the rain stopped! How cool is that? God is good! The kampung has no electricity power, they had to use generator in order to give us light. So we had our dinner and started our night service with about 30-40 people in the room.

We started off with songs of praise and worship and also a testimony by David. And more worship and then Uncle Ronny preached. He preached about being the light, and encouraged the community there to stand strong, and remind them the influence of Muslim nowadays. We ended with a very powerful prayer for families and youth. One lady came forward and said that she wanted to accept the Lord! Amen! And also, a family with a 12 years old girl came forward for prayer. The family said that the girl was forced to convert. So Uncle Ronny and Ps Jubilie started sharing and encouraged them about not being influenced and stand firm on what they believe. Isn’t it amazing that what Uncle Ronny preached touched and changed so many lives?

After the night service, we had a chance to learn about the culture and race over there. They brought up their gongs and kulintangan and started dancing, and some of us managed to learn their dance. We slept around 12.30am and we slept at the place where we had dinner and service, and everything. The very same spot.

On Sunday, most of us were awakened up by the sound of people chatting. We prepared ourselves for our service. We had our service in the same house, since the church was too small. We told the community there that we’re going to start at 9am, but the people start coming in at 8am. They are so excited about God and just so hungry for the word of God. Families after families started coming in and we decided to start our service at 8.30am with the room all packed with families coming from 3 different villages. What touched us also is that a family traveled 3 hours just to come and join the service with us. They had to travel by car, boat and foot. The service started with a welcoming message and then songs of praise and worship. Danielle and Connie then shared their testimonies about how they accepted the Lord Jesus as their savior. After that, we sung some more, and Bob came up and shared about how his family accepted the Lord, and also about how he has never given up sharing the word and encouraging the family to come to church.

Ps Jubilie then realized that the children were quite noisy and a distraction to the adults, so he got Christine and David to took the children for some games. Garry and Danielle also came and helped out, and Connie worked as the video woman. Christine and David started off with games with the children, and then action songs, as well as story telling. Most of the children there are very well behaved and attentive. We had a good time in the Lord’s presence.

[In the adult service, Uncle Ronny stressed the meaning of being a true Christian. Every one need to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord. Christianity is not about having a religion, but having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Six came forward to pray the sinners’ prayer. After that the team prayed that the church will be filled with God’s Holy Spirit and for healing. The people in the kampung really need healing as they will need to spend at least RM40 to and fro (by boat and car) for the nearest hospital at Pitas town.]^{JA insert}

After the service, we gathered back at the house and it was gift giving time. We started with giving gifts to the fathers since it was father’s day, and then to the mothers and to the kids. We also gave away 2^nd hand clothes for everyone. We brought like (10) boxes of clothes and milk. Around that time, all of us were burning hot, we were all sweating and all of us can’t wait to get home. Some even rather not have lunch there. But we had our lunch there since they cooked for us already, and then we packed, said our goodbyes and left. It was a good challenge indeed.