Mission Trip Reflection - I Left My Heart in Sarangani

RiverLife Mission Trippers (I'm standing on the second left)

 On 27 to 30 Nov 2015, I joined RiverLife Church on an oversea Mission Trip to Sarangani, South Philippines. This is my first mission trip. We conducted 2 evangelistic meetings, prayers for the sick and also assisted the medical team with 2 doctors in the team. Saragani is not my first preference. I actually signed up for Yangon in September. But there was no doctor available and so the church had to cancel that mission trip.

Why did I decide to go for this Mission Trip?

I had never gone for any mission trip before. What can I do there? I don’t think I can contribute in any significance ways. In June this year, after Rev Daniel Lim from International House Of Prayer (IHOP, Kansas City) came to teach and preached in RiverLife Church, he encouraged us to pray for 1 hour daily and also to read 10 chapters of the Gospels daily. It was a difficult assignment for me. So, I tried to do these, at least for a good few days. Certainly, when we “draw near to God, He will draw near to us” (Jas 4:8)

Reading 10 chapters of the Gospels is very challenging. It was difficult to remember so many short stories in the Gospel at one go. So after one round of completing the 4 Gospels, I decided to read it again slowly…& pray about what I read, and just do it for half an hour a day, regardless of how much chapters I have covered. It was then, I learnt to be sensitive to His prompting – The WORD and Prayer always go together, like 2 hands clapping, creating an impact. I remembered the day as I was reading on the Gospel of Matthew (chapter 9) and praying for the compassion of Christ for the multitude and the ripe harvest field:

³⁶ When he saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

2 words in this short passage keep coming to my minds as I prayed for the missionaries in the mission fields – compassion and workers. I need compassion and I need to be a worker. As I continued to pray, I felt the LORD telling me to go and try it out, don’t just kneel down and pray. I was scared, I stop praying and try to think of excuses. Every month, I give quite a good portion of my salary to organizations with mission work, “Lord, see, I have done my part, right?” Silence. No more prompting from the Spirit. (Have I quenched the Holy Spirit?)  “OK, Lord, I will go.”

We stayed at King James Hotel, a simple motel with double-decker beds for twin sharing. The room is really small and queasy.

Mission Work in Saragani

We spent the Saturday and Sunday ministering to the Blaan Tribe. Most of the tribal people are farmers, living simple lifestyle. Many are uneducated and could not speak English or Tagalog. We need the local churches help for interpretations.

Day 1 (28^th Nov):

Day 1: crowd response to altar call

On the first day, we had our evangelistic meeting in a school training shade. The whole place was packed and people kept coming. Seeing the huge crowd, tear came to my eyes as I saw what Jesus saw – they were helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. After the first Evangelistic meeting which Pastor Rhoda preached, many raised their hands in responded to the altar call. I found Eleazer to be my interpreter. Together, we approached those who raise their hands and talk to them. We also prayed for healing for many of them suffered under the harsh lives as farmer labouring under the hot sun. I remember one pregnant lady, Mala came to me with tearful eye. She said that the baby inside her is not moving any more and request prayer for the baby. Nervously, Eleazer and I prayed really hard that our God who give life and who bring this baby into her body will also sustain the life of the baby inside her. I believe God will protect her. After we prayed, I asked her to go for checkup, but Eleazer said that the people don’t have money to see doctors.

Many rush to collect used clothing from us during the lunch break. What we Singaporeans have taken for granted are precious to them. Could we help them to have a better life in other ways also?

Giving clothing to the Blaan People

  In the afternoon, I was asked to pray for the sick after their medical consultation. Being very new to such mission work, I just want to be led by the Spirit to do what He wanted me to do. As I interact and pray for them, I soon sense their difficult life, many of them look much older than their age. Also, most of them married and have children at a very young age. As I pray for them, I also sense that relational problem is one issue that cause their sickness.

Lyka, 30 years old came to me with a deep cut wound on her neck. The fresh could be seen. Through the interpreter, Isabel, I asked her what caused the injury. As they were having a long conversation in their Blaan dialect, suddenly, I heard an inner voice telling me, “her husband slashed her.” Just to be certain that I was not in illusion, I looked at the medical record and saw that her occupation is a housewife, meaning that she is married. I waited for a while and then interrupted the conversation by telling Isabel to ask Lyka, “Did your husband slashed your neck?” Isabel turned and stared at me in shock. “I cannot tell you.” She said quickly and walked away. I was kept wondering what going on? Later, she returned with Ed, the pastor’s son and Ed told me that Lyka was slashed by her husband. They had divorced and now Lyka is worried that the husband is planning to harm her. We then prayed for healing and protection for Lyka.

Later, I saw Pastor Ken and told him about the whole incident. Pastor Ken explained that in tribal village, the harm that her husband wanted to do could be through black magic or spiritual occult.

Then there is Radquel, 22 years old, who is dumb after giving birth to a 4 month old baby. Through the conversation, I founded that her husband had died earlier while she was pregnant. After praying for her, she managed to utter the words: “Amen” and “Praise God”. I sense strongly that it was the emotional hurt that stifled her speech. I encouraged her to let go of the past and move forward in life, if she want to gain her speech again.

That night, before I went to sleep, I asked the Lord, why He wanted me to know about Lyka being slashed by her husband. “She needs spiritual protection”. If I had not known about her situation, I would have just prayed for healing for her. It was a busy Saturday. We had breakfast at 5.30am, and so I woke up at 4:30am to have some devotion. Today, I prayed for hours for the Blaan people. As I reflected on the day, God seem to tell me why He wanted me to be here in Sarangani – to see how God love the world (Jn 3:16), and I too to learn how to love the world. Thank you, Lord. You had to force me out of my comfort zone to see how You love the world.

Day 2 (29^th Nov):

Day 2: crowd hearing Pastor Rhoda preaching

On Sunday, again I woke up at 4:30am. What would I learn from God today? I wonder.

Arriving at about 7am at the gymnasium, the team spent some time in worship and prayer. The place had no electricity and Pastor Rhoda was concerned and she managed to get help, while the team prayed for smooth running of the day’s events. God is good, as people started streaming into the gymnasium; the electricity has been fully restored. Once again, my personal quotation of: “God may be slow, but never late” comes true.

During prayer time, one lady came to me crying and through the interpreter; she claimed that her kidneys were very painful. We prayed for her and after praying, the interpreter asked her how she felt. They talked for a while and he brought her up to the stage to testify. I could not understand what is going on as they were not speaking in English. Then a large group of people came to me and again, I started to pray for individual after asking them about their sicknesses through the interpreter. There is no time to verify whether any healing took place. My hope is that our LORD will continue to work His healing power on this people.

In the afternoon, I was again at the last station, praying for the patients after their medical consultation. This time, I managed to share the Gospel using the Bridge to Life illustration to Alrey, a Catholic. He came to get some medicine for his ulcer. After asking about his faith, I felt that he needed to know about Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour and Lord because his faith is based on his family and he just followed them. I led him to say the salvation prayer through the interpreter.

Joshua Sarosa, 11 years old was carried by his mother, Jennylyn as he suffered from polio since birth and is mentally handicapped. He appeared to be a 3-years old boy. As I saw them, my heart cried for them and the suffering she and the boy had endured all this 11 years. I prayed my longest prayer during this mission trip for them. It was at this moment; I wished the Prophet Elijah is in our midst and just performed a miracle on this boy, restored him mentally and strengthened both his feet. But nothing of this sort happened. Perhaps, God has His own timing. I believe HE will make everything beautiful for Joshua and Jennylyn in God’s timing.

There was a lady who came to me with her left middle finger paralyzed. When I squeezed her finger, she could not feel anything. Also, when I instructed her to bend the finger, she could not do it. Her index finger was also injured with scars, probably through hard labour. After praying for her and for the middle finger to have mobility and feelings, I again checked on her. This time, she could bend the middle fingers and feel my pinching. To be sure, I made her do that a few times.

For the more than two hours, I encountered many people with backache and pain all over their bodies. Life in Blaan tribe, working under the scorching sun is tough. The more I prayed for them, the more my heart felt for them. I thank God that I can now look at people and see them as the image of God, not just a human being.

Lessons Learnt from this mission trip

This trip has certainly strengthened my prayer life. It has stirred in me a greater desire to talk to God as a personal friend. In the past, prayer is a duty and a request to ask from our Daddy God. Now, prayer is a friendship and the path to the heart of God, to see people and things as HE sees. Prayer is now not just me talking to God, but to hear His Rhema word and be His servant and friend. I believe that is why HE spoke to me about Lyka’s condition.

My eyes have somehow opened to get a glimpse of what missionaries are supposed to do. I may not have seen the whole picture, but certainly, I have seen their hearts of compassion and a love for the people they serve. Would I be able to do more and one day heeds that calling? May be a few more of these short trips to sharpen myself would certainly help in the preparation.

Giving financially to mission has added a new meaning after this trip. I could see how the money is being put to good use. My next step is to increase the portion of my monthly salary to mission work.

Above all, I have added Lyka, Radquel, Joshua, Jennylyn, Alvery and others into my daily prayer. My heart goes to them and hope that God will transform their lives and make them beautiful in HIS times (Ecc 3:11)

Agape

Kar Wai, my room-mate and two Blaan pastor’s sons – Eleazer (between Kar Wai and me) and Ed, serving as interpreters