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If a nything, going into the Orang Asli settlements is a great learning experience. Not only the hush and lush of the jungle invite the restless hearts of the city folks to pace down, the encounter with the Orang Asli also reminds us that pleasure many times lies in the simplicity of life. At least, that was what I learnt in CDPC’s latest visit to kampong Orang Asli in Bentong. While the journey into the jungle settlements may be tad too rugged for the uninitiated, the only burden that boggled us throughout was our own little backpacks. Every other emotional and psychological baggage was lifted up, as though our minds were cleansed by the fresh jungle breath and our hearts purified once more. I can almost understand the ecstasy of the hymn writer when he crooned,
This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears,
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.
This is my Father’s world, the birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair;
In rustling grass I hear Him pass;
He speaks to me everywhere.
….
This is my Father’s world, should me heart be ever sad?
The Lord is King – let the heavens ring. God reigns – let the earth be glad.
This is my Father’s world. Now closer to Heaven bound,
For dear to God is the earth Christ trod,
No place but holy ground.
The Journey Begins
We started the journey with the few of us who are going gathering in the church hall on the 9th of April 2005 at 9 a.m. Pastor called us in for a short briefing and thereafter we prayed for the day’s events. Each of us was asked to say a word or two in supplication to God. I can sum up the hearts of the group that morning as, eagerly desiring to be used by God for his purpose. Indeed the business of the kingdom was trust forth in the stead of our own agendas, our own issues, our own fears and our own worries. It was with such a heart that we set on our journey that day, into our Father’s world.
Kok Wai and Sue May provided their 4WDs as transports. Pastor Wong was supposed to sit in Sue May’s Terrano, but I think he was “shy” to be the only thorn among the roses. He came to join us at Kok Wai’s new Mitsubshi Storm.  He reasoned that he wanted to allow the girls time to bond among themselves. The journey on the highway really does not warrant any retelling. But perhaps it is worth mentioning that Kok Wai’s new truck was bought with the OA ministry in mind. He recounted to us how a great bargain he had procured in buying this second hand truck which really looked brand new. The ride was comfortable, everything was smooth as the proud yellow truck cruise through the highways off onto jungle treks. How beautiful it is the feet that bringeth good news. I cannot help thinking, how also very beautiful is this yellow machine.
Kampung Sungai Dalam
After a hearty lunch at the town of Bentong, we arrived, together with Pastor Rajen, Pastor Timothy, and Christopher’s team at Kampung Sungai Dalam. The kampung greeted us with a gaily orange banner – Kampung Sungai Dalam. Saya mahu cinta Kampung Yesus (Deep  River Village. I want to love Christ’s village). While we can only dream of making our city the City of Christ, the Orang Asli, very enviably, had made their village Christ’s. And boy, do they so loudly proclaimed it! It was as if walking into a territory marked by Christ’s conquest. How a sweet and pleasant surprise it was to find in the midst of the jungle, far away from the cities, from big churches and their noisy congregations, an assembly of God’s people. It was like discovering a treasure hidden from sight. In fact, it was like finding a lost City of God. Such thrill of going on an Indiana Jones adventure diminished the weariness of going on a mission trip. Perhaps we were not after all, missionaries, in the common sense of the word. I see our visits as gestures of extending communion to our brothers and sisters in the Orang Asli settlements. Our visitations and their receptions were acknowledgement of one another as brethrens in the Body of Christ. It was an expression of fellowship in the catholic Church unbounded by demography and geography. Such fellowship is one that builds one another up, spiritually and materially (Rom 15:1-2). It was in this spirit that CDPC, being the more privileged lot, financially, had stepped forth to help the Orang Asli with their microeconomy. Because God has blessed us with much wealth, we now extend this blessing to our Orang Asli brethrens by helping them to set up two fish ponds with 2000 tilapias and sponsoring educational materials for the children. Pastor Wong even offered further financial aids to build a longhouse of which the construction was temporarily abandoned because of financial constraints. Yet the Orang Asli communities were not passive charity beneficiaries. What they needed and did not have, we gave to our affordability and vice versa. The Orang Asli once blessed us generously with something they had in abundance, durians (!) But one of the most precious things they had given us must be the powerful spiritual experience of feeding the Lord and clothing the Lord. These are the poor of Christ whom he held so dearly and whom he held the wealthier section of the church responsible for providing on his behalf. How many of us from the city truly realized Archbishop Romero’s aphorism, “Gloria Dei, vivens pauper” – the glory of God is the living poor person? Often we failed to live out the “religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father”, which is to attend to the weak, the poor and the afflicted (Jam 1:27). Here in this ministry, God has provided us, in His grace, an opportunity to please Him by some practical expression of charity to our needy brothers and sisters. On the personal level, this ministry had strengthen the fact to me that communion must range from religious fellowship to practical aide.
  This time around, we arrived at Kampung Sg. Dalam with an important (and for some, almost impossible) mission. Some smart chaps had suggested that we play Mr. Vidal Sassoon in the jungle and give the kampung folks a hairdo. Nonetheless, while we were rather excited about the task upon arrival, the Orang Asli, I observed, were hesitated to go under our razors. In the team, surprisingly, only Pastor Wong had previous experience cropping hairs. But I am sure no CDPC members would allow our pastor to perform his skill on them as pious a person as he is. Yet, we were going to crop the Orang Asli’s hair. The call to come to the barber’s chair was a tough one. The hair wash department was more popular with Daud, Sue May, Serene and Yen Nie playing the “shampoo girls”. It was little wonder that only the kids came forth for us, Orang Dari Bandar (ODB), to meddle with their locks. The adults seemed to be pushing their children to come forward, most probably fearing that if no one volunteered, they might have to sacrifice their own hair. The mood relaxed a bit after Pastor Wong demonstrated on his first “victim”. Ever one to surprise us with new ideas, he once again impressed us with his creativity, this time in trying to cut hair the “layered style”. I was his camera man, so while taking his photographs, I observed Pastor’s funny (and rather haphazard) antics. On one hand, it was really hilarious seeing him trying to “look professional’, but on the other, the whole affair, brought to mind the account of Jesus washing the Disciples’ feet. Our God is One who took the form of a servant, who striped off his outer glory and took on a towel, bent down, stoop low to serve his inferiors. Watching CDPC members washing and cutting the hairs of the Orang Asli children and Pastor himself arching and bending in the acts, I felt they were imitating Christ; not in the outward and symbolic expression of washing the feet, but in abiding to the mandate that he had laid down for the Church, “love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (Jn 13:34). It was a love modeled after Christ’s. And the result was really not too bad.
After the hairstylists and barbers had done with their crafts, we were treated to a puppet show by Daud and Alyster. The target audience was the children, but I am sure the adults had a good time too. In the previous visit, we had enacted the Creation account through the narrations of two very adorable puppet characters, Ibrahim and  Sarah (I am still wondering why the Malay sounding names, but it was a pleasant indication). This time, the same Ibrahim and Sarah told us the story of Noah and his Ark. Daud and Alyster, lending their voices to the two puppets not only taught us the significant of Noah’s Ark as a type of Jesus Christ the Saviour of Mankind, they caused eruptions of laughter with their “daft” (in the word of Wai Fong who wrote the script, but unfortunately was absent for the trip because of illness) acts. Daud especially seemed so natural when cracking jokes in Bahasa Malaysia. It was indeed a talent, a gift. One of the most memorable parts was when Ibrahim tried to retell the story after Sarah told it to the audience. Daud really animated the character well and tickled us all with:
“Burung terkukur bina kapal. Nuh dan 40 isterinya masuk dalam kapal dengan 40 daun pokok zaitun dan nyamuk” (A raven built an ark. Noah and his 40 wives went into the ark with 40 olive leaves and mosquitoes)
Pastor Wong quipped that the Penghulu (village chief) must have felt quite excited to hear Noah having forty wives and may justify himself to do the same. Thanks to Alyster, the smarter Sarah set the story aright again for everyone; alas for the Penghulu or some of the guys among the ODB.
We managed to spend a good three hours in Kampung Sungai Dalam. Having only two destinations planned out for that trip, we could afford more time blending and mingling with the people we visited. On our first visit, both the CPDC team and the Orang Asli were unsure of one another’s’ company. We were as foreign to them as they were to us. In fact the elders of the village were rather suspicious of our intentions when we proposed to sponsor the building of the fish ponds. But as time went by, just as Sue May observed, “They’re more and mor e comfortable with us”. Continuously interacting and involving ourselves in their lives really do make a difference. Perhaps they had began to realize that we were not like some visitors to the zoo, gaping at a people so unlike ourselves. But I’d also like to think that there was an unseen bond between us that made us so easily fond of one another. And that bond was the result of us all being baptized into one Body in the Spirit. Today, our relationship stands as witness to that bond. Today, the fish ponds stand as a testimonial to the Orang Asli’s trust, CDPC’s sincerity and our mutual partnership.
We left Kampung Sg. Dalam for our next destination with heavy but jovial hearts. From the windows of our 4WDs, the Orang Asli’s waves of farewell seemed like invitations to visit them again. We will surely call on them soon.
Kampung Kuchai
CDPC’s visits to the Orang Asli settlements will not be complete without a stopover at Sangli for its famous “san chu yok” - Wild Boar Meat. (The most excited person must be Sue May, she was seen drooling over the thoughts of san chu yok ever since we arrived at Bentong town). The quick bite was like our “rewards” as most will be embarrassingly exhausted by then. The Orang Asli Pastors (Rajen, Timothy and Christopher) must have been amused by our ODB frailness. But everyone seemed to beam with delight as the food was served. The meat was cooked in curry and served along wantan noodle. What is a better expression of the Malaysian Church fellowship but a wonderful time “feilo-ship”. We recharged and rejuvenated over jokes, fizzy kikapoh and the deliciously pungent san chu yok. Indiana Jones could not have had it better.
The journey to our next destination, Kampung Kuchai was rather different from the first. We rode, albeit bumpily over ragged path, to Kampung Sg. Dalam in the 4WDs. As Kampung Kuchai was not accessible by our 4WDs, we had to scale hilly trek, walking about 20 minutes to arrive there. Our previous experi ences had not been exactly pleasant; therefore, many of us were rather palled at the idea of having to do the trekking. And to a few of us, this was our only real physical workouts in months. Nevertheless, to our surprise, the walk that day was a real brisk one. As we had arrived early to begin our trekking, the soft early evening sun brightened our route and our mood. Suddenly, the trek did not seemed so steep after all. And the mosquitoes were kept, by God’s grace, away from us, or at least from me. Or maybe it was Bro. Christopher’s ointment. I think it was both, God’s grace working through earthly means.
Once again, we revealed our ODB amusing silliness when we arrived at a small tiny stream. After the women had crossed the tiny river (they were wearing slippers and sandals), the men refused to follow suit. We were hesitant to get our shoes drenched. Some were requesting me, who was holding a staff to literally part the small tiny stream so that we can all walk across on dry ground. Being the person of little faith that I am, I naturally failed to perform the task. We had to come up with other plans. Then to my astonishment, Sue May and Alyster began to go into the water again and picked up rocks, lining them across the small tiny stream to form a bridge. Talk about girl power; these gentle, submissive godly women will turn into superwomen to the aid of their husbands (and brethrens) whenever the need arises. We can only praise our God of infinite wisdom for creating such able Helpmates. So the bridge was formed, the problems solved and the journey continued.
Along the way up to Kampung Kuchai, I was trying to rehearse my “sermon” which I was supposed to share in the service later that evening. As this was my maiden preaching to a congregation in a church service, I was very nervous. Having to speak in Bahasa Malaysia, a language which I am not used to speak in, did not very much help to encourage me. But as I was recalling my speech while walking, I was inspired to end the sermon with a hymn. The hymn that came to mind was “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus” – I was going to preach on the Ten Commandments and the helplessness of Man to abide by God’s law. As soon as the song came to my mind, God was gracious enough to also enable me to translate it to Bahasa Malaysia. When we arrived at Kampung Kuchai, I shared the song with Daud, Serene and Yen Nie. They helped to complete and polish some parts of the short translated hymn and we learnt to sing it. Then we approached the East Malaysian pastors and Ministry workers to sing the hymn together. I had hoped that the hymn will be an appropriate ending to my sermon later.
The evening service began with an exuberant praise and worship session. The congregation clapped, cheered, danced and jumped to the songs. Pastor Wong later commented that it was only in the Orang Asli church service that we had the energy, the motivation and the opportunity to sing in such manners. I observed that the energized congregation was not in frenzy but was merely expressing a childlike playful and happy satisfaction when worshiping God. After the praise and worship, the Puppet Masters took to the stage again. The same story was acted out and the same positive response was gotten from the floor. The children especially were excited as Ibrahim and Sarah interacted with them, inviting them to paste pictures on the board and giving them little gifts for their efforts. Daud and Alyster once again gave an entertaining performance. I barely can contain my laughter even though I had just heard the same jokes hours ago. But of course, I was getting more nervous as my turn to speak was nearing.
When Daud and Sue May asked me to speak in the Orang Asli service a week before we went on the trip, I was adamant for a while. After accepting the request, I struggled to decide what to speak on until Leon suggested that I speak about the Ten Commandments. But having an idea of what to speak did not make it easy for me as I had to consider how to communicate my message to the Orang Asli congregation. With what I felt was the barest preparation, I took on the microphone that night, helplessly trusting myself to God and his promise to help us speak of his glory to the people. True enough, though we are weak, God is almighty and his potent grace saw me through my maiden preaching. There are many areas that I must seek improvement, but I know I could do nothing that night if not for Jesus, my strong Hero. That was also my message for the evening. We may appear able and beautiful but really, we are just worms, wretched and hopeless. It was grace all along that sustained us and grace forevermore to see us through. That night I was once again reminded of Jesus and his labour of love as we sang;
Bagaimanaku selamat?
Hanya dengan darah Yesus;
Mana ada berkat?
Hanya pada darah Yesus.
Oh, darah Si Domba!
Menghapuskan dosa,
Oh, darah Si Domba!
Selamatkan kita semua
(How can I be saved?
Only by the blood of Jesus;
Where are the blessings?
Only in the blood of Jesus.
Oh, the blood of the Lamb,
Destroy sins,
Oh the blood of the Lamb,
Saved us all)
After the sermon, some of the worshippers came forth to be prayed for. No, I did not make an altar call. They came forward at the call of their pastors to those who were ill. Our team was given the privilege to pray for them. We were the prayer warriors yet there was something in the faith of the Orang Asli that we, the ODB, did not know. Because of their lack of means, the Orang Asli completely trusted God for his provision. Many times, we are so self-sufficient that God will only be summoned as a last resort, but this was not so with the Orang Asli. Their childlike faith moved me to tears as I watched them crying out to our Father for help. They had no other avenue, but our kind and loving Father, to supplicate their aches and complaints. May we emulate such great dependence on our God.
The service ended with a love feast. CDPC sponsored the ingredients while the Orang Asli prepared the meal. We were again treated to the sumptuous cooking of our hosts. I began to enjoy the food so much that the thought of going on “mission trips” was becoming attractive. The atmosphere was awesome. We were in the midst of the jungle, surrounded by nothing but trees, songs of night creatures, cool breeze and stark darkness, enjoying a delicious meal with fellow brethrens. I began to wonder if heaven will feel like this.
The Journey Ends
Going on this journey was tiring, no doubt. But I would say that if there are some journeys worth traveling, this was definitely one. Sometimes I was appalled at myself, how I dreaded going for this trip in the beginning but before the end of it, I was appreciating my good fortune. The experience was precious and there were so many lessons to be learnt, the most resounding to me was that our brothers and sisters in the jungle need us and we need them.
“For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body -- [ODB or Orang Asli, rich or poor] – and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many.…The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seemed to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honourable we bestow the greater honour…God has so composed the body, giving greater honour to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together. Now you – ODB and Orang Asli - are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (1 Cor 12:13-27)
Ya, saya mahu cinta Kampung Yesus (Yea, I want to love Christ's Village).
Read from Jack the LOT{B}R's point of view
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