A Different Kind of Christmas(20-26/12/2008)

At 5:30am on a Saturday morning, me and 30 other brothers and sisters from Samarahan Methodist Church (SMC) were waiting for the vans that would bring us to the Indonesia border. From there, we took another 10 hours of bus ride to Manggala, Indonesia. Because it has been raining, the road was muddy and we had a roller-coaster experience all the way to our destination.

The non-air-conditioned bus that we rode on to Indonesia

When we reached Living Water Village, we were amazed. God has really blessed that area. It is situated up on the mountains. God has blessed them with brick buildings, their own generators and more lands that are going to be used to build small airports, hospitals and schools. Pastor Ronny, an Australian missionary who founded the Living Water Village, told us that a lot of Indonesian children were thrown into the jungle because their families were too poor to take care of them or they were born out of wedlock. Pastor Ronny would go into the jungle to look for them and take them back to the Training Centre where he would have a set of rules for them to follow, to train them to be independent. Currently, there are over 500 children in Living Water Village.

On the mountains

The training centre

Every morning at 6am, all the children and adults will wake up for devotions and prayer session. I was amazed because during the prayer session, the children, especially those below 8 years old, will sit very quietly listening to the word of God. It was very difficult to keep the Sunday school children in Kuching quiet but these children in Living Water Village kept quiet and even prayed more earnestly than us. I was really amazed. From the picture below, you’ll see a lot of flags hanging. Those flags represent the countries that are supporting and helping them. The children in Living Water Village are also constantly praying for these countries. Besides that, their knowledge of the bible is even better than us! Every Tuesday and Thursday night, there would have a small service where there is praise and worship and also older children sharing of God’s word.

Inside the training centre

Outside the training centre

Besides the training centre, there’s also 2 'asramas'. When Pastor Ronny and a few elders think that some of children are mature enough both spiritually and mentally, these children will thus stay in one of the 'asramas'.

When we were there, we were divided into 3 teams. One team helped in kindergarten, my team visited Asrama 1 and the third team visited Asrama 2. In each 'asrama', there would be at least one Abang and one Kakak who will look after them. In Asrama 1, my team acted out the story of Jonah and taught them some simple mandarin, for example 早安，午安，晚安. They enjoyed the lessons and we also enjoyed their presence. I’m still missing them as I’m writing this sharing. They are really extraordinary children.

Asrama 1

On Christmas Eve, we and the children had roasted chicken. Because there are a lot of people in Living Water Village and food is expensive, they only ate pumpkins for every meal. For the first day, they cooked different food for us, we had vegetables and meat. But we felt bad and told Pastor Ronny that we would like to eat with the children and eat what they were eating as well. For some of us, it was not easy with only pumpkin, but we saw that these children all ate their food without any grumblings or complaints. That night, we also joined in their Christmas celebrations. Their praise and worship was powerful and joyous. They had a few dances, from kindergarten children to older children. We also presented our programs.

Beautiful dancers

SMC clowns

It was a night to remember as Pastor Ronny called the children one by one to go up to take their presents. These children might only have the luxury of having presents once a year. As I watched the children unwrapped their presents, their eyes glowed. Even when their presents are only pencils or new clothes or some hair accessories, you can really see the joy and how they really cherished their Christmas presents! It made me thought of how in all my years I had taken presents for granted. I was blessed to receive gifts in a lot of occasions but I never really appreciate the meaning and gestures.

Sparkle in their eyes

On the last day, Pastor Ronny took us sight-seeing. Living Water Village is really a very very huge place. God has blessed Pastor Ronny with about 200++ acres of land. This was the first time I traveled on top of a vehicle and it was fun! While taking us and showing us around, Pastor Ronny told us how God has brought him from Australia to Kuching and to Indonesia. He also told us how God has tested his faith in getting a land to do His will. It was not an easy task to get a land as big as what Living Water Village is now. Pastor Ronny is really a man of great faith. He said that when he came to Manggala, he was poor; Now as Living Water Village is slowing growing, he is still poor. All of what he has now is all from God!

This is how we travel

The famous crosses

Floating house

Primary school

I have really learnt a lot from Pastor Ronny and the children of Living Water Village, especially their faith. At first, we felt sorry for the children because some of them were orphans and some of them were abandoned by their families, but in the few days that I’m with them, I see the joy in them. Those older children also followed Pastor Ronny’s footsteps in taking care of the little ones. These children are all very gifted children. I would see small children, holding and playing the guitar like it was part of them.

They still need a lot of teachers, especially English and Music teachers but I’m sure God will answer their every need just like how He has answered their previous needs. Let us remember Pastor Ronny and his family and his children in Living Water Village in our prayers.

Fun! Fun! Fun!

Pastor Ronny

Before we depart Living Water Village

For those who's reading this and have never experienced short-term mission before, I encouraged you to step up and participate. I can guarantee that you'll be blessed more than you will be giving. It doesn't have to be to overseas. There's a lot of churches in Kuching that organize short-term mission trip locally, for example to Betong. Participate in one and you will be able to understand the joy and blessings that I have received every time I go for a mission trip.

For more information about Living Water Village, go to their website:

http://www.heyboer.org/index/index-english.htm (",)

by

卢诗颖