10-Day Outreach in Ranau
28/9/2020
It's been over 3 weeks since I've been in Sabah for the outreach phase of the School. So much have happened and so much I'm sure is yet to come. We began our first week here by praying and listening to where exactly God was bringing us through intercession. Although there were many things that wasn't set in stone yet, we were sure that God had a clear plan in mind for all of us. With that in mind, we just trusted the promptings of the Spirit and moved with Him. We packed our bags the following week, ready to move into the interiors of Ranau (which is a two-hour drive from the city of Kota Kinabalu).
I was prepared to leave the comfort of city life for one of simple living. Indeed, I was stretched by the numerous bugs that bit me every day (they are still itching till this day). On a more exciting note, what has been eye opening for us city people in particular is the beauty of nature and its providence. The hospitality of the community here has also been a blessing to us.
In our week here, we had the opportunity to reach out to the youths living in the village of Kg. Bongkud, where we too stayed at. There were about roughly twenty over of them, ranging from the ages of 6 to 30. We ran separate sessions for the various age groups over six nights regarding topics on identity, relationship, leadership and worship. It was beautiful how the friendships blossomed through the week as they didn't see us as people who was only there to teach, but people who genuinely wanted to build relationships with them. Through that, their receptivity grew and I could see God working in all of us.
The youths even proposed to go for a 5am hike up the hill, which I really struggled with. During the times when I wanted to give up, the genuine encouragement and push from them kept me going. This simple gesture stood out for me because so often, we hear people give us encouragements that actually is more about themselves than us. For example, the youths could have easily said that "you can do it, it's not that hard, I do this everyday" but instead, they waited for me, walked slowly with me, and even those who went before me were cheering me on from the top.
What inspired me the most about these group of youths from Bongkud was the openness that they had. Even though we had a bit of a language barrier of not being able to speak Bahasa Malaysia as well, they were more than willing to share their stories and experiences. Using short teachings, testimonies and creativities, we were able to help them delve deeper into their own life experiences and stories. Many of them expressed that they have grown in terms of seeing themselves as capable leaders, as worthy and loved, and in their relationship with God. A few of them in particular shared about how they had goosebumps when loving God during worship in the way we do it. Proclamations of who God is for them grew day by day.
The receptiveness of the youths to the teachings and their shift in understanding of how God sees them and how they see themselves touched me as I too, reflected on my journey of becoming more like my true self by responding to God's call. My takeaway from the week with them is the ability to claim the name that I sense God is speaking to me: I am a witness and bearer of His love and truth.
In the remaining days in Ranau, we also had a chance to speak to the youth leaders from the parish of St. Peter Clevar (which is the main parish in the town). We had two sessions with them about evangelization/mission and leadership. I would have to say that the youths in the rural area are much more connected to themselves and God as compared to those living in the town. This is largely due to the higher amount of distractions that we get in the city.
Throughout our time there, Father Nicholas who is the parish priest over in St. Peter Clevar Church, has been very excited about our presence there. He brought us around to a few of his outstation chapels, he ensured that we are fed, and he was very much invested in our work there. Fr. Nick has got to be one of few priests I know that is actually putting into practice what he encourages his congregation to do, which is to evangelize and go out on mission. He has a pastoral heart for the people which has been very refreshing for me. During one of the nights, he even spontaneously invited us to join his livestreaming talk on the heart of the Shepherd, which he does twice a week.
God really showed up and showed off with His generosity through the giving of the people here in which we received greatly too.
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