SWEEP Day 4: We Were Slaves

Pre-departure GROUPIE!

We had Bubur Kacang Hijau for breakfast, something unusual. Today's devotion was taken from Dueteronomy 24:12-22. What stayed with me was verse 22: Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this. V22 reminds me that I am under mercy, therefore I ought to show mercy. I ought to remember my suffering and blessings, and bless others how I would want to be blessed.

Arriving at one of BreakThrough Natural Farming ground at Simpok

Su (right most) briefing the team

It took us about 45min of bumpy ride to arrive at the farm. We were greeted and received warmly by Mr. Su. Su is tall and dark. At a glance, he appears to be a native-Chinese mix, but he is as Fu Chow as any Fu Chow can get. He greeted us in BM, but he spoke a fluent Mandarin with me. Mr. Su is a teacher graduated from UniTAR. He is not teaching currently but serving full time in BreakThrough Natural Farming while waiting to further his learning through free courses provided by the Ministry of Agriculture. He is currently attending First Methodist Church near Kuching.

Su quickly brief us on today's objectives. We were to set up wiring for the netted greenhouse and making compost from animal waste for chilli plantation. The first step of the wiring work involves climbing above 10ft poles and hammering 2 steel nails on each pole. The next is to connect the poles with steel wire by looping on the nails. The compost-making involved acquiring loose soil from nearby land, mixing them with animal waste and fill them up in polymer bags.

Me, nailing the pole, with help
from Kenny and Jeremy.

We divided ourselves into two teams and began to labour. I volunteered to do the wiring. Kenny and Jeremy were in my team. We rotated after we finished the first and second row. Working the soil for compost was not easy, but it really was no challenge for me. Haha but I genuinely wished I could work in a more comfortable environment. The girls did really well climbing up the ladder and laying up the wire. Meanwhile, the sun was mercilessly stepping up his game.

We took a lunch break at 12pm. Su brought us to the nearest "civilization" which is about 20min drive from the farm. Although the food here cost about RM4 to RM6, the portion is so generous, it's worth every penny you pay. Today, Sandra had tasted the generosity of Jeremy, when a chicken bone flew from Jeremy's plate of chicken rice, right into Sandra's plate. Sandra felt so blessed, she couldn't stop laughing with all of us, hahaha!

After lunch, I had the chance to catch Su in a conversation. I was curious why did he choose to involve in BreakThrough. He shared his vision of going into Kalimantan to involve in Living Water Village project. The project involves providing education for orphans. As a teacher, he saw this as an opportunity to bring the gospel through his work. And the project has recently acquire a piece of land where he can work his passion in farming while providing working opportunities for the students that do not wish to study further. He remarked that his involvement with BreakThrough was both a calling and passion. He is working under the support of the church but he is slightly disappointed because the church did not manage to provide further trainings in farming. He believes that the knowledge he acquired in farming will definitely help him in his future missions.

The team taking a short break

As we continued to work, Su continued to share what drove him to serve the native community through farming. He saw a great need to empower students that struggle in academics. While the society favors knowledge-based workers, technical and practical skills-based students are often neglected and abandoned. The education structure of our nation favors those who perform academically. As a teacher, he felt his call to empower those who wants to learn and earn. I asked if he enjoyed what he is doing, he said he enjoy when there is company like today. Working alone can be tideous and discouraging. On this, Jeremy remarked later that he often work alone. Two is always better than one. His perseverance really amazed me.

Labour!

We waved Su goodbye at about 3:30pm. By then, we had finished all available polymer bags and finished our wire tossing challenge (to lay wire perpendicularly onto the previously laid wire). Tomorrow, we will return to lay up the nettings and continue to make more compost.

Meeting Su is really amazing. For a 28-year-old to have such passion for education and a humble heart for gospel is rare, precious and virtuous. I wonder if I can have such conviction too. I wonder if my heart is truly drawn to serve in such humility and perseverance. I wonder.

Today's worship was a little unusual, but it's often the surprises that touched my heart. Richard began with a short video quoting John Piper. The video reminded us the reason why the world needs the Gospel, the reason why Jesus came and the reason why Paul went to places that put him to jail and shipwreck. Tears were lingering. After reading Psalm 145, I broke down in tears as I sing "God of This City". When did I lose that vision of God and His love for His people? When did I forget that " You're the God of this city, You're the God of this people, You're the God of this nation."? When did I lose sight that "You're light in the darkness, You're the peace to the restless, You're the hope to the hopeless"? If God is the hope of this world, why would I hesitate to reach out to those who needs Him? I must go, not where I am wanted, but where I am needed.

Peter speaking on Social Discrimination

Today's topic was on Social Discrimination delivered by Peter. Peter pointed out the 4 major discriminations that is happening in our surroundings: Race, Religion, Age and Gender. Peter allowed us to share and discuss among ourselves our personal understanding and encounter with discrimination. Using James 2, Peter pointed out that we ought not to show favoritism nor discrimination, but instead love our neighbours as ourselves. Peter ended his session by reminding us that we are all made in the image of God, each unique to himself. I was thinking, maybe if we stop looking at others by colors, status or language and instead look at each other as the holy image of God, maybe we will start honoring and respecting one another. I must admit, despite my conscious effort to avoid discriminating any group, I continue to discriminate.

In SWEEP Sense tonight, Su Jian asked a question that made me think: why would I work the soil when I'm not even paid? What would drive me? Personal non-monetary rewards like fame and popularity? Or was it really to glorify God?

Natural Farming team (from left): Kenny, Jolene, Fadricks, Jeremy, Myself and Sandra

God's Character, My Encounter.