EAST COAST TRIP

June 8 – 10, 2008

 

We made appointments with Pastor Hugh Smith and Moses Soo over a month ago to visit the East Coast. We left on Sunday afternoon for Kuantan. It was an easy drive but was a little stumped when we were diverted by many road works. Thankfully, we arrived just around dinner time.

 

On Monday morning, Pastor Hugh Smith and Martha, his wife, met us at our breakfast café, located just across the road from our hotel. Between ‘roti canai’ and ‘teh tarik’ Richard told his exploits in Myanmar with pictures from his laptop. The Malay café owner and his children were captivated by the stories, heads turning left and right intermittently in pity and compassion for the victims of Cyclone Nargis. Pastor Smith parked his car at the café and we went in our car to Kemaman, Terengganu. Our mission was to see Kemaman Baptist Church. With Pastor Smith’s clear directions, we found ourselves outside a terrace house, in a residential area off the main road. As we did not have the keys to enter, we took some photos from the outside. Pastor Smith founded this church more than 30 years ago and it has been pastored by various pastors through the years. Currently, it has no pastor, and is run by a few leaders.

 

Pastor Richard contacted the leaders and invited them for tea. In the meantime, we were able to see a bit more of Kemaman, including the river. We saw a few fishing boats and prawn traps along the quay.

 

Around 12.30 pm, we went searching for this restaurant called “Tong Juan’ which we remembered serves delicious baked crabs. The shop previously had the river view but it has now been blocked by a car park. Apart from the baked crabs, we also had grilled prawns, skewered along a stiff ‘satay’ stick. Wow, what a treat. The prawn was so tasty that we took advantage of Martha’s dislike for prawns and ate her share!

 

As our appointment with the church leaders was at 2.15 pm, we had some time to ‘kill.’ We drove to a new block of shop houses and climbed to the first floor of one lot. It was very spacious and we imagined it to be a church premise one day.

 

Tea with the church leaders was at ‘Hai Peng’ a famous place for good coffee. As we settled down to our cup of coffee and ‘kueh mueh,’ it started to rain. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Mr. Wee and Mr. Wu joined us and we got to learn more about Kemaman Baptist Church from them. They shared the needs of the church and Richard said a prayer for them before we parted.

 

The rain turned into a drizzle when we left for Cherating. We said goodbye to the Smiths and we went our separate ways to Kuantan. Our day was not over as we had to meet a lawyer before his office closed.

 

Tuesday, June 10, we woke up early as our appointment with Moses and his team was 10 a.m. in Pekan town. We had to contend with the road detours in unfamiliar territory but we made it to the edge of Pekan just before our appointment. Hungry for breakfast, we ate at a coffee shop. Moses met us in town and this time, we parked our car and hopped onto his van. Ah Woo and Ah Cheong from Cheroh accompanied Moses. Our first stop was a few kilometers away from Nenasi. Our purpose was to locate a piece of land beside the beach. We were there 3 years ago and thankfully, we had some pictures taken then which helped us greatly. We trod on undulating terrain, our pants picking up grass hooks all the way. There were a few clearings and it looked like some development will be taking place shortly. Also, we were impressed that our mobiles could work in this ‘wilderness.’ At one point, electrical poles have been erected, and water pipes laid along the trunk road. As the land was close to the beach, we were not surprised to see some crab holes as we made our way to the road where our van was parked.

The rough terrain we crossed before we reached the trunk road was riddled with crab holes and rotting twigs.

 

Our next stop was Nenasi town. We turned into a side road that led to the beach. Where the van parked was a Chinese restaurant. Moses was missing while we smelt lovely food that was being prepared for us. Soon, Moses appeared with an Orang Asli (OA). When the OA spoke, I felt it strange that he should be speaking Cantonese! As it turned out, this OA whose name is Abu, was adopted by a Chinese family when he was born. He went to a Chinese school and that’s where he learnt how to read and write Chinese. Abu can also speak Mandarin, Hakka, Malay and his native Jakun dialect. Abu has a birth certificate announcing a Chinese surname of Yang. He told us that the registrar of births even wrongly wrote his birth place as ‘China’ !

Ps. Richard with Abu outside the restaurant where we had lunch.

 

We believe God arranged for Moses to meet Abu when he first visited Nenasi last year. Abu is his ‘man of peace.’ Through Abu, we visited a couple of Jakun villages. Moses had brought along a few bags of rice, provisions and a cold box of frozen fish. Abu informed that if we had come a day earlier, we could have joined the wedding celebrations of his grand daughter. Yes, Abu is a sprightly 81 year-old man. He has 5 children and a few grand children.

 

Abu is not a Christian yet. He is a friend of Moses. Abu took us to visit his daughter first. It was at a settlement about a few kilometers away. Abu lives with the daughter and he cycles to the town where he works in an ice-factory that packs fish.

 

At the settlement, we saw homes of the Jakuns. They have attap or zinc roofs. Most are raised on stilts. The government has recently started to build them brick houses, but many are still living in very poor conditions. When we arrived at Abu’s daughter’s house, she was tending to her baby, one of her three children. A dog and her puppies were loitering under the house when Moses unloaded the van of rice and some provisions. Abu said he didn’t want any fish as they were frozen. He preferred the fresh fish he gets from the Nenasi fishermen.

Abu and his daughter in front of their home. To the left is their open air kitchen. Notice the puppies playing in the sand beneath the house?

 

We drove near to Rompin, to deliver rice and fish to another Jakun settlement. We first met a crippled Chinese man. He is single and stays with his brother and his family. When we arrived, Mr. Chow was alone as the children have gone to school, and his brother and wife were at work. Mr. Chow moves around with a stool and a stick. He cannot stand straight as his tendons have tightened and his legs have weakened. Mr. Chow is not a Christian yet. Moses has befriended him and they talked like long lost friends. Abu also knows Mr. Chow and they rattled away in Cantonese.

 

Mr. Chow was cooking rice when we were there. He excused himself at one point, hobbled inside with his stool and stick, appeared again and said his rice was about to burn! He was really cheerful, but we sensed he was lonely. Moses asked if he would like to visit Cheroh to see if he liked staying there. Moses offered a place for him at the old folks’ home. Mr. Chow declined as he still had a small palm oil estate to oversee.

 

We were touched by Moses kindness in offering places in Cheroh to Mr. Chow and Abu. He knows that both need help as they grow older. Let us pray for open doors for these two. We know that it is a matter of time they will both accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

Unloading rice and fish at another Jakun’s  home. Can you see Abu walking bare feet?

 

When the van was empty, it was time for us to return home. We left Abu in Nenasi town. On the way back to Pekan, we stopped at a stall to buy a piece of butcher block, made of ‘Termusu’ hard wood. The price written on the wood was very expensive, but on hearing that Moses uses this wood as pillars for building houses, the seller knew he couldn’t hold the prices as listed. He dropped the price to less than 50%! It just shows the importance of knowing what you are talking about!

Moses and Richard selecting the right Termusu butcher block

 

When we drove to Nenasi in the morning, we saw piles of pineapple being sold by the roadside. We made a point to return to buy some on our way home. For half a dozen of ‘nenas madu,’ we paid only RM20. Back in Pekan, we had iced coffee while Richard showed Moses and team the pictures of Myanmar after the cyclone. It was a fruitful trip. We promised ourselves a return trip when the durian season is in full swing!

 

In the meantime, we will be praying for the Jakun work. Those settlements Moses has visited have not heard the Gospel before. There are at least a few thousands of Jakuns to reach. Let us pray for open hearts and open doors for Moses’ team to enter. I remember what Moses said: “The Jakuns can only be reached with LOVE.” As we observed Moses for the day, we can truly say he has shown great love to the people. They respond to him because they have received his love.

 

The ministry to the OA is very challenging and yet rewarding. To-date, more than 5000 have responded to the Lord Jesus Christ through Moses’ ministry in central Pahang and in Kelantan. That equates to less than 10% of the total OA population. We heard of the vision to reach the Jakuns when we visited Moses last April. The outreach has started not too long ago. Pray that they will be touched by the love of our Lord soon.

Pat Toh