GOSPEL MINISTRY IN MIRI
Pastor Jeffrey Khoo
I was invited to preach at Calvary Miri Bible-Presbyterian Church (Sarawak) on the occasion of their 15th Anniversary Thanksgiving, 25-27 November 2016. It was my first time in Miri. I preached a total of four messages: “Don’t Stop Praying” (1 Thess 5:17) at the Friday prayer meeting and “Beware of Pokemon” (1 Pet 5:8) at the Saturday family worship. On the Lord’s Day I preached on “Godly Contentment” (1 Tim 6:6) in the morning service, and “The Root of All Evil” (1 Tim 6:10) in the evening. Jemima was with me and she conducted a Sunday School teachers’ class and played the piano during the services. Calvarians from Jaya and Pandan were there to rejoice with their brethren. True Lifers Aik Kean and Su Yuan and children Priscilla and Aquila were also present. We had a blessed time.
The missions work in Miri is supported by Calvary Jaya Bible-Presbyterian Church (KL) under the Rev Lee Kim Shong. Elder Chan Wan Fook has been assigned to supervise the work, visiting it once a month.
FEBC alumna Marilyn Nanta is the full-time evangelist in Miri, and started serving there five years ago. There are about 30 members in the church mostly through her evangelistic work.
Besides Malay and English, Marilyn also speaks Iban, Kayan, Kenyah—the tribal dialects. She herself is Iban originally from Kuching. It is encouraging that the Senior Adults’ Fellowship of Calvary Pandan Bible-Presbyterian Church (Singapore) led by Timothy and Constance Tan are assisting in the work there by conducting a Vacation Bible School three or four times a year. May some young people in Miri be called to full-time ministry.
The Miri church rents a corner house at a housing estate very near the airport for its activities. Marilyn resides in the house. Besides sowing the gospel seed, she has done well to plant vegetables, flowers, and fruit trees (papaya, banana, guava, soursop) in the compound.
The church van is already two decades old and breaking down ever so often. With the honorarium they gave us, we started a van fund. Can you help as well?
Pray for a neighbouring village—Kg Lusut—that Marilyn is reaching out to. Who knows the Lord may move the village headman to give a piece of land to build a church there. Many precious souls in this village—the children are especially in need of good Christian education.
Since we were in Miri, Jemima and I took time off for a holiday at Mulu National Park. It is in the middle of nowhere and the only way to get there is by plane (½ hour from Miri). We stayed there two nights.
Mulu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with its many mountains and spectacular limestone caves.
The Deer Cave there has the largest cave passage in the world. In this cave are three million bats. They fly out of the cave at dusk to feed on 15 tons of insects every night. Imagine the amount of insects there must be in the forest. Despite the voracious feeding by the bats, the forest does not run out of food. This reminds me of what Jesus said in Matthew 6:26, “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?”
The highlight of the trip for us was sharing the gospel with a young hotel waitress. After knowing that I was a pastor, she asked that I share my faith with her. She said she was Roman Catholic and faced many challenges in life. After I shared with her the good news, that only Jesus can save her and help her, and that she can pray to God directly without any need to go through a priest, she prayed the sinner’s prayer and accepted Christ as her Lord and Saviour. She says she is much comforted by the gospel. Since she hails from Miri, we told her to attend Calvary Miri when she returns to her hometown. I believe the Lord had led us to Mulu especially to minister to this lady. Her name is Eveline and she is from the Kayan tribe. Marilyn will follow up with her. JK
