Saturday, October 17, 2009

mission weekend

it's the church's yearly pilgrimage to the orang asli settlements this weekend. it was originally planned for early october but i didn't want to commit then because my daughter was sitting for her PMR. it was subsequently changed to this weekend & i was hoping to bring her along so that she, born & bred with all amenities for a comfortable living, could have a peek at the other side of the socio-economic divide.

& perhaps be grateful for what she has.


but it was not to be. as it turned out 14 people volunteered for this year's trip - 4 docs, 1 dentist, 2 pastors & 7 helpers. it's an overwhelming response as we have been getting 9 - 11 people on previous occasions. i see a few issues here:


1st, in my opinion, we don't need that many people. some settlements have only 20-30 people, so 14 visitors would appear disproportionately crowded;


2nd, transport then becomes a logistic problem because we need to bring medical supplies as well;

3rd, our regular host, though very hospitable & accomodating, would be hard-pressed to squeeze us all into her house.


since, one of the aims of the mission is to encourage new volunteers, i, having been on 3 previous trips, withdrew with much reluctance. the big loss would be my daughter's - this would have been a great lesson on blessings & contentment.


Give me neither poverty nor riches,

but give me only my daily bread.

Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say,
'Who is the LORD ?'
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.
prov 30:8,9

12 comments:

wenn said...

nice mission..

doc said...

Wenn,

they will be back on sunday with lots of stories to tell!

Unknown said...

Well done doc, service above self,in my whole life till now,i have done only one mission trip to the interior of Borneo, it was fun and life changing,and surely humbled you.

hey,have a good week ahead, and by the way,my pitfall is when i play tennis, i drink more, cos that's when i feel the urge of getting the tired body pampared,thank again, i know what to do, vices are bad,

iml said...

A nobel cause indeed. Awaiting the photographs.

Unicorn Girl said...

The harvest is great - but the labourer's are few .

Michelle Mak said...

ah u missed me out!:D

doc said...

Eugene,

you're right about one thing - it's a humbling experience, although i wouldn't consider that it's fun.

concerning vices, i have this perception that each of us are entitled to one at any one time. my current vice, which has lasted 8 years, is my car.

;)

doc said...

Iml,

unfortunately, i didn't go this year but you can refer to last year's trip here:
http://doc1s1n.blogspot.com/2008/09/mission-pekan-2008.html

doc said...

Unicorn Girl,

well said. would you be interested to be a labourer?

doc said...

Mich,

will keep you informed about next year's trip.

Bengbeng said...

we r normally content when we can get a doc n a dentist on our trip. these communities usually number about 500 to 1000. A wise n selfless decision u made based on the limitations u qualified on the part of the hosts

doc said...

Beng,

for our mission, we've always been blessed with doctors (all specialists, too). in Dec, a team of 8 will go to Kuching for our 1st East M'sia mission. i will not join as i have a prior engagement.