Revival in Dandun! - The Arrival (Part 3)

Crown Borneo Hotel, Tanjung Aru, KK

The alarm went off again at 6am! But this time it was from my HTC phone ;) We made ourselves ready and gathered at the Crown Borneo Hotel lobby around 7am. We put all our bags and boxes on one corner while waiting for our transportation. Just a few minutes later, the off-road cars had arrived and we put all our things in and ready to go after a short prayer outside the hotel. The boys (a.k.a Young Men) hopped into Uncle Jason's Triton! We stopped by at the Kota Marudu town area for a yummy lunch and we went to Skycommunity Students' Hostel, Kota Marudu to pick up the Alpha Belia team.

KK- Pitas Road(Google Map) by Desonny

The scenery was spectacular especially along the way from  Kota Belud to Kota Marudu .I enjoyed it very much. I traveled a lot from Sandakan to Beluran and all i could see is just the palm oil plantation-left and right side of the road! But the scenery along the road to Pitas was breathtaking. A long range of hills dominates the landscape-Haalleluyaah~! The trees grew up thin and straight, like pillars. They put out branches after reaching a certain height and they spread out like an umbrella - canopy. I've used the road before but i didn't really pay attention to the surrounding as i was the driver at that time. How i wish to have a sight like that all the way to Beluran! (and a driver so that i can enjoy the scenery ;p )

Something like this!

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The Arrival

Finally, we arrived at our destination around noon. It took us nearly 5 hours drive to reach Kg. Dandun, Pitas from Kota Kinabalu city. Ah, finally i can stretched out my sore body and legs! The rain has stopped before we came. I stepped out of the car and looked at the surroundings. I saw some few adult villagers were busy cooking. The children were running and playing around.

Cheryl's kids!

A few of the elders in that community were there at that time to greet and welcome us. We could hardly see any youths roaming around at that time. The first thing i noticed when we reached there was the church buildings! Yes, there were two churches standing opposite to each other on the ground. The new church is obviously the cream in color wooden church, and the old church is on the right side of this picture.

The Protestant Church of Sabah (PCS)

 

These two churches depicts the positive spiritual development or needs of the people here years ago. The new church signifies the growth in faith as well as the population of the Christian community increases in Kg. Dandun followed by a group of strong and committed local church leaders. However, as i looked at the surroundings while unpacking our stuff,  i could sense that there was something not right about this place. That 'something' was unexplainable. Then, the words which has been revealed to St. Francis of Assisi by God, came to me at that moment! "Rebuild my church which has fallen into ruin! "  Maybe God wants us to do more here... Maybe God wants us to lift up their spiritual awareness... Maybe God wants us to revive this land...Maybe God wants us to do some gardening and pruning... Maybe God..Maybe God....  There were too many 'maybes' running through my head. I shrugged it off my mind and continue to unpack our things!

(Continue here -> Part 4)

St. Francis of Assisi

Revival in Dandun! - The False Alarm (Part 2)

It was around 3am when the hotel's alarm system went berserk, lights off, air-condition off, emergency light on! I glanced at James. He was still sleeping soundly. I hear no yelling or sounds of footsteps running outside.

 "Is this some kind of fire drill? If it is, then aren't we suppose to RUN and do some headcount outside the hotel compound? Or maybe it's a real one??"

I decided to check the hallway. I opened the door and peeked out. Desonny, Darrel, Cheryl ,Elaine - not there! They could have been burned alive already if the hotel is really on fire! There was not even a soul! I walked through the end of the hallway window and was looking outside for some clue of what had actually happened. I was still thinking if i should wake them up. Then, i saw a man slowly coming out from the building opposite the hotel. I think he was just as clueless as i was that time. No smoke, no fire, no people  yelling frantically for help..nothing! So i guess it was just a false alarm. Ah, wasted my few precious minutes. I went back to my room and not long after that the electricity power came back! I had another 3 hours of sleep before we had to go to Pitas! I was back on the dreamland again.

(Continue here -> Part 3)

Revival in Dandun! - The Dilemma (Part 1)

It was Friday (18th November 2011) and our last working day in school for this year! Five more days to go! Airasia Web check-in? Check! Hotel booking? Check! Printed maps? Boarding Pass? Pocket money? Check! Check! Check! I was ready to unwind myself for a week in Vientiane City of Laos! Yahoo!!

My mind was all set to go but not that particular Friday! I remembered an Alpha friend of mine posted on the Facebook wall, asking if anyone can help out for the Alpha Belia training in Kg. Dandun, Pitas, in which the training falls on the same date of my trip to Laos! I was suddenly in dilemma whether to go to Laos or Dandun. Laos? Dandun? Laos? Dandun? There was this unsettled and restless feeling in my heart. A little voice kept on prompting me to go for Dandun. I felt like i can't afford to miss this opportunity to witness God's healing in Pitas! To think of it makes me feel excited already until i forgot my trip to Laos. So that night i decided to forgo Laos and embrace Dandun in my dream. 

 (Continue here -> Part 2)

Youth Alpha Weekend Away at Paganakan Dii, Sandakan

One of the highlights of the Youth Alpha Course is the Weekend Away! On the 6th-7th November 2011, we had our Weekend Away at Paganakan Dii, Mile 14, Sandakan. This is the time that we learn and experience the Holy Spirit promised by God to be poured down unto us!




We started off the day with the 1st session " Who is the Holy Spirit? ", followed by "What does the Holy Spirit do?" and before we went for the Ministry time, we had the session on "How can i be filled with the Holy Spirit? "At the end of the day, it was amazing to hear touching testimonies from the participants and how the Holy Spirit really works in them! Praise the Lord!

Picture courtesy of Jotham & Carol

We were blessed to have our gifted member, Mr. Jotham Mansah, to shoot an awesome vid for us! God bless you Jotham! Check the Weekend Away video out at the link below!

Below is the previous Weekend Away we had in our first cycle of Youth Alpha 

at Ulu Dusun Catholic Retreat Centre! 

The Words I Would Say -Sidewalk Prophets (Cover)

Hey there! Here's a song recorded by me and my friend dedicated to all of you out there! A friend of ours asked us to do a cover for this song and we found out that the lyrics are meaningful! Enjoy listening and sorry for the low quality sound yah! ;)