Thursday, May 15, 2008
Journal Entry for Nias Mission Trip : Day 1 - The Journey


We left the house at 4.15am the next morning, with Uncle Daniel picking us on his van, together with Esther, Jess, Eil and Plin. Our destination was to Changi Airport and our flight was at 6.45am. There was not many people sending us off in the wee hours of dawn, but even so, Pastor Alvin took the trouble to come down to pray with us. We had our last breakfast in the airport and then, the 4 YAFers and 3 adults were off for Nias.

We took a budget flight to Medan. I must admit that the journey to Medan was relatively fast. Upon arrival, Pastor Harpusan greeted us at the arrival hall. He is a good friend of Pastor Goh, running his own church and a school beside it. He was the person who helped us with the arrangement of flight from Medan to Nias. As there was 2 hours till the flight departure, Pastor Harpusan volunteered to bring us to his premises. We were treated to the grandeur sight of the half-completed church, together with the multi-storied yellow school compound. This school caters to children from kindergarten to high school. We shortly went to his house, a red tiled wall house with a mango tree in his garden. Mango was part of the menu as we were invited into his house, and it was sweet and juicy. We later had lunch at a chinese roadside stall, before returning back to the domestic flight terminal.

I must sat that while Medan looks like a 2nd world country, their domestic airport appeared newly furnished. It was later discovered that it was recently destroyed by a fire. Perhaps the government do embrace the philosophy of slash and burn technique for building as well. As we waited terribly long for our flight, the other half of me was wondering if our plane will ever come. It was not till 45 minutes past the scheduled time did we finally got on board the plane. It looked like a early 20th century plane, with its 2 propellors sticking out at its sides.

We touched down at Gunung Sitoli Airport, Nias, at roughly 2pm. On first impression, the whole place looked like another movie of Congo, with vast trees that stretches over the hills and an old empty runway. We were ferried over to Telok Dalam by a car convoy. The trip was rather smooth-sailing; the roads seemed new with no pock marks, the houses were decently constructed with cements and bricks, some even having a satellite to watch TV. As we snaked through the island, rivers wind past bridges and jungle after jungle past by. But towards the 2nd half of the journey, we were finally greeted with the ocean. The sight of was spectacular. Waves would crash into the rocky banks, sending foams of seawater into the air. Surfers cruise away in the water like time has not moved at all. For the first time in my life, I actually saw a clear blue sea.

Sometimes I would always wonder why we cannot get the better of the 2 countries. While Singapore has a better infrastructure and governance, Nia has its natural beauty at its backyard. But as I think about it, if every scenario was to be the same, the we would not be expecting much in Heaven, since all of what we got from Earth would be the same as up there. The Lord has prepared an eternal home for us, and it should be something we should look forward to. It should be the day when we would cherish every moment of it, just like how I cherished every little detail and sight of the beaches of Nias.

We reached Telok Dalam at 4pm. Being the town centre of Southern Nias, it had a closer resemblence to a typical Indian Village than Central District New York. Long dusty roads with 2-storied shophouses are scattered throughout the area. School-children flooding the narrow streets as our transport make its way to Pastor Famachoi's house/mission centre/kindergarten.

Yayasan Harapan Nias had a big driveway with sparse bush on the side. At the corner was a mini-playground, weathered and over-used. Pastor Famachoi was standing at the front porch of the building. He is a short man with thin frame in his late fifties. On closer inspection, he had a bruise on his chin with cuts all over his hand. Apparently, it was due to an accident with 2 drunkens. Thank God for preserving him from death. Auntie Damai soon joined her husband in the greeting session. It was a mini-reunion of their princess from Singapore.

Preparation of the cam,p went full throttle right after moving into my room of 4. We had a meeting ironing out the itinerary of the mission trip, staying till 10.30pm. It was also the first night when I experienced the life of bathing in rainwater.


Up, up and away says Super Pioneer Daron.
6:55 PM.