Flying Again

Flying could be stressful, all the packing, check in, security clearance and waiting for departure even if all goes well. But flying could be relaxing as well, because one can't do much except to focus on the flight and if there are hours to spare, one can do some work at the airport while waiting for boarding. I am flying again, after 9 months. Last year in August, I flew to Kuala Lumpur for a week-end trip, conducting a seminar on Saturday afternoon and preaching on Sunday. This time it will be longer, a whole week which means I needed to pack more especially since I am teaching a class, I brought books with me adding to the weight just over 20kgs of checked in luggage. But now I am waiting for boarding and there is plenty of time. I will go my notes for the first couple of lectures and one can work on the plane too. But I have my music with me, mostly songs recorded live during worship. One song that touches me deeply is the worship song sung in a faraway village up the mountains with a congregation of about 100 people and I still hold wonderful memories of the place even though 5 weeks have passed. "You love me" ("Kau mengasihiku").

Yesterday I preached in a church, a BCCM church with about 40 people in attendance and it was Pentecost Sunday so I preached on the Holy Spirit and the Anointing. I thought that was the first time I preached in English in Sabah, but my wife reminded me that I preached in a small SIB English congregation in the city a few years ago and perhaps in another small English church 20 years ago. But it was my first sermon in a Basel BCCM church, one of the largest denominations in Sabah along with SIB, and the Anglicans. 

I have fulfilled what I thought I would do in my short time in the Seminary, reached out to fellow Christians and other denominations. Last years, I preached in the Protestant Church in Sabah (PCS), a Lutheran denomination associated with the BCCM church. Thus far, I have not preached in an Anglican service in Sabah while in Singapore, Anglican Churches there frequently invited me to preach and my good friend, a retired Anglican vicar visited me last month in Kota Kinabalu. So I am flying again and in a couple of weeks' time back to Sandakan for my class reunion. Some of my class mates I have not seen for 46 years since I left the School after Form 2 to go to Singapore to further my secondary education. It will be a four-day trip, taking an extra day after the reunion activities to visit my relatives and visit a church too.