24 Years

Today I am celebrating the completion of my 24 years in full time ministry. I have also sent in my letter of resignation dated the same. In my resignation letter as lecturer I also asked for a position as pastor. It so happened that I met the full time workers’ coordinator in charge of placement of pastors yesterday. He was the fifth person who paid for my dinner or lunch since the AGM ended 5 days ago. “My times are in Your hand O Lord” (Psalm 31:15). So now I wait and see whether there will be a pastoral position somewhere in Sabah. I even indicated that I was willing to serve in small towns (Pekan) and interested churches should not worry about my salary.
He did say with my qualifications some churches may be discouraged to call me as pastor. When I completed my PhD I served as pastor for more than 5 years at my home church. When I returned from Singapore I served as pastor in Ranau and I did not want to serve as lecturer after my term as Acting Principal ended. I felt and still feel that my primary calling is a pastor. Three days ago I was so touched when my student asked me to pray for her sister who has a tumour on her head. I sat on the floor with about 8 or 9 family members in a small 2 bedroom unit. I spoke to everyone in the house including the two toddlers who shook my hand. I took the hand of my student’s sister and called on the name of the Lord. I was there for less than 30 mins as the young woman needed to lie down and rest. So I felt within 48 hours of the AGM I made myself useful and felt that the Lord wanted me to minister as freelance, not tied to a church or office hours. I was told that in my resignation notice period I needed to teach one intensive course. It will give me a chance to say goodbye to my students and pack up my things. I hope a single trip is enough to move everything back though I may leave my few boxes of books behind until another time.