It's been a whirlwind week, literally and figuratively. I preached two Sundays in a row and taught a 5-day intensive class in between. I drove up to Ranau the Sunday before, hoping to stop by some SIB church for worship before continuing my journey to Namaus, Ranau where the College is located. I stopped just before the ascent to Mount Kinabalu at Tamparuli and it was my first time in the church. Lo and behold, two songs before the sermon, the pastor came over to me and said that I would be taking his place for preaching and with a few seconds' pause I had agreed to his request. So I ascended to the pulpit with about 5 minutes' preparation in my heart and spirit and I preached not a bad sermon given the circumstances. Several church leaders came up to me and said they would like to invite me back for ministry.
I reached the College at 2.30pm after stopping for lunch in Ranau town. I was accommodated at my former Maroon house just next to the Hostel. After waiting for a couple of minutes, I was greeted by a passerby in his white Land Cruiser who turned out to be an old friend from Nabawan, one who helped me up the big truck during the Greg Storm in Dec 1996. He is now retired and studying at the College as preparation for ministry. I was so happy to be reacquainted that I gave him a copy of Departure Points just after I preached in the College's Chapel at the Thursday's morning service.
I taught for about 24 hours from Monday and Thursday and held an examination on Friday morning. I had left the College early in the morning arriving back to Kota Kinabalu just past 10am to a whirlwind that just struck the city early in the morning. I saw a number of uprooted trees in various places and I knew something major had happened with signs of flash floods and water every where. Then I read the news that this is once in a decade storm which only happened three times in the past 11 years.
The rest of Friday was rest day and I got up on Saturday to prepare for the sermon which I preached yesterday in one of the biggest churches in the city centre. The church was practically full with social distancing, possibly over 300 people. The church could easily seat 500 without physical distancing. I will write another post on yesterday's message, God willing and when I returned home after service, I told a friend that when God opened doors, no man can shut.
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