My Miri Trip

This is a flying visit. I arrive on Saturday night at 9pm taken for supper at 10pm and slept close to midnight at the hotel near the Seminary and the church where the convocation was held. I woke up as usual at 4.30am and prepared for Sunday service though I was not preaching. Last minute I received a text that they would be taking me to BEM Canada Hill for the 8am service, a church I visited back in 1997. That's more than a quarter of a century ago. As it is one of the largest BEM churches in Miri, I brought about 12 of my books (5 titles) and I was surprised that the MC took the books from the lady that I gave a set of books, and the MC introduced me to the congregation and one by one mentioned my books from the pulpit. I listened to one of the BM pastors preached as being a large church there have three pastors for the BM and three pastors for the English service as well.

After service we went for brunch at the same restaurant that we had supper the previous night and by 11am I was headed back to the Hotel after being told that I should be ready by 12.30pm and we needed to arrive for the ceremony an hour early before the start at 2pm. Perhaps the speaker should be spared too much of waiting time as the church is a few minutes' drive from the Hotel and 30 minutes' wait would be preferable. 

But what happened was comical in a way. I was reading through my sermon notes on my bed (written in full about 1,800 words for 30 minutes sermon), but I fell asleep half way and when I got up it was already past 12 noon and I saw a text saying that the car was waiting at the lobby to take me to the Seminary and Church. But I had just gotten up and apologised to my hosts and asked him to wait for 5 minutes as I got ready. By 12.20pm we already arrived in the Hall where faculty and graduates gathered for the procession and it was way too early for me all dressed up. I praised God that I had about 30 minutes' power nap or else I would be dead tired before I went up to speak. 

The ceremony started on time at 2pm and about 400 people were in the church with another 100 people coming in late. After an opening song and Seminary's anthem, the Principal gave his 10 minutes' address and he took another 5 minutes to introduce me. So at 2.25pm sharp as I saw the clock right in front of me on top of the church door, I began to deliver my convocation address. By 20 minutes I was only 2/3 of my sermon as I realised I had to speed up as I did not want to take more than 25 minutes although 30 minutes were allocated for the sermon. So I skipped a few paragraphs and concluded with a challenge to work hard (kerja keras quoting Proverbs 14 that says where there is strength of the oxen, there is abundance of crops). Two senior leaders mentioned about working hard including the speaker of the graduation dinner at a hotel nearby. 

But I was happy I was able to deliver the message by the power of the Holy Spirit. A full two weeks' preparation for 25 minutes. Many people came to talk with me during the refreshments and a group of elders from a big church in Miri even hinted they were looking for an English-speaker pastor but I said to them, "If Sabah do not want me, I'll come here." And we had a good laugh.