Preaching Twice within 14 hours

It was a weekend ministry in Sandakan, the town of my birth. It started off with an early flight as before 10am I already landed in Sandakan after a 40 min flight. I had no idea what my hosts had planned for me in terms of accommodation. As they had bought my tickets to reach there early I thought I was going to stay in the church house. But they took me to morning tea without telling me that lunch would follow straight after that at 11.15am. I ate plenty both times and checked into the hotel at 1pm and rested from 2.30pm to 4pm.

But 4.30pm I usually have my afternoon tea and I walked across to a convenience stall and bought some chips and had a cup of coffee in my hotel room. By 6.15pm I was taken to the church for the anniversary dinner and service started at 7.30 sharp.  With a couple of short speeches I got to preach at 8.30pm and proably preached close to one hour but I did not see the time when I ascended the pulpit and when I stopped it was 9.30pm still early by our standard. 

So we had supper that lasted at 10.45pm and I asked to be taken back to my hotel. I was told many leaders and stayed until midnight. I slept at 12.15 midnight and got up 4.30am sharp. I had plenty of time to get my sermon ready writing short notes for 7 points about building a wise character. 

There are many passages of Scripture I read out from Old and New Testament. Just before 1pm I was taken back to the hotel to check out and reached the airport at 1.30pm for my 3.15pm flight back to Kota Kinabalu. One deaconess was appointed to sell my books, nowadays people know I have a few titles to my name and 12 copies were sold on Saturday night and the 7 copies left were sold yesterday. 

It was amazing trip; I preached in this church for the first time and I know only one elder there who used to be a member of Likas church in his youth during my first pastorate and he told me that he heard me preach in Tongod, Kinabatangan in 1997 right at the heart of Sabah. To God be the glory.