White Balance

These two photos, I set the white balance differently and the resuylt is quite different also.

With raw format, I can always tweak it if I change my mind. But I don't bother. This photo, I set it to "Auto" white balance.

This one, the white balance is set to "cloudy". So which one do you prefer?

2nd Day Balingian Mission

On the second day, early in the morning, I got up and went to the garden to see for myself the lifestyle of our Iban friend.
I noticed this flying fox on the fishing string not understanding why it was there. On closer look, I realised that it was trapped... the line is full of fishing hooks (you can see one hook on the far right)! The flying fox went there in the hope of having a rambutan meal and ended up being a meal to someone else.

Our host, Frankie, showed me around... by the way, he speaks English.

.. his padi drying hut.

This is how it looks like inside. The roof can be opened to allow sunlight to get through. I am very familiar with this thing. The padi is poured on the floor, spread out, and the roof is open so that sunlight gets in. When rain or evening came, the roof is closed back... manually!

My other team members got ready and have our morning devotion led by Ming Chu. I was the first one to get up and has about one hour of "free" time to walk around the compound and garden.

Our host cooked for us a mee hoon meal + some biscuts. I was supposed to cook but when I got up, they had already started cooking. Lucky me!

After breakfast, I asked our host to show us around, especially his store house and noticed this huge container used to store padi.

A member asked... how does this padi become rice? Well, it has to go through a rice milling machine to have the husk and rice separated. Or, it can be pounded in a special vessel for the husk to be removed.

This is how sago tree looks like. It looks like coconut tree.

Eat That Frog

There's an old saying that says...
"If the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning is eat a live frog, then nothing worse can happen for the rest of the day!"
Brian Tracy says that your "frog" should be the most difficult item on your things to do list, the one you're most likely to procrastinate on; because, if you eat that first, it'll give you energy and momentum for the rest of the day. But, if you don't...and let him sit there on the plate and stare at you while you do a hundred unimportant things, it can drain your energy and you won't even know it.
I personally find this piece of advise very useful. I encourage you to sort out things those are bugging you and get it over as soon as possible. You will be set free from unnecessary burden!

Day 1: Mission Balingian

The story continues from my last blog entry ...
In this trip, everyone has something to do... Lisa is an expert in massage. So she will massage anyone who needed it!

... the children were divided into two age groups, viz, primary and secondary school.

Winston and Brian led the youth ... with songs, games, etc.

The younger children were told a story accompanied by peppet show. The kids simply love these characters ...

At the meantime, Winston and Brian had a good time playing game with the youths. There was so much laughter.

A very important ministry ... dental care led by Dr. Lee!

The younger children did craft.

Winston led the older groups with teaching and talking about human behaviour. They were then given a "test" to find out their individual "personality".

Never mind how old you are, you can join in the game and craft.

They were some of the "customers" of Dr. Lee.

Cheryl was one of the "teachers".

I was the chief cook doing "stomach evangelism"! Good food makes people happy and relax!

Evening came ... the sun set beyond the harvested padi field.

They have fried fish, sliced meat, veg, steamed fish... We brought a lot of food from Miri and Porky Shop kindly sponsored the meat.

Our Iban friends are extremely polite people. The guests must eat first before they went to the table.

After dinner, we had praise and worship and then watch a movie.

We had technical problem with the computer. The subtitle of the film won't show. Thanks to Ah Jon who helped to fix the problem through the phone. Just realised that we need to use Windows media player classic.

Winston, our team leader, did a day review before we all went to sleep.

Balingian: Ice-breaking and Children Ministry

... The story continues from my last post. After ice-breaking, all the children and youth ...

sat down and introduce themselves. To help us remember the names, we wrote name on sticker and pasted it on the clothing...

... some children who were reluctant to join at the beginning will sit at a corner...

... sitting amongst the kids were some adults watching and observing ...

... as we go round and repeat the name of everyone...
... some longhouse folks looked from afar. At the end, everyone enjoyed and the initial uneasiness was broken!

... The story will continue...

Mission to Balingian & Selangau

We have two teams led by Aaron Hii and Winston who set out to visit our brothers and sisters in Christ in the area of Selangau and Balingian respectively. I went with Winston who went to Rh Nanggai and Rh Chandang

We first gathered in front of our church in the early hours on Saturday. Aaron is the man in black on the right (back row) and Winston is the man on Aaron's right.

My group went to Sibu-Bintulu junction for breakfast.

Just as we were about to leave, the group led by Dasline also arrived. So, we have some friendly exchange... and we were on the way to Rh Nanggai, 102 KM from Sibu.

On arrival, lunch was already prepared by the long house folks. Many in our group is a first timer to a long house and naturally, there were many "first". For example, being served with a plate of fresh water snail! Eating snail was nothing new to me and I had been feasting on snail when I was young... so, do consider myself as an "expert" in this area!

So, I took the opportunity to encourage the young generation to eat snail and also to teach them how to get the flesh out of the shell! I have to say that we were quite successful in eating snail and they all enjoyed the meal very much!

After lunch, we were busy with our "programme". First, ice breaker! They played "London Bridge is falling down"...

... and these two were facinated by this ...

... cat! I just wonder whether this cat reminded you about your childhood? Did you notice anything different in this cat?

Just in case you still haven't figured out... the whisker has been "cut"! That was what most kids do to cats as they don't know the use of the whisker. Someone told me that the cat loses it balance after one side is being cut! I hope you are not reaching for your scissors now and chase after your cat.

I took 1000+ photos. This is just teh beginning. More to come...

Away on Mission Trip

I will be going on a mission trip to Balingian area and shall return on Monday.

Did You Know These Facts?

Death is certain but the Bible speaks about untimely death!

Make a personal reflection about this......

It is written in the Bible (Galatians 6:7): 'Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sow, that shall he also reap..

Here are some men and women who mocked God :

John Lennon (Singer):

Some years before, during his interview with an American Magazine, he said: 'Christianity will end, it will disappear. I do not have to argue about that.. I am certain. Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple, today we are more famous than Him' (1966).

Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, was shot six times.

Tancredo Neves (President of Brazil ):

During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500,000 votes from his party, not even God would remove him from Presidency. Sure he got the votes, but he got sick a day before being made President, then he died.

Cazuza (Bi-sexual Brazilian composer, singer and poet):

During A show in Canecio ( Rio de Janeiro ), while smoking his cigarette, he puffed out some smoke into the air and said:'God, that's for you.' He died at the age of 32 of LUNG CANCER in a horrible manner.

The man who built the Titanic

After the construction of Titanic, a reporter asked him how safe the Titanic would be. With an ironic tone he said: 'Not even God can sink it'

The result: I think you all know what happened to the Titanic

Marilyn Monroe (Actress)
She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show.

He said the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her. After hearing what the Preacher had to say, she said: 'I don't need your Jesus'. A week later, she was found dead in her apartment

Bon Scott (Singer)

The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC. On one of his 1979 songs he sang: 'Don't stop me; I'm going down all the way, down the highway to hell'. On the 19th of February 1980, Bon Scott was found dead, he had been choked by his own vomit.

Campinas (In 2005)

In Campinas , Brazil a group of friends, drunk, went to pick up a friend.....

The mother accompanied her to the car and was so worried about the drunkenness of her friends and she said to the daughter holding her hand, who was already seated in the car:

'My Daughter, Go With God And May He Protect You.'

She responded: 'Only If He (God) Travels In The Trunk, Cause Inside Here.....It's Already Full '

Hours later, news came by that they had been involved in a fatal accident, everyone had died, the car could not be recognized what type of car it had been, but surprisingly, the trunk was intact.

The police said there was no way the trunk could have remained intact. To their surprise, inside the trunk was a crate of eggs, none was broken

Christine Hewitt (Jamaican Journalist and entertainer) said the Bible (Word of God) was the worst book ever written.

In June 2006 she was found burnt beyond recognition in her motor vehicle.

Many more important people have forgotten that there is no other name that was given so much authority as the name of Jesus.

Many have died, but only Jesus died and rose again, and he is still alive.

'Jesus'

I have done my part, Jesus said

'If you are embarrassed about me, I will also be embarrassed about you before my father.'

Just repeat this prayer and see how God moves!! 'Lord, I love you and I need you, come into my heart, and bless me, my family, my home, and my friends, in Jesus' name.
Amen.'

Let God Bless You!

Encourage Somebody Today

If a man's gift is ...Encouraging, let him encourage
Roman 12:6-8

There's no better exercise for strengthening your heart than stooping to lift somebody else. Think about it: your best friends are the ones who encourage you. Who wants to hang around somebody who always puts you down?

William James said, "The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated." Most of us think wonderful things about people, but we never tell them. Praise becomes valuable only if you impart it. So, today go out of your way to encourage somebody.

Limbang - such a quiet town!

I was in Limbang last Friday and Saturday. Normally, during weekend, the town will be full of people. But this time, there was hardly anyone.
The market is the most noticable place. I think customer has dropped by some 70%.

There was almost no one on the street! During a normal Saturday at 9:00AM, the street will be busy. But last Saturday, there was hardly any car even.

The immigration post had no queue! So, it is a perfect time to visit Limbang. I was told that all this problem is caused by H1N1 virus. Everyone is just being careful.

God's Tsunami II

We are blessed to have Pastor Peter Tsukahira coming to Miri. I heard him on CD talking about God's Tsunami. His sermon is clear and message is clear.
I would like to encourage you to attend this event:

God’s Purpose and Revelation explained in light of recent events in Israel and the world.

Date: 19-20 August 2009 Wed & Thursday this week
Time: 7:00-9:45PM
Venue: Imperial Hotel, Miri
Organised by FGBMF, Miri (Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship

Ps Peter is a Japanese but brought up in USA. He married to a Jew.

Time flies... Stephanie left this morning

Last night we returned from Limbang after an overnight stay. Grandma doesn't understand why we stayed for only a night. Anyway, we have to leave early as Stephanie's flight is at 6:20AM on Sunday.
I brought the kids out for "supper", ie, mee kolok, teh-c special (Ah Jon's idea). Somehow, they missed this mee kolok so much! We went to Boulevard to let the kids enjoy. So Janice ordered a plate to be shared with me ...
... Ah Jon's think that teh-c special (gula apong + milk + tea) is good. So, we order three cups at RM2.40 each (very expensive)! Anyway, they all enjoyed it.

... Steph thinks that she will go back to UK to slim down! Anyway, she flew out of Miri early this morning after a week stay. Tomorrow, she will head for London. Janice will leave in early September. Then Esther will be back in mid September. She is enjoying herself in NUH, Singapore for a month.

... so they took a group photo to remember... study hard, Stephanie!

More Sushi

To me, Stephanie is making sushi like an expert. She was working as a sushi chef in a Japanese restaurant in Leeds.
She brought the vinegar and some other ingredients all the way back from UK. Fortunately sushi rice is available from Miri.
They were delicious. Unfortunately, we don't have time to organise a "teaching" class this time. Perhaps, next year.