Malaysia - Week 29 - When It Rains....It Pours..‏

February 1, 2011

Hello Everyone!!!

   Things have been pretty Topsy turvey over here in Sandakan, Malaysia. Ever since my Visa Run to Singapore, it has been raining non-stop, and a pretty crazy week out here. One of our strongest Branch members got caught by immigration and has been in jail since (even though he has legal papers). The people in the branch were pretty worried as Jason was a pretty big role in a lot of the work that has been going on here. But the biggest craziness has come from the constant rain. I don't know if any of you have been in a tropical rain storm, but it’s nothing compared to the states. You lose vision sometimes, and get soaked in seconds, and umbrellas and near useless for about 5 days straight it rained. Straight! No stopping. This led to the worst flooding ever in Sandakan. I don't know how many inches it rained in the past week, but maybe you guys can check it out! I sadly didn't get as many pictures as I wanted, but the memories will definitely last. The worst of it came Friday night, and Saturday morning the Branch President called us and told us to come to the church because it had been flooded with over 18 inches of water, and left mud and debris everywhere.

Sister Wieland: "When I went out back to get some equipment, I was shocked to see that the baptismal font was missing!" 

Sister Wieland:"After a one block radius search, we finally found it several houses away -- can you see the white "box" in-between the banana palm trees, center of the picture?  VERY fortunately for us, the owners of this home were up in the night (when the flood occurred about 4am with high tide) and saw it floating by -- they grabbed it and tied it to a tree or it would have floated out to sea as right behind it is the large drainage canal that goes to the ocean!  The designer of this home was smart - it's built on stilts unlike the church which is right on the ground floor (our church is really a former house that we rent until we can grow large enough to build our own chapel, which future building will NOT be built in the floodplain!)."

Sister Wieland: "This is our lovely chapel - no, not a new brown floor, just "slippery-as-snot" brown clay mud all over!  Oh, and the curtains, you can see the water  and mud on them, so all of them came home with me to get washed since we're the only ones who have a large automatic washing machine.  My house is covered with curtains draped to dry in every imaginable spot, because there are no dryers here of any kind."

Hmmmm, how to get it back to the chapel....

Sister Wieland: "It took nine men lifting, setting it down, lifting to get the font back where it belongs -- how it ever floated away, cannot even imagine the power of the water! That's our "church" ,the white building in the background behind the white fence."

 

 You can see for yourself the nice chocolate floors.  :D Also, the refrigerator was knocked down in the night, but worst of all, our baptismal font was gone! Flat out gone! There is a picture of where it used to be, and then were we found it! Almost 300 meters away! It would have floated all the way out to the ocean, but a kind Muslim neighbor saw it floating around and tied it down to a tree! So kind of them!!! They really are sweet people sometimes.                                                                                                                                So we called some branch members and with about 10 other men we carried the baptismal font all the way back to the church. Then we proceeded to clean the church. All day. We had to pull everything that was on the floor outside and clean it. All the chairs, the pulpit, the piano, we had to throw away countless books, magazines, pamphlets. It was quite a bit to do, but with help from a very willing and amazing group of members, it was done! We had gotten the church all clean again!!

   Our fears were soon rekindled again when the waters began to arise again. We attempted to find sand bags, but we eventually knew that there was nothing we could do, except bring what we could upstairs,  and just let the flood waters come back into the house. The waters were rising pretty fast when we left to go work on a member’s house that was in trouble. It seemed like all of our work was for naught. Water was pouring out of the bathroom drains, the kitchen and the shower drains, and the flooding ditches (about 4-5 feet deep) were overflowing and knocking on the church front door. All we could really do was pray.

    However, all worries about the church were replaced with pity and worry as we arrived to our member’s house, which was situated at the bottom of a steep hill in between two apartment complexes. The house was build on stilts in the dirt to bring it above water levels, but the rains had created a raging river that came cascading down the hill/mountain and ran right under their house. When we had got there, some of their supports had already been knocked out, and the house has shifted. The kitchen was also trashed according to Elder Martin. It was a horrifying sight to see, as this family's home was being washed away before their eyes. As quickly as we could, we took their important belongings to a neighbor’s house, that being 2 fridges, a tv, dogs, cats, various items from the house, pictures, kitchen appliances, and big tanks of gas. All of this was carried in the hammering rain whilst avoiding the rushing river that was tearing the family's house to pieces. As the river ran into the flood ditch (this one about 6 feet wide and 15 feet deep), it instantly turned into a rapid, comparable to some class 4's i have been on. Despite all of the turmoil, and tragedy that was striking their lives, they were so very grateful for the works and efforts we gave in their times of need. I still don't know what this family is going to do about their home now, but what I do know is that they will be loved and cared for by their heavenly father. This interest time of life really makes you think about what is most important in life.
    As a member took us home from a hard day’s work, driving home through the streets which had turned into rivers, we passed the church and saw the water levels had reach up above the floor level of the church, and there was no doubt that the water was pouring over the newly cleaned floor. All we could do is go home, and get into bed early in expectation of another big clean up tomorrow before church, if it even happens.

    We were awakened in the morning by a phone call from President Wieland. "Elders, the church is clean. Only the bathroom and kitchen are dirty." What?!?!? When we went to the church we saw for ourselves. Water had definitely flowed over the chapel tile floor, but has left behind no dirt or sand or anything. It was as white and spotless as it had been the day before after we had cleaned it. All we had to do was move all the chairs, pulpit and sacrament table down from the staircase. It was a miracle. The sacrament attendance that day was a little lower than usual (understandably) but everyone who was there felt the spirit of faith that was pulsating from this building. The Lord wanted his saints to hold a sacrament meeting. And it was one of the best ones ever! :D

The washed out bridge and main thoroughfare through the Kampung (village). The finished project!

 

    However, the following day the work wasn't done. We once again did a service project repairing a washed out bridge that daily brings thousands of people to and from their homes. The rickety little bridge entrance had been destroyed in the flood, and while only 1% of the population was Christian, we still went to work. What surprised me most was that the people began to unite around us, and the children began to help us build their bridge! They would run nails for us, serve as lever weights, while the mothers would make us sandwiches and Milo! (Milo is like hot chocolate) The husbands sat around like usual watching, but one man actually got down and helped us, and many thanked us as they passed by. Now the bridge is stronger than before, and I have a feeling those people will remember that act for some time. I sure will. Nothing beats good service to your fellow men, for when you serve your fellow men, you are also in the service of your God. I can't express how true this statement is.
   But!!! Things are starting to return back to normal, and Elder Martin and I are safe and healthy. :D happy :) and loving it here in Malaysia. I hope you are all doing well in your different walks of life. I'd love to hear from you. :D

Your loving friend, brother, and son,

    Elder Willem Kampenhout