Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Mission trip to Surabaya, Indonesia - Elpidos home

The memories of this mission trip are so so so precious to me. it is truly a privilege that God allowed me to go and be blessed by all these little ones and ministry workers in the orphanage. God is alive! and He is working in the hearts of many around the world, and to catch a glimpse of it, is truly wonderful. =)

15-dec approx 8pm, we arrived at Surabaya airport and were picked up by the staff. 2 vans to fit all the luggages of clothes and shoes and miscellaneous stuff, 6 of us and 3 of them. the ride took abt 1hr and we took the chance to understand abit more abt the home from Govan, our driver who could speak english. We arrived at the home to a warm warm welcome from the children. it was past their bedtime, but they still stayed up to say hello, and i felt so special because we were just standing there, and each kid came round one by one queueing to shake our hand and say hello. they helped with our luggages and said their goodnites, always smiling politely - esp those shy to use english.

the kids wake up daily at 430am for devotion. but i skipped the first day n slept thru the beautiful singing drifting in from downstairs. the assembly hall is just downstairs to where the girls' rooms are, while the boys sleep at another house across the road. the staff are dispersed all around, some with the kids, some in any other room available.

16-dec, we had breakfast mingling with the little ones who weren't rushing off to school. they were all very shy... at 8am we joined the staff meeting so that everyone had a chance to be intro-ed to one another. n i found it quite special that each of them would tell us which island of indonesia they come from, singaporeans wont need to do that... but anyway, i had no clue where those islands were.... my world map knowledge is really very bad.

we had an hour in the afternoon after the kids return from sch for games. we played fire, hunter, earthquake as a warm up and then a blindfold game which ended with a trust fall. they really enjoyed it bcoz i don't think they've ever played anything quite like that - falling backways blindfolded off a high table. :) the young ones spent their time colouring happily with the colouring booklets we prepared for them, n as usual i was amazed at their simple natured satisfaction and obedience.

i spent the afternoon preparing the night's craft in our room. some girls were lounging just outside our room, so i invited them to come sing some songs together with us while we were busy. it was a nice time of fellowship and breaking the ice :)

after dinner, we carried out our box decorating activity. we gave them a plain cardboard box each (those cake shop kind) to fold and decorate. over the next few days, they can write secret messages to their friends to show their appreciation or encouragement. the boxes are kept under the christmas tree until the last nite when we'll open them all together.
i wasn't expecting much from the teenage guys but to my utter shock, they were as participative in the activity as all the girls! everyone was sticking, cutting, glueing away. n i was totally occupied with the young ones constantly asking for (in a language that i didn't understand) scotch tape, glue, scissors, heart shape cutouts, etc. the kind of reliance/dependence and innocent trust these young ones have always warms my heart.

i was particularly taken by Naomi, Yehezkiel and Veronika.
6yr old Naomi enjoys coloring n craft alot, her intense concentration is v obvious. halfway thru the activity, i saw her seek help from an older brother who wrapped her finger with purple construction paper. i tot, okie, maybe she just has a little cut or they're playing. i was too occupied with the other little ones' requests. but after 10min, she went back to the brother coz the purple construction paper wrap fell off, n i saw blood ooozing! man... she is one brave one. no tear, no complain, just temporary solution to the problem so as to carry on with her craft. i immediately informed our team's medic who helped cleaned her wound n told us its actually pretty deep!
Yehezkiel is an extremely funny 5yr old little boy who is doted on by everybody and the center of attention. He warms up easily and has many many requests. haha, a typical little rascal. he was sticking to me, whining, patting my lap, asking me to do this do that... later i was so impressed with him when he sat down quietly cutting out 3 christmas trees of diff colors.
Veronika is a 5yr old sweetheart. quite dao at first but smiled sooo sweetly when i asked her to take photo with me with her box. she kept asking for "love, love" and i kept cutting out heart shapes for her - all in green, apparently her fave color, she didnt want any other color altho i asked. after observing me doing it for abt 4 times, she managed to get hold of a pair of scissors and cut out a small heart shape on her own copying my method. i was speechless! how quickly these young ones learn :)

17-dec, woke up at 43o for group devotion. all the boxes under the tree looked really nice. it was gonna be a long day, so after devotion, we went back for another hr's of slp b4 waking up for bf. i came down just in time to send some kids off to sch. it was their last day of sch and they were all v relaxed. Samuel, a friendly teen, brought his completed box to place under the tree. he had brought it back last nite to work on it. it was so impressive man. haha. he had added a backing at the back and bottom, stuck on many pictures and even little figurines!

the team went out for pizza hut lunch at the mall and spent the afternoon shopping for all the children's christmas wishlist + some snacks for the night's movie screening. after dinner, we played a variation of the traffic light 123 game for them to 'earn' their snacks and screened Toy Story 3 with the projector we brought over. altho there was a small screwup with the sound system at the beginning, they weren't restless like how u would expect sgrean kids would be :) they just patiently waited for everything to be in order n enjoyed the movie. Charlton shared his testimony after that, linking it with the show's characters and i think it really encouraged many of the boys there. we ended with an ice cream treat. not one kid asked for more icecream, they were just contented with their fill, n it was us going round asking to fill their cups with more. i cant believe how well behaved they all are.

18-dec the next morn, it was time for them to prepare for the night's talent show. we split them into groups- 2 big groups of teens, 1 group of young boys and 1 group of young girls. the young ones can do watever song n dance they want, while we've prepared storylines for the teens to act. 1 story on Jesus walking on water + feeding the 5000 and the other story on Jesus' death and resurrection. we actually weren't expecting much for the nite's performance as the children were all busy with other rehearsals. as it was christmas, they had many other engagements to perform in combined parties, other churches, etc. so we were also just hanging around, watching their rehearsals n joining in when we could - it was fun :) we also spent some time in the morning rehearsing for our own silly little skit which will be the opening act of the Talentime. n i played some pingpong with a staff, Mekri, b4 lunch. it was fun n he was playing frenly, not really smacking me when he could and giving me high balls to smack him. haha. too nice la~

david n i left 4 the mall after lunch to get more gifts that we couldn't find yest and drinks for tmr nite, while the others spent the afternoon wrapping gifts/hanging out. and after dinner, Elpidos got Talent commenced :) David managed to arrow Iris and Connor to be emcees for the nite, which freed me up to enjoy the show stress free. thank God! :) our short skit was well-received as David acted as a botak who remained thankful to God despite his lack of hair, and it was quite stupid funny la. after that, the kids took over and i went to sit at the back of the room to enjoy the show. everyone participated, and were so creative and supportive of one another :) they put up a FANTASTIC show and i was laughing soo hard and filled with amazement.

act0: singapore team
act1: ladies' staff traditional dance.
it was a surprise item and 4 ladies wore colorful sarongs, sunglasses and a head-dress with a feather. it was really entertaining, all the kids were so excited as its a different sight of their usual serious helpers.
act2: song and dance by 3 young girls- Sarah, Christy & Rachel
they had put on a little makeup and ribbons round their hair, and all looked really pretty and sweet.
act3: drama, song and dance by young boys
very well done! they remembered all their actions and sang loudly. quite different from the girls, these boys weren't shy. esp Yehezkiel even tho he was obviously copying the other older brothers and always 3seconds late, he was totally the show stealer :D
act4: Jesus' miracles
they managed to find some plastic toy fish as their prop which was really cute n funny. and used a huge blue canvas as the stormy sea while the other kids rocked their chairs about. simple, yet seeing their cooperation and joy in being involved is infectious.
act5: Jesus' death & resurrection
this one was REALLY funny as Mekri (who is already quite a funny poser guy) acted as Jesus. they made many props - nailing 2 wooden poles together as the cross, crown of weeds (instead of thorns), and whip from rope+stick. when "Jesus" was tortured, other staff were just joining in the fun, and throwing their slippers at him. it was really funny. at the end, when the angel appeared to tell the women that Jesus had risen, DeboraL who acted as the angel appeared in a nice white dress and a star shaped wand :) :) such a nice finishing touch.
act6: song dedication to God by 3 teenage girls: Sabrina, Inggrit & Tabitha
this was quite an emo performance, but their singing was really beautiful....
act7: male staff boliao dance
thankfully there was smthg stupid funny to close the Talentime with. the guys were just pushed up to do some ridiculous dance which made all of us laugh.

i'll always rem teenager Abraham's expression when he was given just one measly piece of coin chocolate as being part of the best prize (act5). u see, anything that we give the kids must be distributed to them, even when i just ask them to pick and choose, they shake their heads and indicate to me that i hafta give to them instead. Abraham was just laughing at the pathetic prize after all the effort in the drama, but he didn't complain or anything, just laughed good naturedly. n i felt quite sorry that we didn't get more prizes. but the biggest downer of the nite was- our team didn't manage to record any video of the entire performance!!!! i was soo upset, and quickly told myself to lock in all those memorable images of their entertaining show.

Alther, our liaison, bought back some choc+cheese pancakes for supper - it was superb! and we hung out with some girls on the girls' balcony just chatting and spending time together. Sabrina presented me with a small heart shape ring which i saw her wearing earlier. i was really touched. its such a sweet sweet gesture just so i wont forget her. i definitely wont! i've been wearing it alot since i've been back and it reminds me of God's faithfulness, not only to me but to all his beloved children.

19-dec, the morning somehow just went by in a flash. we had teamtime as usual and decided that Charlton, me and Iris will go shopping again after lunch for more unfinished shopping. we went to a high-end mall that had a sogo and all the big names we usually see in sg malls. i wanted to get another dvd- WallE to screen as we had some time with the girls the next morning. but it was sold out at the nice dvd stall n the salesperson directed me to another stall, which looked normal in the front, but the back room was filled to the rim with pirated dvds that only cost INR 7000 as compared to INR 100,000 for the legal copies. i'm glad Charlton was there to help me make the right decision when i was faltering. we went back to the legal dvd stall n got How to train your Dragon.

back home, we joined the gang to complete ALL our presents wrapping. there was SO much to pack and sort. 50 kids x averagely 2 pressies each. Rosa managed to catch me after my shower and gave me a little pink rabbit stuffed toy. once again, i was so touched! bcoz the nite b4 on the balcony, she asked me wat my fave color was. i named it Pinky :)
we waited for the children to come back from the christmas parties and started our commitment declaration segment. Charlton n i did a lame impromptu skit n i followed thru to tell them to write their promises to God on apple shaped cards that we'll be giving out, come up individually to delcare their promises for the new year and hang it on the christmas tree. it was so heartening to hear the young ones make promises like - i'll listen to my older brothers, i'll finish the food on my plate, i'll do housework with more joy, i'll learn to trust God with all my heart. after everyone had their turn, we ended with a loud loud toast to seal their promises and our Christmas BBQ dinner began :)

we projected photo slides of our time there so the kids could enjoy while eating too, n everyone was quite irritated with Yehezkiel bcoz he kept going on loudly "aku! aku!" (me! me!) as there were many pix of him, haha. after 1st round of dinner, there was a special drama on David n Goliath presented by the young girls. it was quite funny as they were all so shy n fidgety. then, it was gifts presentation time, and we gave out gifts to each kid individually, along with their box. it was quite frantic for me n Wenping as we tried to find the correct gift + box for each, but thankfully all went well :) just then, the washing machine that papa bought with the money we provided arrived, and he was really happy! they've been saving and saving for very long since the current machine spoiled to get 1 but the money always had to be used for more urgent matters. imagine the load for 50kids + 20staff everyday all handwashed!

suddenly, they all gathered round and had a surprise item prepared for us. it was an indonesian Goodbye song. everyone sang very loudly and eventually all started crying. the girls were all huddled in a group, the young boys trying to hold back their tears unsuccessfully. Wenping's tap was already open the moment they started singing, while i was in the same state as the young boys. there was so much emotions in their singing and the whole thing was just so moving bcoz u feel their sadness in parting and the way they oredi consider u as part of the family. papa asked for prayer requests and the children all stretched out their arms to pray for our team. it is SO special to have a family elsewhere, who just wants to bless you with even the little they can give. God bless their hearts! and just as how they welcomed us, they said their goodbyes, queueing up one by one to shake our hands, hug and thank us.

after that, it was just a photo taking frenzy :) :) when it all died down, i got some guys to help translate the letters i received in my box, continued to hang out with the teenage girls, and chatting. it was so beautiful when we sang hillsongs' "Thru it all" together in harmony. departures are so hard....

20-dec, we actually didn't plan for any programs on our last day. but since we still have time, we shouldn't waste it. the boys booked a futsal court and they all went out for games. they're all crazy abt soccer and really good at it. that fit perfectly into plan as i'm left with the young kids and girls. so the young kids had time to do some clay modelling (a program which we didn't hav time to do earlier), while i share my testimony with the teenage girls. the girls were all quite sleepy but sat through my sharing and i even taught them a song - "He will carry you" :) i have no clue if my sharing encouraged them or not, but glad I obeyed His prompting to do so anyway.

the boys weren't back yet, so we screened How to train your Dragon. n the young ones who finished their clay came over to watch too. their clay weren't as impressive as i tot they'll be, but i know they had fun - who doesn't haf fun with clay?! haha... in fact, this clay modelling activity was wat i was looking fwd to the most to facilitate, but well, i had to answer God's calling elsewhere ;) suddenly, i was stopped along the corridor and little Christy gave me her clay models. she had made 3 figurines on the clay container and stuck my name across the plastic container. it was sososo sweet, and i couldn't believe that she spent the whole hour on it n wanted to give it all to me! i kept confirming with her that she wants me to bring it home. i was so happy with the gift :D n asked papa to help me find a box just so i can hand carry it safely home :) later during lunch, she came to give me yet another figurine! haha, but i told her to keep it for herself n remember me ;)

i spent my last lunch interacting with the young kids. they've taken a group photo of them from my file and we were just playing a simple game of spot him/me/her. it was such a precious time, with Yehezkiel on my lap... "Let the little children come to me...", Jesus said. (Matt 19:14) so pure and simple. man, i miss them so much... sat on the porch with the teenage girls, communicating abit here n there, holding onto Christy's hand, just sitting together, very aware of the impending goodbye...

we all gathered to say our final goodbyes and as they all looked up at me, i asked them not to cry and assured them that we're all brothers n sisters in christ and God will surely let us meet again one day. "amen!" they replied. a final prayer for our journey home (with Yemina refusing to let go off my hand), hugs and handshakes and some kisses, more photos n that's it, we left. i didn't cry.

the tears came uncontrollably the next day, many times thereafter and even now. its amazing how God connects people. just 5 days and the attachment is so strong, i cant fathom it... on the car ride home from the airport with Charlton n Wenping, Charlton was already talking abt going back in June. we'll see, we'll see :) they already have such a special place in my heart, and i think of them everyday. makes me realise how much more our Father longs and desires for us to be close to Him.


~~~ Angela 11:47 PM