An activity of God's attribute

It was an awesome trip, really. Somehow, as much as I know it's reality, my brain will have a lag in time space. I can only really understand and fully comprehend things when just be still and do recalls. I don't think I have a fixed blog space to write any more but I will just write it in here to share with readers who would like to know more about the background of Batam.

Firstly, somehow hills hotel ran out of rooms for us and thus we were assigned to stay in Triniti Hotel. It is not a bad place as it is nearly directly opposite Nagoya Shopping Mall. What I really liked about this place was it actually feels like home, maybe due to the tiled floors and that the mirror is not in front of the bed. I really dislike mirrors to be in front of the beds and most hotels are built that way. It's just creepy to see yourself every time you wake up.

Around the small island of Batam, there are already about 45 orphanages and I believe Batam is about the 2/3 the size of Singapore. It than struck me about how little I know about this island and how I took Singapore for granted. We are really living in good shells if you have to ask me personally. As much as all these polling and politics that are going on, just take a good look at Batam, you cannot ask for more. The roads in Batam are beaten and filled with a lot of pit holes. My team moved around in a mini bus and those who sat right at the back, always have their butts off the chairs due to all the bumps in the roads. What I also came to realise was that Batam has a mixed of religion as well. I actually see quite a handful of churches around the area. Actually, I see a lot more things during my 6 days there.

For food, we had so much fish and BBQ/Chilli chicken for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The people there eats a lot of nasi (rice). Their vegetables are on a separate plate and not cooked. The usual are raw cabbage, sweet potato leaves(?), cucumber and some other leafy stuff that I'm not sure of. Their McDonald meal actually looked more like a KFC meal to me. In one set, there was a rice cake wrapped in the burger style. Nothing in there except rice and one chicken piece and a drink. No fries, no vegetables. That's one set and just looking at it makes me doubt that it's McDonald until I see the logo of the box.

The children there taught me to appreciate many things we took for granted. They ran around barefoot, stepping on broken roof tiles that were littered around the orphanages. There was also nails on the floor and I actually fear for them. 43 children ranged from 6-18 years old squeezed into a mini bus that fits only 13 young adults. Just do your math and imagine how squash there were! They didn't complain one bit and in fact they were so happy that they are going out. They dressed so well even though they knew they were playing soccer. When we were teaching games or songs that were meant for younger children, the older children actually tagged along with us. This was an eye opener for me as I am very sure it will not happen in Singapore and the older children will probably refused to tag along with the childish movements. It really warms my heart to see every older children taking care of the younger ones. Nearly all of them came from different places but they help each other like they were real family.

My greatest regret?! I had a big one, that I regretted not know any form of Bahasa Melayu. It is like so close to my home yet I knew nothing of it. I'm actually ashamed though. Only if I knew, I would have known each child's background better and speak encouragement into their lives. They mature so much more than the children here and appreciate things that are given to them. Did I mentioned that they are very smart too? They learnt English songs within an hour and memorised the actions within an hour as well. Even though there was some sort of communication constraints, they got what we were trying to teach them. It is just amazing.

The orphanage we went to live by faith for God to provide and He did. They do not have a monthly supply of food but rather when random groups of people donating to them. While we were there, we saw rice and noodles delivered. I talked to one of the donors there and they mentioned that they will do this once every 3 months. But with what they have provided, I know it will not last for 3 months. It has to come from somewhere else as well. When they need help in their basic needs, they will come together and pray. Seeing them praise God with what they have, makes me wonder about myself. I have so much more than what they had and I'm still not praising God as sincerely as they did. They have almost nothing.

As much as I thought we should be blessing those little ones... I think I took back so much more things in return. They have blessed me and given me back my heart. It has been a little chilly for 3 years and I just warmed it up during the 6 days. I want to go back there again definitely and this time round, I'm convinced in learning Bahasa Indo.

Ahhhh, on second thought, I really could have dump my passport into the ocean and stay with the children. :)