With R50 a day for food, R50 a day for accommodation and R50 a day for transportation and that for 5 guys , we knew from the start that our time in Malaysia and Thailand was going to be a journey of faith and we knew that God was going to have provide. And looking back he did and so much more. God blessed us more than we could have ever imagined with food, accommodation and transport, sending people over our paths to help us in times of need and giving us wisdom to make discussions.
We started off in Kuala Lumpur and after dropping our big bags and packing lite with oly 2 changes of clothes and toiletries(even left our tents and mattresses and sleeping bags) we headed north with an address and excitement in our heart of what the next three weeks will hold for us. So we started to hitchhike and quickly got a lift
from a local which took us to a petrol station and from there we got a lift with a truck driver on his way to Thailand. Soon we were about 150km out of KL with no real hassle. After being dropped off we entered a small town called Bidor as the sun was setting. As we where strolling down the main road we received numerous warnings not to continue to Langkap(our address) as it was dangerous and still about 40km away. We however, very optimistic after our two rides and did not pay much attention but after about the third warning we prayed and asked the Lord that should he want us to stay in Bidor that he should send someone. Needless to say about 15 min later a Indian man stoped us and after hearing our story booked us into a hotel for the night. He also took us to his temple where we were welcomed to a feast. We also got a chance to share more about God as he was a Punjabi(sikh) and we gave him a bible. This was an amazing testimony of how God provides for his children and it reminded me of Luke 10:30-42,
the parable of the Good Samarathan.
So the next day we hit the road again and after about 15min of hitchhiking we got another lift which took us straight to Langkap. After arriving we phoned up Pastor Salvanos. He is a Chinese pastor and has been working and staying with the local Oran Asli people in the jungles of Malaysia spreading the gospel under these people and evangelizing them. We spent about 6 days here ministering to the local tribes. We had opportunities to deliver sermons, worked with the youth, had a men’s only evening, went monkey hunting with the local tribe, caught 7 monkeys to my disbelief and had to eat them and had great fellowship with the pastor. This was really a blessed time in many aspects. I was blessed to hear the pastors testimonies of faith and how he has been living in faith for thirty years, trusting the Lord to provide and the Lord never failing. He also showed me alot about
humbleness. He had achieved so much yet he gave no credit to himself and gave all glory to the King. The community also blessed our team even though they had almost nothing, just showing the faith that they have in the Lords provision. So our time was a blessed one with the Lord providing for our every need.
When we were in KL we got word from God to go to Langkawi Island and wanted to meet up with a South African guy working there. After arriving there and injoying the island we went and looked for this South African guy but could not find him. After about 2 days there we started to become unsure as to why God wanted us to come here but realised that he wanted us to come here to just come and seek his face before we continue our journey and so we did that. It was a great time of just spending time with the Lord and enjoying the Island. After about three days we made our way back to the ferry so that we could catch the first ferry to the mainland to start our journey up north to Thailand. There
was however a few stumbling blocks in the road, we had a sick team member which needed a bed to sleep in, as we where planning on hitchhiking the next day to Thailnd and for which he would need alot of energy. We also did not really have money to pay for the accommodation. So we prayed and on our way hitchhiking to the ferry a guy picked us up, offered us a place to sleep in his flat and took us to the ferry the next morning. This guy was a drummer playing in a band and despite the fact that he only knew us for 5 min he was every so eager to let us stay in his flat while he went out to go and play at one of the local clubs. We only saw him the following morning when he returned at 6 am but it was great to hear that they got a contract to play 3 times a week at this club and that the Lord has already started blessing him. The Lord had known our needs and had provided for us!
So we started to hitchhike and trusted the Lord to get us to Koh Chang Island which was about 1400km away in the next 2 days. We felt that we needed to go there as one of our other teams were there and needed some help with fixing a few things around the Christian centre on the island. We however knew that buying bustickets was just not in our budget and so we started hitchhiking trusting the Lord. Looking back I can see how God’s favour was over us and how he provided for us along the way. By 11am we were already in Thailand making our way up to Bangkok as we got lift after lift. With about 600km to go to Bangkok we hit the jackpot with a lift all the way to Bangkok. After a very uncomfortable ride we arrived in Bangkok at about 3 am. We had travelled about 1000km in 20 hours and had not walked more than 5km doing it. We then continued travelling to Koh Chang which was another 350 km and managed to reach the centre by about 3 pm the same day. So we travelled a distance of +/- 1400 km within 33 hours. We put all our faith in the Lord to provide for us and he gave us more than what we expected. It was just amazing how the Lord provided, we would stick out our thumbs and 5 min later someone would pick us up, when they dropped us off we would start hitchhiking again and not long thereafter we would get a another lift. My faith grew so much these few days and I was again just shown that we serve a living God!
Our time in Koh Chang was very nice, we served the centre and fellowshipped with the Southbound team. I also got some good quality time with the Lord not being on the road. This was again a time for me to recharge and regain my strength. I also really enjoyed the island doing some exploring on a bike. We were on the side of the island were the locals stayed and it was therefore much more quite and relaxed but was great mingling with the locals and talking to them about Jesus.
After about 4 days we left Koh Chang and started making our way back to Bangkok from where we would take a bus to Phuket. On our way to Bangkok we got picked up by a policeman which got us busticket to Bangkok. The Lord once again just sent someone to come and help us as it was getting dark and we were still about 250 km from Bangkok. The next evening we got on the bus to Phuket and 30 hours later we arrived, a bit later than we expected but we where save and in Phuket. It was Darko’s B-day so we decided to get scooters and explore the island. This was great fun and we ritsed around from beach to beach on our little rented scooters. After a long day we went to the beach to go and watch the sun set and cool down in the ocean. As the sun was setting a very suspicious guy was fiddling with our bags. I quickly went out of the water to go and check what he wanted but he couldn’t speak much English so I sent him on his way. After about 10 min I realised that my
shorts was stolen and along with it our team bankcard and team money. This was a big blow as this would leave us with almost no money to get back to KL and we would not have a card to draw money with. But we stayed calmed called on the Lord and asked him to help us. I explained how the man looked to my fellow team members and we went into the streets to find him. After about 30 min a tired De Necker came running to me with the good news that they had caught the culprit. So we called the police and went to the police station. It was however not looking as if we were going to get any of our money back. The police officer then told us that we had to come back next day so the guy could be taken to court. We were a bit down after this as this would spoil our whole next day as Im sure all of you know these things have a tendency to drag on very long. But we left the station and booked ourselves into the hostel with our last money and decided that we would quickly go and comb the beach for the money and team
bankcard. After praying to the Lord for an miracle and to just show us were to look we started looking. After about 20min of searching I suddenly saw lying in the sand a receipt with handwriting on it looking very familiar in fact it was mine. So we stated digging like someone who just found gold and there buried in the sand was our bank card. Prays the the Lord we scouted, screaming and running around on the beach like we had just found a gold mine. We then prayed thanking the Lord for this miracle but asked that he would show us where the money was aswell. So we continue searching and about another 45 min later 300m further along the beach we found the money. I can still remember Anthony screaming and shouting as he was running towards us from a distance with the notes in his hand. We were going crazy jumping around and hugging each other. Our money got stolen and the Lord gave it back to us. This was truly amazing and the Lord was once again faithful.
The next day we took the ferry to Phi Phi Islands which was on our way back to KL so we thought lets go and see the Island on which the Beach was shot and boy was it something. There is no roads on this Island and you have to walk everywhere not that you have to walk very far as it is pretty small. The water here is as turquoise as it gets and the sands as white as they come. We spent the day swimming and enjoying the island and slept on the beach. I must add that I must have been one of the most pretty beaches I’ve been on. The Lord also provide us with a place to store our bags literally a few seconds before it started to rain. So the next morning we caught the first ferry to the mainland and started making our way down to KL. We once again got numerous lifts and sooner than later we were back in Malaysia and in KL.
We had been travelling for 3 weeks, moving in faith and trusting in the Lord to provide and boy was he faithful. I knew that there was nothing to worry about especially after the Lord gave me Matt 6:25-34(go and read it) in the beginning of the month but the Lord exceeded my expectations and just left me in awe of how great, loving, merciful and faithful he is. Time after time he provided for us and looking back there was never a time when I felt in danger, the lord gave us a roof over our head or a place to sleep every single night. There was never really a time when I was starving, the Lord provided us with food when we were hungry and never was there a time that we had to walk long distances. The Lord either sent someone to pick us up or provide us with the money to buy the tickets. We started this month with only half our budget but we got blessed so much that we still had money left at the end of the month. Financially it didn’
t make sense but like God showed me this month anything is possible for him, just put all your faith and trust in him and he will provide for you!