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ChristianDisciplesChurch

A Christian Evangelism and Discipling Ministry

First Day in Kupang

by Lew Ai Su

First day in Kupang and my feelings have been through a roller coaster ride. I am not adjusting very well to the new environment. The home-stay, which is free of charge, turned out to be not as comfortable. Not only the bathroom is far but we have to share it with gigantic cockroaches.

We traveled to Kupang by ship. The ship, Dubon Solo is designed to carry 2000 passengers but more than 3000 passengers were on board, those without a class ticket had to find their own space in the ship. With people crammed into every nook and corner it was quite impossible to move around. So we passed time by reading, playing scrabble and chatting. Chatting is no fun for inevitably people will ask what we were doing here and we had to decide - to tell or not. A very taxing exercise especially when you can't tell the whole truth!

After some 38 hours we finally got to Kupang. Getting here was hard but getting down with 3000 other passengers was an unimaginable feat. The people were so disorderly that police had to fire shots into the air to get them to toe the line. One guy, too impatient to stay in line was shot in the arm.  The police had to come down hard on them because an infant was recently squeezed to death as the unruly passengers jostled and forced their way down. To avoid the mad rush, we waited for an hour and a half before we disembarked.

After the long journey the only thing in my mind was a good shower and a comfortable bed. However I was to be disappointed. We had to wait in the rain as our Timorese friend haggled for a long time with a few drivers before one agreed to take us. The three of us plus our luggage crawled into a van already packed with things and people. Though the van was filled to its brims but the driver was still trying to squeeze more people in. After a long wait in the stuffy van we finally made our way out of the crowded quay.

Within a few minutes a guy suddenly jumped out and hit the boot of the van demanding money from the driver. (A normal occurrence in Kupang, it is called car hijack!) The driver was so mad that he jumped out and shouted for someone to gather his gang. So while they gather to fight we were sitting like lame duck in the van. We had to make one of the most important decisions of our life -  to wind down the windows or not. With the windows down we may be hit directly if stones were thrown in and if we left it wound up, we would be cut with broken glasses. With the unruly mob outside, leaving the van was out of the question. As we were deciding, we heard very dramatic sound of someone being bashed up. It was pitch dark outside so we weren't sure if it was our driver. [I always thought that the sound effect in Jackie Chan's fighting scenes were highly exaggerated but now I know it is not!]

Within a few minutes our driver jumped back into the van and drove away like a mad man so we knew he won. [I was feeling sorry for the guy who was bashed up - he only asked for Rp20,000(S$5.00). The passengers offered to chip in to pay him but the driver ignored us. The idea to pay off the "hijacker" was mooted by a few Timorese passengers and throughout the discussion SC and I didn't say a single word but the strange thing was they all turned to us expecting us to come up with the money. I felt it wasn't fair but I passed them the money nevertheless.]

By the time we reached the home-stay it was past midnight. The owner of the home-stay, Pak Pian was waiting for us. The first thing we were asked to do (before we even managed to put our things down properly) was to pray for Pak Pian who was suffering from kidneys failure. Both his kidneys failed and he has been advised by doctor to go to Jakarta for dialysis. [But he is postponing his trip to Jakarta for he believed that God would heal him. He also believed that his illness is caused by a curse put on him by his enemies. Since it is the work of the devil, he believed that God would not let the devil triumph!]

When I crawled into bed that night I was deadbeat tired and emotionally drained. After a good night sleep, I am now sitting outside the room observing the neighborhood kids playing on the street. Feeling a bit disorientated and down. Though it is my first day I am already missing the comfort of civilization and feeling loss in the new environment.

As I am wallowing in my "loss" I suddenly see a little boy with very badly burnt leg. His left shin is very badly deformed and melted flesh can be seen sticking on his bones. Not a very pretty sight! The scene sobered me up immediately. The boy can't be more than 10 year-old. It dawn on me that he has suffered more than I ever did and what right have I got to feel depress over little things. After checking with him, we found out that his brother deliberately set him on fire!

Before I finished analyzing the thoughts and turmoil in my heart I was distracted by another scene. A boy was hitting his younger brother. The boy paid Rp400 (S$0.10) to buy two very tiny meatballs from the street vendor and his kid brother was hoping to get a piece. As the little boy stretched out his hand to take a piece, the brother hit him hard on the head and quickly gobbled up both the meatballs. Sobbing silently the poor boy walked dejectedly away. As I looked on I felt like crying too. The majority of the people here are very poor and oftentimes for their meals they only eat plain white rice with sweetened soy sauce.

The scenes before me remind me of the needs here and God's purpose for me to be here. For the gospel after all is for the poor (Luke 4:18, Luke 7:22). Hopefully God will use our presence here to make a difference in someone's life. If by us being here the life of one person can be touched by God's love that would have been rewarding enough.

[Get it!]

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Missions List:

- Faith in Mankind, is it Possible?

- First Day in Kupang

- Is There Anything More Important than to Know Christ Jesus and to Make Him Known in this Life?

- Opportunity Amidst Adversity

- Preparing for the Great Work ahead

- Reaching out to our Neighborhood

- The Service would Start at 1:00am!

- Unity in Co-working
 

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