For the local residents of Rumah Dian which is a 1hr40mins drive from Bintulu town, the two-days one-night visit by Life Church members is indeed a blessed and joyful one. Rumah Dian is a twenty-four door longhouse that is home to more than a hundred and forty natives. It’s surrounded by other longhouses that include Rumah Justin, Rumah Unchol, Rumah Gamang, Rumah Entalang and a primary school (Sekolah Kebangsaan Kuala Pelugau).
It is a long journey for the natives since the fire incident in 2002 that rendered all family homeless with nothing but hope and faith in God. And by the grace of God, all lives were saved. The promises of God never fails;
Isaiah 41:10 (KJV) Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
With the help of the Ministry of Human Resources and some God-sent individuals, they were able to relocate to the current fully-completed Rumah Dian two years later.
For more than ten years, they’ve wished for a prayer session and celebration with friends and family members.
The event was a part of 2017 outreach program by Life Church Bintulu; a few days earlier, they had participated in the Christmas Procession that comprised all local churches in and around Bintulu. Activities during the visit were praise and worship, sermon/teaching, prayer, Sunday school, testimonies, baptism and distribution of love gifts.
The evening session started with the opening prayer by pastor Anti Anak Intering committing the program, longhouses, residents and everything to the Lord Almighty to take absolute control. This was followed with a welcome address by longhouse chief, Tuai Rumah Dian Anak Ramba.
‘Greetings to all of you and welcome to our longhouse,’ he greeted. ‘Thank you to Pastor Anti that brought all of you from Bintulu to come and celebrate the season with us. Welcome also to people from other longhouses. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you. Big thanks to all of you and Merry Christmas once again.’
As the body of Christ, we do not have to wait for a season to celebrate the birth of Christ, neither a particular time to show God’s love and the reason Jesus came but Christians should do it all year round in our everyday life with everyone around us as part of the great commission.
Matthew 28:19-20 (KJV) 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
We should bring God’s grace and truth to all humankind for this is our mission and the reason our Lord Jesus Christ came.
John 1:14 (KJV) And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Comments and Statements from the Visitors and Residents at Rumah Dian;
“The natives are friendly & hospitable. Most are Christians though many still cling to their cultural heritage, we see the mighty hand of God moving and changing lives through Jesus Christ our Lord,” said Sis. Iris
“Praise God, I thank God for the opportunity to go to ministry with brothers in faith from Bintulu Life Church to Long House at Dian Belingian House. On 16-17 Dec 2017, in the Pre-Christmas Program.I am very glad to see the church of God in the time of praising and worshipping God.
“The residents were blessed with the testimony and word of God delivered from the Bintulu Life Church team. I feel the kinship atmosphere of God’s congregation at Rumah Dian. They welcomed us from Bintulu well. I pray that God will visit and bless the Lord’s church in Rumah Dian. And I also pray more and more souls are saved in Rumah Dian and neighbouring longhouses. All glory and praise to God. May Lord Jesus always bless all of us. Amen.” – Pastor Alfeus Adrianus (Chosen Generation Church, Bintulu)
For Sis. Mercy who is from West Malaysia, “I was very lucky to have been invited by Life Church to participate. Visiting a modern longhouse in Balingan (Rumah Dian) as a first time visitor to a longhouse, the road trip from Bintulu which took more than an hour was all worth it, experiencing the lifestyle, the simplicity of the native firsthand is a total joy, the praise and worship, testimonies and of course the local delicacies, all to the glory of God. Indeed, words cannot express my joy in celebrating the season with the natives” she said.
“We appreciate all of you for coming to our longhouse to celebrate with us and teaching our children” – Longhouse resident
“Celebrating Christmas season in a longhouse was surprisingly quite enjoyable. Their faith was simple yet tangible, and they were friendly and generous.” –Lyvia from KL but working in Bintulu
“We are to bring this grace and truth to everyone at all time
“Rumah Dian is the first in the area to have such program, we hope to continue more regularly so as to encourage the natives in serving God. Terima Kasih and God bless you.” – Pastor Anti Anak Intering
‘Saya rasa sangat bersyukur dengan program seumpama ini dijalankan di rumah panjang kami. Memberi manfaat dan pengajaran kepada penghuni rumah panjang ini khususnya anak-anak dalam melayari ajaran Tuhan sempena pearayaan Hari Natal,” – Sindan Anak Dian (Longhouse Resident).
“Saya berterima kasih kepada ahli gereja kerana melakukan aktiviti seperti ini. Semoga aktiviti ini akan sentiasa dilakukan tidak hanya waktu perayaan Hari Natal sahaja. Semoga Tuhan memberkati kalian semua di dalam melayari Jesus. Amen.” – Nancy Anak Timban (Longhouse Resident).
Matthew 25:40 (KJV) And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Photos and Video Gallery
|Share The Good News|
Edirin Jameson
Leave a Reply