Christmas 2009 Expedition – The one that got away!
For the first time in 22 drives into the interior, we failed to reach Kampung Sinai Baru. Faced with mud so thick and deep (it actually swallowed several chunks of tree trunks we cut for traction), we were forced to abandon the journey.
We did make it to the first village though and our “Budak Lorong Belakang” boy-band led by Kerry & Ken Ming were fantastic in the worship and the CUG play was well done. Excellent job people! It rained on the Karak. It rained while we were at Bentong, it rained at Sang Lee but the rain stopped the moment the tires went off the tarmac. Right on cue.
After the first village, we started up the second village after waiting for Pastor Judin (SEMOA). The going was tough when he started to affix chains to his tires. Even then, we later heard that the also failed to reach Kg Sinai that morning. When we finally got seriously stuck… as in all three vehicles, we were stuck deep, we were helpless but we were not abandoned by our God. Pastor Judin’s truck was held by two logs before the edge of the cliff and was able to make a turn down. Kong Weng’s truck also was stuck in an area with space able to make a turn around. The mud at my truck area was so deep than even a couple of trees worth of trunks and wood vanished into the mud. In the end, it took the CUG team to pull the truck 90 degrees right into a clearing to make the turn. It’s obviously someone else was also pulling two tons of steel out of 2 feet of mud. The clearing, well, another coincidence or divine plan?
Finally, as we made our way back in the darkening sky, we heard on the radio about Pastor Judin’s tire puncture. The valve was sheared off and it held long enough for him to get off the steep slope where he was stuck earlier and down to some level ground where we could change tires.
As Pastor Soon Hock preached last Sunday about the story of the bibles, it was so true.
Kong Weng’s truck spare tire was stolen two years ago in Mid-valley and we cursed the thief. In replacement, he bought a steel rim spare. In the evening gloom, when Pastor Judin’s hilux spare tire was also flat, the only tire among all our tires that would fit was that replacement tire. Coincidence or just that God has greater foresight than any one of us?
In all the trips, there’s a list of coincidences – too many here that speak of miracles. I’m sure the CUG team also have in some ways experienced God’s hand at work and learnt a lot of practical tips too like how to jack up and change a punctured tire. My morning commute to work was with Chris Tomlin on my iPod in the car and it was “How great is our God, come sing with me how great is our God!” Very appropriate indeed.
Pastor Chris reported Monday night that Pastor Judin’s tire also has a three inch gash right through the steel belt. Here are the photos. By the way, due to camera angles, it appears much gentler and less steep than the real thing!
