How God’s Word has been at the heart of Bario for more than 50 years
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10 ESV).
I had always felt that I had a reasonable understanding of what these words meant. After all, they are an important theological concept; God wants His rule and reign to grow on the earth over time. When Jesus finally returns, as Habakkuk puts it so gloriously, “… the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14 ESV).
Over the years, I’ve seen tangible signs here and there of the kingdom coming on the earth—radical life change in an individual or whole family; miracles of physical and emotional healing; a church where there is a deep and pervasive love for Jesus — I tend to call these churches on fire!
Nothing, though, quite prepared me for my experience in Bario in the Malaysian jungle. For the first time, I saw with my own eyes what it means for the kingdom to come on the earth, among a whole community. This was truly a place of miracles! Bario has about 6,500 souls, known as the Kelabit people, one of the smallest indigenous tribes of Malaysia.
The Journey Begins
I’d traveled from Florida for a couple of days, a fairly arduous 10,000-mile journey. The last stage—hopping over the treetops—saw our little team of five almost fill up the tiny Otter plane. It was a bumpy and somewhat noisy flight over the dense jungle, crisscrossed with narrow paths and the occasional human settlement. What was apparent was that this was going to be a very different world from what I was used to.
As we stepped into the warmth and humidity of the tiny airport, the two-man security and immigration team had already heard that we were coming, and waved us straight through with much smiling, barely checking our passports.
After a few local pastors enthusiastically welcomed us, we took a very rough ride to our guest house, owned by Elder Panai and his wife, Bulan, a wonderful couple from one of the local churches.
Their traditional home, like many Kelabit people, was more of a community, where a large number of the wider family group all live in the same ‘longhouse.’
These homes, several hundred feet long and made entirely of wood, have two communal rooms on the front and back—both run full length. Imagine a dining room more than 500 feet long! Sandwiched in between, each family has a section with a simple kitchen and a few bedrooms. This means the married brother or sister or cousin might live in the same longhouse, just a few doors down. There’s a wonderful sense of community.
As soon as we stepped into the house, we were immediately given drinks and snacks made from the garden and family farm. In fact, this happened everywhere we went, whether to a home, a prayer meeting, or a church service. People there never seem to meet without warm hospitality.
Miracles
Our first full day was a time of meeting the local people. As we talked and began to record their stories on film and audio, two things stood out very clearly.
The first was that almost every single adult had a story or testimony of the miraculous.
One man who shared his personal story with me said, “Early one morning, in about 1974, a group of children approached me because they felt God leading them to confront me about my life. They told me ‘You are unsaved and need to stop your heavy drinking.’”
It was a highly unusual interaction in a region where children are deeply respectful and would never normally discuss with an adult an area of sin.
Later that night, the man had a dream from God, where he saw himself dying in an unsaved state and utterly lost. The next morning, he immediately put his faith in Jesus, gave his heart to God, and was instantly and permanently delivered from his alcohol addiction. He has passionately followed Jesus ever since.
Another time, I chatted with one of the local church leaders, Garawat, about a young lady who had been suffering from a huge and bulbous growth on her wrist and arm that was several inches across. He told me how it had completely disappeared through prayer as a group laid hands on her.
Shortly afterward, we saw a woman riding toward us on a small motorcycle, smiling and waving. She stopped to say hello, and it was the very person that we had just been hearing about. She excitedly shared her testimony of dramatic healing and showed us the very slight mark still on her arm. She was overjoyed with what God had done for her and so grateful.
These stories were everywhere! Rarely did we meet anyone without this type of testimony.
Full of Joy
The second thing that stood out was the quite extraordinary joy and happiness of the people. Our team spent approximately a week in Bario, during which we met hundreds of people. Not once did we see a person complain, get frustrated, or be impatient. On the contrary, people constantly expressed their thankfulness to God and their faith in Him. They were in love with Jesus.
Everywhere we looked, people were pervasively joyful full of laughter and love, warm-hearted, and grateful, in a way that I have never seen anywhere in the world. It’s strange driving along the road and having the majority of people smiling and waving to say hello, or sitting in the market for lunch, and 20 or so people stopping to say hello.
The Kingdom of Heaven in Bario
Over the years I’d thought a lot about what heaven will be like, particularly in John’s Revelation of Jesus. How there will be no more tears, or crying, or pain. While heaven will inevitably be far more wonderful than Bario, there is no doubt, the kingdom of heaven has touched the people there in a unique and wonderful way. Jesus is at the center of every aspect of their lives and community.
The First Seeds of Faith in Bario
Until the 1920s, the Kelabit people were animistic, showing deference to birds, eagles, and snakes. They were heavy drinkers and paid great attention to omens, often abandoning farms because of them, and then having nothing to eat. Young and old smoked tobacco rolled in palm leaves, many marriages ended, and infanticide was common.
The Good News of Jesus started to change the people from the 1920s onwards. A particular season of change started in 1939 following the visit of missionaries. One powerful headsman gave his life to Jesus, giving up drinking and spirit worship. In another of the longhouses, a man called Pun Abi said, “Even if no others do, I will follow God.” Slowly but surely, the Gospel took a foothold among the Kelabits, with the majority beginning to follow Jesus Christ.
Revival
Now, you may ask, how does community transformation like this take place?
October 4, 1973, changed everything. One of the teachers and 12 student leaders were meeting to prepare Sunday School lessons. The teacher felt troubled by his sense of inadequacy and unworthiness as a spiritual advisor. Quite out of character, he confessed this to the children. After a few minutes of silence, a wonderful sense of the holiness of God fell on the group. Each of them felt a deep need for God’s help and began to confess their sins to each other.
Over the next few months, the Spirit of God began to move amazingly among the youth, with all of them turning to God and the Lord using them in remarkable ways. As the school vacation commenced, the children started traveling in groups all over the region. They ministered to children and adults alike, calling them to turn from their sin and pursue a radical faith.
What did radical faith look like in Bario? As they engaged with the Bible and fell in love with the God of the Bible, they surrendered everything to Him. They got rid of all their idols, dropped every court case, turned from all addictions, and spent hours and hours in worship and prayer.
Healings became common through their prayers. Often the children would call out secrets in the hearts of adults, hidden sins, and even the locations of hidden pagan religious paraphernalia, leading to repentance.
Over the next several years, almost the entire Kelabit people group turned to Jesus. They became so hungry for this new life of faith that they started attending church at 5:30 am seven days a week before going to work in the fields. It’s something that many of them still do today.
Even today, at the start of most prayer meetings, they look each other in the eyes and say, “Uih mutuh doo’ ui marey doo,” which means, “Forgive me… I forgive you.”
There’s a reason that this place feels like heaven. For the last 50 years, the Good News of Jesus has been at the very center of their lives.
Reaching the Next Generation
One of the wonderful people that we had the privilege of interviewing was Robin, the principal of the main school in Bario. He is a wonderful believer, with a deep passion for the spiritual life of the children in his care.
I first got to know Robin as he translated for me as I preached to a group of several thousand people about revival. It was the first Sunday of our visit. As I shared about the need for each generation to pursue a fresh hunger for God, he broke down in tears, unable to speak. I immediately knew that this was a man of God.
A couple of days later, as we filmed Robin and learned more about his heart and passion, he explained that this current generation is the first—after 50 years of the fruit of revival—where they can no longer take it for granted that the children have all been born again. Many outside influences like materialism and other religions are vying for the attention of these precious young souls, and there is a spiritual battle taking place.
Robin began to share how excited he was by Bible League’s children’s Bible study materials. He sees them as one of the key tools in reaching the next generation and helping them to find Jesus. Over the next year, he is going to introduce them throughout the school.
He shared how there is a deep spiritual need among the children. With tears in his eyes, he spoke of how he is craving more resources from Bible League, and how they need them in a variety of languages to meet the different needs of the children.
Robin said the need was present in many other schools in the area. It was so encouraging to hear how the Word of God is bearing fruit day by day, not only in his school, but many others in the area. Just as it was through children that God first brought revival to Bario, it turns out that once again, the focus is back on the children. But this time, God is using the adults to reach the children.
We also had the privilege of spending time with Bible League’s National Director for Malaysia, Pastor Maurice. He explained how believers are using Bible League’s programs and resources in 16 churches in and around Bario, meeting the desperate need of training up new leaders.
It felt like such a privilege to see how Bible League International is serving God in a place where He has done such great things in the past.
Hope for the Future
On the last evening, one of the pastors invited us to his home. After enjoying a wonderful meal with Pastor Garawat, we got to see why there is so much hope for the future of the youth in Bario.
Sitting at a huge, long table in his living room, a group of kids and young adults took out their Bible League Bible study booklets that donors like you have helped provide. Over the next hour, amid lots of laughter and fun, three older girls led the group in an intensive study of Scripture—everyone was thoroughly engaged all the way through.
Afterward, when they prayed, you could see how seriously they pursue their faith in God. They also talked a lot about how to reach their peers.
In that moment, I saw how God is working among the youth—He is raising passionate young leaders. And Bible League has a small but very important role in what God is doing. There is a partnership going on here—the adult community in Bario is praying and fasting for the youth, all around the world people like you are enabling Bible League to give resources to the Church, and God Himself is giving the increase.
So the one who plants is not important, and the one who waters is not important. Only God is important, because he is the one who makes things grow. 1 Corinthians 3:7 ERV
God’s Work Continues
It was a remarkable privilege to spend time in this little piece of heaven on earth. God has done amazing things there. It made me even more excited about heaven.
But it also reminded me that there is work to do. The leaders in Bario all left us with this simple message: the need is great! Their plea? “Please send us more materials.”
Who knows what other wonderful things God will do in this little piece of heaven on earth?
