A gathering under the half moon

by Timothy Bong

 

On July 17, 2005, my mother-in-law's house in Menggatal, Sabah was inundated. The nearby town of Telipok was also badly hit by the flash flood, which occurred after more than 10 hours of rain.

 

Mrs Ku, my 78-year-old mother-in-law, managed to climb out of a first-floor window, crawl along a horizontally placed ladder propped against the side of a hillock and be rescued together with her son and his family.

 

Their house in Menggatal is situated in a valley. It is an old cottage of concrete and wood. On the ground level are the kitchen, a storeroom and a common area where family members spend most of their time. A little wooden staircase leads to the first floor.

 

The floodwater actually submerged the kitchen and covered about 4 feet of the first floor. All in all, there was about 8 to 9 feet of water.

 

The flood destroyed everything that my mother-in-law owned. When I saw her house a few weeks later, my heart sank. It was covered with mud and looked like the pictures you see of tsunami-struck areas. The water level mark was still visible.

 

I began to understand how my mother-in-law must have felt when she saw her ruined home and belongings. Thank God, she is back on her feet and ready to rebuild. When I walked into the compound of their rented house, she was outside, busy frying sweet banana tidbits. I asked her why she was doing it and she said, "I need to start somewhere, earn a living and save some money in order to rebuild my house and life."

 

I was overwhelmed by her resilience. At her age, most people will feel it is too late to start over. But not Mrs Ku! She is not going to just sit around and cry over her loss. She is determined to recover from the setback. She also hopes to help my three brother-in-laws staying in the vicinity bounce back. What a powerful role model.

 

I was mentally rehearsing what to say when I saw her. How should I encourage her? But she actually ministered to me more. By the grace of God, she is a pillar of strength to us all. She is confident and focused. She knows what she needs to do and quickly sets in motion her plans to rebuild.

 

Praise God for my mother-in-law! She is an inspiration to me. How she managed this disaster and how she is picking up motivates me even as I continue in the ministry God has entrusted to me.