Turning over a new leaf

Pure and undefiled religion before God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
There are many people in this world that need a shelter even though they have their own house to stay.  My cousin in Pulau Ketam is one of the case.
When he was young he was a good man, handsome and hardworking.  His job was to row a small boat called sampan to transport the passengers from the ferry to the fishing village.  When the jetty was built he lost his job but instead he was given a place at the jetty to sell drinks and other things.  His was the one and only stall at the jetty.  He was doing well and soon I saw him wearing a lot of gold on his neck and hands.  This is what the villager normally invested in when they have money.
The houses here were built above the seawater and the roads were built above the swampy mud.  Only bicycles and motorbikes are used as transportation.  No car is used in this island.
The past time for the villagers are gambling, cinema shows, videos and karaoke.  The island is small.  In fact most of the young people went to big cities to earn a living.  The remainders are mostly old people and small children.  Not many people are interested to continue the grandfather's profession of catching fish.
I did not see him for about 15 years.  Recently I visited my auntie.  I was surprised to see him changed totally.  He is no longer innocent and kind looking but he looks like a bad guy.  His sister told me about many things that happened to him that caused a lot of trouble to the whole family.  He takes drugs and sells drugs, owes people money.  The brother and sisters had helped him to settle a lot of debts but he still continues to live in the same way.  His sister is fed up of helping him to pay his endless debts.
One week ago he was beaten up by the neighbours who gambled with him claiming that he played trick.  One of the man rode motorbike and knocked him from the back.  His right leg was broken and he was hospitalized.
Knowing that I am doing social  caring work my cousin sister wants me to house him after discharged from hospital.  The Vietnamese wife and the small daughter came together.  For me it is a joy to be able to help him.  The sister fears that he might be further harmed by the neighbours.  He needs to get out of the former environment.  So my place provides a new and healthy environment for him.
Every morning we have prayer and worship time in the sitting room.  His bed is in the sitting room as he cannot walk upstairs.  He will need few months to rest and recover.  I hope his life will change after knowing Jesus as his personal saviour.  No drugs and cigarettes are allowed so that he will get rid of these bad habits.

 

Unable to sleep?

Recently  I visited my cousin who is staying in Johor Bahru.  I have not met her for many years.  My cousin is near to 70 years old.  She is not so healthy and so is her husband, Alex.  Alex is 72 years old.  He looks weak and tired.  He cannot sleep well at night but always wake up in the middle of night.  He finds hard to fall asleep too.  So every night he will spend time doing Chinese brush writing copying the Psalms in Bible.  This is one of the ways to make himself tired and sleepy.  During the day he cannot drive alone as he sometimes dozes of in the midst of driving.  The lack of sleep makes him weak and tired.
Many years ago I also suffered from the same kind of sickness.  I was busy working, taking care of  my family.  I did quite a lot of part time job at the same time.  I could not take the pressure and one day I reached my breakdown point.  I felt giddy and could not concentrate my mind.  The doctor said I suffered from anxiety.
Since then I was always in tension even though the surrounding was peaceful.  I could not calm myself even though everything was going on fine.  I found hard to fall asleep.  It was my first time taking sleeping pill.  When I took the first sleeping pill I felt nice as if I was sinking deep into the ocean.  Soon I fell asleep.  But then I knew I could not depend on sleeping pills.  I need to get over it in a natural way.
The tension in my mind tortured me.  Outwardly I looked alright but inside me was terrible.  I dreaded the news of mentally sick patient jumping down from tall building.  I worried I would go mad.  It was one of the worst kind of sickness.  The doctor told me that this sickness could not be healed completely because it will reoccur under pressure.  What a negative statement that sentenced me to death.
I began to read up many articles concerning this type of sickness to find out ways to get out of it.  Everyday I worried about getting to sleep at night.  Sometimes I could not sleep till the morning.  I drank milk every night as milk helped a lot.  Another way of calming myself was attending the praise and worship church services at night.  It helped even more.
When I started to serve God full time in discipleship training centre the sickness was gone completely.  Everyday I was so busy doing work and helping people in the community.  I worked until I was so tired.  I fell asleep straightway when I lied down to bed.  The problem then was not unable to sleep but craving for more sleep.  I had to wake up for early morning prayer everyday.
The feeling of that sickness did come back once or twice.  Instead of harboring the fear of madness I confronted it literally.  I told myself,'So what if I go mad.  Let it be.'  Then I realized that I have overcome the fear and soon the feeling of sickness coming back was gone.
If I believe in what that doctor told me I will always be in the same condition.  Thank God He has healed me and helped me to overcome the negative feeling.  I could cope with pressure and it did not make me sick again.