A Sign of God’s Mercy

Reported by Taoyuan Newsgroup, Formosa (Originally in Chinese)

On May 5, Golden Year 3 (2006), a group of 19 Formosan initiates, confident and encouraged by God’s great love, traveled to Brunei and Sabah, Malaysia to share a message of compassion, love and peace. They prepared two sets of Alternative Living flyers, one printed front and back in Malay and Chinese and the other in Malay and English.

Brunei -- The Small Oil Kingdom in Southeast Asia

Brunei has a population of 350,000. A constitutional monarchy, it is rich in oil and natural gas resources and is known as the small oil kingdom in Southeast Asia. Its people are wealthy, simple and kind. Its national religion is Islam, but Buddhism and Christianity are also practiced. On the afternoon of May 5, the Formosan initiates arrived in Brunei, where they were met and transported to the hotel by brother Lin, a Malaysian businessman. That evening, at the brother’s arrangement, they met with personnel from the Sin Chew Daily to place a Chinese advertisement of the ‘Alternative Living’ message in the local newspaper. They also decided to start distributing the flyers in the commercial district around BSB the next day.

The Muara district has a population of 60,000 and is the most important political and business center. However, when the fellow practitioners arrived in its commercial areas on May 6, they found the streets deserted. They later learned that many people were working in government offices, so they decided to try their luck there. Once again upon arrival, they met few people; instead, they saw parking lots filled with cars. A sudden inspiration had them placing flyers under wipers on the windshields. As they toured the Muara district in their bus, they stopped to hand out flyers when they saw a lot of people.

Meanwhile, the initiates contacted an English newspaper to discuss ad placement for the Alternative Living message, but were asked if they could replace the pig in the picture with a sheep for its predominantly Muslim readers. After careful consideration, the visiting initiates decided to retain Master’s meticulous design and drop the discussion altogether. Later, they met Ms. Ji, a journalist for the largest local Chinese newspaper, United Daily News, and invited her to dinner to discuss the advertising of the flyer. Ms. Ji asked if they had anything for sale besides distributing the flyers. One brother replied that they had not come for business and then mentioned to her the importance of a vegetarian diet. Already touched by the fact that they had paid for their own trip to Brunei, Ms. Ji became all the more determined to join in their distribution activity. With her help, a total of 30,000 flyers were inserted into and delivered with newspapers.

In the evening, the tour guide arranged for the Formosan initiates to hand out flyers at the Empire Hotel & Country Club, the largest six-star hotel in Brunei. But there were few people around. The fellow practitioners then invited their Christian tour guide and Muslim driver to have a coffee at the hotel coffee shop and shared with them the reasons why a vegetarian diet is important. The tour guide was satisfied with their explanation and hoped that he could join in their interesting mission in foreign countries. He also expressed interest in trying one vegetarian meal a day as proposed by the initiates.

On the following day, which was a Sunday, the tour guide took the fellow practitioners to St. Andrew Church, where he worshipped. Coincidentally the church was holding an international food exhibition. The fellow initiates got all excited seeing the crowds of people and handed out flyers to everyone. They also left a few hundred flyers for Christian adherents at the church before setting out for Brunei’s famous water village.

Kampong Ayer, located on the opposite side of the coast, is the largest water village in the world. Its 30,000 inhabitants lead reclusive lives isolated from the rest of the world. It has its own schools, hospitals and supermarkets. Due to its complicated topography, one can easily get lost without a local guide. In God’s love for Hiers children, magically the tour guide found a special kind of boat that could transport many people to the opposite shore, and he also arranged for a local guide to lead the way so that the fellow initiates could distribute flyers from home to home while he explained to local people the simple purpose of their visit. The villagers who received the flyers smiled happily and the children responded shyly.

After lunch, fellow initiates took their bus westward along the coastal highway. With God’s guidance, they arrived in Belait, Brunei’s economic center and the world’s second-largest oil-producing region. The people here are more inclined to communicate with visitors and received the flyers more readily. The initiates visited suburban Kuala Belait where more than 400 Iban aboriginal households reside. What makes this place so special is that the designated area is a gift from the Brunei Sultan to impoverished homeless people. However, people might have to wait ten years before their applications are approved. The tour guide surprised the initiates with news of the Sultan’s care of his people, as reflected in their having to pay only one Bruneian dollar for medical service.

On the morning of May 8, journalists of Brunei’s two largest newspapers brought copies of the day’s issues to the Formosan initiates, who were waiting to board a flight to Sabah. They were excited to see not only a front page advertisement of the Alternative Living flyer in the Sin Chew Daily, but also a half-page news article on health and the vegetarian diet. The United Daily News also published the message in an eye-catching spot.

United Daily News (Right), Sin Chew Daily (left)

Malaysia - The Journey to Sabah

Sabah, a famous scenic attraction for tourists, is located in northern Perak, the second largest state of Malaysia. On May 8, the Formosan initiates arrived at Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Perak, where they were met by sister Zheng.

They launched into their work that afternoon, dividing into four groups to distribute flyers around their hotel. Sister Zheng and two other local initiates went to the Overseas Chinese Daily News to discuss the flyer advertisement, while the others walked to nearby shopping centers and business districts. Delighted to see large crowds of people, some initiates distributed flyers in the buildings and supermarkets and some along the streets. One group met a local citizen who enthusiastically helped with the distribution while exclaiming “good” repeatedly to show his support.

Before flying back to Formosa on May 9, the fellow initiates took advantage of their last few hours in Malaysia to distribute flyers in nearby shopping districts. When one of the groups came to a vegetarian buffet restaurant to pick up their lunch order, they saw large Alternative Living posters on the walls. It was sister Zheng who had brought the posters here and the manager had been more than happy to put them up immediately. Seeing the large posters in the restaurant and the endless flow of customers, the initiates were extremely happy. The manager asked them to leave more flyers in the restaurant so that more customers could get to read them.

At various airport customs, the x-ray machine detected something similar to gold foil in the luggage of the initiates. But when the luggage was opened, there was nothing but flyers. The initiates witnessed with their own eyes how God’s love had permeated the flyers. Hiers blessings are far more powerful than anything one could ever imagine. The initiates recommend that the Alternative Living message could be supported by sharing with people “The Real Heroes” DVD, Master’s sample booklets, the Supreme Kitchen Cookbooks and other publications.

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