Gawai

June 1st is Gawai, a major holiday in East Malaysia where the Ibans return to the long houses in their home village to celebrate the harvest festival.  It's like Thanksgiving and New Year's mixed into one big celebration.  The cities empty out and the villages fill up with lots of people.  There is a lot of music, dancing, rituals of thanksgiving and invoking good luck for the year to come, visiting of family and friends, and lots of eating and drinking homemade rice wine.  Since the missionaries do not drink alcohol, they stay in the city and visit the people who are left behind (Chinese and other not of the Iban heritage).
Thomas sent home some pictures of the pre-Gawai party at the church where he helped decorate a banana tree with balloons and soda bottles before the party.  Some members dressed in traditional costume and performed local dances.  Thomas was given a traditional hat and vest to try on.  Looks like loads of fun.

Thomas also sent home a couple of pictures of his new found skill: cooking potstickers he found in the local market.  Looks yummy.

Thomas also sent us a picture of him being interviewed at a festival in Mukah (where he and 9 other elders were playing on a giant swing) by a student from Wisconsin who is studying in Australia and was doing some program in East Malaysia.

Photos from Malaysia

Thomas sent home lots of photos and here are a selected few.

The first week in Sibu, Thomas and his companion, Elder Ajek, witnessed the baptism of one of the people they taught.

The second week there, Thomas went to Mukah, a coastal town nearby, for a zone conference, where the 10 young missionaries in the region met together for training and some activity.

Got up really early in the morning to catch the 5:30 AM bus to Mukah.

At a town square in Mukah.

On the Mukah coast.

With all the missionaries in the zone plus a local family.

Local musical performance at the park.

Giant swing.

Getting on the giant swing.

Malaysian canoes.

One of the luxuries in Sibu is a McDonald's fast food place.  Because Bintulu, the place where Thomas spent the last 8 months, does not have any McDonald's, Thomas is frequenting this McDonald's often during the first two weeks there.  One time, as documented here, the place was exceptionally busy and Thomas had to wait a long time for his turn to place the order.

The church is on the top floor of the building at the end of this street.

Here are a set of photos from Bintulu, during the last week of Thomas' assignment there.

Fishing activity with the men of the Bintulu 3rd Branch.

Getting the gear ready for fishing.

Not sure if Thomas caught anything.

Cooking the freshly caught fish.

Someone got a big one.

Over the three days between Thomas being notified about his move to the day of the move, Thomas visited lots of people he taught.

Making some kind of meat dish by mashing the meat in a wooden vessel.

Thomas trying his hands on making the ground meat.

 Last Sunday at church in Bintulu.

More family visits.

Thomas saying goodbye to the chef at a local eatery who had
been cooking Thomas' favorite dish for him all the time.

One of the family lived over the hill and
this is Thomas' last trip up the hill.