Will God visit Malaysia Again, 37 years after the Bario Revival?

http://www.sinclairwong.com/2010/11/02/will-god-visit-malaysia-again-37-years-after-the-bario-revival/

Will God visit Malaysia Again, 37 years after the Bario Revival?

Tuesday, November 02nd, 2010

Author: Sinclair Wong

Last Sunday, I had a wonderful time listening to a first hand account from Pastor Solomon Bulan on the Bario Revival in Sarawak, Malaysia which took place in 1973. A humble Kelabit pastor, Pastor Solomon was a school teacher then. The revival broke out as a result of much prayer for revival among the young people in the Bario church. Bario is in the Kelabit Highlands (Mount Murud). The Kelabit is a small tribe with just about 5,000 persons. The Holy Spirit came upon the people with great power and conviction. The young as well as the old began to cry out and repent of their sins. School children, farmers and almost everyone stopped everything they were doing and went to church from morning till night, everyday, to pray. There were miraculous signs of speaking and interpretation of tongues, healings, casting out of evil spirits, word of knowledge and a great zeal to spread the Gospel to other villages and tribes. Hidden charms kept by the believers were revealed by the Holy Spirit and those convicted had their lives greatly changed. Groups of school boys, aging between 13-15 years, went out into the dense forests, walking for days to preach the Gospel from village to village. Whole villages were converted and set on fire by the Holy Spirit. The journey from one village to another by foot would normally take about 8 – 10 hours. Sometimes, because the team would stop for prayer, the delay may cause them to have to travel at night in pitch darkness. The Holy Spirit would lit up their path by causing leaves to glow in the dark. Each of these mission trips would take about two weeks. This went on for several years. Pastor Solomon co-authored a book with his sister in 2004 to give an account of the revival. It is entitled “The Bario Revival”.

The revival spread to the Lun Bawang who live in Ba Kelalan which is on the other slope of Mount (Gunung) Murud. In 1985, God visited the Lun Bawangs with great signs and wonders. There were many miracles and “lights” which looked like fire balls appeared in the sky as the Christian choir sang praises to God. ( Read about the news reports by a New Straist Times Journalist on Sarawak Sightings 1,2 & 3). In November 1985, a group of these Lun Bawangs came to Kuala Lumpur to attend a Morris Cerullo conference. We managed to invite 5 of them to come to our church and share what they had witnessed in Ba Kelalan. I can remember clearly how they related the burning of the sand and wet moss and also how the birds in the forest sang together with the choir as the lights appeared and “danced” in the sky in accordance to the singing. One of the team members was quite unforgettable because his name was called “Buaya” which means “crocodile”.

Ps Solomon noted that there were three phases in the Bario Revival. The first was Repentance, the second was Praise and Worship and the third was Retreat to the Mountain for Prayer. The first phase of Repentance was an obvious sign as the initial move of the Holy Spirit. The second is when the people of God gave themselves to daily worship and praise at the church. The believers would go to church at 5.30 am and end at 12.00 pm. They then attend to their work. From 6.00 pm to 12.00 am there would be another service in church. They were never physically tired of meeting in the church nor feel hungry. Even today, church services are held daily. The last phase was when they would retreat to the mountain top for prayers (Prayer mountains).

It is now 37 years since the Revival took place. Ps Solomon was reflective on this. He mentioned a sobering fact; what was the purpose of such a great revival and signs from God? A new generation of Kelabit and Lun Bawangs have arisen but they have no experience or personal knowledge of God’s power. The church is losing them to modernity and Islamization. He said that there is a desperation in the country and a deep underlying spiritual desperation in the Church. The Church has been complacent and as a result, we are losing our children to the world. Ps Solomon feels that Revival is for believers and not non-believers. When God gives a revival to His people, He brings a Restoration of Direction to the Church. God has His timing for revivals but His people must pray because prayer brings revivals.

Will God visit Malaysian again? Will His next visit bring an even greater outpouring; not only in Sarawak but to the whole country of Malaysia (East and West Malaysia)? Will this also mean the salvation of the “sons of the land”?