Source/Author: By Trevor Hancock

The Bridal March pealed out from the organ at Bawang Assan Methodist Church, on March 21. Two brides made their entry (both were slightly late as all good brides are); both were beautifully dressed in white and carried lovely bouquets of flowers.

It could have been a wedding at a fashionable Church in any part of the world, except for one thing. Two pairs of bare feet peeped out from under the downy white of the wedding dresses. This marked the occasion as a peculiarly Iban one, for Sarawak is not the best of places to wear white high-heeled shoes.

One of the newly-wed coupled at this double wedding was Jerry Rabu Mekong and his young wife Jipah. (Rabu's story appeared in the March issue). Jipah comes from Bawang Assan, and has had experience in medical work. She worked for a time at Christ Hospital in Kapit, and later transferred to the Methodist Clinic at Bukit Lan where she worked as Nurses’ Aide until her marriage.

After their honeymoon, these two young Methodists were all set to fly to Malaya to begin missionary work among the aboriginal tribes there. But things have not gone so smoothly as was hoped. It has not been possible to obtain permission from the authorities in Malaya for Rabu and Jipah to enter the country. One thing seemed to have been settled and with farewells from family and friends the two were seen off from Sibu Airport.

But this was not the end of the story, for they travelled no farther than Kuching. Here they were turned back. So still they wait, this young dedicated couple, to fulfill the vocation to which God has called them and to which the Church has appointed them.

One serious aspect arises out of this experience of Rabu and Jipah, and it is that there are still many loose ends to be tied up in the relationships between the States which make up Malaysia. One is tempted to ask why it is not posible as yet for a Malaysian citizen to travel freely from one State to another when his work is assured and waiting for him.

Pictures by Charles Root
Story by Trevor Hancock
Methodist Message
July 1964