Meeting Ivy

Meeting Ivy

27 August 2013

“Are you up for hiking a mountain?”  Asked Elder Loke.  “Well, of course.” we replied as we drove the two Elders to a little village to visit some church members.  We parked our car and started hiking up a steep, deteriorating street way with jungle on both sides. 

 From a distance we could see Ivy high above us on the mountain, hanging clothes on a line that stretched in front of her porch.  Ivy is in her early 30’s and married with two children.  Dogs come out all along the way and warned us not to step into their territory.  Of course we obliged.

There are make-shift homes along the side of this steep hill.  The people buy the property and build a home of some sort on it.  There is no OSHA here!  The cement stairs are steep and narrow with barely room to fit half your foot.  There are no hand rails or walls on either side, you just keep climbing up into heaven, never looking back.  We balanced our huge American bodies on the top step, while respectfully removing our shoes to enter her home.   I've noticed the petite Malaysians giggle as they watch our awkwardness. 

The home was a mixture of different planks of wood and paneling to make walls and ceilings.  A variety of cupboards and drawers with open fronts were filled with books and belongings.  Material is draped to divide one room from another.  School pictures of her children hung on the wall.  There was no kitchen table or chairs.  Her home reminded me of a play house for children who scrounged bits and pieces to make it a hut away from home.  No lights were turned on while we visited in the shadows.  There was a Soni thin-screen TV in the front room.

 

The home had a definite smell, not necessarily bad, but completely foreign to me.  We were invited to sit on the only couch she had, as the Elders and Ivy sat on the floor.  Ivy was shy and apologized for her mismatched and meager furnishings.  We sang “Come Follow Me”, prayed and counted our blessings.  We decided we were all rich, because we had families!   Ivy joined the church several years ago and her daughter was baptized a couple months ago.  Before being baptized she had never had a white person in her home.  She said she noticed white people down on the beaches, but wasn’t too impressed with them. 

Ivy is a beautiful young mother, healthy and strong.  Hard work compensates for money.  Like all Malaysian’s we have met, she was very friendly and offered us ice-cold mineral water.  We loved her instantly.

 

We visited another woman today who didn’t have as much as Ivy.  She literally lived in a wooden box 6’ x 6’.   This box was home for her, her husband, two young boys and a brand new baby girl.  Roselyn, the mother, greeted us through the wooden bars on her door.  Her young son pressed his face against the wooden slats to get a better look at us. She kept the door shut. There really was no room for us anyway.  Their beds were taking up all of the floor space I could see.  As make-shift as her home was, she also                                                                                          had electricity and a TV.   Humble and happy,

 
                                                                               they seem to go together.