How God Helped Us During The Great Johor Flood April 19, 2007
Posted by Han in : Testimony , trackbackThis article detailed the experience of one of my church brother, Reuson Seet, his wife Lilian and son, Adriel. I have also posted some pictures of the flood in some parts of Johor.
19 December 2006, Tuesday and it was just six more days to Christmas. Everybody was excited and in jovial mood as all of us were busy preparing for the coming festive season. The day was like any other day for Lilian and myself except that it had been raining cats and dogs in Johor Bahru since Monday. At about 6.50am, as usual Lilian left with Adriel & our maid dropping them at my parent’s home before proceeding to her work place. The road was wet and pools of water were everywhere but Lilian managed to get to her office somehow just before 8.00am.
I told myself that I should leave early today so as to avoid the jams as a result of the rain and left home at about 7.40am. Prayed to God for His protection & mercy journey at start of journey to work place in Kong Kong, Masai. While traveling, I decided that I should use the other alternative road through Mt. Austin instead of the normal Pasir Gudang Highway to try to beat the expected traffic-jam in the highway. Thought that this would be a wise decision, which turn out to be a WRONG choice.
Traffic was at a standstill near the traffic light junction just before the Sultan Ismail Hospital in Mt Austin. Decided to make a U-turn to stick back to the normal route through Pasir Gudang Highway via Taman Daya (where I lived). Never managed to get to the Highway and got stuck in Taman Daya for almost 2 hours. Tuned in to radio 94.6 FM to see if I could find out what was going on as it seems like we are at war as traffic was just not improving. The traffic police reported over the radio that traffic in several areas including Taman Daya & Mt. Austin had come to a standstill due to FLASH FLOODS in certain areas!
The way people were driving was as if it traffic rules did not existed on that day i.e. free for all! Cars were not moving when they were supposing to and instead moving when the traffic light was RED! Got pretty worked up and sounded my honks for first time (seldom use it) at drivers blocking my way!
Called my department head Mr. Gan to find out the situation in Masai where I work and he had shared that he was caught in a jam as well due to heavy flooding at certain stretch of the roads in Masai. Minutes later he had called back again suggesting that we should just stop trying to go to the office as it was near impossible and to head for home instead as it was still pouring cats and dogs.
Thank God by almost 2.5 hours later, I managed to reach home though normally it only takes me about couple of minutes ride from where I was stuck. Called Goh Kiok ( my brother in law) to inform him about the serious traffic situation but he had insisted that he proceed on to his work place due to a meeting scheduled at 1pm. He however will try a different route via the Tebrau Highway instead of the normal Pasir Gudang Highway.
As expected, he never reached his office as traffic was at a standstill there as well due to flooding from a river near the Pandan wholesale market. He diverted for home but managed only to reach back Tasek at 1pm, more than 2 hours later.
Well, myself safely at home thought that I should just read up my Bible and the recent Church Camp materials and do some cleaning up work at home while waiting for Lilian & Adriel to come home in the evening. SMS to Lilian to inform her that I couldn’t make it for work today and that she should leave her work place early today, as traffic situation is expected to be really bad. I was told later that her Japanese boss had refused to allow any employees to leave early although request had been made.
Received call from her at about 5.40 pm that she had already managed to pick up Adriel and my maid from my parent’s home, along with my dinner and are on their way home. Subsequent calls from her confirm that she is now caught in the jam at Pasir Gudang Highway just after the Kempas bridge. After an hour, I called up and she mentioned that the car had barely moved. Sensing that the situation was not right, called her again to see if she could do a U-turn back to my parent’s home in Tasek or at least stop at the nearby petrol kiosk but she had repeated said that she couldn’t find a chance as it was just too congested.
She could only continue to move forward and do a U-turn at the Tebrau Industrial overhead bridge. Thinking that it was just about only 200 meters away from where she was, believed she should be able to make it. Fear crept in when after almost three hours later, she told me that she was still jammed up at the same spot. It was already dark with the rain pouring heavily at times and Adriel was down with fever and getting hungry in the car. Sensing that situation may not be right, I quickly prayed to God for the car and for their safety even though my stomach was protesting for food as it was getting late.
Knowing that the car had never failed to break down at the most crucial hour I asked God, “Please be in control and be with them. This really is important to me as I am not with them this time. Please bring them home safely” On the other side of my conscious mind, I was struggling to prepare for the worse. I told God, “Do tell me what I should do in the event if they were in trouble, caught in the middle of the flood with the car braking down and with traffic at total stand still.
How can I help them or even at least reach them even though I knew that I am heading towards dangerous zone? I wasn’t sure as well if I could pass through certain flooded part of the Pasir Gudang Highway.” Some how, I sense that God had told me that I should be prepared for the worse and in my mind it seems that I had answers from God on what I should do when needed to and was calm.
Almost 4.5 hours later Lilian called to inform that she had noted the clock & light at the dashboard of the car seems to be getting weaker and to me it was a BAD sign! I told her to stay calm and continue to ram on the car’s accelerator and not to stop doing it or park to the shoulder of the road as soon as possible. 5 hours later at about 10.17pm my handphone rang and feeling anxious, hungry and with a prayerful heart, I answered the call from Lilian.
Happily, she said that that she had just reached the Tebrau bridge and was on her way making a U-Turn now to head back to my parent’s home. As she was telling me what I should bring for her and Adriel when I make a trip for my parent’s home, I suddenly heard screams & cries from her in the phone. From a voice of happiness it had turned to such gruesome voice. The phone was left on but she was not talking to me at all and I could only hear from over my side her cries and shouts.
My heart sank and I frozed, “God help, please help,..” I prayed in my heart. I tried shouting tirelessly over the phone asking her to calm down and speak to me so that I could find out exactly what had happened but she just wouldn’t respond to me. My worst fear running over my mind again and again - thinking could the car been swept away by strong currents,.. have she met with an accident,.. or something had happened to Adriel in the car as the air conditioner in the car was not working properly as well.? After hanging up, I called her again and thank God managed this time to find out that nothing of the worst had happened.
The car had stalled in the middle of the rain while she was trying to do a U-turn at the overhead bridge. It was dark and she was alone with Adriel who was down with a fever and hungry! Everything in the car was powerless, the window and the car was locked and Lilian didn’t know what she should do. I tried calming her (as she was crying profusely since she was all alone) to find out the exact location and asked her to try to ensure their safety first i.e. to make sure that there was enough air in the car since the power window was not working and to see if their car was parked safely.
This is it, the time had come, I told myself ad rushed after picking up my backpack as if there was a clear voice telling me what I should do or to take with me as time was crucial! I remembered Lilian telling me halfway earlier to take Adriel’s milk powder, pour it into a small tupperware according to the right measurement & etc. but a voice intervened and said “NO” just grab the whole tin and remember just 1 empty milk bottle will do even though right before me there was a few.
The clothes, I should wear loose & easy clothing & bring extras. Clothes for Adriel and Lilian and it should be long pants & shirts that would make Adriel warm since it was raining. The torchlight, Adriel’s pillow & cough mixture. Not to forget the umbrella! With all packed up in minutes, I rushed out in lightning speed and as I was leaving wearing my slippers, the voice came again, “Oh…nope better change your slippers & put on your shoes! Never mind if it will be wet.”
Quickly, I changed to shoes and left. By this time sister LV had called to inform about the cancellation of our cell group meeting the next day due to the heavy downpour and I had told her that I was on my way to rescue my wife and child! Subsequently, Pastor who was also caught in the jam called to find out how the situation was followed by brother Han. Next, it was the traffic situation to beat. Somehow, as I was driving I could feel that it seems God had all the cars removed from my way I was heading towards.
There were just far too few cars and I could speed down the Pasir Gudang Highway quicker then usual. “Ooops…”, as I was driving, I realised right in front of me when nearing the North-South Highway bridge there was this “Red Sea” look alike, and the very reason why there were no cars on the road from the direction I was traveling.
It was all covered with waters and I could not spot the face of the roads except for waves of waters moving in the darkness. I prayed,” God be with me and help me get pass through this flooded road” and driving slowly by God’s grace, I managed to squeeze through by driving to the extreme left shoulder of the road avoiding deep waters. After crossing the flooded stretch, I could see this massive jam opposite my direction.
All the cars, buses and trucks were at standstill, as they couldn’t pass through the flooded stretch since their side was very much a lower ground. Just near the Tebrau Industrial bridge on the opposite side, I spotted Lilian’s car. Thank God before my arrival, He had sent two Samaritans (Malay) to help calm her down as she was still in shock and panic. They patiently guided her to unlock her door manually, switching her car gear to neutral and helped push the car to a safe spot, all these done under the pouring rain.
I parked my car at the opposite direction with my hazards lights on and dashed across the street. Felt so relief when saw that they were all doing all right in the car. Tried to look at the engine but just couldn’t get it started and there were too many cars and trucks moving by dangerously trying to make a U-Turn at the bridge. We had tried calling numerous tow trucks, workshops, AAM etc. even right up to Kuala Lumpur to seek help but to no avail. Due to the bad jam and heavy rain, no one would dare take the risk to come at this time. The respond I got was that they could only make it at earliest, two hours later and it was already past nine p.m. It sounded to me that they will only arrive after the rain had stopped and when the jam had cleared up.
As I looked back at the long queue along the highway, I thought the only way help could reach us was by a helicopter! Time was getting late and it was still pouring heavily. In between, Pastor was still calling continuously to find out how we were doing. This had calmed us down knowing that we were not alone. Somehow, suddenly he mentioned that he will turn towards our direction from Larkin where he was stuck in the jam and I thought that it would be great but on the other hand, I knew it was too much a risk and unfair for Pastor to come towards our direction which was a DEAD END with the Red Sea right in from of us and advised against it. However, Pastor being a servant of God insisted and told us he was on his way. He asked us to continue to call him so as to keep him updated him on how we were doing.
While waiting frantically, God sent a Samaritan (Malay) who happened to be Lilian’s transporter driving his truck. He had passed by us and Lilian tried waving to him vigorously but he just could not see us. We thought, there goes our only hope until Lilian tried calling him on the handphone through another person, as she did not have his number. After about 30 meters in front, the truck suddenly stopped moving and parked to the left with its hazard light on. “Praise God! This must be our chance”, I said! The man walk towards us and I suggested to him that it could be the battery and asked if he was willing to uninstall his truck’s battery and bring it here since it was impossible for his truck to reverse towards where we were parked to jump-start the car.
He kindly obliged though it was difficult as it was still pouring and he was risking his truck’s battery! With the only hope, we tried and tried to get the engine jump-start but somehow it just didn’t work. I asked God “Please grant us a miracle now. Please, God let it happen”. Nothing happened. Feeling sad and lost but still trusting God that He will never leave His children alone, we waited for our hope again! Almost 6 hours had passed and all of us were feeling tired, distressed and still, there was no help! Then a man (Chinese) came and approached us. “Aha,.. this must be it!” He approached us to ask for direction towards Kota Tinggi and I ask him if he could help us jump-start our car by using his car’s battery and guess what? He turned and drove away instead! We were almost lost and desperate for help when another guy (Malay) who was Lilian’s staff came by.
He had walked under the rain all the way from the petrol kiosk a distance away as he was with his friend who had parked their car in the petrol kiosk while waiting to see if help could be rendered to us. Obviously, nothing could be done to get our car started but we knew and believed that God had sent him to comfort and be with us as the other Malay guy who had helped us earlier had to leave us. At this moment, the Spirit had prompted me to go back to where I had parked my car across the road and while reaching my car after crossing the road, I sense something wasn’t right as I remembered leaving my hazard lights on when I left but now I could not see any lights blinking from my car.
I was shocked to find out that the battery in my car had run flat as well when I tried starting it. “Oh no” and I ask God, “Is this some kind of Job test I am going through?” I realised that in the midst of rushing out from my car earlier, I had forgotten to switch off my headlights. I tried and tried starting my car while begging for God’s intervention at the same time to get the car started but only to confirm that the battery was totally FLAT!
Pastor called again and told that I should trust God by leaving Lilian’s car behind and return with them first to my parent’s home using my car parked at the opposite direction. Sadly, I told him that my car had stalled as well, unbelievingly. Now, call this pure coincidence or what? “Don’t ask God why; just ask what I should do next”, which was what came into my mind next. Without much choice, Pastor confirmed that he would definitely be coming to our rescue.
Then, MIRACLE happened! As I was leaving my car I saw a man (Malay) in a tow truck but without any car towed at the back. Now, I saw many tow trucks passed by us but they had all been booked and had refused to even want to take a glance at us! So I dashed across the road as if trying to block his tow-truck from moving away and pledged for his help. Thank God, he was a nice man and obliged. Lilian had thought that this must be the tow truck arranged earlier through our earlier umpteen calls but on the other hand it shouldn’t be as it was too soon since they had promised that they could only arrive at earliest two hours later.
I told her that God must have sent this Angel to us. He cut through the jam boldly and headed towards Lilian’s car. Looking at my watch, it is now passed midnight and rain was getting heavier. I watched in fear how several rescue teams with boats towed behind their 4 wheel from the Fire & Safety Department had passed by us for rescue work in a badly flooded village nearby.
Nonetheless, none of them had noticed that we were stranded as well. When the man finally managed to park his truck in front of Lilian’s car, we immediately tried to jump-start the car but again the engine remained as stubborn as before.
Left with not much of a choice the man suggested that he should move his truck nearer to the side of our car rather then doing it from behind his truck which was a distant away for better results which also means blocking the whole road completely!
I was touched by his commitment in helping us get the car started that he was even willing to risk parking his truck at the center of the road without any hesitation or fear of blocking the way of others.
Amazingly, the cars behind were at that time patient, cooperative and did not honk at us even once, which was unlike a typical Malaysian. Thank God! It was still raining heavily and this time, we managed to get our car started and I could see the joy in the man’s face and not to mention ours when the engine got started.
I rammed on the accelerator continuously and drove slowly over the bridge and to the opposite direction where my car was parked whilst praying that God would preserve the car’s engine. Quickly, I passed the car to Lilian for her to drive back to my parent’s without waiting for me. Not forgetting it wasn’t all over yet for me. Next was my car and thank God we managed to fix it very quickly. As we were parting, I ask this man with a thankful heart how much he would be charging me and he answered RM 20 each! i.e. RM 40.
To be honest, deep in my heart I was prepared to even pay him between RM 200 ~ RM 300 for the invaluable help and was shocked when he revealed his price. Anyway, I paid him RM50 & thanked him. “Praised God for the Angel sent” I told myself. We managed to reach home safely at about 1.40am & thank God, Pastor had managed to reach his home as well at near 2.00 am after learning that help had came to us.
Just before the car had stalled, Lilian shared on somehow Adriel began singing praises in the car and surprisingly in Mandarin,.. “Zan Mei Zhu, Hallelujah,..” which he had not sang for a long time. To overcome her anxieties, she joined him as well in praising God. Things may have gone real bad but I knew for sure, God never will leave His children alone.
If not because of His voice & intervention, I would not have been able to reach the place at record time! If not because of His Samaritans, we would have given up hope on people around us who were busy taking care of themselves and passing us by and perhaps even disappointed with God for not sending help. If not because of His Angel sent, we wouldn’t have been able to return home safely in both cars!.
The following day, I was told that if both our cars were to be towed away yesterday by tow-trucks, it would have cost us a bomb! We thank God for his continuous protection and provisions that everyone was safe and for our Pastor Chua whom like a Shepherd, never will leave his sheep alone no matter how dangerous and difficult the situation was.
The next day, I have Lilian’s car send in for service and miraculously I didn’t have to pay a SINGLE cent as the mechanic mentioned that he could not detect any damage. All he did was just shake the fuse and this was done at less than five minutes!
The battery was checked and no problems were detected. While driving home, we could witness the damaged done by the floods along the highway. There were many vehicles left at the side since nothing could be done while Lilian and myself could only smile and praise God that we were still able to drive our cars home safely yesterday.
Along the way, I had asked God if it was my sharing last week in our Financial Freedom Class on buying a new car that prompted Him to put me to test? I guess God answered,.. “No my child, if things were to happen, it will happen. All you have to do is just simply trust in me and my promises to you that I will never leave you, my children alone,…and by the way I had your car fixed yesterday, might as well”!
Deutronomy 31 :8 “It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed”
Special thanks to those who had waited through the night with us anxiously, who had prayed for us and to those who had called us.
Praise & Glory Be To God!
Article by : Reuson Seet
Comments»
Thanks for your word of encouragement… I’m going through a “flood” in my life at this point of time… Your testimony has helped encouraged me.
Glad that you were encouraged. Indeed, life is like our “weather” now. Very unpredictable & dangerous. “Unknown” to human when they will hit us, perhaps the only way to overcome & manage is to trust the “Unseen”. I may not know how severe the “flood” you are going through right now, may it be the red or orange alert, I do know that “He” will never forsake you but instead will carry you through.
Going back to the bible, a similar situation was found in the book of Genesis. The flood was severe, it literally wiped out the entire world. However Noah and his family were in the ark. They were safe and sound. Thank God, today we have Christ as our ARK. We cannot stop the rain, storm or flood from coming but I am very sure that we are safe and sound in the ark of Christ. The disciples were terrified in the midst of a furious storm and high waves. They cried out to Jesus and Jesus got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. Sometimes storm and flood are good, they are meant to make us a better and stronger person. And we can learn how to trust and depend on God more.