Change Your World

CYW KLUANG

Two years and counting. I Love Kluang Project – By Jit Pang

We have raise more than $61,000 for Uniform For Kidzs the last two years – benefitting close to about 700 kids. (Last year we raised 19,500 for 248 kids) – and more is still trickling in as we speak.

As for the distribution, we have raise close to $11,000 the the last two years. Last year we only had about $2200 in contribution – the rest contributed in kind such as rice, sardines, and so on. We receive very little cash these days – a whole lot more in kind and wheat ever is left out, we will go and buy them.

Most of the contribution has been for the major project like uniforms. its been received generally well by the community here as well as the community at large. Also the Angel Tree was a success with 127 kids receiving their wish list. Many of the gifts came from the public and that itself was really a testimony of God’s goodness and provision. We never expected to see the public coming out and giving so generously. Someone anonymously contributed 15 bicycles. In three weekends, we were able to fulfill all the wish list!!! Much have to be said also about Kluang Mall – our partner in crime! They really put up a great effort too with their promotions and their manpower.

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Change Dare!

Oh Pooi Ling took our 31 days Change Dare on sms and this is her email to us about what it has done for her. She is educated in a Chinese school and therefore her English is not very good. We did not want to change much of the grammar as we want it to be as authentic and real.The words in red are the only thing we changed.

From many Dares,just 1 dares is I not to forgetable. Dare 10 :”We dare u to want to be a leader by emailling us at change@changeyourworld.com.my and say I want change , we will get someone in your city to speak to you”.

Three days ago, i received a call and a man asked me you really want to change? Tomorrow we will go to railway station there to help people who are in need, do you want to go with me? I agreed.

Before go to the place, I never think Kluang has a another face ,i thought Kluang is a beautiful place and harmonic place, but now I know Kluang really need to be change. In that day,just only 10-12 volunteers ,we go to a home to another home visited and gave them food supplies .I never forget a child, he was sick but he is very sanguine, I never seen a child with such hopes to live. He gaved me a bigger touched and a memorable day.

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I LOVE Kluang Project – An Interview with Pastor Jit Pang by Jasmine Yow

A wave of Change has been launched in the little town of Kluang, Johor, as a result of the Change Your World venture that began with Change Your World Quest in August 2009.  The Change Your World Event on 23 August 2009 inspired many youths to start loving their city and nation, and as a result, the I LOVE Kluang project was born.

I caught up with Pastor Jit Pang, the guy behind the I LOVE Kluang initiative today to find out what has been happening in his city, and in this day and age where many of us are simply cynical that our country will ever change, I came away inspired that a bunch of young Malaysians were willing to step out humbly with a heart that said, I will do my part to change the world.

1. Why was I LOVE Kluang started, and what is it about?

It actually started off as the Railway Line Project in April when some youth in the youth group I lead alerted me about a poor family eating only one meal per day. I wanted to love the community in a practical way, so I thought, why not we start feeding the one household we knew?

The next month, we discovered there were families living in a squatter area along the whole Railway Line and low cost housing areas in Kluang that lived in abject poverty, and we quickly multiplied our help to a dozen households.

After the Change Your World Event, a hundred over youths pledged to do something for Malaysia, and we decided to turn this into the I LOVE Kluang project because loving Kluang is exactly what we want to do.

2. The way I see it, you could have continued the Railway Line Project without Change Your World Kluang. What role did it actually play in your work?

True, it isn’t really about whether we have an event or not. But when I started the Railway Line Project, it only involved 60 or so Christians from my Youth Group. Change Your World Kluang created greater awareness of needs in the community, and helped challenge a whole community of different races and religions to join hands with us to love our city. It has made our project more inclusive and created an avenue for us to have greater influence in Kluang.

3. How big is I LOVE Kluang today?

The more needs we make an effort to find out, the more we discover. My heart is to make a difference in this community of 140,000 people. Right now, there are about 190 young people committed to visit, feed, and help 56 poor families in Kluang. Financial contribution comes from the community such as the Country Club, Rotary Club, individuals from the community as well as the church. Recently, MIC also agreed to contribute after hearing about what we’re doing. The kids go shopping with me and we do our major delivery to the families once a month. We also visit old folks’ homes , do gotong-royongs, paint houses, and I spend time doing a leadership series called Habitudes with the kids. I want to invest in their lives as well. I think that’s very important.

4. Are the people involved in I LOVE Kluang all Christians? Does it matter?

Some people are hesitant about Christian charities, but loving people is not about religion. I sincerely believe that loving the community should come with no ulterior motive. The religions of the volunteers or the families don’t matter. In fact, 130 of the kids who are involved in I LOVE Kluang are not Christians.

5. Please share some inspiring stories of what some of the young people have done with us.

There are simply too many to share! The one that stands out most is a nineteen year old Lower Six girl who was immediately moved with compassion the first day she came with us to visit these families. She and two other girls decided to take turns to bring one old lady to the doctor every day to get her ankle wound changed because she has difficulty getting around (Now the nurse comes to the home instead). She also brings clean water to one family every other day. Unsure about her abilities to become a doctor at first, she is now inspired and more determined to achieve her dream after being aware of the many needs she can meet.

6. What is the biggest challenge you face in doing all this?

I wear a lot of hats in I LOVE Kluang and I sometimes think I have bitten off more than I can chew! We yearn for more people to step up and contribute to I LOVE Kluang on the grassroots level. What we really need are young adults or adults who are willing to do the “dirty work”, such as taking care of administration and bringing the kids out to visit the families on the ground. It is a job that takes sacrifice, but if we hope to impart the love for our nation in the next generation, the only way to do it is to show them by our practical action because more is caught than is ever taught. Right now I do it every week, and it can get overwhelming at times as I also have to look for sponsorship from the community and take care of finance and administration, on top of my own job as a youth pastor.

7. What do you want to tell young Malaysians?

God’s heart is for the nation, for the needy, poor, and oppressed, and we need to bring back that love. In old folks’ homes, you can see old folks who have kids doing so well overseas…and yet their parents are left alone. I think it’s important for young people to learn to love their country, be proud of where they come from, and come back, eventually, to serve their community and their nation. Life is not just about getting the most comfortable lives for ourselves. : )

8. What is I LOVE Kluang looking at in the future?

We are raising RM25000 for our Uniform Project which is going to be held on 19 December 2009. We want to provide new uniforms and shoes for 250 kids from these poor families. My heart is also to share this project with other towns in the south and rally them to start looking out for needs in their community as well.

Check out the official Change Your World recap here.

Jasmine Yow

CYW BLOG FACILITATOR

The Official CYW Kluang recap

Change Your World Kluang

First of all, we want to give God all the glory and thank Him for pouring His Spirit on Change Your World (CYW) Kluang.We had a blast and heard many great testimonies on how God changed the hearts of young people to want change for their city. One of the ventures for the city called “I Love Kluang” project was a hit. Almost all the students who came responded enthusiastically to the different calls for Change!

A crowd of 340 young people participated in the 4-hour Change Your World Event despite Kluang being one of the worst place hit with H1N1. The participants mostly fall within the age of 16-19 years old, coming from secondary schools. Most of these students were from various backgrounds and different religions but with ONE common goal, that is to change and bring change to Kluang.

What was more exciting was that they were not only challenged to love their city, but as Malaysians, to love Malaysia by investing in the next city that Change Your World is going to, which is Penang. We collected RM357.75 from these young people whom most of them have yet to invest in another city.

1a.m., Relent and CYW partners want to THANK all of you who made Change Your World Kluang a success. You made Change possible.

Will you now shout it out and tell your friends and other cities to “Change Your World”?

To all the good men in Kluang, don’t forget to initiate your Change DARE!

(Type ON CHANGE & send to 36660. *RM0.30 will be charged per SMS received.)

Stay tune for videos & photos of CYW Kluang.

Kelvin & Cathryn Lim

CYW KLUANG SLIDE SHOW

KLUANG’s MESSAGE to PENANG!

The Unofficial CYW Kluang Update