Airport Thoughts
I got off the plane and was almost immediately frustrated with the people around me. I was reminded in that moment to stop looking at the imperfections of others or of my less than ideal circumstances. Instead, I needed to look at Jesus and how good He is. It was like He was saying to me, “Hey, daughter. Don’t look at how bad they are. Don’t look at how bad things might feel right now. Look at me and how good I am. I have joy for you, and all you have to do to get it is to look at me.” I spent a moment pondering how good my Father is, and pretty soon I was walking through the airport with a smile on my face, which if you ask me is a miracle for someone who just spent 30+ hours traveling.
After we got our packs from the baggage claim, we spent the remainder of our time in the airport either dragging our bags on the floor or carrying the full weight of them on our backs. The thought struck me that the 50-60 pounds each of us were carrying was symbolic of something so much heavier. There are so many people that we interact with every single day who are carrying their figurative baggage on their backs because they don’t know God. Life before Christ is full of trying to carry all our burdens on our own, and it’s so heavy. I just landed in Malaysia, which is primarily Muslim. My heart for every single person I interact with should be for them to be able to let go of all the weight and responsibility they are carrying and lay it all at the feet of Jesus. There’s precious few feelings better than the relief that comes from setting down a heavy burden. I want that for the Malaysian people, and I want to do whatever I can to show them God’s heart for them in that.
More Reflections
Thursday night I made the decision to hang out with people upstairs in the church we’re staying in. We sat around sharing pieces of our testimonies and having really good conversation until 4:30am. And that is why I slept through dinner on Friday. It was a late night, but the conversation was really fruitful. It was really helpful to hear about some of what other people are struggling with and to be able to connect with people. I talked to my friend Ella about some ways I was struggling to be patient with other racers, and she really helped me to recognize why I felt that way. She encouraged me to get to know them more so that I can have more empathy and compassion for them.
God has been teaching me to lean into the community He has provided for me. I am not designed to figure things out on my own. Today I had the opportunity to put that into practice by having a conversation with someone I was frustrated with. I felt that she had wronged me, but addressing it allowed me to realize that she wasn’t being rude, she just didn’t hear and understand what I was saying. It’s very humbling to be open with my struggles to other people, even when it’s something small. I believe that God will continue to lead me into greater openness and humility throughout the coming year, and I’m very excited for it.
Moving In
We arrived at our ministry location after our six hour bus ride, which involved at least four stops for food and bathroom breaks. That was a bit of a surprise since I was expecting an hour and a half long bus ride. I sat with Jackson and we took turns choosing whose music to listen to. Honestly, I was in quite a strange mood after so many hours of travel and not very much sleep.
We didn’t really have any idea what the living conditions were going to be until we arrived. We knew we were staying indoors, but that’s about it. A lot of us were quite surprised to find that we would be sleeping on the floor in the church. All of us. In a not very large room. Honestly, though, despite the lack of beds, we are so blessed with this ministry location. The room we are sleeping in is air conditioned! That is actually such a blessing. Also, we have a shower head with fantastic water pressure! We have safe drinking water, and we’re being overfed, not underfed. I feel like I’ve been eating nonstop since we got on the airplane. Good thing the food is good! Another blessing is that they bought toilet paper for us! Normally they just use a bidet, which here is just a hose on the wall. We have everything we need and more.
Rest Days
We got here on a Wednesday night, and our primary ministry is Monday to Wednesday mornings, which will be teaching English to the children of Muslim refugees. Our timing means that we started off the week with two rest days. When we first got here on Wednesday night, most people just conked out on the floor for several hours. I think people are starting to adjust to the time change. I stayed up both on the bus ride and all evening, so that was nice. I slept straight through to breakfast at 11:00 on Thursday, which was awesome to get so much sleep. Breakfast is toast every day, which is nice that it’s light because lunch is takeout food from here, and the portions are way bigger than I can handle sustainably.
We got to go to a mall on Thursday, which allowed me to get WiFi for a couple hours, which is now my only way to communicate with people from back home. Friday we designated some quiet time to spend with God individually and then we had some team time and went to lunch at the Chinese food court. My food came out still boiling, which was crazy. There was also a bakery with the prettiest cakes ever. I didn’t buy any cakes, but I got some other bread stuff. I’m actually not sure what we had for dinner because I slept through it.
First Church Service
Friday night at 8:00 is church! Also, Malaysians don’t go to bed…ever, I think. I can’t remember if people left at 12:30 or 1:00. They love church! The service itself was three hours and forty-five minutes, almost all in Malay. Some of us were assigned to pray the whole service, so that was my goal. I did my best, but focus is really hard when you’re tired. The pastor was very animated, and the worship music was really cool! A lot of the younger women danced with tambourines in the front of the room. The women and girls came dressed beautifully in bright colored dresses, and they shared their cultural clothes with us! We also take a lot of group photos. The girls were so sweet! I can’t wait to get to know them more throughout the coming weeks. Apparently we’re staying in Malaysia for 40 days before we go to Thailand. We found that out from our hosts when we got here.
Prayer Requests
Please pray for us to build good connections with the students as we teach them English starting on Monday. We are not allowed to evangelize to them, but the goal is to share the love of Jesus with them so that they can go to school out of the country later where Christians can share the gospel with them openly. Our job is to show them that Christians are not their understanding of Americans, which is not necessarily positive or reflective of who God is.
Pray for us to adjust our sleep schedules well. We are very tired.
Pray for our community to bond well and for patience with each other as we are all in the same room pretty much 24/7.
Okay, I have to post this or we’re going to miss our bus home. Sorry if it’s organized weirdly. Bye!
