Praise the Lord I made it to Malaysia! After a 40-hour travel period, we had finally arrived. Once we arrived at our ministry hosts and our new home, we set up camp. Now imagine this… 34 people with huge backpacks cramped into one small room. This was my new living situation for the next 40 days. It’s definitely been a learning lesson for all of us, learning how to share our 2 toasters and 2 toilets. Speaking of toasters, all we eat for breakfast and for snacking is toast with chocolate on top, so nothing to filling, but hey, at least we have AC in our bedroom. I actually have acclimated pretty well to my new lifestyle; I quite enjoy it. My favorite part is that I get to be here with my cousin and very best friends. I’ve made such deep connections with my people. I love every single one of them so deeply! Anyway, let’s get down to the good stuff.
We started our ministry this Monday, and that started with school, but in a different way than you may think. Yes, I am now a teacher alongside my friends. The church that we are staying with is helping refugee kids learn English and get an education so that when they are ready they can be sent off to college somewhere in the world. So each one of us got our own kid to mentor and teach. The hard part about this is that it’s illegal to share the gospel. Our host has a very cool way of teaching the kids bible verses without the name Jesus. So that while they are learning english they can leave to go to college and actually learn what those words meant. My student is 11 years old and is the sweetest little girl. I love her so much, and we are both learning so much. I am already dreading having to leave this country, but I know God will continue to work in those kids lives.
Alongside of this, we have church, of course. It’s been very cool to go to a church that is in a different language and culture. The way they worship is so amazing and truly one of the coolest things to experience. It’s been also crazy because church starts at 8 pm. The culture here in Malaysia is very late. Our first church service lasted till a little past midnight but also i just think that its so cool we get to worship God all hours of the day and night.
Another story I felt called to share is a story about a Chinese man. Every Friday our pastor (PT) takes us to a Chinese food market for lunch. Our first time there, I was having some trouble using the chopsticks, and I saw this man watching and giggling, so I asked him how to use them correctly. He proceeded to show me and then later asked if he could sit with me and my friends. Of course we said yes! We had a fun conversation, and he even taught us a little bit of how to speak Malay and Chinese. We all exchanged Instagrams so that we could follow up with him. He asked if he could meet with us again the next time we were at the market, so we did exactly that. We ate lots of food and tried a lot of new things. I also finally learned how to use chopsticks. Anyway, the coolest thing happened. I asked him if he had any plans later that day, and he said no, so I invited him to our event we were having that night. That event was church. He said yes! So we told him the details and told him wed see him later that day. The day had passed, and it was almost 8 o’clock, and church was about to start. My friend Maya and I were getting nervous he wasn’t going to show up, but lo and behold, he showed up!!!! He was definitely vibing to the music and seemed to be having a good time. He started asking questions during the service, so we pulled out the Bible for him, and he started reading the gospelllll. I literally can’t even explain the emotions in this moment; he was literally taking pictures of God’s Word! He will be coming back to church next week, and we gave him some verses to study and look up. So with this, please be praying for my new friend and that the Lord will continue to work on his heart.
Since being in Malaysia I’ve been learning so much about God and about the love that God has for all of us! I ask for y’all just to continue to be praying and interceding for Malaysia and the other countries we are going to reach! Love you all!!
