I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Where?
Down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart.
So a lot has changed this month and our team has found
ourselves in a constant state of transition. This month our team leader decided
that he needed to go home so he stepped down from leadership and left Malaysia
to head home. During this time our squad leader had asked me to step into the
leadership position. So I am now the leader of team Deep Roots. It has been a
hard adjustment but I have felt nothing but encouragement from everyone around
me especially my teammates. I have been nicknamed Chief Cha Cha. It has been
great.
We also have been in transition the past few days. We left
Ipoh and traveled to Simpang Empat to stay at Bethany Home. Bethany Home is a
school/facility that helps mentally and physically disabled people. It helps
special people through all stages of life from infants to the elderly. They
offer group homes for the young people to live in and are working on building a
retirement community in the near future. They also offer a work environment
called Lighthouse that give some of them the opportunity to earn money by
packaging different items for a company. The work the staff here is doing is
amazing. They are giving the people here and opportunity to learn and develop
skills that will help them later in life.
On arriving, it was hard to ignore the joy that falls on
this place everyday when young people arrive. The joy they all have is
inspiring. They are able to walk around with a smile on their face for the
majority of the day and it is hard for me to walk around with a smile on my
face most days. They face more struggles and more obstacles everyday then I
think I will in my lifetime yet they have more joy then I do on a day-to-day
basis.
God has really been working in my life when it comes to
having joy each and every day. Finding joy in the small things everyday.
(Kid with autism, about 12 years old, having so much joy in his daily workout.)
Being here has
been an amazing experience and a great way for my team to end this month in
Malaysia. We have been able to move away from the weird transition of our
leader leaving and move into something that we could make our own. We were able
to take hold of this ministry and really experience God’s love, mercy and
especially God’s joy in this place.
Please continue to pray for my team (Deep Roots) as we are
all still dealing with this transition and figuring it all out. Please pray
that the Lord would have me lead this team in the way He would have me lead
them. Leading them in His will and not my own. Pray for us as we transition out
of Malaysia and move into Thailand on November 6th.
