Wowzers it’s been a while since I wrote a blog!! I’m so excited to share with you a bit of what made my heart overflow over the past six weeks here in Southeast Asia!! A lot has happened in these last 6 weeks, and I’m going to attempt to share a [somewhat] brief synopsis of some of the highlights!
February in Tsumeb, Namibia
- Last I wrote, my team and I were volunteering at an orphanage in Namibia, Africa. Time at this orphanage in particular taught me more about the depth of Jesus’ redeeming, transformative love. The majority of the kids at the orphanage have been so badly hurt, physically and emotionally, that they reject and lash out at any love shown to them. My teammates and I were frequently punched, bit, kicked, and cussed at. Our time at the orphanage opened my eyes to how our hearts, like those sweet orphan’s, can be so innately rebellious and can so easily reject and turn away from the love Jesus shows us, even through His relentless pursuit of us.
- If you’re interested in reading more, here’s one of my dear friend’s blogs about our time at this orphanage: Rebellious at Heart
March in Penang, Malaysia
- This was one of my favorite months on the Race! Our ministry in Malaysia consisted of homeless ministry, teaching English at a Muslim refugee school, night outreach, and prayer at Penang House of Prayer. Ministry made my heart want to explode on a daily basis!
- Background info on Malaysia: The main religion in Malaysia is Islam/Muslim. If you are “Malay”, you are Muslim; the words are interchangeable. There are two different sets of governmental laws – Islamic “Sharia” law and law for the Non-Malays (Chinese Christians and Hindus). 0.04% of people in Malaysia are Christian. Malaysia has one of the highest percentages of persecuted Christians in the World. It is illegal to convert a Malay Muslim to Christianity. Because of the strict regulations, we are unable to share a lot of stories, names, and photos from this month.
Homeless Ministry:
- Three days per week we were partnered with a homeless shelter feeding the homeless community in Penang! Most people that came in were men aged 50-75. They are adorable! They loved smiling at us and often asked us about America in their broken English. One man, Lee, became my best friend there! We said about five words to each other because of the language barrier, but most days we still sat by each other and smiled! Eventually our smiles would turn into laughter and the cycle continued for most of the day! 🙂 Here’s a picture of my adorable friend Lee!
- Another person that really impacted me in Malaysia was Muhammed. He is the youngest person (21-years-old) to come to the homeless shelter. One morning we got to talk through a translator, and he shared that his family lives on the streets in Kuala Lumpur (the capital of Malaysia about 5 hours away), but he moved to Penang for a better life on the streets. Muhammed is friends with the 100+ homeless people that come into the homeless shelter everyday. He is constantly smiling and laughing with all the old men that come in. Sometimes he would walk around poking the older men who fell asleep at the lunch table, and we would burst out laughing. I got to share a lot of laughs and smiles with both Muhammed and Lee throughout the month!
Muslim Refugee School:
- Wow, teaching English at a refugee school filled with 5-17-year-old Muslim children is by far one of the coolest ministries of all time!! I wrote a blog a few months back about my encounter with Muslims in the mountains of Macedonia and how I saw so much of Jesus in them, and this rings true again! Jesus’ love and life floods from these precious kids’ light-filled hearts! Everyday I’d leave the school so encouraged by the words and love of these sweet children. They loved to laugh and speak words of encouragement that seem to come straight from the Father’s heart! Crazy that one of the most refreshing times in the last nine months of the Race and the time I’ve felt most loved on the Race was by a bunch of Muslim children!
- All the students at the school are both Muslim and refugee children. The children either ran away from their home countries or from an abusive parent. Most of the kids have a past of filled with physical and verbal abuse. One of the students at the school is an 11-year-old girl from Myanmar. She was sold into marriage, by her parents, to a 35-year-old man. The principle of the school rescued her two days before the papers were signed and now the girl has gotten to go to school for the first time, earn the top grades in the school, and live a life of Earthly freedom! How I so wish I could show you these beautiful children’s faces!
Night Outreach on the Streets of Penang
- Penang is a beautiful island off of Malaysia that is filled with mountains, forests, beautiful beaches, breathtaking sunsets, tons of backpackers, and an abundance of “ladyboy” prostitutes.
- Penang in the day time is full of fun energy and eclectic and rich culture. The environment completely changes at night. Penang at night is the most spiritual dark place I’ve ever been. Drunk backpackers flood the street and there are prostitutes on nearly every corner. During our night outreach, about thirty missionaries went out on the streets to talk to prostitutes, pray over the mosques, temples, and city, talk to backpackers, and pray for healing for people personally. Numerous people were healed and multiple prostitutes got to hear of the ever so loving man who died on the cross for them and that there is life, life to the full, outside of prostitution.
Other Equally Exciting Things
- One of my biggest prayer requests in March was that Jesus would remove the scales on my eyes so that I could see my brokenness more clearly and that in that brokenness I’d learn to be more dependent on Him. Then days later BOOM! I broke my foot!!!! (LOL what timing). Here’s the extremely exciting story: I was climbing off my bunk bed (after laughing hysterically that I’m 24, living on a bunk bed in a room with 6 other women, making approximately $0 a year, and not able to go anywhere on my own! Sometimes, though I would not trade this experience for anything in the World, you just have to laugh at the weirdness of all of this). I stepped on my foot wrong and broke my fifth metatarsal! I know you’re wondering, Is this girl getting enough vitamins and minerals? The answer is probably no!
- Although having a broken foot has been a challenge at times, I am learning so much about myself and Jesus and have found so many reasons to celebrate this time! More on this in another blog 🙂
“ATL” in Thailand
- This month I’m on a brand new team! I love each of them so deeply!!
- This month is a little different than most months on the Race. My team and I are doing “ATL” (Ask the Lord), which means we don’t have a ministry host, ministry location, or really any external structure to our month, unlike most months where we are partnered with a some-sort of organization, church, or ministry. Each morning, we get to wake up and pray about where the Lord wants us that day, and we get to learn to rely on the Lord in new ways for housing and ministry opportunities. We’re 12 days in and have done some of the most unique, organic, and beautiful ministry! This month, we’ve gotten to see God provision come to life relationally and materially.
- We’ve been cherishing our time here and engaging in hostel/backpacker ministry, sex trafficking ministry at bars and strip clubs (amazing, I know!!), coffee shop ministry, tattoo shop ministry, street market ministry, elephant sanctuary ministry, prayer walks, worship, church administration, etc. Even mundane, everyday things, like a man holding the door open for you while you hobble through it or conversation with Uber drivers, are seen with new eyes! It’s so beautiful to see how every minute of our lives can be ministry, if we so choose to listen to the Spirit’s guiding.
- Here’s a blog one of my other dear friends wrote about the strip club in the Red Light District: I Went To A Strip Club if you are interested in reading more 🙂
This is one of the cutest, most outgoing little boys I’ve ever met! He liked having head wars on the bus 🙂
In a few short days (on April 20th) my parents are coming to Thailand for a 5-day parent trip where parents and Racers will do ministry together!!! It is so, very exciting to get to see their warm faces for the first time in 9 months, and exchange memories! I am so excited to get to share a glimpse of this weird, beautiful life with them!
Asia so far has been a time of celebration, intentional, joy-filled conversations, increased dependence on Jesus, and deepened love for Jesus and His Bride. I am hopeful to write a blog soon on the redeeming stories I’ve be let into on the persecuted Christians here and what my broken foot has taught me. In the meantime, I’d love if you’d join in my prayer for safe travels for my parents, fruitful and life-giving time with them, continued guidance from the Spirit this month, and healing for my foot!
Thank you so, so much for being a part of this journey with me!
