HAPPY EASTER IN MALAYSIA!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Happy Easter!!!  There is such a beautiful sunrise happening just outside the windows of this airport on a great day, and there’s nothing like sleeping on a concrete floor in the middle of an airport.  It’s a day of transition: one country to another, culture to another, and even the look of our squad/team.  Currently I’m sitting in the Kuala Lumper airport of Malaysia on a massive layover soon to be embarking on a new journey to Cambodia.  Last night a few of us went out to town and you could definitely see the social status differences from men and women.  Tons of women wear head coverings, there was even a group that our team talked to and they said they weren’t allowed to shake my hand, and when we passed up streets downtown many were barely dressed in hopes of men picking them up in Malaysia.  Cambodia has been one of the countries I’ve been most excited about seeing but right now I’m in mixed feelings knowing that the Philippines is behind.  It was a country that truly stole my heart; the beautiful people and how friendly they were, God doing some crazy awesome things, and my heart just got poured into what all was happening there.  Goodbyes were never meant to be easy, and this one was difficult.  i hope to summarize the last week of my time there because it was so much and just incredible, but I first want to speak of new things.  Change is good, no matter what people tell you, change helps us learn and grow.  We have had changes in our squad as Mike, Liz, and Noe have accepted the call to step up and become our squad leaders now.  They are great people who I know God has anointed to see the Spirit just grow in the them to us.  We also have had some major team changes; especially me.  I have a new team now!!  Rachel Hurt is our team leader, and there’s Luann Ulrich, Andrea White, Jedidiah Smith, Natasha Blount, and Charity Powell.  I hope to do another blog on these people soon and it’s crazy that Rachel, Charity, and I are on the same team being from the same college.  Our team name is DYNAMI (pronounced Thee-Na-Mi) meaning power in Greek and our verse is 2 Corinthians 4:7; more on those later.  I will truly miss my last team, we had gone through so much (remember Oenpelli!!) and grown so much, but God’s hand is in everything and perfect.  I believe these team changes for everyone will do great.

 

It’s really weird to think that less than a day we were in the Philippines and now soon we’ll be in Cambodia, but my heart is to summarize what happened.

 

 

Last Monday was our last day at the jail, and there was no greater experience than to be able to baptize twelve detainees on your birthday, in a jail, in the Philippines.  Rollie, our ministry contact, and others brought a portable bathtub, carried it on the top of the vehicle to the jail, and the guards let us bring it in.  It was such a blessing and surreal time as we started with worship, then Lana and Jesse gave their testimonies.  The inmates had chosen a few people to write “thank you” letters on behalf of the inmates and read them in front of us.  Afterwards, before saying our final goodbyes everyone headed outside and as they got in line, one by one I’d ask them for their confession, and in faithful assurance they confessed their belief in the Lord and His saving power.  Never had our prison ministry team experienced such a great feeling before like that, and to see them claim freedom in a place where there physically is none is earth shattering!!  It was very hard to say goodbye and we pray that their faith will stay strong.  God never changes based upon our circumstances, no matter whether we feel him or not, or behind bars and out, He still stays the same!

 

 

 

I hope that I would never have to go through tough goodbyes again like this, but I’m sure they will happen again on this trip.  We never got to see the kids between Tues and Friday because of an off day to the beach as a squad on Wednesday and then team transitions on Thursday and Friday morning.  We then received the scary news that one of the kids had ran away the night before and we spent part of the day looking for her in the midst of crowded streets; luckily she was found the night before we left which was great to leave on that note.  The kids are just beautiful and to leave them is hard, but I know that the staffers at the orphanage love them so much and take care of them.  The best assurance is knowing that when we leave, that God will continue to do great work while we are gone.  It’s not about us, and continually we have to always point them to the Lord and not to us, because He is the One we all need.  Our last night of saying goodbyes to those kids weren’t easy, and I just wish I could take them home with me.  I’ve never known much about the power of orphan ministry, but I’ve come away seeing the hope and future these kids have amidst the broken homes and life that’s just ouside their metal gate across the street.  I think how unfair for the street kids, that just as beautiful, don’t get the same chance.  The staffers were just incredible people and will be missed very much.

 

 

 

I had pretty much been adopted by a family in the Philippines, a mom named Lydia and her daughter Megan.  I was honored to be able to baptize her daughter, her son Heaven, and her two nieces at a condo pool on Palm Sunday morning with Nicole, Cassondra, Brook, and and Kristen Paulick along with us.  It was such a beautiful morning and an honor that they wanted me to do it for them.  That morning, at the church beside us (Jesus Christ Church In the Valley) a group of World Racers were going to lead the worship service and talk to the church about the various ministries that had been done and how they affected us.  The testimonies were powerful hearing about orphanage, prison, feedings of displaced families, prayer ministry, street and community ministry, and then to end it they had Nikka come up and sing to the whole church; it was so moving.  As a gift, the church gave all the racers small climbing rope bracelets as a remembrance gifts.  The pastor said that moutaineers, when they climb mountains will take the rope they used and tie it around their ankle as a symbol of accomplishment.  They told us that the Philippines is one of those mountains for us and the rope doesn’t get dirty and is very strong.  When the pastor put it on my ankle he told me that when we go around the world we will know that their church is always praying for us wherever we go.  It was a very moving service and an honor for us as Racers to be blessed by them. 

 

 

 

Last Saturday Kelly, Emily, Nate, and I went to see the world’s smallest active volcanoe called Ta’al in Tagaytay, even though it wasn’t really small at all.  It’s was incredible scenery as we cross a huge body of water in a small boat getting drenched and hiking up and down a very dusty and dirty road in the hot sun, having people on horses and mules pass us by.  Then some of us got this crazy idea to hike down to the bottom of the volcano inside where there was really HOT water steaming, but only Nate made it after I had a near death fall, but the scenery was so incredible seeing the water, beautiful mountains and God’s creation at once.

 

Amidst the Philippino life, our squad got to go see a beautiful beach where hardly anyone was and probably the most beautiful one I’ve seen yet.  The water was so blue and clear with little islands across, and it was just a full day of relaxation for our squad to have after an intense month of ministry and a day before our changes were announced.  It was just outside of Subic, where the U.S. used to have a naval base there until about 20 years ago.

 

Since we also have this massive layover, a few of us took the opportunity to go see Malaysia and it’s capital a bit.  We went and saw the Petronas Twin Towers, which were the tallest buildings in the worlds from 1998-2004 until it got dethroned.  They were beautiful lit up at night and had such majestic appeal to them.  I remember seeing them when I was in America in photos and always wanted to see them!  We also saw the KL tower which wasn’t too far away.  

 

As I rode on the bus to the airport from the K.I.M. ministries for an hour or more, I passed up the country side of the Philippines, and seeing people working hard in the vast rice fields.  It was an inner moment for me trying to process my heart and as I opened up the Word on the bus, the Lord led me to read 1 Corinthians 1 & 2, all about the wisdom and power of God.  But, my heart was specifically drawn to 2:10, “For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.”  Isn’t it crazy that the Spirit that lives inside of us even knows the depths of God, and we have true access to the heartbeat and thoughts of God.  Why have we limited that so much?  That the Spirit of life is acting like a volcano in us and yet we shut Him in?  I kept asking God, “Lord, what’s next for the Philippines?” and He kept saying, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”  But, this wasn’t a world perspective, but a more precise one.  We have so many believers in the same place while there’s a large world where few “missionaries” are.  Has comfort trumped the need for the gospel to be preached?  What about these rice workers out in the fields, who will reach them?  Sometimes I forget the gravity of this issue; that the more we delay and lose heart for salvation and justice, the more people will be lost forever.  Jesus came to seek and save what was lost, and if we call ourselves disciples, then have we the same desire?