Surprise we had a route change and we are no longer going to Vietnam. I am currently in the beautiful country of MALAYSIA!! I'm embarrassed to say that the only time I had heard of Malaysia before finding out I was coming here was from the movie Zoolander….yeah bad I know. It is seriously so beautiful here. It's also sort of strange because it reminds me so much of India…who knew there were so many people of Indian descent living in Malaysia!? I'm pretty sure I've met more Indians than Malay people. It's been so great though. We are living with the sweetest family. They have moved here to Changlun from another city because they heard God calling them here. Pastor Thomas and his family have given up pretty much everything to be here. Left their friend and family, and left everything that they knew and that was comfortable. They are being a light in this community that is so heavily Muslim. They are being Jesus through actions. Serving this community whole-hearted. It's a beautiful picture of what we are all called to do- serve those around us. I have loved spending time with this beautiful family and they have been such an inspiration to me.
one of pastors daughters.
So what am I doing this month? Let me tell you….
First we are teaching a free spoken English class to kids in the neighborhood. Instead of just teaching the standard English stuff we have done in the past we are doing lots of interactive things that get the kids talking and having conversations. It's so fun and the you can tell the kids are really enjoying it. One of my favorite moments: we were talking about what foods we like to eat so one boy came to the front and slowly spoke his sentence with the biggest smile on his face so excited and said "I……am……a…..chicken!" Opps!! We tried not to laugh but it was the most precious thing.
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Also we are teaching a character development program. Since everyone around here is Muslim we can't openly teach about Jesus…so again we are being Jesus through our actions. We are loving on these kids, making them feel important and loved. Teaching important values that encourage them to better people and live better lives. It stinks that we can't tell Bible stories and talk about all the incredible things Jesus has done for us but if it's found out that Pastor Thomas is sharing his faith with a Muslim he could potentially be thrown in prison. So we are coming alongside this family and their dreams for this community and honoring the way they do things. I feel so blessed to be working with them. In character development we teach good values, play lots of fun games, sing songs, and of course have snacks! One of my favorite moments: we played a few water games and at the end Pastor brought out a bunch of cups and wasn't talking in English and all of a sudden the kids charge us with water! We didn't even see it coming. We should have known. They thought it was hilarious that we all got ambushed and completely soaked.
　
So these are our two main ministries this month. We also preach at church (which they do on Friday nights here. Love love that!) and on Thursdays have a service at the house with a sweet couple that are friends with Pastor Thomas.
Next blog…..the 6 day journey we took traveling around to visit different ministries in Malaysia that our Pastor knows!
