So I was blessed with the opportunity to come back to Malaysia in my first month as a Squad Leader for K-Squad Leader! Unlike World Racers, Squad Leaders are constantly on the move (pretty much every week) visiting teams! Here is a brief rundown of the week to week from Malyasia….
Week 1 – Penang, Malaysia
Coming back to Penang for my first week of ministry was a great experience. As you may remember, last April I was blessed to spend a month working there! It was great to see my old ministry contact, Peter. As is common on the race, you meet so many amazing people and in your heart doubt that you’ll ever get to see them again. It was a blessing to get to see Peter again! Here’s a picture of Peter with one of the teams…
One of the best things about coming back to Penang was to see the GROWTH in the ministry! During my month spent in Penang, we had worked at Kawan, a drop-in center for homeless men and women. While we spent some time ministering to the people, the majority of our time was spent in an enormous upstairs room, chipping paint and sweating profusely. At the end of each day, we would walk home exhausted, covered in paint chips and dust. It was incredible to come back to Kawan and see the upstairs rooms fully furnished, painted and looking great. There were even awesome murals (Thanks A-Squad!). Often times, especially on the race, we “work by faith”, playing a part in a job that we will most likely never see completed. I felt blessed by God to have the opportunity to come back and see that we did not labor in vain!
Week 2- Sungai Petani
In week 2, we travelled to Sungai Petani to visit Team Consuming Fire and work with a local pastor ministering in hospitals and the local community. On our first visit to the hospital with the team there was one child in particular that stole our heart. Her name was Glory! Here’s a picture….
Baby Glory stole our heart not just because she was adorable, but also because of her story. We learned that she was abandoned by her teenage mother. Glory suffers from mental disability, deafness and has two holes in her heart. When we visited she was extremely weak and struggling take food. Thankfully, she was taken in by a loving woman who we learned had 9 children already! We were blessed with the opportunity to cover Baby Glory with prayers, speak healing and restoration over her, and also encourage her mother who never left her bedside. Please continue to keep Baby Glory in your prayers!
Week 3 – Kuala Lumpur
In our final week, we were blessed with the opportunity to visit Team Shofar in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. While there, we were blessed with the opportunity to work with several Malaysian and Fijian pastors. We had the opportunity to work with another drop-in center and partner with the local church. One of the best days during the week was when a teammate, Raj, and I had the opportunity to help paint a woman’s apartment. She was recovering from years of an abusive marriage which had ended in her husband committing suicide. This left her as a single mother of three young boys. We had an opportunity to spend the afternoon sanding and painting several walls to help her get started. While her situation was sad in many ways, we took joy in finding out that she had recently accepted the Lord and was getting baptized soon! We were able to offer her encouragement both in our actions and in our words. We also got to cover her apartment with prayer and God’s love where in the past there had been so many painful memories! God’s love never fails J
***Even though I’m in Vietnam currently, I’ll work to get y’all updated on what happened last month in Australia…Updates to come!
