Month 10 in Malaysia was incredible. When we first arrived, we were given our new teams to finish out the race with. My last team of the race is Team Eat, Pray, Love with these fabulous people:
We stayed in beautiful Georgetown, Malaysia, which is a major beach-tourism town where there are lots of tourists, expatriates, retirees and missionaries from all over the world. It’s a very multi-cultural city and very modern. We lived in “Little India� which is a small area where many relocated Indians live and work. It really was a lot like India, only the driving was better. We lived at a YWAM base and had nice bunk beds, showers, toilets, and even a microwave, refrigerator and A/C. Yeah, no roughing it for us this month, we were living good. We had several major brands of “home� food chains, like Chili’s, Pizza Hut, Dominos, McDonalds, Starbucks, Subway, Burger King and KFC… and they all delivered. We had malls and movies and beaches and wifi and our own transportation. If they had driven on the right side of the road it might have felt like we were in America. Or it might just be that I’ve been away from home too long and forgot what America is really like, who knows.
We were given options to serve in different ministries, so I worked at the homeless shelter three days a week, helping prepare and serve food and just visiting with the people. It’s illegal to be homeless in Malaysia, but there aren’t a lot of places that provide help. Kawan (which means “friend� in Malay) offers them kindness and a helping hand, a place to rest, shower and wash their clothes as well as two delicious hot meals and a take-away meal for later. The incredible staff at Kawan do an amazing job making these people feel special and loved, and I was honored to get to work alongside them. I loved meeting so many different people who came into Kawan and to hear some of their stories and backgrounds. And I enjoyed just spending time with them and being their friend.
On the days Kawan wasn’t open I was able to find other ministries to keep me busy, working in coffee shops, at a Burmese refugee school, or in the Kawan thrift shop. It was really nice to be able to do whatever ministries I wanted and felt led to do, and not just be told what I had to do even if I didn’t exactly have a heart for it. It felt like kind of like real life again, getting to do what I wanted, when I wanted, and I made a lot of great friends in the process.
With all the freedom of being able to decide what we wanted to do, combined with all the conveniences and distractions of the modern-world, it was easy to start slipping back into “normal” again. Easy to forget that we are still on the field, we still have work to do. We still have one more month-long mission trip to go, Cambodia! But I don’t want to forget, even once I’m home and the distractions are worse. God provides mission fields no matter what country we are in, we just have to be ready to seize the opportunity he’s handed us and use that to make a difference in someone’s life.
For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Jeremiah 29:11
