i must apologize for going slighty MIA during my time in Malaysia. to be honest, I haven’t known what to even blog about. it has been a difficult month of growing and learning through frustrations. i feel like sickness has characterized my time here in malaysia, and that has been one source of frustration. My ear was stopped up from the time i was on the plane coming here until this week. I have been to the doctor three times for my sinus/ear infection and i am still waiting for it to go completely away. so I would appreciate prayers for this area of my life right now. i dont want to be disctracted by sickness, and i would love to start out in Thailand with no feelings of sickness. God has been reminding me through my days of wanting to be no where other than home, that he has me here for a purpose. While i was sharing my testimony in church one night last week, I was talking about how this trip was all about God pulling me out of my comfort zones and forcing me to walk in nothing but faith in Him. And this was what I needed to hear at that exact time. Even though i was the one saying it, God was telling me that I got here through faith in him, and I must continue to have that faith daily as he stretches me and grows me through the hard days. My team was moved around a lot during this month. so much so we felt as though we had almost done the whole world race in one month. We had a main contact, but he sent us to a new site every week and weekend. So we spoke at churches and worked at orphanages but we were not there long enough to really see any fruit or build deep relationships, so that was difficult for us. I was really encouraged, though, when our contact told us as we were leaving that the churches had already been telling him what an encouragement we were to them. I trust God used the things we did in some way for His glory to further His kingdom, and I know that I grew in certain areas out of the exhaustion and frustration. It definitely seemed like a valley month to me and my team, and one filled with spiritual warfare, but God can use anything for His glory, and now we have the chance to begin our new ministry in a new country with a sense of freedom and excitement for what God is going to do in Thailand.
we painted a mural in one of the orphanages (and by we i mean the ones on my team that actually have artistic abilities)
so here is a little recap of things i learned in Malaysia. I have learned to eat with my hands (but not how to do it without rice ending up all over me), how to cross a six lane road of moving traffic without dying (which is difficult when they drive on the opposite side of the road and i always look the wrong way first), how to entertain myself while in traffic for many long hours, that scrambled eggs are a thing of America (and a very hard thing to explain to a waiter), and that “prayer meeting” can mean many, many things (among which are church service, healing service, wedding, and baby dedication). Im very certain that all of these are valuable life lessons, and very applicable for the rest of my World Race.
eating with our hands with bamboo leaves as plates.
