Wow. Malaysia…
Month 7 in Penang Island, Malaysia was truly one for the books.
Basically we were handed a binder with all the different ministries that were available, along with maps of how to get there, phone numbers of hosts, hours, etc. Our host said I’m not telling you that you’re going to be making your own schedule…but you kinda are…we were PUMPED!
So we spent our first week joining as many of the ministries that we could so that we could get a taste of what we wanted to invest our month in.
Then after that first week, we prayed as a team about ministries that we wanted to partner with and constructed our schedule for the month.
Our ministries included:
Working at a homeless shelter, Handing out bread and coffee, serving & cooking breakfast and lunch, building relationships, bible studies and spreading the really really good news of Jesus to people who are not just physically hungry. A popular bakery and coffee shop around the corner donated their leftover bread from the day before, that was my favorite errand to run. Before the doors opened at the shelter, I had the privilege of going and literally picking up our ‘daily bread’. God spoke to me so much during those walks to and from the bakery.
A team mate of mine, Kara wrote a blog about this ministry too:
Click here to read her blog.
Street Evangelism. One night a week, we would come together for street evangelism. We spent the first part praying as a big group, then we would split into groups of 2 or 3 and scatter through the area. We saw healing, broken hearts were mended, miracles happened and we walked and prayed through the streets. Those we some powerful nights.
School & Orphanage
We got to spend some time at a school and an orphanage. Time spent there was so good. One of my favorite things of the race is getting to be friends with little ones who just want a hug, to sit on your lap and laugh. I’m convinced that the sound of a little kid laughing is the most beautiful sounds in the world.
Indigenous Tribe
I could write a novel about this because I loved it so much…so I’ll keep it short and sweet. We drove from Panang island to the mainland over a bridge. Drove for hours into the middle of nowhere. A local man met us at the edge of the water of a lake. We loaded up and he started the boat. He took us to his island…in the middle of lake…in the middle of nowhere….whaaaatt. I couldn’t believe. These people are the original people of malaysia. They eat wild boar and monkeys, because that’s what’s there. They have tribes, they live in huts, the grow chili that they are able to sell. They live in constant fear of wild elephants trampling their huts.
The girls have babies way too soon, I’m talking as young as age 12. They are their own society, completely separated from the things we call normal. And man, they are warm, welcoming and friendly.
We had a culture sharing time, they sang us songs, told us about daily life, and a team mate, Kara even got to share a message with them. To our awesome surprise, they were Christians! They had a pastor and they knew Jesus. It was amazing to experience this, to see the seeds that other people planted in their hearts. Okay that wasn’t very short, if you want to know more about this though, invite me over for coffee when I’m home in 2 and a half months and I can tell you more.
My teammate Bronwyn Delport also wrote a blog about this day:
click here to read Brons post.
Rock Climbing
These two awesome American dudes moved to Penang and started a rock climbing ministry. The climbing is free and they are able to minister to people who want to come try it out. They reach people in such a unique way, it was inspiring. I was able to slip away after my climb and got to check out the skate park next door. Met some cool local dudes, my biggest regret from that month is not sticking around there more. I was there for just a few minutes and walked away with friends. Anyway, the rock climbing guys took us to dinner after and we got to hear their stories. They showed us the famous Penang cuisine. Good people, good workout, good food, good laughs. Our Indonesian friends that were also there on a mission trip joined us, it was so much fun getting to know them!
PENHOP
We got to spend lots of time at the Penang house of prayer. A beautiful time of worshiping in whatever way you want to. A time to sit with the Lord. A time to go put your hand on the world map and pray for countries and the people you know there. A time to confess, to reconcile, to take communion, to lay down, to write, to worship. The Holy Spirit was so present there and we walked away totally filled up.
Hospital
We worked at an Adventist hospital one day. I originally signed up to be with the hospital chaplain all day and was PUMPED! but he was busy and I got moved to fundraising. We were assigned to raise money for their cancer care department. I was not excited. Fundraising Is not fun but luckily we each had some experience with it thanks to the World Race haha. But it turned into an awesome time. We walked around the hospital with brochures and a box for people to put money in. At first it was awkward but then I had a change of heart. God started showing me that these people are in actual pain and need someone to talk to and to pray with. Suddenly the little brochures just seemed like an easy conversation starter. One lady came and put money in our box without knowing anything about us. I started talking with her and turns out she was due for surgery that day. She was sitting there alone and you could feel her anxiety from miles away. We put our stuff down, sat next to her, held hands and prayed. Tears were shed and I knew that we were there for a reason.
Our host couple was awesome! The husband was an alumni racer!
YWAM was our ministry host.
We lived in an awesome 3 story volunteer house called the Trinity House…get it.. 😉
We lived across the street from the beach.
The food was amazing.
The country I could closest compare Malaysia..or really Penang to is South Africa, like the Durban/ Balito area!
We got to host two world race exposure girls, meaning that they joined us for the month to check out the race.
Being a Christian there isn’t the most popular thing. In fact it almost feels unsafe. But once when I got in an uber with my teammate Bronwyn, the driver said after a while, you know I’m a Christian too! We hadn’t said a single thing about God or anything, he said he could feel the joy of the Lord with us and he just knew! It was such an encouraging moment.
I’m sure another blog is going to come out of this…
Those are the main highlights.
I am overwhelmed by how God moved in our lives and is continuing to each day. Thank you for reading and sticking with me. Your interest, support and prayers really do mean the world to me.
