When I signed up for the World Race, I knew Malaysia was one of the countries I would be visiting. But unlike several of the countries on my route, Malaysia wasn’t a place I was necessarily looking forward to. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to go there but it was one of the few places I knew almost nothing about and therefore had no idea what to expect.
Before leaving for the World Race, I had heard numerous times that it’s best to leave all expectations behind. I usually just laughed when people said that because I was certain of the impossibility of traveling to eleven countries with no (or very few) expectations. Of course I had ideas in my mind about what each country on my route would be like. In fact, most of the time I had constructed these preconceived ideas before I even found out where my location within each country would be or what type of ministry I would be doing. But since I didn’t know much about Malaysia, I didn’t have high expectations prior to finding out what our ministry would look like. A few days before arriving to Malaysia, we found out we would be working with YWAM and living at their base in the city of Georgetown on Penang island. Our ministry description was somewhat vague, but it said we would likely be doing ministry at a homeless shelter and a coffee shop. Well, when I heard the words “coffee shop” I immediately and unknowingly crafted some lofty expectations in my mind about how great it was going to be. After all, coffee is one of God’s greatest gifts to mankind so doing ministry at a coffee shop sounded right up my alley.
Well. Upon arriving to our ministry site, we soon discovered that the coffee shop ministry was not happening. I think a part of me died just a little inside when I found out. And then it hit me that this was yet another unmet expectation that left me feeling disappointed. At that moment, I decided I wanted to let go of every expectation I might have not only for Malaysia but also for the remainder of the race. Or if I couldn’t completely let go of every expectation, (because let’s be honest, I’m sure that’s easier said than done) I decided that I would give those expectations to God and not hold onto them too tightly so I wouldn’t be disappointed if and when they went unmet.
So that’s what I did. I released the expectations I had for my month in Malaysia, and it turned out to be one of my favorite months thus far. We helped with several different ministries in Georgetown, all of which are partnered with YWAM. Instead of going into detail about everything we did, I’ll just list a few highlights from the month:
- performing Christmas carols and giving out gift bags to nearly 200 people who came to a Christmas party at the Kawan Center, the local homeless shelter where we worked several days a week
- the sharing of the Gospel at the Christmas party, which was a big deal because Malaysia is a largely Islamic nation and it is illegal to evangelize to the native people. On several occasions I felt a heaviness in the air because Malaysia is such a spiritually dark place, but at the Christmas party that night the Light of the Gospel shone brightly.
- meeting and working with so many wonderful people and making new friends from all over the world
- participating in a Norwegian Christmas tradition with some of our new friends, which included circling around the Christmas tree while singing carols followed by eating rice pudding
- hanging our stockings (aka wool socks) over our makeshift fireplace
- watching Harry Potter with a British man and his adorable pregnant wife on Christmas
- attending a Chinese wedding followed by a seven course Chinese meal
- Lizzie and I unexpectedly being asked to sing in the Chinese wedding with a choir of children and a song that is way outside of my vocal range
Like I said, it turned out to be one of my favorite months. I enjoyed ministry and had some great experiences there. And even though the coffee shop ministry didn’t happen, I was still able to drink some really good coffee! I’m glad I decided to release the tight hold on my expectations when I did, because I think it would have been detrimental to the remainder of the race had I not.
I’ve now been in Thailand for two weeks and am loving it here, and I think that is largely because I began this month without expectations.
On another note, I reached my final financial deadline at the beginning of the month and am now FULLY FUNDED! To all my supporters: THANK YOU! Your prayers and support are such a blessing, and I am excited to officially be able to stay on the field for the remainder of the race.
