After taking a LONG bus ride (24ish hours) from Thailand, we officially arrived in Malaysia’s capital city, Kuala Lumpur. We spent a few days there before heading off to Kuala Terengganu, which is where we currently are and will be for the next week. It’s crazy to think that in a few weeks, we will officially be at the halfway point of this mission trip. God has continued to teach me so many lessons about relationships and community and what Kingdom living really looks like and it is truly amazing. This past week at debrief was amazing too because we got to meet up with the rest of our squad and really rest and recharge. My passion for being in God’s word and seeking after His heart is so much greater than it was at the beginning of this race too. It is really great to see how God is using this greater longing for His word and wanting to be closer to Him here in Malaysia.
We got to go to church this past Friday (that’s when they have church here because that’s when Muslims go to mosque) and it was so inspiring to see a Christian church full of so many different people (Indian, Malay, Chinese, etc) praising God. It is so different because mosques are everywhere here, as the majority of the population is Muslim (this picture shows one of the larger mosques in Malaysia which we got to see in Kuala Lumpur). Once again, it is very interesting to see how very religious people are and how things are implemented into society (women wearing burkas and men wearing skull caps). A lot of things are worn to show how much more religious someone is than someone else. We also have the interesting opportunity to hear the call to prayer 5 times a day, which means at 5 certain times of the day we will hear someone chanting in Arabic very loudly through the town (the hardest one to listen to is at 5AM). I do have to say though, even through all the religious stuff, most Muslims I have talked to are very friendly and some are open to talking about religion.
We are working with the pastor of the church that we went to this past Friday. There is a space across the street from the church that has a lot of old things that were used for the children’s ministry that need to be moved out so they can be used for a college ministry in Kuala Lumpur. While we have been helping here, It has been great to hear the pastor’s testimony and how the church here is certainly a light to this community that wants to know Christ. We also have the opportunity to get to know a lot of people in the church by going to Bible studies and church prayer nights. It has been such a blessing to continually see brothers and sisters of so many nationalities praise the one and true God around the world. It really keeps reminding me of how close we really are to them as they are in Christ with us.
Things I would really appreciate prayer for:
- That God would continue to increase my understanding of His word
- To learn more about what it means to patient and to grow in that
- That I will continue to trust God to provide the remaining funds I need for this mission trip
