The beginning of this month I felt more alive then I had in a long long time. I got a whole new team to do life with this month and the months to come. We had some very long travel days from Central America to Penang, Malaysia, but when we got here, we explored the entire city and let me tell ya… It’s beautiful. I love the culture, the diversity in religion’s, all the festival’s, and the people. This has been the best month so far.
This month we have the privilege of helping out at Kawan which is a homeless feeding center. It’s one of the coolest places I’ve seen filled with a lot of love. They welcome in homeless Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for breakfast and lunch, provide napping areas, showering room, and new clothes for them. I’ve had to hold back my tears walking into that place and talking to some of the people there. I’ve met some really awesome people there that I’ll never forget. (They call every one aunt and uncle instead of ms. and mr.)
Uncle Teh is a man of many many words. He can talk to you for HOURS, usually about the same thing each time, but that’s okay. He’s a very wise man with very great fashion. He usually talks with you about politics and historical things, but one day he shared a little bit more. He says he lives on the other side of Penang in his fathers house (could have mistakingly heard that, but his father is no longer here and I don’t know exactly what he identifies as “home”) but he walks about 5 miles to get to Kawan to eat. Sometimes, he’ll be too tired to walk home so he will sleep on the street or at the park. He dresses nice and you would never expect him to be homeless by his looks but because of him, I’ve learned to never judge someone to be homeless or not by their appearance. He said he buys clothes that are considered “out of style” or at the thrift shops for 2 RM which is less than .50 cents in USD. One day he was on the streets and people were passing out food to the homeless, but they wouldn’t give him anything because he wasn’t wearing the raggedy clothes that “homeless people wear” and didn’t look homeless. He was so extremely hurt and therefore didn’t have food to eat for dinner that night. How many times have we done that before? I know I have driving down in New Orleans seeing someone who APPEARS to NOT be homeless… because of their clothes or the way they look. (don’t get me wrong I understand you’re not supposed to give money because the majority goes to alcohol and drugs but in this case…) Who am I to judge? Another important lesson I’ve learned from him is: don’t tell people you’ll be back. He said he’s seen so many missionaries come in and out and help and hang out and some would tell him that they would write him letters and come visit him, etc. He still holds onto that and now has a hardened heart towards the whole thing. It happens. There are a lot of people who travel, don’t really care about the people but want to share Jesus and try to make them believe in Him, make false promises and then leave. It happens all the time. But what’s the point? No one cares what you have to say until they know you care about them. Maybe the person he was talking about lost his address, but most people just say things on spot and don’t hold to them. Now I know to never ever tell someone I’ll be back, or I’ll try to be back, or I’ll try to write you letters, etc because just because I really do feel that way in the moment, if I can’t hold to it, don’t say it. People really hear your words and hold onto them with false hope. This goes with anything and everything, not just missions. If you say you’ll do something, do it. If you can’t 100% do it, don’t say it. Even when you want to see them happy and you want to leave someone on a smile, don’t because that’s when helping hurts.
On Tuesday’s and Thursday’s we help out at a refugee school called LifeBridge on the mainland. This school is run by probably the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. I wouldn’t be surprised is she was really an angel in disguise. Her name is Stella. She is filled with so much wisdom, love, guidance, TRULY cares about each student, goes above and beyond for them, is the principle and a teacher, checks on kids at home, etc. We’ve had the privilege of being poured into by Stella, when that wasn’t on the agenda. We came here to offer ourselves, to help them, when in return she’s done so much more for us than we could ever do for her. She told us her story which is NOT easy to hear, much less go through. She’s been through horrible abuse, was in running/hiding herself, lost her family and kids, but still manages to trust and love God with her whole heart. LifeBridge is a muslim school, but run by a woman who loves Jesus. (The school would be shut down if the strict rules were not applied since we’re in a majority Islamic country that abides by strict Sharia Law’s). All of the kids are covered head to toe and we’re not allowed to speak to them about Jesus or the Bible, you have to really reword things so it’s not the easiest. But because God has worked tremendously through Stella… the students get it. They understand love. They have phenomenal behavior. They comprehend a lot of the Bible stories (reworded) such as the prodigal son, the good samaritan, how to care for the homeless or friends in need, how to love your friends and family, how to respect authority, how to be civil in a diverse religious culture, etc. She teaches them in ways that most Christians don’t! Most Christians think you have to shove Jesus down people’s throats, but I’ve seen love be spread amazingly in many other ways here at this school. The kids at the school are extremely joyful, funny, and loving even though their past and some of the student’s present gives them every right not to be. The kids come from Myanmar. The refugees aren’t welcomed anywhere else just because their an “unwanted breed”. The kids have gone through months and years of hiding at such a young age. Horrific stories such as they would tie themselves to the backs of tree’s hanging over the river in the daylight because they couldn’t get caught and then would travel by foot at night. They would go without food majority of the time. Most of these children are split up from some part of their family, whether it’s a parent, sibling, aunt’s and uncle’s, cousin’s, etc. and then some have watched their own family member’s die. When they share bits and pieces of their stories with us you can feel the pain in their crackling voice’s. These kid’s just want a normal life like us and they so deserve it. I’m so thankful that God sent them Stella. She welcomes these kid’s in with the widest open arms. She listen’s to their saddened hearts. She encourages them. She pushes them to be more. She fights for them. She does whatever it takes to make sure they are really okay and safe. There was an incident where a mother of a 12 year old girl at the school was trying to sell her daughter off to a 35 year old man to be married. Twelve years old!!! Stella fought and fought and fought, prayed and prayed and prayed. Finally, we were even able to be here to receive the news, Stella was able to go to the house and talk with the mom and the daughter isn’t being married off and is coming back to school like any child deserves. Seriously, without prayer and God seeing this child.. she would have been married just a few days later. Her whole life would have been wrecked! But God saw and sent Stella. Another incident was months back, a student called Stella at a late hour to tell her his mom just got hit by a motorcyclist and is at the hospital. What did Stella do? Got in the car immediately and drove to the hospital. The mother ended up passing away in the arms of her 15 year old (give or take) son. He had no father because his father didn’t want him. So Stella was the one who arranged all the documents and papers and took care of the kids. It’s people like Stella that make the world a better place. She loves Jesus with her whole heart (might I add that she is Indian and it’s very bizarre out here to find an Indian woman who is sold out for Jesus) but never has to say His name to be His hands and feet to these children. Her actions are enough for them to understand. These kids WANT to come to school because it’s where they are happiest. Without Momma Stella these kids would be so broken and beaten down without hope. If these kids can stand up at the end of the day with a smile on their face, so can we. If they can go on and have future goals and dreams, so can we. If they aren’t going to give up, neither should we.
Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary use words.
