Our three weeks spent in Malaysia flew by like a feather in the wind. When we first arrived, our whole squad came together for a week-long debrief combined with another World Race squad, Fusion. We found lots of rejuvenation being in unlimited air conditioning, having reliable Wi-Fi, and enjoying the coffee shops found on every street corner. I finally felt a sense of freedom that I’d been missing. It. Was. Awesome.
After debrief ended, it was time for my team and I to begin our first month of “Ask the Lord” ministry. Throughout the past three months in Africa, our squad was given assigned ministry contacts, meaning that where we lived and what we did everyday was mapped out for us. We were always under the wing of an established organization in each community so even choosing what was for dinner was decided for us. But not anymore. “Ask the Lord” ministry, otherwise known as ATL, comes with no assigned ministry or pre-determined location or pre-arranged lodging; it is a completely holy-spirit led quest (so exciting yet SO SCARY.) Each team has the freedom to choose where they go, what they do, and how they do it. The only rule: tell our squad mentor if we leave the country. But really.
While yes, this does sound absolutely terrifying (sorry family), it’s also an amazing, biblical pursuit! In Luke 10, Jesus sends out his disciples to spread the good word. He instructs them to take nothing along with them so that they may allow the Holy Spirit to provide for them. While I definitely brought 70-pounds’ worth of crap along with me, I did abandon many other things—my comforts, my desires, my normalcy, and my plans. And the lack of a structured ministry allowed for the Holy Spirit to move even more! Because our lack of a plan, the Lord was able to provide places for us to stay and direct us to people He wanted us to meet. While it has been absolutely terrifying at times, forcing myself out of my comfort zone has allowed me to grow in my faith in ways I’ve never experienced before, and couldn’t experience during assigned ministry.
So on our first day of ATL, my team and I met at a super cute coffee shop in the middle of the city, ordered delicious espresso beverages, and began to pray. We asked God to share the direction, geographically and logistically, where He wanted to send us. After many hours of listening prayer, we discovered a small island off the northwest coast of Malaysia called Langkawi and knew this was where the Lord was sending us. We booked random accommodations on Airbnb, escaped our creepy hostel in the middle of the night, got one-way bus tickets, and said hello to island ministry.
In Langkawi, our “random” Airbnb homestay was with an Egyptian man and his sister, a devout Muslim, in a small teak house overlooking a marshland. He’s currently living on Langkawi filming a documentary for National Geographic called “Where is God?” which discusses different religions around the world. We spent a lot of time discussing cultural misconceptions about the united states and the middle east, sex, religion, and God. Clearly, nothing was off topic. It was amazing to have the opportunity to stay in the home of a man quite opposite to me and openly discuss some hard questions that face the world today with mutual respect. There is no way my team would have known about this opportunity when booking the cheapest accommodations in an island none of us had ever heard of. God moves in crazy ways!! Now you know the reason I put random in quotation marks.
After a week in Langkawi, we traveled back to Kuala Lumpur for Easter Sunday. We were able to attend a western-style church, Kingdomcity, which was absolutely amazing!! There’s something about going to a church service in your native language that automatically makes you feel at home. The contemporary worship music and relevant sermon helped too. After spending three months attending various African churches, this was quite a relief. While I honestly enjoyed African church services, there’s just something special about going back to normal.
During our last week in the city, we stayed in another Airbnb owned by an awesome local guy who literally spent every day touring the city with us. We’d spend hours together, driving around the city until 2AM blasting sing along songs and seeing the city lights. He took us to every local cuisine hotspot and made me feel like Anthony Bourdain. The Malay people don’t mess around when it comes to their food. Don’t let their size fool you, they eat at least 6 full meals a day. We definitely ate our way through the entire Klang Valley. Jermaine is an atheist and we shared some conversations about our faith. We loved pouring into his heart and shining our light from the Lord during our time spent together. While there was no “come to Jesus” moment for Jermaine and this may not seem like “real ministry” to many, I think that God placed us where He did for a reason. I continue to pray for Jermaine’s heart, and am grateful to God for all of the wonderful conversations and food he blessed me with in Kuala Lumpur.
Opposite to what my Instagram photos may portray, being a disciple is hard. There are days that I get homesick, days I run out of grace for my teammates, and days I want to give up. But there are also days I get to share my love of Jesus with strangers, days I laugh until I cry, and days I get to explore the beautiful, awe-inspiring world the Lord created. While it is tough, it is worth it. God is good, all the time, and I truly wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. I am thankful for God bringing me to Malaysia, a beautiful place I hope to one day return.
Fun notes about Malaysia:
- Malay people by law are Muslim so the country is closed to hearing the gospel and converting is against the law
- Most people drive motorbikes
- Langkawi has 104 beautiful islands during low tide and 98 during high tide
- The majority of the people living here are Malay, Chinese, Thai, and Indian with a middle eastern influence
- Almost all fast food restaurants are two stories (KFC & McDonalds are everywhere)
- Every single neighborhood has a mosque that does call to prayer 5 times a day (usually over an intercom)
- There are public prayer rooms everywhere
- Malay people love Durian—the stinkiest, yuckiest fruit I’ve ever eaten in my entire life!!!
Prayer Requests: As I am going into month 5 of the race, I will soon be transitioning into a new team so please pray for my heart to be open and receptive to my new teammates. Pray for a smooth transition, for current friendships to remain close, and for new ones to bloom. Also please pray for my continued good health and high spirits. Pray for the hearts of the people in Indonesia and Thailand that we will be in contact with, that they’ll be receptive to hear the truth of God.
Lots of love,
Britt
