Learning to Love and Leave
This month our team learned to love deeply both each other and those around us and then learned how hard leaving is. Yes, we have loved people and left them in the other months. Each month people have loved us well, but month four in Malaysia was different. God overwhelmed us with an outpouring of love and developed in me that same desire to love well if only for a few weeks and leave a deposit in their hearts that will last long after we have gone.
So many beautiful hearts impacted me this month. Honestly, I don’t even know where to start. So, let’s start with this amazing lady you see pictured below, Auntie B. This is a Spirit filled, Jesus loving, well respected, fierce and woman full of confidence and authority. When she says “Excuse, me” she means it and you better be listening to what comes after. When she prays you can feel the Holy Spirit fall on the place. She wears so many hats around Dignity and works countless hours to ensure students and staff are well taken care of and important tasks get done. This month she took us under her wing and loved us so well. She taught me about persistence. This woman doesn’t quit! She always gets the job done no matter how challenging. She’s also persistent in her prayer life. Every morning we would meet, worship and pray with her. This was a beautiful time and we even got to see God begin to answer a request she has been faithfully bringing before the Lord for quite a while.
These precious ladies are the teachers of the toddler class at Dignity. Led by their fearless leader, Auntie Rem, they are an incredible example of patience. They teach around 35 toddlers. Yes, you read that right! 35+ 2,3, and 4 year olds and they teach them with such beauty and grace. I am so thankful I got the chance to work with these ladies. They are a family and they took me in as one of their own. God used them to confirm to me that teaching little ones is right where I was created to be. I am so thankful for this year and all the things that God has shown me and will continue to teach and show me. But he confirmed to me that teaching is my passion and that’s where I will be in some capacity after the race. I enjoyed getting to know each one of these ladies’ hearts this month and getting the opportunity to speak love and truth into their lives. We shared struggles, laughter, and a whole lot of awesome Malaysian and Indian food. I pray that each one of them knows how much they are loved by God and were encouraged as much as they uplifted me.
This couple had a vision for this place and founded it over 20 years ago. They have 16 kids (14 are foster/adopted) and are praying about more. Even though we didn’t get to spend as much time with them as we might have liked, I saw their heart and passion for the work they do and its incredible. They work endless hours encouraging the students and staff and running this beautiful school and organization. They invited us over to their house and we shared a great meal with their family. We got to know the children better and learned more about the place we served this month. At the beginning of the month, Pastor asked us how we would encounter God and leave a deposit in the hearts of the people we would serve. I can confidently say I have encountered God through the beautiful people I have met and I pray that I did leave a deposit of Jesus in their hearts.
This is our ministry host Natalie. She is a woman after God’s own heart that juggles a lot of different jobs. It was so neat to see how her students respect and learn from her. The teachers here teach not only academics but also life skills. She worshiped and prayed with us and I was really encouraged by her this month.
This is the Kwacz family! We met Racheal, the mom, in a training we attended. We became fast friends and she decided to invite us over to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family. She cooked a meal with all the American classics! It was absolutely amazing! I can’t even put into words how they welcomed us into their home and made us feel like part of the family. She and her daughter created personalized name plates with turkey hand prints and they had a gorgeous place setting. It was truly a home away from home and we are so grateful for their love and hospitality.
These are some of the teachers and staff we met working at Dignity. They took us on a breath-taking hike, showed us around the city and helped us find all the good places to eat. We were welcomed into their community this month with open arms!
This is a student at the school that we met the very first night there. He took us in as his big sisters from the very beginning. God showed me the importance of quality time through hanging out with him and hearing his heart. I loved hearing his story and his perspective. Our team had some great game nights and conversations with him. I pray that he knows how loved he is by us, but more importantly our Heavenly Father. If your reading this Umer, I challenge you to keep seeking truth friend. Our team loves and misses you dearly!
This is our friend Bilal. He poured so much into us over the last month. From late night deep conversations to random trips out into the city. I am so grateful for his impact on our lives. He encouraged us in countless ways and shared his incredible story from Islam to Christianity. I will never forget his surprise Thanksgiving dinner of pizza and him driving all over the city to find us a roasted chicken! Right before we left he shared with us how much we impacted his life spiritually. It brought tears to our eyes because we were just as encouraged by his journey as he was by ours. We will never forget you my friend and the things God taught us through you!
This is a picture of my team in Malaysia. This was our first month being alone, as in no other squad members with us. It was so great for us! We learned to depend on each other and be completely vulnerable with each other. Today we were told month 5 will be our last month together. There wasn’t a dry eye on our team. I love these girls so much and I can’t imagine not doing this race with them. I knew in my heart this would be a season and eventually this season would have to end to create space for a new one. God promises the best is yet to come and He faithfully took five people who weren’t sure this team would work out and turned it into something absolutely beautiful in 4 short months. I will never be the same because of these four amazing girls. They have loved me deeply and leaving them in a month is going to be one the most challenging parts of the race! You are truly radiant ladies, don’t ever forget that! It breaks my heart to even type these words, but we are going to make our last month together the best one yet.
So many beautiful faces! Leaving Malaysia was the hardest good-bye yet. We prayed right before we left and I couldn’t even get all the words out. But that’s okay He knows what I wanted to say. God taught me about patience, perseverance, shutting down the lies of the enemy (*see my last blog*) and truly loving well. Leaving was hard but I know that God used all these amazing people to teach, challenge and grow me this month. I’m looking forward to what God has in store for month 5.
Thailand I hate to admit but you have big shoes to fill!
