We are finally in Asia! Its a place that I’ve honestly been looking forward to for a while. After spending three months in Africa, we knew that Asia had many things to offer, including decent espresso, wifi that actually works, and lots of air conditioning. Well, I’ll tell you that all those things have been true (and more!).
We spent the first week in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia at a debrief with our leadership team. After about five days, they gave us the reigns and told us to pray and seek the Lord in regards of where He wanted us to go and what He wanted us to do for the remaining two weeks in this country. (In World Race terminology, this is known as “Ask the Lord” or “ATL”.) How exciting, right? Being given the opportunity to literally go wherever in Malaysia and do great and amazing things for God! This was my perspective. I imagined each day to be filled with meeting new people, building incredible relationships, and having the opportunity to share the Gospel and pray for people. Well, to be honest, this really has not been the case these past four days. We’ve had some great interactions with people and made some relationships, but nothing to the degree that I had imagined. To be honest, moments I thought I was suppose to seize and share the Gospel with others, would vanish almost immediately. I have felt like a failure. Here I thought I was going to have all these incredible stories, and at this point in our time here, I don’t.
I was feeling pretty down about it today and I was expressing my discouragement to one of my teammates. (Shout out to Emily!) After listening to what I had to say, she gave me a question to ask myself, which in hindsight, I believe was actually the Lord asking me. Why am I here? Why did I come on the World Race? Was it so I could feel like I was doing something worth while? Was it so that I could have some great stories to tell and post a trendy little photo on Instagram to go along with it? Was it to make myself feel like a better Christian? I certainly hope not! Yes, these things may come and do often come when we follow Jesus, but if it is my main focus and my ultimate goal, then I am definitely missing something. My most important thing in being here is to simply follow Jesus and be obedient. It’s to glorify HIS name. My mindset needs to be Kingdom focused. It should not shift whether I have a plan of set ministry, or if I am going to the beach or the nearest coffee shop with my team. Even if I don’t see the results, does it really matter? Shouldn’t obedience to my Jesus be my number one priority?
The World Race is not the end of ministry. This trip will be over in November and I will return to America. BUT my relationship with Jesus is not over. My desire to serve Him should not fade. Ministry doesn’t stop. Where there are people, there is a chance to love, a chance to show the love of Jesus. At work, in the grocery store, walking down the street, I have and will continually have the opportunity to be yielded to the voice of the Holy Spirit and to follow His will. Guess what, YOU CAN DO IT TOO! How easy it is to get in our daily mindsets, and our day to day routine. As Westerners, we have a tendency to want to stick to our plan of action and not be bothered or interrupted by anything. We view interruptions as an inconvenience. I don’t know about you, but it’s not something that I want to be stuck in. Whether I’m in the cities of South East Asia, in the bush of Africa, or at home in little Troy, NH, I want to be guided and yielded to the Lord and obedient to whatever He lays on my heart. Even if I see no immediate results, what does that matter? Maybe it’s a smile, maybe it’s taking the time to talk to the homeless guy on my way to work. I don’t know what it may look like, and it could be so simple, but I don’t know how God may use it to impact the Kingdom. It shouldn’t matter. What should matter is my obedience to Him.
“Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden you hearts…” Hebrews 3:15
