Here’s a brief overview of my month in Malaysia
Daily Schedule (Mon-Fri)
6 – Bell tolls for mass next door (No need to set an alarm)
Pray, read devotional, get dressed, head downstairs by 6:40, hang out with younger kids until they leave
6:30 – Younger kids leave in bus for school
6:50 – Walk with older girls to school*1
Sometimes we would extend the walk to explore, take the youngest boys to school or run an errand. If we went straight back, we would see the older boys on the way to school.
7:??-9 – Breakfast, time with God
9-10+ – Organize storerooms (Mon, Tues, Wed) or ATL ask the Lord*2 (Thurs, Fri)
11 – Team time
12:30 – Lunch time followed by free time and/or hanging out
Kids start coming back from school, eating lunch, bathing, taking naps, and doing homework
3 – Homework time
I would always help with math or hang out with Kumar.
4 – Duties (chores)
We would typically use this time to plan the night prayer, take a quick nap or journal
5 – Play time!*3
Soccer for the boys and jump rope, card games, playground, etc. for the girls. If it was raining, card/board games were played on the porch.
6 – Bath time
6:30 – Dinner time
7 – Homework/hang out time*4
Similar to earlier
8 – Prayer time*5
Song, split into groups, read a verse, discuss, rejoin big group, normal/closing prayers
8:30 – Hang out with older girls/boys, debrief prayer/day with team, go to bed
Special Stories
These are some of the moments that I most enjoyed.
*1 – On the way to the girls school, we would pass a traffic guard at the boys school. We would greet her everyday. The first time, I didn’t hear a response but by the end of the month she would sometimes greet us first. It was cool to see how she reacted to seeing us every morning.
*2 – The first Friday we were able to go to PenHOP because they were having a special session. God used that to break down some more walls and show me how far He’s already brought me.
The next week, Shea and I went out. We didn’t meet who we were looking for but we did take time to talk to a couple of shop owners. We didn’t buy anything from them because we just wanted to talk and share God’s love. There was a moment in the conversation when it became obvious to them that we were truly interested in them as people not just what they were selling and their body language changed.
*3 – We pretty much just hung out with the girls during this time. Several days I worked with Joyce while she practiced her splits. When we first arrived, she was several inches off the ground. By the time we left, she could get the whole way down and just needed to get her back leg slightly straighter. While talking to the older boys one night, I was invited to play with them so the last week, I played everyday.
*4 – During the first week, several of the teenage girls brought me into their classroom. It was not my preference but without that, I probably would not have sought them out.
One night, I sat with Jacqueline while she told me her dream and had me share mine in great detail.
*5 – We spent several days talking about prayer. We also had a night where we talked about dreams/passions. I had the opportunity to share 3 dances with them. The first one I shared was my testimony which we used as a tie between prayer and passion. It led to many conversations with different kids. One of those conversations led to me playing soccer with the boys and getting to hear Remond’s testimony.
Bonus – Kevin: At the end of the street was a bakery run by Kevin. We looked for him every time we walked past. Early on, he gave us a map of the town and some recommendations of places to see or eat at. One night he took us out to eat a popular local dish. There were also two mornings that he gave us treats to try – sticky rice it’s some sort of sauce/paste and cream puffs.
