In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a bit dramatic about pretty much everything. It makes people laugh, and it makes it easier for me to deal with things when they just aren’t going right. So here’s a little bit of drama for you…
We arrived in Penang, Malaysia and booked a hostel with some character. It wasn’t fancy, but the people were super nice and there was some interesting art painted on all the walls by people who had stayed there in the past. Most important, we would be sleeping in AC. My team and, probably by now, the whole squad knows that AC is something that I can live without, but REALLY would prefer not to, so much so that I’ve prayed for it every month and God has been so good to us (we struggled in Togo, but it was still technically there). We each had a bed and AC for the night, so we were set for Debrief. For those who don’t know, Debrief is a time when our squad mentor flies in from the states to check in with us and make sure we’re doing ok. We also have some sessions and time to recoup from the previous months of some serious spiritual growth and stretching. We wouldn’t have a session until later that evening, so we were just resting in our beds. I noticed a little bug crawling on the wall in my cube and killed it. I decided not to mention it to anyone because bugs are just part of the Race. You just deal with it. However, as time passed, I saw another, bigger one. Killed it and moved to my teammate’s bunk for some quality time. I began to notice the same bugs crawling on her walls. I mean give me a break. This is a bit much… Then it hit me. BED BUGS! I quickly googled it and there it was confirmed. I talked to my teammate about it and then quietly notified our leaders who then notified the hostel. They had sprayed a few days before and would spray for them again. We would have to vacate the rooms for at least two hours and many had just arrived from hours of travel across Thailand, rough.
We were finally allowed to return to our rooms. As we prepared for sleep, I noticed a bed bug crawling in my bed! They should be dead by now! I informed the leaders and since it was so late nothing could be done, so most of us decided to take our mattresses off the beds and sleep on the wooden platforms with our sleeping pads. I sprayed everything in my bed with my natural bug spray. It was going to be a rough night.
Others were already asleep. I don’t know how they did it, but I could hear them slapping and kicking in their sleep. I would turn on my light every few minutes to check my bed and would find the bed bugs on my pillow. I even tried hanging my bug net but would wake to them somehow crawling on the inside even though I had tucked the net under my sleeping pad. WHERE ARE THEY COMING FROM??? Apparently, bed bugs can live in wood as well, so I considered my options. It was 5 am and they were not relenting. I considered several possibilities, most of which were not much more desirable than my current situation. I ended up sleeping in the hallway area. I would see bugs on the wall from time to time, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer, so I passed out and woke up at 8:50 to go to the 9 am session.
We were informed at session that our logistics team had found us a new hostel! Our logistics team is pretty great and takes pretty good care of us. They do all the hard stuff like setting up our long-distance transportation and lodging for Debriefs.
We were able to move into a nice, bed bug free hostel. It was an incredible blessing. Sometimes we need to go through the difficult and frustrating things to remember how blessed we are all the other times. Things like this create growth and appreciation for things that we might not have chosen before. I’m choosing everyday to look for the growth in the hard times instead choosing to complain about things that aren’t going my way. Complaining is a killer of joy, and I don’t want any of that.
*A little update* I’m still short on funds to continue on the mission field. Please consider making a donation. I’ve been given a final grace period of June 30th. I need to have $13,500 total raised which means I need an additional $2,500 by the 30th. Click the donation button above. Thank you for all your prayers and support!
