So I think it is pretty safe to say that Malaysia has not been the easiest month. The ministry is inconsistent, the city is dirty, and the people have walls up that are difficult to love through. This combined with craziness throughout the team and squad, it was very easy for me to get sucked into a negative funk this month.
Thanks to good ol’ feedback, my teammates were able to call me higher and remind me to not stop seeking the rooftop perspective. Therefore, during my quiet time, I prayed that Jesus would renew my perspective and this is what He showed me about this country:
Malaysia is a very diverse country. On the surface, it also seems to be one of the most peaceful. On the street of harmony, 4/5 of the major religions all worship and live peacefully. Despite differing on the most personal topic to a person – their religion – they rarely debate over quarrelsome matters. The same cannot even be said about the world-wide church, or even the U.S. church. With that, however, the roots of strife are buried deep under the streets of Penang. There is bitterness, hopelessness, sadness. The roots are so far buried underneath the weeds that Christian missionaries often get caught up in distractions themselves. They lose sight as to why they even came. They get distracted by the food, the attractions, the culture. The darkness that blankets this city produces fogged spiritual minds that results in outbreaks amongst fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. It results in tiredness, emotional drainage, negative attitude. The lack of visible progress can be crippling, but that’s where God steps in and says, “Enough!” We are His vessels. Unswayed by the shifting lights around us, we stand firm on the truth of His word. We will fail, but we will always rise again. We will have bad days, but we will praise Him in our trial. We are carriers of an eternal light, therefore no darkness will extinguish He who is in us. The people in front of us are blinded. They cannot hear. But it is us who the Lord God Almighty has sent to reflect His glory to this lost generation. Will we be obedient to the calling, or will we allow ourselves to succumb to the world around us?
I’ve been struggling missing Thailand a lot, so moving on to another country and pouring out love all over again was not welcomed with open arms. That being said, however, I’m only here for another week before moving on to Costa Rica. I don’t want an entire month to go by and waste the opportunity the Lord has placed in front of me. With this renewed mentality, God has already been showing up in ways I didn’t expect. I see the city through a new light and the people through a new hope. God’s not done working on this city, so neither am I.
