Recap of my four months in South East Asia
(With Pictures!!)
Wow! I can’t believe I have been living overseas now for over four months. Though I am terrible about keeping up with the weekly blogging requirement I figure this post is better late than never. I couldn’t move on to Africa without giving an update of my time over the past few months, since Cambodia and sharing about all the magnificent things God has done. So here it goes by country…
Thailand
What can a say? Thailand was a whirlwind of travel and adventure. Our team traveled from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, to Pai, back to Chiang Mai, then back down to Bangkok on our way to Southern coastal towns Rayong, and then lastly, Phuket. Looking back, I can see how God was working in and through us to refine us as our team evolved in facing challenges and experiencing lots of personal growth. We had beautiful moments of sharing fellowship, love, and our faith to other travelers we met along the way. I particularly remember and enjoyed spending time with the people we met at The Living Space 3 hostel we stayed at in Chiang Mai. While in Chiang Mai we also met a sweet woman named Mon who let us help teach English to her students one weekend. I even got to check off a few things on my bucket list in Thailand which included being up close with tigers at Tiger Kingdom, spending the day with elephants on my birthday, and visiting the amazing Phi Phi Islands by boat. Thailand is beautiful. Thank you God for allowing me to see the beauty in this country, the people, the animals, and the land.
February 21, 2019. My Birthday with the Elephants!
Friends we made at The Living Space 3 Hostel
English lessons with Mon‘s sweet students
Malaysia
A month to step out in evangelism. Even though this country’s predominant religion is Islam and it’s illegal to share the gospel, God gave me opportunities here to share my faith. On the first night we arrived in Penang, Malaysia, a few of us went out to a Mexican restaurant. Shortly after we sat down this person decided to sit at our table and introduce himself. He was very outgoing and talkative. Later, he opened up to me about his life. I found out that he was hurting, struggling with addictions to alcohol, and was fighting mental illness. He found out I was a doctor and was intrigued to talk to me more and open up about his mental illness. Immediately, my heart went out to him. I was able to share with him that he doesn’t have to struggle in his current life and that his mental diagnosis is just that; a diagnosis that he doesn’t have to claim. I was able to meet up with him again in Penang at a coffee shop and shared more of the gospel with him. He was very open and willing to receive the hope and new life that Jesus has to offer and accepted Jesus right then and there in the coffee shop! Thank you Jesus for his salvation. Thank you for using me to share the good news and hope you offer.
The second opportunity to share my faith also occurred in Penang, this time at our hostel. I overheard a conversation one of my teammates was having with a guy about where we were traveling to next and I chimed in and said “Indonesia”! He turned to talk to me and I was able to share more about why we were going there and what we were doing. Turns out, he was just in Penang for the night to renew his travel visa before returning to Phuket, Thailand where he lives. After talking to him more I found out that he is from Brazil and had not been satisfied with his previous life there. He had set out on a journey to Thailand for work and to seek more about the religion of Buddhism. He mentioned that all throughout his time in Thailand he had not yet found what he was searching for and though he spent more time visiting many Buddhist temples, he had not learned any more about Buddhism. At the time, I was reading through a short book on world religions called, “The Second Greatest Lie Ever Told” by Mark Cahill and found it a perfect opportunity to share with him what I learned from this book and give it to him so that he may continue to seek truth for himself. Our conversation went on for hours as he was extremely interested in everything I had to say. The Holy Spirit gave me the boldness and the wisdom in what to say to him. Though he still questioned if our meeting was a coincidence, I convinced him otherwise. That it was a divine appointment for him to hear about Jesus and learn more about the truth. Without a bible on hand, I even shared scriptures from the gospel of John that were fresh on my mind from our recent bible studies.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.“
– John 14:6
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.“
– John 6:35
He still asked questions like “how do you know God is real?” I told him once you have faith to believe you will begin to know God more, learn to hear His voice, and sometimes even feel a physical manifestation of God. I shared with him that often times for me when I feel a move of the Holy Spirit I get goosebumps. Later on in the conversation, we somehow got on the topic of Instagram and I wanted to share with him my ministry page, @lettersof.hope. In my bio it says “I’m a missionary sharing seeds of HOPE and Inspiration. I want to show the Love of Jesus to the lost, hurting, and broken.” As soon as he read my bio he began to get goosebumps! A physical manifestation that God was working in his heart at that moment. Though he was not ready to accept Jesus into his heart and his life this night I know a seed was planted. When the conversation ended and we said our goodbyes I gave him the book. Again he got goosebumps. I pray he continues to seek salvation through Jesus Christ alone. Thank you Jesus for these two divine appointments and for using me to share Your truth with these people so that they may be saved.
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
– Romans 10:13
For the rest of our time in Malaysia, we got to work with United Learning Centre, a school and safe haven for Myanmar refugee children in Malaysia. I love working with kids and what a privilege it was to help teach and serve these beautiful students. Their joy and energy have touched my heart.
At United Learning Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
In our classroom with preschool students!
Dinner & church night with other friends we met in Malaysia
Indonesia
For this month our original teams split up. All the girls joined up to form a team and all the boys were on a team. At the start of our all-girls month, we set aside a time to do a listening prayer for the vision of the month. We all wrote down what we were hearing from the Lord and at the end, we shared what we had heard. It’s amazing the similarities in the words and visions we all got as a team, a powerful representation of discerning God’s voice in unity. For example, many of us saw visions of “stone walls”, “a fortress”, “concrete”. These visions became reality in the first house we stayed at and it didn’t stop there. We saw God show up in manifesting the details of our visions all throughout the month. Then there was Yosi. One of our teammates had connected with her on the Couch Surfing App. She helped facilitate the living arrangements of the first house we stayed at that God so clearly spoke to us about. The first day we were there she showed up on her moto to meet us at the house and planned to stay with us just for the week. She shared with us she is a Christian but through various relationships and disappointments with other Christians, she was starting to become discouraged in her faith. Right away, we knew meeting her was not by chance. She ended up spending the rest of the entire month with us. God used this meeting and our time with Yosi. She provided us with so many connections and opportunities and in return, we were able to build her up in her faith and be a strong source of encouragement for her. We all formed friendships with Yosi as she is the sweetest person and it is such a joy and delight to be around her.
My favorite memories with Yosi include meeting her family and going to three different churches with her. The first church I attended with her and another teammate was on Good Friday. The church had service, ate food, and played games at a beautiful resort area in Bandung, Indonesia. We were asked to share our testimonies with the congregation. Speaking in front of a large group of people is stepping out of my comfort zone but God gave me peace and boldness this day to share my story with others. The church even took up a love offering for us and our team to help with our fundraising. It was an honor to attend this church on Good Friday and to be welcomed with open arms by such generous and loving people there. The second church we attended was on Easter Sunday. During this service they had everyone pick a plastic Easter egg. Turns out, I picked the winning egg and was one of four out of the entire congregation to win a prize that day! I won a blender but since it was too big for my travels and definitely would not fit in my backpack, I was able to give it to Yosi and bless her and her family with it. The last church I attended was in Jakarta, Indonesia at Yosi’s aunt’s church. One of my teammates also got to share her testimony and we found out this church serves food to the local homeless people. We were able to help pass out full meals and water to each member who came that night. What a joy it was to be involved in both church fellowship, and providing an act of service. Yosi is now our dear friend and we continue to pray for her and her family as she seeks all that God has for her. We know God has a great calling on her life to touch all those she meets in Indonesia.
Girls team with Yosi and I on the left 🙂
Sharing my testimony at church on Good Friday
Easter Sunday with Yosi and her dad
Youth at the church who serves the homeless people
Playing with kids in Bandung, Indonesia
Well that sums up just some of the highlights from my time spent in South East Asia. We have already switched continents and currently we are in Gaborone, Botswana. God is still doing His work by leading and guiding us where to go and stay. As soon as we arrived in Gaborone after over 24 hours of travel (17 plus hours by plane, seven by bus, and five countries later), we found out our housing option through Airbnb was canceled. Luckily, this day two other teams were traveling with us on the same bus and we were able to coordinate to stay with one of them at their housing option. This is where we met our new host, Sally. Sally and her husband Doug rent out their cottage through Airbnb. This is where the other team was staying but after hearing our story and lack of housing they offered to open up their home to us. Since we’ve been here we’ve experienced the most peaceful and beautiful time at her house which is located out in the country, in the “bush” of Africa. It’s been a time to rest and restore as we plan our next steps here in Botswana. Today we will be moving houses to stay with a missionary couple but we will be sad to leave this place. Sally has been a wealth of knowledge and she just brings me so much joy. It has been so fun to be around her and to know more about her and her family. Also, Sally and her husband Doug resemble so closely one of my best friend’s parents and staying here has reminded me so much of the good memories I have had with them growing up. That is no coincidence. That is God.
Sally (on left) and Mary and me at the house shown below
God is in the details…
