So I realized recently that I’ve neglected to share the details of my life in the countries I’m visiting for those of you back home to know, “what is life on the race really like?” and to give a visual of how im living out that “life is ministry, ministry is life”. Now, that’s not to say I’ve neglected to share those details because I’ve forgotten, but it’s honestly been because I’ve convinced myself that that’s “not the type of blogger I am” since I know SO MUCH about blogging and all…….
But lately I’ve realized it’s because I haven’t wanted to do the hard thing and blog about the details. It can be difficult to blog about the details because a lot of times on the race with the ministries and people groups we are dealing with, we are asked to keep certain details private to respect and protect and it can be hard to weed out those details and it takes time and effort that I haven’t wanted to put forth and I apologize to you all for that. So… are you ready for it? All the details? Now that we leave in just a few short days (better late than never, am I right? Haha)..
Malaysia.
What’s it like? What’s your ministry for the month? What are the people like? Where are you living? Is it hot there? How does it work with sharing your faith?
Well.. Malaysia is HOT. It is hot, but it has a nice breeze to it on occasion. It’s been in the 90s some days, but in the evenings it’s about 75-80 degrees once the sun goes down so not unbearable. We are living at a YWAM base in their dorms! It has a few stories to it and when you enter a floor, it’s a long hallway with a bathroom at one end, a small kitchenette with a microwave and fridge on my floor and another team upstairs has a sink, a few feet from the bathroom is a small bedroom and then at the other end of the hallway is a large bedroom full of bunk beds. This month we have air conditioning and fans and that has been such a gift and we have been so so grateful! Our bathrooms are regular toilets as opposed to the squatty potties we had the privilege of learning to use last month and our showers this month are 2 stalls with doors right next to the 2 toilets which are also in 2 separate stalls. The showers can be cool/cold or warm/hot but 95% of us take cool/cold showers because they feel so nice compared to the heat outside!
We have been able to get groceries with our meal budget that we receive per month and that’s been nice! We’ve been able to get creative on the meals we make with only handing a fridge/freezer and a microwave (no oven or stove). The other morning I treated myself to a piece of toast with mashed avocado on top and some scrambled eggs I made IN THE MICROWAVE (crack the eggs into a microwave safe bowl, add anything you want, then cook for like 1-2 minutes and make sure nothing is runny and you’re good to go!). Also, thanks to two of my teammates I learned to make spaghetti with ramen noodles! Just get a can of pasta sauce then boil water and pour over plan ramen without the seasoning packet and then drain the noodles, add the sauce and a pinch of salt and VIOLA! Spaghetti. Paired with some cheap 3 ringgit garlic butter naan from the Indian restaurant next door and a lemon flavored Ice Mountain sparkling water (aka lemon lacroix), it’s the most delicious dinner! Getting creative with meals has been new and challenging to learn, but fun. There are also some fun places nearby to enjoy for meals.
As for ministry, this month we have had the privilege of partnering with YWAM and things that they do as an organization here in Penang. For the time we have been here, that has looked like serving at the Kawan Center and the Kawan Shop and doing Outreach (street ministry) every Wednesday night. Street ministry was one of the most beautiful things I was able to experience this month as we learned to lean into His heart for His people and ask Him to break our hearts for what breaks His as well as to see His people and His city with His eyes and His heart. Through several teams of us walking around the city of Penang, we were able to pray over and speak truth into and love on those in the community and practice trusting Jesus to show us who is on HIS heart each night of street ministry.
The Kawan Center is a place where those less fortunate in the community can receive a warm meal. I had the privilege of serving here once last week. When we arrived around 9am, we had a time of prayer with the staff and the two people who run the center and then we went to pick up bread from a local bakery that gives the center their leftover bread! We went back and began to cut and butter the bread and then pour VERY hot coffee into mugs to prepare for when the doors opened around 10. Then some friends on our team who helped in the kitchen helped to make a hot dish of noodles stir fry that we portioned out to each person who walked in until we ran out. It was beautiful to sit and serve them as they walked into the center to receive a meal. After that we got to have a time of prayer and worship with whoever decided to stay and wait for lunch to be prepared. We learned to sing in what we think might have been Mandarin and we had the privilege of watching these men and women worship Jesus with their whole hearts. We got to hear a story told by a wife about her husband, both older, who was with her and how he had had so many medical issues and she would pray by his bedside and the Lord has kept her husband safe and healthy. It was beautiful to see her faith so strong and watch the two of them together. After that time of prayer and worship, lunch preparations would finish, lunch would be served and then clean up would begin and serving at the center would finish around 1:30/2pm.
At the Kawan Shop, we had the privilege of serving alongside four other women, one of which had been working at this shop for over ten years! It’s a thrift shop where people in the community can donate their clothes and then they are sorted, washed, steamed/ironed and hung up in order of their sorting. One of the women who had been there over ten years, who runs the shop, her sister and brother in law where the two who run the Kawan Center! The proceeds from the Kawan Shop help to fund the Kawan Center which I think is such a beautiful idea and way to serve the community here in Penang. We would sort the donated clothing based off of kids, mens and womens tops and bottoms and then with the items that had been washed and dried, we would begin to steam and iron all the clothes. It became a bit mundane after a while, but what a beautiful opportunity to sit and talk with Jesus and also to get to know the four women we got to serve alongside! One of the women who worked at the shop, I will call her J, was PRECIOUS and I got to hear the story of how she came to know Jesus. It was beautiful to hear how Jesus perused her so intentionally before she came to know Him fully. She was and is a sweetheart and I was thrilled to have the chance to know her this past month similar to the other employees and people at the center.
Throughout this month we have also had the privilege of going to Penhop, Penang House of Prayer, 2-3 times each week. Monday (optionally) from 3-6pm, then Tuesdays we would be there from 3-10pm and Fridays we would attend what’s called “Friday Night Burn”, from 8-12am. Penhop has been absolutely amazing for my faith journey and I cannot express my gratitude and thankfulness for the time we’ve gotten to spend there learning about, hearing from, listening to, talking to, worshiping and sitting in the presence of Jesus. At first hearing we’d be sitting in a room with constant worship just spending time in prayer and the Bible I was nervous.. “how can I even do that for so long?” I thought. Then, after our first burn 8-12am I realized how easy and beautiful it was to just sit and exist in His presence and how important it was and has been for my own faith journey to fill up my cup so that I may fill up the cup of others during this month and this year.
All in all, this month has been full of LOTS of Jesus, healing in progress, continuing to practice finding my worth and beauty in HIM only and finding freedom from struggles I face in my life. It has been full of practicing the prophetic within my squad and my team during team time or nights of worship on our roof, practicing hearing and learning to know His voice on a deeper more intimate level and growing in boldness within the community we’ve been in this past month. What a beautiful month of growth, what a beautiful month of gifts, what a beautiful month of learning.
Thanks, God.
Please continue to be in prayer over my team and I as we head into a mini debrief this weekend as a squad and then head to Thailand later this week! We covet your prayers for protection, HEALTH, boldness, chains to be broken within ourselves and each other and within the people we have the privilege to come in contact with as well as growth in the name of Jesus.
