I realize I have mostly posted blogs that describe my emotions & things more than I have about all the tangible things I am experiencing here. I feel all the things though – emotions & all – can be considered little miracles. 🙂
This past month has been spent on an island in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia. A cutie little city with so many hidden gems. Hidden gems include but are not limited to- coffee shops (of course), little shops, people, views, thrift stores & lots more! If I could take a chunk of Malaysia with me back to AZ, I so would. But… I sadly don’t think my lil backpack will allow this :/
We have been partnering with an organization called Kawan. They have a soup kitchen that helps with feeding the homeless & a thrift store (yes, an odd combo) that we have been helping run with them! The money that is made at the thrift store helps support the soup kitchen. I spent the first few days in the thrift store & DANG. Cute clothes everywhere, quite dangerous when you have a very limited budget. Haha, but really, its like a cute-mini goodwill. Every other day we have worked with Kawan, I have been in the soup kitchen. Without a doubt, my heart gets wrecked every time.
There is something about people who have nothing, but live full & with joy, that’ll move your whole soul & spirit. In general, knowing what I have & seeing how these people live, wrecks my soul a little bit. The hours we spend there cause this fight inside of me between gratefulness with all I have & have been given – & real sorrow for the reality of their day-to-day life.
The people who run the shelter hold a bible study & worship time for the homeless who come. It is optional, so some choose to sit on the opposite side of room, but some are so engaged & excited. & when I say excited- I mean exxccitteedddd. Singing as if no one is listening, swaying their arms back & forth, shouting which song they want next & when we are asked to sing, yes me.. yikes, some (a.k.a. Angel Carol. Yes, she goes by Angel Carol) shout “we can’t understand you!!!” & I can’t help but giggle because they just want to worship so bad, but they don’t understand English. Hahah, just sweet. This man named Lawrence has the most tender smile & tries so hard to remember our names. He calls me Michelle every time, but hey, at least he tries & sees the value in knowing someone’s name. He said he was going to take a picture of me & write “Samantha” on it so he would stop forgetting. (All my YL friends, give it a try 😉 Annie, sweet Annie. She was the first of many to melt my heart. She told me all about her life & family, then translated the songs we were singing so I could at least understand to some extent the words I was saying. Let me tell you, you think you can just sound the words out & kinda fit in, but no. Their AEIOU’s are not even close to being the same as ours. It makes it all a little more fun though.
I could say more, but this blog could easily turn into a novel 🙂
All in all, Malaysia is sweet & Penang is sweeter. We do 2 other things throughout our week, so maybe I will have to touch on that in another blog. But dang guys, we are soooo able to do the little things like sitting with the homeless or getting to know the person that feels the most unknown. & it DOES SOMETHING. It doesn’t just help them feel loved & seen, but it changes your own heart & perspective on the world. Like I vented about in a blog last month, it’s really all about love. It can quite literally change the world.
Love you all!So much!
Samantha
