Our first night of debrief in Kuala Lumpur, we’d arrived late to our hostel, and went to a part of town called Chinatown to find supper. We walked in a line through red tents and vendors trying to get our attention to buy their miscellaneous items. Eventually our line got a little spread out, and a vendor stepped between me and the person I was following. With wide eyes, he lit a match and said, “RUN.” I was so confused, but watched as he set something on fire beside me and it began to fuse. All the other vendors were yelling “RUN” too, and running. I was just standing, watching, and my teammate grabbed my shirt and pulled me with her as she ran down a narrow lane of tents, and around a corner… just as loud BOOM POW BOOM BOOM POW’S were heard. My teammates ahead of us were unaware, and dove into tents and under tables. As soon as the smoke cleared, I realized the vendor had wrapped fireworks along the entrance to his shop to set them off for entertainment. This is my favorite memory from the World Race, thus far!
As we continued to walk toward supper, I noticed that a Chinese person would pass me, then an Australian, then Indonesian, then British, and Indian, and white people speaking languages I’d never heard before. Malaysia as a country, is very diverse, and attracts lots of tourists because the food is REALLY GOOD and cheap! Many refugees hide here. Malaysia is still mainly Muslim, though where we are living in Little India, people mostly follow Hinduism, others follow Buddhism, and Chinese Malaysians follow their own philosophies and gods. Native Malaysians are all Muslim, and must remain Muslim according to the government (everyone’s religion is on their ID card). A person who is not Muslim, can switch around to whatever religions they like. But as soon as a person here becomes Muslim, native or not, they cannot switch their religion again afterwards. Because there are two government law systems here. One law, everyone is held responsible to. The other law is just for Muslim… and it is far more strict and severe… still obeying Old Testament laws/punishments found in Leviticus in the Old Testament. This way of life, makes it very difficult for Native Malaysians to choose to follow Jesus. Even if they make a decision in their heart, they must continue to wear a hijab and pray the Muslim prayer five times a day. The hardest is proclaiming (I think in the Dua prayer) that only Allah is to be praised at their wedding ceremony and baby dedication. If they decide to follow Jesus, it has to be in secret, because they are lawfully still held to the Muslim law.
Partnering with YWAM & PenHop
This month we are partnering with YWAM (Youth with a Mission) and PenHop (Penang House of Prayer—similar to International House Of Prayer located in Kansas City) on the island of Penang. YWAM has opened a ****** for refugees, and two thrift shops to support it. PenHop has daily devotional worship sets and prayer/fasting intercession slots. Each day, we work half the day getting the thrift shops ready to open next Friday, and the other half worshipping and praying at PenHop. On Thursday nights, we go out into the streets and ***** our stories and pray for people.
This month I’ve been really stretched but grown in my role as worship coordinator. The first day we helped at PenHop, I was told at 11 AM that morning (while I was working at the thrift shop) that I was to do an hour long worship set at 3 PM. I’m now not surprised when those kinds of things happen. Me and two of my teammates planned the whole set in the 15 minutes it took to walk there later that day. I’ve learned to let go of not being able to control circumstances like that, and remembering that what I can control is my attitude, my values, and who I choose to trust. Those are the only things I can control! And when I control THOSE THINGS rightly, then everything ends up being fine and honoring God anyways!
Lots of growth!
This month I’ve also grown closer to my teammates. And through PenHop I’ve learned so much more about spiritual disciplines. I fasted to pray for the first time with them, and it felt like such a holy experience. I’ve also learned so much more about the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives and the power of intercession. For example, on Wednesdays, I’ve really cherished being able to minister to God through worship from 3-4 PM each day, then from 4-10 PM interceding for the world and connecting with God. Also since I arrived in Penang, I was having a recurring dream every night. It was about people of different ethnicities approaching me while I was in the street. A person would come up to me, and just stand and look into my eyes. If I didn’t say anything, they would just stand there, and wait. Two nights ago, God revealed the meaning of the dreams to me. He said those people were showing up because they know they are supposed to receive something from me. But they don’t know what. God has tenderized many people’s hearts to be ready to hear and receive the Gospel here. I shared the message with my team. Then that evening, two guys walked up to me and started a conversation. I got to share why I was here. Whenever the conversation slowed, they still remained, waiting… like they were waiting to “receive” something. I invited them to our worship set on Sunday (tonight) that me and another teammate are leading for our team on our rooftop. They said they wanted to come, and bring some friends! Wow! Their names are Hermin and Ben, please pray that their hearts would be touched by the love they see and experience amongst our team and that the truth of who Jesus is would be revealed to them by the lyrics of the songs we sing and our sincerity in praise.
Prayer Requests
- Praise that I don’t feel dizzy anymore!
- For the ministries of PenHop and YWAM.
- That God would speak to the refuges we work with at the shop through us.
- That followers of Islam would encounter Jesus in their dreams.
- Discernment and boldness when speaking with locals.
Thank you so much for supporting us with your prayers! This month is a super foundational month for me, and I know will set the tone for the rest of my Race. I feel like I’m really understanding and blossoming in my role and identity as a child of God. And falling more and more in love with Jesus and craving studying His word! Comment below to let me know you are praying! In the future (maybe next week), I’d love to set up a group videochat, where any of you could join, for like 2 hours. I just love seeing ya’lls faces and hearing from you! Let me know if that sounds like something that would be fun!
