During the month of Malaysia, our team did a ministry called ATL (Ask the Lord). We didn’t have a host, we didn’t have a set home or a set schedule. The month was dedicated to where the Spirit led us each day. We did all different types of ministry that the Lord walked us into.
These are just two of the many stories we experienced while in Malaysia:
The first half of the month, we lived on a street that seemed to be tourist central with the hottest bars in town. The only way to get from point A to point B was to weave through the chaos daily. In our daily walks to and from, the people working at the bars began to recognize us. Our daily walks turned into some beautiful relationships. We began to hang out at a bar called Rock Bottom nearly every day. The locals who worked there seemed caught off guard at first. They were not used to foreigners coming simply to see them and get to know them. Not only were they not used to us conversing with them, but the fact that we were kind to them and gave them the time of day was shocking. We visited them on a regular basis, and on their off days, we would explore the city together or grab coffee. We got to know their lives as they did ours, and all it took was a second glance and asking what their names were.
(These were the shirts they got us as our going away gifts)
(Coffee dates on their once a week off day)
During those walks, once we made it through all the bars, we began to notice the same people sleeping on the streets or begging for money. We began to know them by name and sat with them for hours at a time in one of the busiest traffic areas of the city. One of our friends was named Steven. We would sit with him for an hour or so and chat as people walked by. He would ask how the movie we saw was and continue to converse about our days.
Steven loves the Lord, and used to have a good job, but like many of us, Steven hit some bumps in the road along the way. Those hardships caused him to be unable to work. He wants to work, but he’s been told for so long now that he is of no use because of his age. So Steven sits outside in the blazing heat of Malaysia, humbly praying that the Lord will provide each day just a little bit more. But if you talk to him, he’ll continue to remind you that it’s not about the money. He needs to survive, yes, but he doesn’t want to leave this world craving what the world offers. As we got to know him throughout our conversations, Steven vulnerably shared that he has been in and out of jail 10 times because of drugs. Steven is addicted to heroin, but desperately wants to be set free. The sad part about it, though, is that jail is what he views as freedom. He literally views freedom behind bars, because in jail he has a roof above his head, and has no temptations to access drugs. His view of freedom is behind bars, literally and figuratively.
As my teammate and I sat there on the ground with Steven, in a heavily trafficked area, I would see people approaching in the business of life, trying to get to wherever they were going. But when they passed us, some would stop in their tracks, some slowed down, and some even ran into each other because they were too focused on two white girls sitting on the ground with a homeless man. Now if Steven was alone, he wouldn’t have been given a second glance. But the fact that two girls sat down to have a conversation with him, people couldn’t help but notice. Steven has just as much value and worth as any other human being on this earth. There was even a moment when a man walked by who was mentally handicapped, scolded Steven and shamed him right in front of us. Steven just looked at him, eyes swelling with tears, and simply asked, “Why?” Steven knows truth and he wants to be set free from his addictions. We told him that the Lord can free him from this place. Steven said he knows God wants to set him free because he wants to be set free just as much.
Sitting down on the side of the street with Steven, I was given a new perspective. I got to see life through his eyes, being blatantly judged, ridiculed, shamed, and put down. We are all human beings with the commonality of a beating heart and every heart has a story. Steven didn’t want this life for himself, but to him, he has no other choice. He asked us why we sat with him, and we told him it’s because he is our friend, because we love him.
ATL was a month of great perspective- perspective in the sense of what day to day life can look like when truly listening to the voice of the Spirit. This is the way the Lord desires for us to live hand in hand with him. The Lord opened my eyes up to all the interruptions He could put in my day if I stopped to listen and open my eyes. The Lord’s interruptions are the best interruptions.
Mother Teresa said it best, “When I see how the poor remain neglected and unrecognized all around us, I understand the sadness of Christ at not being accepted by his own. Jesus made it very clear. Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me.” She always said that the best way to serve the poor was to recognize them. She said “I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. I must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus.”
Whether it is someone living on the streets, a stranger you stroll by, the waiter you order from, your spouse across from you at the dinner table, look at them, and let them know they are truly seen.
