Ok, I may have loved Thailand, Cambodia and Australia, but I LOVE Malaysia. This Asian melting pot of cultures, foods and people appeals to all my senses on so many levels I can’t even begin to describe. We live on the Western island of Penang in an area called Georgetown, right smack in the center of town on Chulia Street. We live in the area called Little India, which is about 2 blocks over from Chinatown, and we frequent a nice Indian place called Kapitan’s for breakfast, lunch AND dinner. This city is incredibly alive. Not only is there so much to do on our free time within walking distance, but there are ministry opportunities around every corner…
One of our first days here my team was heckled by a prostitute, who is pretty well known around here, so for her safety I’ll call her Laura. She lifted her shirt, called out to us, grabbed us by the arm and tried to pull us back to her filthy mattress down the back alley in plane view of the street commerce. She reeked of urine, was completely filthy and was huffing glue out of a bag every 5 minutes. God put it on all of our hearts that this beautiful girl was definitely going to be a facet of our ministry this month.
On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays we work in a drop in center called Kawan (Friendship, in Malay) serving food, fellow-shipping, and doing construction projects on the building. Monday nights we participate in intercessory prayer for various cities for a few hours. Tuesdays we worship at the YWAM base in the mornings. Wednesday nights we walk the bars at night looking for people who’ve had enough and want some love and kindness. Sundays we have church. In between all of those scheduled items my team has been prayer walking around the city and asking God for direction to those who need prayer. We’ve also been ending our nights walking to Laura and checking in on her.
She was so animated last night! A completely different Laura then the night before. She pulled my hair out of its pony tail, combed her fingers through it and showed me to the boys on our team saying “SEE?! SO SEXYYY!!â€� She kissed my back, ran her fingers through our hair, danced with Rachel, hugged on Katy �” just a very obvious need to show and receive affection. This girl, so naturally filled with love and joy has been perverted by the devil though. She now believes his lies about her. She believes she needs drugs and glue and alcohol. Her worth is found in the money and physical touch the men compensate after sex. After she runs her fingers through my hair she grabs my hand and pulls me with all her strength to her mattress…thinking that maybe if she shows me enough kindness I’ll repay her �” but we just shake her off and say “No, no Laura! You are our friend now! You are beautiful and we just want to talk.â€� She gets angry and closes off for a minute before huffing more glue and the cycle starts again.
I am not disheartened though about her situation. God and I had a very quick and powerful chat this morning during worship. He spoke to me through my journal, so I thought I’d share:
Me: Show me, Lord, how best to love Laura.
God: Don’t rush. Be relational. Be intentional. Follow through on your words.
Me: Hmm. Ok God. That is definitely not too much, or really, anything much to ask. Shouldn’t ministry be more difficult and involved?
God: Sometimes. But not this time. Laura’s victory is already won. Her life and sin are already bought and covered with my blood. All you have to do is bring my Glory consistently. Do not plead with me or fight with me for Laura. The kingdom is here �” just bring it to her.
Me: Ok God! OK GOD!! ok!
There you have it. God reminded me of one of His key elements to one on one ministry. The battle…for good and evil, for Laura’s soul, for my sin…it’s already won. There are surely times when the Holy Spirit calls his people to intercede heavily for issues, people and places, but God gently let me know this morning that Laura’s redemption is coming. Her name is already written in the Book! All he’s calling us to do is be consistently loving with her. We’ll continue to pray on how that should manifest. Maybe with food, clothes, just quality time. She’s already well known at our drop in center and has denied their help and the church. Luckily for me, God has revealed the truth of her situation so I ask my supporters at home to come with me in prayer to shed some light on how to best love her and possibly let us help her get off the streets in Jesus’ name! We would love to see fruition of the Spirit in Laura while we’re here over the next 3 weeks, but it’s God’s timing. I’ll bring updates on our friend though.
