I spent last month with team “Hell No,” affectionately referring to the time as “Moana Month.”
Ministry was ATL (Ask the Lord) and through a series of God-orchestrated events we ended up on Tioman Island, Malaysia.
For two and a half weeks we tented under a mango tree, sleeping in a hammock on the beach, living life with locals and tourists alike.
The relationships we built led to every one of our adventure days and made ministry an absolute win.
When we first arrived on tioman we had no idea where we were going. My teammate, Chelsea wrote an awesome blog about how we made it to our home for the month.
https://chelseabouknight.theworldrace.org/post/an-angel-walking
Malaysia is a closed country, all Malay people are legally Muslim and converting people to any other religion is illegal. We decided as a team that we wanted to step into boldness this month. A tangible way to do that was to be completely honest when people asked us why we were in Malaysia. Not go out blatantly disregarding the rules, but when people would ask, we’d tell them. No beating around the bush, talking about traveling or volunteering. We were there sharing the love of Jesus and we were going to boldly proclaim that whenever someone asked.
As we walked around the island it became really easy to find people to talk to because we stood out. Everywhere we would go the locals would ask ‘where are you going?’ Or ‘why are you walking?’ It’s apparently very abnormal to walk on the island (or really anywhere we’ve been… Walking as exercise doesn’t seem as common where we’ve been overseas).
Most of our time on the island was learning names and paying attention to the locals we encountered, striking up conversations and really listening. It became pretty apparent that this alone set us apart. We befriended everyone from our resort owners, waiters, bartenders, local shop owners, you name it, we probably had someone on our team reaching out to them. And they all knew we were Christians. They all knew why we were there.
We didn’t spend time preaching, or evangelizing. We just intentionally lived the life God’s called us to and invited others into that.
One relationship-turned-adventure was Joe. We met him on our first walk to explore. He’s the manager of a snorkel/scuba shop. He found out that some of our team members were medically trained and asked them to come teach him and his crew. Eventually this turned into a snorkel trip that was so fun and beautiful. He also got one of his friends to drive us over to the other side of the island (for free when it usually costs SO MUCH) for an adventure day. They took us to a cousins house where they made bbq chicken and squid and welcomed us in for the day.
Later that day the whole team was invited to a Ramadan celebration feast that our ‘family’ was hosting. The owners of the resort we stayed at became like family during our time there and invited us to get all dressed up and celebrate with them.
All of our experiences were a direct result of the relationships we’d built over the few weeks we’d lived with these people.
I have two moments that I can point to where I was faithful in the Lord asking me to something small or weird.
One: Rachel made a friend on the island and long story short, we were having a worship time together and she’d invited him. We ended up moving locations and I felt a nudge to go back to where we said we would meet to let him know where we were actually meeting. This guy didn’t ever confirm he was coming, we didn’t even know if he was interested but I felt like I was just supposed to go find him.
As I walked I didn’t see him but still felt like I was going to run into him somehow cuz why else would the Lord tell me to leave worship and find this kid? I ended up running into him right as I got back to the place we were worshipping. I told him and his friend and then returned. They didn’t come to worship but ended up playing cards with us right after and joining us for dinner.
Two: We befriended a woman named Flavie, who joined our tenting party about half way through the month. She was from Europe (Switzerland, i think?) but was living in Spain and had come to Malaysia for holiday. She joined us because it was the end of her adventure and she had run out of money. Over the few days she lived nearby we had dinner with her multiple times, heard her story and had a many campsite convos.
It came to the day we knew she was leaving and we all made sure to tell her that we wanted to say goodbye. I wrote her a letter telling her how valued and sought after she was by God and then felt the Lord telling me to give her 20 ringgit which equates to $5. For us that’s a whole days food budget but in the grand scheme of everything.. Not that much.
Again, I felt the pull, during worship, to go and give my letter right then. So I did. I felt so strongly that I knew I’d regret if she left and I didn’t give her the things I was supposed to.
When I approached her at breakfast she seemed confused at first. So I explained that I was glad to have met her and that I had written a small note of encouragement and words the Lord wanted her to hear. I’d tucked the money inside the note and tried to walk away as quickly as I could before she opened it but I was not quick enough. She immediately told me that she could not take the money because we were from the church and she didn’t feel right about it. I explained that I really wanted her to bless her in that way and eventually after some persuasion she accepted 10 ringgit and admitted that it was a huge blessing that she really needed.
I left the conversation feeling so full. It was a small thing. Seeing someone who regularly goes unseen. Filling a need. Offering some encouragement to a new friend. I had been faithful and saw the immediate fruit. When she left later in the day she gave us all hugs and you could just tell that we had made a difference for her on that island.
This whole month we were really just living life. We lived in community together. We went out intentionally into our surrounding community and shared the love of Christ. It felt natural. And fun. And rewarding. And relaxing.
It was a huge blessing. I’ll never forget my time on Tioman.
Dad, I’m good!
