I have been away from home for over 5 months now. I’ve lived with 10 different girls, in 6 countries, at 5 polar opposite ministry sites. I’ve missed Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve, and countless birthdays back home in the States.
We don’t always know what time we’re suppose to start our day, or eat our meals. We don’t know what our living situation is going to look like until we arrive. And we definitely don’t know what type of ministry we will be doing for the month until days (sometimes hours) before our (sometimes 4 day) travel day to get there. We are living that race life.
This month, our living situation looks like 7 girls sleeping in an 8x8ft bedroom on the cement floor. Don’t even ask me how this is possible. This month, if we don’t eat when we have a chance, we might not have our dinner until after the unexpected 4 hour church service, which ended at 10:30pm. But then again, we’ve also had months like in El Salvador where when we do eat dinner at an appropriate time, we will probably also be eating a 4th or 5th meal an hour later with another family- every. single. day.
This month, our ministry is to help with disaster relief within GM, Malaysia. During the month of December, this small town experienced torential downpours for a month straight causing flash flooding and more damage than could sustain life. 1,000 people died, 10,000 people were left without homes, and 15 evacuation centers completely ran out of food. Homes were invaded by over 9 feet of water destroying everything they once knew as home. The damage is unreal.
But the Spirit is present.
Present in the laughter of the 12 year old boy cleaning his slingshot ladden with mud. Present in the joy of the 23 year old digging through her pocket to find 5 ringgit to buy my team ice cream in the middle of scrapping dirt and scrubbing layers of mud off everything they own. Present in the smile of their mother as she took the time to clean 7 soda cans covered in mud for us as a refreshment in the middle of the long work day.
During these 5 months, I have encountered the Holy Spirit in more ways than I can count, let alone could have imagined. And I wouldn’t have traded any of these experiences for any of the missed Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve or birthdays back in the States.
*Update*
I’m currently almost 75% fundraised! My next and final deadline is March 1st, 2015 and I’m a little over $4,000 away. If you feel led to donate, please click the Support Me page on the left hand side of my blog. Thank you so much for your prayers and support!
Meet my new team I get to work along side in Asia; Team Beautiful Mess.
