Just when you think life is settling down a bit, God throws in a few curveballs to liven things up and keep you on your toes. There have been several curveballs thrown at me and my squad over the past two weeks. The first one came at debrief in Nelspruit, South Africa. Our leaders decided to give the whole squad the option of totally changing up our teams. Everyone felt the Lord’s leading in this, so we dove in headfirst and spent a whole day praying and discussing our options. By the end of the day, we had four brand new teams ready to go out and conquer the world. My new teammates are Jessica, Kristin, AJ, Heather, Matt, and Leigh.
Enter curveball number two. I was chosen to co-lead my new team alongside Jessica. Talk about facing up to your fears! I have always had an irrational fear of being a “leader.” The title always unnerved me somehow, because along with the title comes the responsibility of being a leader of a group of people. The next things that try to creep in are the fears of failure and inadequacy. In a sense, these are legitimate fears. I am fully aware of the fact that, by myself, I really am inadequate and am very capable of failure.
At least, this is true if I leave God out of the picture. But with God, all bets are off. He can turn a shepherd into a king, a fisherman into an apostle, and a 100-year-old man into the patriarch of a whole nation. If He can do that, then it’s really not too far of a stretch to believe that He can somehow turn me into a leader.
On February 3rd, we arrived in Malaysia from South Africa. Enter curveball number three. Initially, we had thought that all four teams would be working around the city of Kuala Lumpur, but that was not to be the case. Instead, my team was chosen to go out and minister in a remote mountain village called Kampung Pertang. We are literally living in the middle of the jungle with no electricity or running water. We don’t even have an outhouse! We have to go out into the bush to take care of business!
So far, there has not been a dull moment. The first day 
we were here, we were introduced to the community’s pet baby bear and pet civet (I had never heard of it either!). We’ve had giant spiders and huge moths visit us in the church where we are staying, not to mention the chicken that has laid her eggs in a corner of the church. We have eaten rice off of giant palm leaves as plates and drunk tea from bamboo cups. We have mastered the skill of bathing in a river too. Like I said, never a dull moment! This is definitely one of the most interesting places we have visited so far.
As far as ministry goes, things are shaping up to be pretty exciting as well. We will be leading English classes for the local children. Did I mention that none of them attend school or know how to read and write? Talk about a challenge there! Another big project we will be overseeing is a building project. Our goal is to build between ten and twenty chalets to house visitors to the community for ministry purposes. We have spent the past two days helping the local pastor clear out the land on which we will build. It takes a while when you have to haul off the stumps, branches, and tree trunks by hand! What I wouldn’t give for a bulldozer here! In spite of the hard labor, this is yet one more opportunity for God to show up in a big way. I can’t wait to see what He has up His sleeve over the next three weeks. Welcome to the jungle!
