I’d call this month the pre-test to returning to the States.
This month I am living on an island. The diversity here is high; I can meet an Indian, Malaysian, Chinese or Nepali when I step outside our door onto Chulia Street. And there’s a Subway and Wendy’s 10 minutes away.
Out of the 8 countries I’ve visited this year, Georgetown, Malaysia is the most developed. It’s easy to get distracted by the beaches near our location or the amazing foods around the corner. Life is loud here and moves constantly. It’s tantalizing to the point that I’ve found myself staring down the temptation to consume. Consume food that I’ve missed or because many places are inexpensive, spend too much money on new clothes or dessert, go to the beach constantly, and basically start to forget why I am even here.
Like most good things, they remain good as long as they are in moderation. Food is needed. The beach is beautiful. I hope I continue good things in moderation and keep priorities straight when my feet are back in the American world after the next 3 months.
Besides the valuable lesson I’ve been reminded of, I currently have been a chef on the island majority of my time here. Typically, on certain days of the week, I am usually in the kitchen of a building called the Kawan Center with three of my teammates.
My squad (“the whole team”) is made up of 19 people. My “smaller team” broken off from the 19 people are not together this month. Malaysia is special because all 15 women are doing life together while the men also do the same in Ipoh, Malaysia 2 hours from here.
The Kawan Center is our main hub of ministry during the week where 150 people on average come to the center to receive aid such as clothes, food, and shelter. I never thought that I would be cooking as a form of service or ministry because I am not the next Rachael Ray. I did not receive the chef gene, my dad spins circles around me in the kitchen.
In the Kawan Center kitchen, the man in charge is Ben. He is a local that learned how to cook certain meals from YouTube and has been volunteering at the Kawan Center with his wife for years. The meals he knows how to create are good! With 4 of us in there, he is basically our guide as we hold butcher knives and have confused looks on our faces trying to figure out what spice is what. We also receive help from the other locals that volunteer in the kitchen.
I’ve pureed chicken with two machete-like knives, made egg drop soup, disembodied tentacles from squids, butchered multiple raw chickens, chopped vegetables I don’t know the name of, and watched a lot of things fry.
The other women fill other serving roles – engaging with people in the big room while people wait for their meals, helping move things out of the 2nd floor, and serve in the Kawan Shop that sells hand-me-down clothes to create revenue for the ministry to help with funds. I steamed clothes in the Kawan Shop this last Wednesday which is an ideal, easy environment to chat with locals as well as tourists that shop there. As well, a few have used their gifts to work with human trafficking victims by teaching classes like hair-cutting or dancing and some have gone to teach English at the refugee school.
It’s been a melting pot of people and ministry opportunities.
A prayer request for the ministry is for a new building to come through. The landlord wants the building back so they must find a new location for the Kawan Center to move into before the end of June. Thanks, friends!
