Malaysia- A brief Overview

    On a typical week, as long as I have an internet connection, I am asked by friends and family what I do.  As for being on the Race, I believe that this is one of the hardest questions to answer.  Today I was expecting this question again but instead I was asked “in one sentence tell me what is going on.â€� Are you kidding, what kind of question is that?  This defiantly took a few moments to think about… really can someone sum up everything for the past four  months in one sentence?
    Well in a rush to answer this question, I responded that “God is doing things bigger than I could have ever imagined.â€� I think that about sums it up. I mean, really we are only vessels for God’s work. I have been blessed to be apart of some of things that I just never knew existed.  So not to diminish God’s work and give Him all the necessary credit, here are a few things that have been going on this month…

    Ray of Hope and SSMC, are two special needs schools that we have volunteered at.  I absolutely love both these places.  A typical day is just going into a classroom and helping the teacher teach or just sitting with a kid.  Not only do we get to be with these amazing kids that are over excited to see us but we get to build relationships with the teachers.  We are in a country where we were told that we could not openly discuss/ witness to a Malay so building relationships is key to building trust.  Our last week was spent working with Bethany home and it was one of the best experiences yet.  I highly recommend supporting this home or even coming to volunteer.  They exist to give kids a chance to learn and live in society all done in love, it’s amazing!  

    Our amazing contact got us connected with a church that reaches out to the Vietnamese population.  On several occasions we were able to share our stories, preach, and even act out some skits for them.  Many of those that are leaders for worship and involved in leadership stay with us on the weekends. We were able to eat with them and get to know many of these amazing people and their stories.  Most have come to Malaysia looking for better work and better opportunities.  So many of them have been swindled into bad working conditions and many are barely making it.  I am defiantly learning more on how to speak in public!

    One night I had our friend Mei tell me that there would be a man staying with us.  He has been in Malaysia for about 3 weeks taking care of his 27 year old daughter.  Lee is his daughter who came to Malaysia, like many of the other 5 million Vietnamese, looking for better opportunity. While working one day Lee collapsed and was taken to the hospital.  The doctors concluded that she had a stroke and was paralyzed on half of her body, unable to move, talk, or function.  
    Several from our team went to the hospital to pray for her.  While we were there we found out that she had a fever and would not be able to undergo her scheduled surgery.   Before this moment I have always been one to not really believe that God can heal.  This moment was different from any other because I prayed and asked God to heal her and I truly believed He would.  He did not.  I walked away that night confused as why God did not heal her.  I just didn’t understand why she could not be healed because there were so many people that were watching, so many Malays, so many Hindus, and so many Buddhists that could see this as a testament to the name of Jesus.
    The next day a few of us went back to pray again and found out that her fever had dropped a little.  As we were asking questions a group of Malay women came and started asking lots of questions about if she had be healed.  We surrounded her and began praying. (disclaimer- I am about to share something that is completely new to me and something that I have never done and in fact never thought should be done) As I was praying in popped an image in my head of me blowing in her ear.  That was strange that this would happen, I thought, as I was intensely praying. I decided what would it hurt if I did or didn’t? My conclusion was that if it was God telling me then I guess I should and then if it wasn’t then it was just a weird thought. So I went for it. I leaned into her and whispered to her that with her faith, God was going to heal her and blew.  After the prayer I was trying to figure out where she was paralyzed. Call it what you want but both her legs were moving and both sets of hands! As if it wasn’t enough I’m trying to rationalize this and look for other solutions.  Denise, my teammate, thought otherwise. She asked the father to tell her to move her toes.  He refused and said that he has asked her so many times, and because she can’t,  it just hurts him to much. Denise persisted and he did. Well… she moved her toes!!!
    I do not know what God’s plan is but what I do know is that He is capable of healing this girl.  With faith all things are possible and God is showing me this.  If anything else can be said it is that Lee’s father has more faith than before and the Malay women can see God is at work.  Please continue to pray for Lee and her family as they continue through this process.

    This is just a little of what we did, maybe I will have time for one more blog before we leave for Thailand. (note- flight is boarding now… hopefully more pictures to come!) Thank you everyone for all your prayers and support!