When i chose this route for the race i was SO excited about all the countries! Except one… Malaysia. Who wouldn’t be excited to live in Thailand, Costa Rica and Ecuador?! But Malaysia… i had never even heard of Malaysia. Fast forward to the last week we were in Thailand, we learned that we would be staying in a different city for the next month than the rest of the squad. Now, I was not only heartbroken to leave the locals I’d made friends with but also my squad.
To put it plainly i was bitter. First, this was a country i wasn’t looking forward to living in. Second, i wasn’t as close with my team as I’d like to be and i was leaving all of my close friends from other teams. Third, we would be living in the biggest city in Malaysia! Everyone else was minutes from the beach and where were we based? In the middle of a concrete jungle.
When we got to Kuala Lumpur we were thrown into ministry. We learned that we would be working with an organization called Dignity For Children. Their main focus is helping the poor refugee children find good quality education. During their schooling they are trained for different jobs to set them up for success in their future.
“Our journey is a journey of thousands of children believing, desiring, and reaching out to take hold of a secure future through education to break the cycle of poverty for themselves and their family.”
– Pastor Elisha
During our orientation with the organization we were given different options of jobs. There were 9 jobs so each of us chose one. My teammates are doing things like working with toddlers, middle schoolers, working in the administrative office, and Maeci is even writing articles for the newspaper! Emma and i have a job that’s a little different. We get to work in Dignity’s cafe! One of the ways they fund their school is through the money made by the cafe! It’s called Eat X Dignity. Emma and i have quickly learned to be baristas, servers, and work the cash register. Although there are many complications to this job (such as a language barrier and difficulty understanding English in a different accent) this is by far the best ministry I’ve had on the race. We work 9-5, five days a week. It’s exhausting but we are thriving! We have made tons of friends who quickly became family.
It blows my mind how the Lord completely flipped my mindset in Malaysia. I was dreading coming here. Now i am dreading having to leave… God has opened my eyes to so many things in this city like experiencing a different side of poverty, the hardships of sacrifice, and an indescribable love shown to us by our new family. I have heard numerous stories of how people left home and ended up working with Dignity. Their bravery and trust in the Lord in His plans for them is incredible and inspiring!
I am beyond blessed to be working with these amazing people and this amazing organization!
I only have about one week left with these amazing people and I’m devastated to say goodbye! I hate hard goodbyes but at the same time I’m thankful for them! It means i have done what the Lord has called me to to. I have built relationships, hopefully made an impact on their lives, and strengthened my trust in God’s plan for me.
I pray that i will continue to have hard goodbyes in the next two countries. However, i am still $5,000 away from being fully funded! If i don’t have this within the next month i will be sent home! Please help me continue to share the love of Jesus in my next two countries!
