So we made it to Malaysia! We’re here, it’s crazy, it’s new, it’s exciting…it took a long time to get here. Let me explain:
Our bus left from Thailand at 3 a.m (so obviously no one slept the night before lol) We rode that bus for 10 short hours before arriving in Bangkok. After walking around and buying snacks, we all piled into another bus and rode another, wait for it…… 9 1/2 hours to a different city in Thailand. We arrived in this city (I don’t know the name) at about 5 a.m. the next morning. Our next bus didn’t leave until 8:30 a.m. :). Luckily this bus station was located in a city so we were able to walk around a little bit and stretch. We actually found a McDonalds that opened at 7 so we camped outside the doors for a little bit until they opened. When the bus came we rode another 3ish hours to the border of Malaysia. There we got our passports stamped and headed for… another bus station! At this bus station we had to say goodbye to everyone since we would all be located in different parts of Malaysia. Some would take a ferry to their next location, others had been dropped off at their ministries along the way, and others would have to take another 5 hour bus ride to get to the capital. I took another 5 hour bus ride. That was me. BUT we made it! That’s all that matters. we arrived in Kuala Lumpur around midnight and had ministry at 8 a.m. the next morning. It was definitely an interesting time.
So yes! Here we are. Malaysia. The city is amazing and the people are so kind and friendly. My ministry this month is teaching a class of 7 to 8 year old kids in a learning center. My other teammates are spread out. One is teaching high school kids, one is teaching toddlers, two are working as baristas in a coffee shop, one has her own office and is writing columns and papers for the organization, and two are working in administration. It’s different not being with everyone, but I love the kids I teach and love the other teachers I’m working with.
It’s different. My whole life is different than what I thought it would be. I thought I would be sitting in a dorm room right now, instead I’m sitting on a mattress in the capital of Malaysia. Right now I should be studying for finals but instead I’m grading homework and teaching children how to read. You ever just sit there and think “What am I doing with my life?” Yeah that’s me right now. Life is different than what I thought it would be. And thinking back to before, sometimes life scares me because it’s so different.
Growing up with a twin, it’s sometimes hard to know who you are by yourself. I grew up always being known as one of two people, as being part of a set. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t change being a twin for anything in the world. I love it, but when you’re known as someone’s sister, you don’t really know who you are on your own. Leaving my sister and my siblings and my whole family behind was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. To feel such sadness that you physically hurt is not a fun feeling. BUT I am so glad I did. I’m so happy that I stepped into obedience (even though I didn’t want to). Because as I stepped into that obedience, I also stepped into freedom. I stepped into getting to know the Lord on whole different level through prayer and reading His word. I stepped into getting to know God better, but I also stepped into knowing Cammy Thompson better. Knowing who I am alone, when there’s no one there who knows me as a sister or a twin, just known as me. Freedom. Freedom from struggles with identity that I had no idea I had. Freedom from chains of insecurity and pain that were holding me hostage. Freedom.
The race has changed me. I started the race afraid. Afraid of everything. Like I said before, I didn’t know who I was. I couldn’t talk to people by myself, I couldn’t hold conversations, I couldn’t be by myself. I always had to have someone that I knew around so I wouldn’t be alone. The Lord has shown me that I don’t have to live in fear. I don’t have to live in insecurities and fear of being judged. I don’t have to live with the mindset that I’m not enough and that no matter what I do it still won’t be good enough. He told me I don’t need to believe the lies that the enemy had whispered in my ear since I was a kid. Instead God said, “You are chosen, you are brave, confident, beautiful, worthy, cherished, unique, not your siblings, royalty, enough.” I am all of these things because that’s who the King of Kings says I am.
My walk with Christ is different because I am different. Painting a safe house for women, digging a trench at an orphanage, and now teaching 7 and 8 year olds. It all has changed me. I can’t go back to who I was before because I don’t like that person anymore. I don’t like being her. From here on I can grow in my confidence of the fact that I have a Savior who says I am enough. A Savior that has given me a glimpse of who He says I am.
Getting to Malaysia wasn’t easy. It was long, it was tiring, the bus didn’t have much leg room, but it’s all part of life. Malaysia is where I am right now. I don’t want to wish it away or wish I were somewhere else while I’m right here. One thing I promised the Lord this month was that He would have all of it. That every day would be His and He could do whatever He wanted. So yeah that’s life right now. Crazy and not what I would have expected.
Peace out til next time 
