Dear Friends,
I apologize for the lack of blog post since leaving the
Philippines and arriving in Malaysia. The Internet is about a 20 to 25 minute
walk or going to the organizations office in which you never have alone time
with the ten kids, four employees, and 7 World Racers all in one room.
I want to use this blog to give you a run down of all that
has been experienced so far in Malaysia.
We arrived in Kuala Lumpur and a group of about 30 of us got
a run down on the culture. We were told that people take offence when others
talk about religion especially Christianity. We were instructed always carry
our passports with us, and we must always have our knees and shoulders covered.
We then left Kuala Lumpur to travel to Ipoh, the capital of
the state of Perak in Malaysia. Our team arrived to another list of
suggestions. Never tell people the organization we are working with, tell
everyone we are on a cultural exchange and staying with a friend. We have to
carry our passports with us at all times because if the police stops us we will
be arrested. If we happen to get arrested we will have to come up with a bribe
that would be about 500 Ringgit which is about $150. We are not allowed to tell
people about the ministry we are working with because it can jeopardize the
people we are working with.
So here is a break down of my day: wake up to the bells of
the Hindu temple that is in our backyard, put a copy of my passport in my
sports bra, have breakfast and devotions with my team, go to our ministry cite
and try to avoid any questions from the locals about what we are doing here,
teach English to kids and migrant workers, visit youth groups, play ultimate
Frisbee, sweat like crazy all the time (I have never sweat so much doing
nothing then I do here), go home after a long day, eat dinner with the team,
listen to the call to prayer from the Muslim mosque down the street, and fall
asleep to the bells of the Hindu temple in my backyard.
We are in a melting pot of religions and cultures here. I
have never realized what a blessing it is to be able to walk out my front door
in the U.S. and have the freedom to talk about my faith with anyone I come in
contact with until I arrived here. I have seen the passion of the young
Christians in the place in all the youth groups we have gone to. They have a
passion like no group of young people I have ever met. A boy put it so clearly
the other day. The young Christians are the minority within the minority. They
are a minority already because they are not Muslim and they are a minority
being a Christian also. I have only experienced the challenges of being a
Christian in this place of a few weeks and have become discouraged so easily
but these young people do not get discouraged. They have realized that God has
set them apart to spread His word in a place where they are not accepted. Where
they are called to be the minority of the minority.
Please continue to keep my team in your prayers as we enter
a time of transition and as I step into leadership over this teams. Pray that
God would help me lead this team in the way He would have me lead.
