Everyone told me to have faith. Even God told me He would provide. But I still doubted. Even as the money came into my account, I never thought I would get there. In August, at Training Camp, I had raised $5,000. I had reached out to everyone I knew, and I still needed $11,561! I remember thinking, “There is just NO way!” Slowly but surely God prompted people to give and they did. Today, I am fully funded! Together we have raised $16,561…!!!! Praise be to the King of Kings! A God who provides even when we doubt. A Father whose love is not contingent on what we believe in it. A Lord who not only lavishes His blessings, but takes delight in us!
WHAT IS LIFE RIGHT NOW!?!?! I am FULLY FUNDED! I am an overseas missionary! The Creator of the Universe is using me! I’m in Malaysia!
Month five has brought so many beautiful changes! New team, new leadership position, new country, new culture, new continent, new food, new religions, new experiences, new blessings, and the same loving, sovereign Father by my side.
Meet my new team, Active Pursuit. These ladies all understand how critical it is to actively pursue a relationship with the Lord in a world full of distraction. The enemy loves to use the things of this world to keep our attention away from Jesus but jokes on him we will not be shaken! We are striving to not only pursue each other, but also pursue and fight for those who do not know Christ.
I have been asked to be the Team Leader on this new team. The role of the team leader is to:
-Empower team to use their spiritual gifts
-Establish and maintain Bible culture
-Challenge team to pursue God’s presence
-Communicate with hosts and squad leaders
-Pray, support, and encourage!
Before the Race, I had little leadership experience, but I am so thankful God is refining this gift and I consider it a blessing to get to serve my team in this way.
This month my team and I are in Sungai Petani, Malaysia working with a Tamil church. Here are a few things were doing:
-Teaching English and Math in a special needs school
-Preaching twice a week
-Leading youth group twice a week
-Leading prayer meetings in church members’ homes
My beautiful teammate Jillian sharing her testimony!
These things have pushed all of us out of our comfort zones big time! I got to preach my first sermon last week using a translator. Although I felt like I was going to puke before I started, God used me to deliver a powerful message. I’ve already seen all of my teammates stepping into uncomfortable situations with boldness! God is so good, and obeying Him has produced a lot of spiritual fruit for us.
Malaysia has a lot of diversity with Chinese, Malay, and Indian influences. Religion is ingrained in the culture here, which has been a big adjustment for us. There are several Chinese and Hindu temples right down the road. Malaysia is also an Islamic country and we can hear their calls to prayer several times a day. In Malaysia, you declare a religion when you are born and it is illegal to change it!
The people here are very in touch with the spiritual realm and their religions are works based. People have to “please” the spirits of their dead relatives, or gods in order to be blessed. When trials come their way, they blame themselves and think their gods are mad at them. Our team got to experience the biggest Hindu festival that happens every February: Thaipusam. It was mind boggling. People were put in trances and literally pulled their gods around the street by their skin using hooks. They danced, bowed, and worshiped their gods whole-heartedly. To be honest, it felt like I was at a demonic carnival and some moments I was terrified.
Hindu temple at the festival
This man was pulling a huge temple on a float behind him
This month I’ve felt pretty discouraged. How can we witness to people whose religion is so engrained in their culture and ultimately their identity? I feel like I have so much more to learn about different cultures before I can engage in conversations. My teammate encouraged me that their devotion to their gods is a great thing! Once they get to know the One true God, their spiritual discipline will create deep intimacy with Him.
This month I’ve had to lay my idea of fairness before the Lord. When I see a sweet, old Chinese couple lay food in an ancestry house before spirits I can’t help but cry out to the Lord to have mercy on them. This is the culture they know! Their roots run so deep! In a sense, accepting Jesus as their Savior requires them to give up that part of their heritage, right? In the midst of feeling completely helpless, God turns me to Scripture. The Bible is clear that no man is without excuse, but is also clear that God is a righteous judge. The Lord loves the people of Malaysia, and I know He will continue to send people to bring the good news and the light into the darkness here.
Please pray for the people of Malaysia! Pray they can be infected with the Truth so they can spread the light into their communities. Please pray our team will continue to step boldly out of our comfort zones. Please pray spiritual warfare will not manifest itself in ANY WAY within our team.
-Christen
