Manistry month has come to an end. After reuniting with the girls of Sons and Daughters we headed to Malaysia.
This month we are living in Penang, Malaysia at the YWAM base with two other teams: Living Water and Sweet Aroma. The base is such an amazing place and we have been extremely blessed to have beds, hot showers, AC, an amazing roof that overlooks the city, and even a SMALL WEIGHT ROOM!. Which has been a big blessing after a very primitive last month in Thailand
This month my team and I are working at Advent Hospital. One of our main responsibilities is to go around and try and raise money for children who need heart transplants. Most days this consists of us playing guitars and singing songs.
When we aren't fundraising we get the privilege to go around with the Chaplin and pray for the patients. This is a great time where we get to hear about people's lives as well as pray for healing and share the Gospel.
Once a week we also get to go work with the YWAMers and go out into the city to talk and pray for the homeless. This has been my favorite part of the ministry this month and The Lord has already provided us with several divine encounters!
Another great perk of where we are living is the Penang, House of Prayer. This is very similar to the International House of Prayer in the States. Basically what it is for those who don't know is a place where anyone can go twice a week and just spend hours in prayer and worship. It is always such an amazing experience and the Holy Spirit reigns heavily there.
This month The Lord has really been teaching me a lot. I have learned to rely fully on Him and keep my eyes fixed on Him at all times, even as I go about my day as well as not letting the things and people around me distract me or pull me away from Him.
I have been reading the book “Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster this month (which I highly recommend). Reading this book while working in the hospital, The Lord has been teaching me a great deal about serving. For those of you who know me, know that going up to people and asking for money is not something I naturally am good at or would enjoy doing. However through it, I am learning a lot about what true service looks like.
(making friends with some monkeys)
I learning about what it looks like to serve out of the overflow of your heart and learning how to naturally serve others with complete joy in whatever task it is.
Going along with service, I am learning to have humility when you serve. Realizing that it is ok to not be recognized for your service, or having someone else receives praise for your work. This is acceptable because we are not serving men; we are serving our Lord, where we place all of our hope and praise. His is the only praise we seek and desire.
Naturally there, is the fear of being taken advantage of when we serve others. This comes from us still trying to be in charge, we are trying to decide when and whom we serve. We will worry about people taking charge over us. However, when we willing give up the right to be in charge and choose to be a servant, there is great freedom in this. When we choose to be willing to be taken advantage of we cannot be manipulated (choosing whom and when to serve). How amazing would it be if we get to a place where when people thank us for our service, that we don't even realize why they are thanking us because it has become so second-nature and natural to serve, we don't realize we are serving.
(amazing sunrises every morning!)
