Malaysia, you taught me to appreciate my faith and my background.
We were working amongst people groups that are not allowed to openly evangelize their faith or are constantly being looked down upon because of their faith. Malaysia is a persecuted country and Islam is the nations religion. Without going too much in depth, it was eye opening and jaw dropping the faith these Malay people carried. They were PROUD of their faith and wanted to scream it on the mountaintops, but they were unable to do so. The biggest part of their ministry is being a light in their community and being a source of light through LOVE. As they loved others, people started to wonder why, and people would ask questions, and these amazing Malay Christians would show them the Gospel boldly and with so much joy and confidence. It was an HONOR for them to share Jesus with people and it was an HONOR they were chosen to do so. Do we live with the same heart? Do we live in the same joy and confidence? In our lack of oppression, do we hide our Gospel or share it in abundance because we have no chains holding us back? I challenge you to ask yourself those questions because this is so real. I am so blessed that I am born in a country that lets me speak open an honest. I am so blessed and sometimes I still hide my Gospel when I am home because it is “awkward”… when some people here are severely persecuted for having the same faith… and they speak more boldly than I ever have. How come? How have we let the enemy put chains on so many of us when we live in so much abundance of freedom through Christ to SHOUT LOUDLY and PROCLAIM that the Lord is GOOD! In our work places, schools, homes, and communities. We have a gift that can save lives and we have the blessing to give it with joy, in full knowledge the enemy will attack BUT the Lord has already won.
Malaysia, you taught me more about the beauty of intercession.
Every morning we would pray on behalf of the people around us and the country as a whole. In this daily decision and daily choice, we saw the Lord WORK! I prayed often for boldness in the Malay people not yet a Christian that are scared of following the Lord. I prayed boldly and often that they would come into the church and be willing to see the goodness and take steps in the direction of eternal life. One of the first few days there, two women walked into church and stood cowardly in the back. They were new and they were scared. At the end of the service I got the opportunity to pray over them. They received my prayers in tears and processed to run out of the service out of fear that the people at the church would be able to identify her and would tell others that she had attended. As the month progressed, more and more situations like this would occur and it was so beautiful to see the Lord working in my prayers and to get to see how the Lord had been guiding my prayers. We have such a valuable gift to be able to talk directly to our Heavenly Father and it is such a gift we get I pray on behalf of others too. Fighting in the spiritual realm AND and physical. So powerful.
Malaysia, you taught me how to be more dependent on the Father.
Our ministry was SO BEAUTIFUL! We preached in a local church many nights a week, did house prayer meetings, intercessory prayer times, taught at a special needs school, was apart of a Christian music video (what?? Yeah I know), and did many kids ministries. So fruitful, so life breathing, so God ordained, and so tiring. We would wake up and do intercessory prayer or the school at 8-11, and then would start back up and do house meetings and preaching from 7:30-11 most nights. The schedule was crazy and the Lord had to become my strength because I was constantly tired. The funny thing was though that, every time I leaned into the Lord… he never responded with anything other than a yes or amen. He always filled me up to keep pouring out into my girls and he always gave me my daily bread and I continued to find my daily refuge in only him. Dependency on the Lord created in me a better appreciation for the weakness I get to bring to my Father and let him fill. He will never let me fall as I always run to him.
Malaysia, you taught me about how fruitful intentional relationships can be.
As a squad we were split up in Malaysia. Two teams went to an island off of the main land and my two teams stayed on the main land. Honestly, I was very overwhelmed going into the month knowing this because I was both super excited and super nervous. After leading Semesters, I didn’t want to compare experiences or walk in with unneeded expectations. In Semesters I was solo leading 14 and here in Malaysia my two teams combined were 14 (plus the amazing alumni TLs). As I walked in with eyes wide open and a heart praying to stay open too, it was such a beautiful and blessing filled season. We were intentional to soak up the opportunity of a smaller community we got to create amongst our larger community, and we fought hard. Meal times together, mixing it up at ministry, and intentional conversation. Through our intentionality with eachother, we fought and created a sweet little family. As I was intentional to not create sameness between my past leadership seasons to now, it shifted my perspective to be intentional with the Lord in only obeying what he was asking of me every day and every moment. In that obedience, we bore beautiful unity and connection ordained by the Father.
Malaysia, you taught me how to be more flexible.
In Malaysia (and most places other than the United States), time does not matter as much. Our host could say “please be ready by 7” and then not show up till 8:45. Not because his commitment didn’t matter, but because the Lord was guiding him somewhere and he didn’t let his schedule get in the way of where the Lord was moving and working. I was in awe of the sacrifice they would make on behalf of there schedules for us, and I was humbled to see how much sacrifice I wasn’t willing to make for them. Humbling, crazy, and such a beautiful process the Lord worked me through. I saw the teams thrive and grow into more Holy Spirit guiding motives and to be open to wherever the Lord wants to work in us in this journey and in this life.
Thank you for reading! Thank you for following along! This journey is so sweet and I am blessed to have you all along for the wild journey the Lord is orchestrating.
