Back in Asia
Malaysia, wow! What a month! I love the diversity of this culture. Anywhere we went we would see people from India, the Middle East, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, China, etc. It was wild!
As our first country on the race in Southeast Asia, we were all feeling so many emotions! I for one was extremely excited to be back in Asia. For those of you who don’t know, I spent 8 years in Japan with my family as missionaries to our military stationed there. Being in Asia again was incredibly exciting, surreal, and weirdly nostalgic for me.
There was one difference in our new home in Malaysia though. This country was different when it came to ministry. Different from every other month prior. The biggest thing that set it apart was that, in Malaysia, it is a Muslim country and evangelism or sharing the Gospel in any way to another Muslim is illegal. We were aloud to say we were Christian. But to say we were there as missionaries was not safe. We had to be way more tactful now with our words and how we approached others. It may have proven itself to be a hindrance at times, but was not enough to keep us from showing the love of Jesus Christ in some neat ways.
Now, before I go too far, my time in Malaysia looked very different than most of the people on my squad. Myself, Katie Sadowski, and Victoria Bolduc had just been raised up as the new Squad Leaders so our month was dedicated to training before our current leadership left the field.
(Top photo left to right: Victoria, Katie, and me eating macaroons!)
(Katie, myself, and Victoria at the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur!)
So did we have ministry? Yes. Was it the beginning of an entirely new way of seeing ministry for the three of us? YES! Our focus became the squad and being their support system. So we needed the incredibly busy time in order to get our heads wrapped around our new mission field. So did we get to reach out to anyone in Malaysia during our time there? By God’s grace, yes!
Two of the four weeks in country were spent being with teams and putting into practice what we’d been trained in our new responsibilities. As a result, God also gave us opportunities to be involved in their ministry to reach others with the Love of God.
(One of the night markets we would frequent to meet people and build relationships among other travelers and locals.)
The first team I was with was a group of wonderful Godly women whom I grew to love throughout the week I spent with them. Their ministry in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia, was very Spirit led as they didn’t have a host, local ministry, or church that they partnered with. They were on their own that month. So they looked for ministry in whatever capacity they could find it as the Lord provided it for them.
(Back row, left to right: Jenny Kestler, Gracie Fueston, Sarah Weatherford, Caitlyn Duffy. On the left is Marisa Jacobson and on the right is Jordie Deal. Front and center is Katie Meredith.)
While these girls reached out to many people, two main highlights during my time with them was the homeless ministry we struck up, and the new friend we made from Argentina!
(This was a homeless mother and one of her daughters we met while passing out sandwiches, cookies, and bottles of water.)
(They were deaf but God was so good and one of the girls on this team was able to sign so we could more effectively build a relationship with them.)
There are thousands upon thousands of homeless people in KL alone. Many of them even have some kind of job but still aren’t able to pay for a place to live and are forced to sleep and live on the streets. It’s technically illegal to be homeless, but more often than not they are merely overlooked and ignored by everyone.
(Martín is our friend from Argentina! We took him to the Petronas Towers on night! Left to right: Jordie, myself, Martín, Marisa, and Katie.)
Martín ran into us at the night market we explored and very quickly befriended us! This man was traveling the world just trying to live life to the fullest and was full of joy. We spent many good times enjoying his company and happiness as we attempted showing the Love of God to him in every interaction. Our time with him was too short in my opinion. He wasn’t able to stay in town for very long. But I still connect with him to this day on Facebook! Pray he comes to know the Lord as his Savior!
Penang, Malaysia
Our second half of the month was spent in the city of Penang to continue training and spend time with one last team. Penang had a very large Indian population which meant we had lots of really good food during our time there. In spite of all of the delicious Indian food at our disposal I have to admit that one of my absolute favorite meals that month was the street carts that would come out every evening with all sorts of authentic Asian meals and snacks!
(My go-to noodles cart in Penang! I went here almost every night for dinner!)
(My favorite meal for a couple dollars was the street noodles with pork and dumplings!)
While wrapping up our training I got to spend some time with one of the teams who got to do a lot of work with a local homeless ministry. They opened up their facility every morning for breakfast and showers and then again in the evening for dinner.
(A typical morning having breakfast with the homeless from the city of Penang.)
Alongside the homeless ministry the teams had the opportunity to work with women in the red light district who were in prostitution. It was an absolutely heart breaking ministry to be a part of but a very important area of outreach that is all too often overlooked. It’s hard to see the world they live in and only makes my heart cry for the Lord’s coming that much more! Please pray for the women and children who are enslaved to prostitution and so many other things. Pray that they will find spiritual freedom and freedom from the sins of those who choose to hurt and exploit them every day. Thank you!
Your Prayers Answered!
Finally before moving on from Malaysia we had to say goodbye to our leadership as they each went home to America. Our Squad Leaders who raised us up where Hunter Young, Anna Ganter, and Hannah Henderson. They were wonderful people to spend so much time with and saying goodbye to them was incredibly hard to do.
This month in Malaysia was full of so many things. God showed Himself in so may wonderful opportunities that I got to be a part of and also got to hear about from other teams in other areas of Malaysia! God protected everyone and I can’t thank you enough as my supporters for the prayers you lifted up for us during the month of February. Every single on of your prayers were answered! So be faithful to thank God for His faithfulness to us AND to you as He had His hand over everything throughout our journey!
Thank you so much! Until next time when I can tell you about my time in Thailand… God bless you!!
