Mouse #1 crawled on me while I was laying in my bed trying to fall asleep one night. I had to relocate to a top bunk in the bedroom next door. Mouse #15 just crawled under the door, brushed against Nicole’s leg and landed successfully on the sticky mouse trap. Mouse #16 is currently crawling up pipes on our bedroom wall, giving me a heart attack. The mice have singlehandedly rearranged our entire sleeping arrangements this month. My original bed is considered a danger zone. We have killed 19 mice this month. What began as panic has transformed into humor, amusement, a month of mice, and yes, still a little panic.
I have spent the month of April with my new team in Malaysia. I think it’s been my favorite month of the Race. I’ve had the privilege of teaching Burmese refugee students everyday. I taught math to little second graders who understand probably about half of what I am saying because English is their third or fourth language. Yet they amaze me every single day with their joy, tenacity, and willingness to learn. We share a lot of laughs. They talk about me in another language while we sit on the floor of their sweltering hot school. It’s quite a scene and I wouldn’t trade a single minute of it. The children’s families are refugees from Myanmar. Malaysia does not recognize their status, which typically results in the children having no provision for education. However, this precious school and the saintly teachers are educating as many students as they possibly can. These children and their families were looking for freedom, yet they find themselves in continual vulnerable situations. The school was raided three years ago.
We have the amazing opportunity to pray with the students prior to each class. The other day, a student came to school and asked his teacher for prayer. His uncle was stabbed at a café that very morning. Most likely a refugee, his uncle was caught in the endless cycle of owing money to his trafficker, who paved the way for him to arrive in Malaysia. My heart goes out to the children. I have no idea the extent of tragedy and evil that they are exposed to, yet they bounce into the school every morning with a smile on their faces. I walk through the door and a line of students is waiting for me to shake their hands. I really wanted an opportunity to teach on the Race and the Lord was so faithful to provide that for me in the eighth month of this journey.
Another wonderful aspect of the month is a little thing called PenHOP, Penang House of Prayer. My team joins others for 13+ hours a week for prayer, worship, and devotions. I was originally apprehensive that we would be spending seven consecutive hours praying and worshiping on a Tuesday night. I thought I was going to run out of prayers. The exact opposite happened. We spent time ministering to the Lord and I’ve never experienced so much spiritual rejuvenation. Seven hours will come to a close and I feel that I’ve run out of time, not words. It’s like I’ve caught a glimpse of Heaven for the sole reason of just sitting in His presence. At the beginning of April, the Lord gave me two themes for this month: intimacy and complete surrender. I think I started the Race imagining the Lord as a presence above, now I imagine myself sitting at His feet. The disconnect has been removed because time and space has been devoted to doing so.
On Tuesday, we will be traveling to Chiang Mai, Thailand for our ninth month of the Race!
