Incredible Overnight Adventure on a Malaysian Boat

Here I am again, attempting to explain something that is almost too hard to describe with words.

Let me bring you along on the incredible adventure Mark and I were able to go on last night.

We spent the night aboard a Chinese Malaysian man's boat, watching his crew work and living a day of their life. The things I saw, the laughs I had and the experiences God allowed me to be a part of will never escape my thoughts.

 

The day was originally supposed to start at 12 noon, but when we arrived at the dock Chi took us on his moped to a little coffee shop down the street. He said his captain wanted to leave at night instead of now. So he wanted us to come have coffee with him and his captain.

We arrived at the fisherman's coffee shop, it was more of their hideout. A place pirates go after they just robbed a ship filled of gold, except there wasn't any gold. Only beer, cigarettes and coffee.

I originally thought Chi was the captain but while we were there he introduced us to Tan. The captain. Chi is 54 years old and Tan is 65 years old.

I got a new perspective on fisherman, the men Jesus chose as His disciples.

I'll be sharing more about the fishermen and what I learned from them in my next blog.

Let's fast forward. It's 11 at night… 11 hours later. Two moped and three bus rides later. Mark and I are dropped off by Chi at the boat and he says, "Stay here. I'll be back later." So here Mark and I are, sitting on a boat in Malaysia. No idea what is going to happen and unsure of when "later" actually is.

 

Of course, we explored the boat. Having no idea what was going to happen next.

Mark and I had attempted to nap during the day but hadn't got much sleep, so Mark laid down his head and passed out.

I couldn't sleep because I was so excited and then I looked over the side of the boat and saw one of the coolest things of my entire life.

It was utterly stunning.

The water was lighting up with little neon yellow lights. Like lightning bugs floating all throughout the water, it was the most beautifull thing. It's extremely hard to describe, it literally looked like tiny glow sticks floating all through the water. Occasionally a fish would come by and eat one. You would see all the florescent fish scatter like a firework going off under the water, then the fish would vanish.

I want you to picture one of those artillery shells that glitters all the way up and then blows up into a huge neon yellow arch. Then after the arch is coming down, each one of the scattered balls glitters out in the shape of a spider web all throughout the water. This is about as close as I can get you to seeing the light show that God provided for me last night.

It was a kaleidoscope show in the water and I was completely mesmerized by the display.

 

It captivated my attention for 30 minutes or so until Chi arrived.

Once Chi arrived, two other men arrived and finally Captain Tan was there to embark.

What happened next was equally as amazing as the neon yellow florescent fish, when the boat disturbed the water it lit up neon blue. There were small florescent blue plankton that illuminated the water all around the boat.

I might overuse the word incredible in this blog, but last night was literally incredible. Mark and I were completely speechless, it was a yet another dazzling display in the water. Anytime during the night that the boat was moving, the light show was happening. Just insane.

Then we looked up. An incredible display by the Creator lit the night sky, complemented by shooting stars and two lightning storms forming in view. As one lightning bolt would flash across the sky, you could see a separate storm showing it's power. An unreal experience, an adventure that struck me at the core of my being.

 

After the nets were set in the water, Chi and Tan put us up in the captain's quarters to sleep for four hours while they ran the nets. Only the driver stayed awake and they took the night in shifts.