What a month. December in Malaysia was an incredible experience. This was an “ATL” or “Ask the Lord” month for our team. This means we did not have a specific ministry, host or location to be in. We had the freedom to travel around the country and rely on God to create opportunities and relationships. Also, keep in mind that it’s illegal to evangelize to the local Malay people.
We spent first few days on Penang Island in an Airbnb. We spent lots of time in prayer and worship. We also discussed what God had taught us in the Philippines and Thailand and what kinds of goals we had for December. After a few days, we decided to head north towards the island of Langkawi. It’s a heavy tourist area and we figured people might be more open minded and willing to talk to us.
On the way to Langkawi, we stopped in Alor Setar for a day. We happened upon a Baptist church and talked to the pastor who introduced us to Pastor Kuilan, the pastor of another nearby church. Pastor Kuilan offered us a place to stay and told us that his church has a number of ministry opportunities that we could potentially help with later in the month. More on that later.
The next day we spent some time walking around the mall taking to people before we left for the island. This is where I met some guys from the Malaysian rock band Sleepside at a music store. We talked for a long time about our favorite artists, concerts we’d been to and I also got to share a little about Jesus. It was a cool conversation and the first time that I really went out of my comfort zone.
Langkawi Island was beautiful. Beautiful because on the beach and sun, but also beautiful because of all the connections that we made there. It was inspiring to see everyone on the team connect with different people in different ways. Here’s a few that I remember to be particularly special:
Me and Cody were just walking by and Alicia stopped us and started talking to us. We talked about her interest in psychology, other passions and, of course, our faith. We also got to pray with her for her family’s relationships and health. Pretty epic.
These are my friends Jenny and Abby and their new friend Ina. Ina worked at the mall in Langkawi. The girls talked to her and her friends every day and it was awesome to see their relationship grow.
After Langkawi, we headed to Arau for a few days. In Arau, we spend time at a local university talking to college students about their studies, goals, culture and religion. We all learned a lot from each other. We also hosted a pizza party for the students for them to come and practice English, learn more about American culture and ask any other questions that they had.
The next day we traveled back to Alor Setar and got settled in at Pastor Kuilan’s guest house. We attended a Christmas celebration at his church where they invited lots of the local community who don’t usually attend church. The next few days we served at a number of ministries that Pastor Kuilan oversees including a soup kitchen, a special needs ministry and an orphanage. It was really nice to serve in such a tangible way and to see the way that Pastor Kuilan reaches out to his community in so many different areas.
The next stop was Cameron Highlands – a mountainous city with strawberry and tea plantations. Here, we spoke with lots of fellow travelers about life, God and whatever else came up. It was a nice change of scenery from the busy cities that we had been in and provided some nice conversations, sunrises and rest.
For Christmas, we decided to go back to the place that felt most like home: Alor Star. On the day we arrived, we went with members of Pastor Kuilan’s congregation to serve at a local community Christmas celebration and dinner. On Christmas Eve, we attended a 7-course, traditional Chinese Christmas dinner and talent show in a beautiful banquet hall. Christmas Day consisted of a Secret Santa gift exchange among our team followed by Christmas service and lunch at Pastor Kuillan’s church. For dinner on Christmas Day, Pastor Kuilan has a tradition of hosting a big barbecue with all his children, their families, other family and close friends. We were honored to be a part of this feast. I cannot say enough about the hospitality of Pastor Kuilan. He treated us to many meals and experiences that I’ll never forget and really made us feel at home for Christmas.
After Christmas, we headed south to Kuala Lumpur, our final stop for the month of December. Here, we celebrated Jenny’s birthday on the 27th by eating good, western food, swimming, playing games and just hanging out as a team. Nothing major happened in KL, but I really appreciated the downtime to look back at the month and prepare for the next.
The last night in Malaysia, I had a 4+ hour conversation with a Syrian refugee named Kamel. It was so cool to talk to someone so different than me. We talked about life in Syria, life in the US, common stereotypes, international relations, the media’s influence, political opinions, economics and our different religions. We both walked away from the conversation feeling rejuvenated and motivated to continue to pursue love, peace and the truth.
After 30+ hours of travel, we celebrated NYE near Johannesburg, South Africa and have since made it to Malealea Valley in Lesotho – Southern Africa. Its quite the change of scenery from Malaysia and I’m looking forward to what the rest of the month brings. Thanks for reading and for all of your continued support!
