I don't know where to start really, but Ill have to go back to July 2012 for you to get a better understanding of the story.
It was my final month on The World Race, and I found myself in Penang, Malaysia; its a little melting pot of an island to say the least. There are Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, as well as a variety of other religions with a little Christianity thrown in the mix as well.
We arrived on a Friday, went to the opening of a cafe on Saturday and then I began volunteering at the cafe the next Monday. Serving at the cafe was my ministry all month. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with the cafe and the people involved.
1st week open!
Week 2 of the cafe!
3 weeks going strong!
To give you a little information, Just Cafe was birthed out of a ministry called PenHOP (Penang House of Prayer). The staff from PenHOP run the cafe, and it is an avenue of out-reach to the surrounding community.
This was the only time on the Race where I absolutely loved going to ministry every day. I felt fully alive and invested and was more than happy to let this consume the majority of my time.
As my month in Malaysia was ending I felt the Lord begin to tug at my heart. Before I knew it I had applied and been accepted to come on fulltime with the ministry. I went back to the U.S. fully intending on being back in Malaysia that fall.
I took steps to move forward but after about a month of being back I felt the Lord taking that option off of the table and laying other things before me. I just felt He was redirecting my path.
The Center for Global Action (CGA) is a new discipleship based program run by Adventures.
The opportunity to be a part of The CGA opened up and after wrestling with the idea and fighting the Lord on it quite a bit I put aside my pride and signed up.
It was not my plan to be a part of this new thing, but I found myself diving in.
(We may have had a little fun while in the CGA)
What started out as a 3 month commitment turned into 10 months of being discipled, apprenticing in the office and eventually leading a Passport trip to India this past summer.
It was a time of learning more about God and myself and how to live the life He's calling me to. It was also a time of letting go, learning and stepping out into new things while being surrounded by a loving community.
This past spring I accepted a fulltime job at Adventures that would begin as soon as my time in the CGA was up.
I had a plan, and I was excited about settling in somewhere indefinitely.
I had about 2 1/2 weeks left in India when something happened. After seeing a picture from Malaysia one night something hit my heart in a way it hadn't in months.
There was this ache to be back in Malaysia again. That familiar feeling was there once more, and I couldn't ignore it.
Worship at PenHOP
After 2 days of this I finally contacted a couple of people at PenHOP and shared a little of what was going on in my heart and asked how things were going there.
Within hours I got a reply back from one of them saying that for the past 2 days he had been praying that the Lord would highlight someone for the cafe because they are at a place where they don't know what's next.
The timeline matched up exactly.
I didn't really like what was happening in my heart and in my head., but I couldn't ignore the way things were coming together.
Through a series of events the dots began to connect.
Things fell into place.
Peace and joy resided in my heart.
While the Lord was working on me in India it turns out He was also working at Adventures.
Within about 3 weeks I had made the decision to commit to going back to Malaysia as a long term missionary and partnering with PenHOP.
I couldn't have forced things to work out more smoothly than they have already.
I'm currently working at Adventures in our Interview Department while I'm preparing to make the move to Malaysia.
God is so unpredictable but so so good!
Its been a crazy year since coming back from the Race. Its been quite unexpected to say the least, but I've found that the Lord tends to work that way. As soon as I have my plans all neatly laid out, He gets my attention and gently leads me in a better direction than I ever would've thought of taking.
Lord-willing I will be going out as a long-term missionary through Adventures in Missions and heading to Malaysia sometime within the next three months or so depending on how long it takes for everything to come together.
Sunrise in Penang near the cafe
I don't know what Gods plan is in all of this, but I do know that He has my attention.
I don't have a time committed to stay in Malaysia. It may be a year; it may be ten. I really don't know at this point.
I do feel that there is a divine purpose in this, and my heart is to step out in faith again and be obedient to what I feel He is calling me to. I'm trusting that His plan is better than mine. It always has been so why wouldn't it be now?
I couldn't do this without all of your prayers and support. Its been such an unbelievable blessing to journey with you these past couple of years, and I invite you to come along as I take this jump.
"Many are the plans in a mans heart, but it is the Lords purpose that prevails."
Proverbs 19:21
To join my financial support team click HERE.
