Meet Aliana. She is one of many incredibly kind people we have met here in Malaysia. Aliana runs a bakery (that’s really quite delicious I might add) and has lived in Malaysia her whole life. She grew up in a Chinese family and practiced a Chinese religion but converted to Islam when she married a Muslim man. I was actually quite shocked when I found out she was Muslim after visiting her multiple times at the bakery because she never wears the hijab like so many Muslim women do.
We probably spent five days or so at the bakery talking with Aliana for around an hour each time. She shared so much about her life with us, and she loves to talk so much that we didn’t really get a whole lot of words in ourselves!! The very first day we came to the bakery, she mentioned how she hates sitting at home because she loves talking to people and being social. Well she definitely loves to talk, but it was an honor to listen to her.
Today was our last day at the bakery, and we were all really sad to say goodbye. Part of me wishes I could have done more. I wish I could have had time to continue to listen to her, to keep building a friendship with her, to share my own beliefs, to share the gospel with her, but it simply didn’t happen. We listened and we loved, but none of us felt the nudging of the Holy Spirit to speak more, and honestly, she was so talkative that the conversation really didn’t allow for it in the short time we got to spend with her.
But am I okay with being the one who plants the seed? Or waters the seed? It sucks sometimes to not get to see the fruit of what you are doing. We all want to be the ones who get to see someone accept Jesus, but am I okay if I’m not the one who sees the end result? Will I be satisfied with the times where I feel like I’m simply supposed to love someone, and will I trust God to take care of the rest?
So for now, I am so thankful to have met Aliana. Now I have a friend I can consistently pray for in more specific ways. I can pray for Aliana to have dreams and visions of Jesus, I can pray that God keeps sending people to her who love her, and I can pray for her heart to be open to the truth. I am trusting God will take care of her and reveal Himself to her in incredible ways, and I hope you will pray for my new friend as well!
Pictured from left to right: Teammate Jennifer, me, Aliana, teammate Kim
On a different note, we will be leaving for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Sunday. We have a two day mini-debrief at the end of this month in KL where we will be having team changes before flying to Indonesia. There are five teams within our squad, and we have been with the same team for the last five months, but that time together has come to a close. Along with being teamed with different people on the squad, leadership roles within the squad will be changing as new people are asked to lead and take on new roles. There will be a lot of changes coming up, which is both scary and exciting, so your prayers would be appreciated!
