Last month half of my team previous team (Hannah and Alyssa) plus Jess from team Rapha contacted a World Race alum that had since moved to Malaysia and now volunteered at a Muslim refugee school. For two weeks we joined her and taught wherever we were needed. From science to English to math, from 3 year olds to 16 year olds. We just had to be careful in how we explained our purpose there, being that proselytizing to Muslims is illegal in Malaysia. But we could still talk about Jesus, like I mentioned in a previous blog.
The last week that we were there, a new family arrived at the school. Their mother (I’ll call her Aleena) stayed with her two kids the first few days and watched and helped if needed. She and Alyssa got to talking and she invited us over to her house for dinner.
So the night before we traveled from Penang to Kuala Lumpur, Alyssa, Hannah, and I went to Aleena’s house for dinner. So Aleena and her family are refugees from Pakistan. They experienced a lot of persecution where they lived, especially because of the particular sect of Islam they belong to. We got to meet Aleena’s husband (I’ll call him Hakim). He had been electrocuted at work in Pakistan and so experiences numbness on one side of his body as well as having long times of being in pain on the other side of his body. He has to go to the hospital a lot and has difficulty being able to work.
Aleena cooked Pakistani food for us and served us chai tea. While we were eating and talking Hakim started to feel pain. His daughter started kneading his hand, trying to help ease the pain. Alyssa asked, “Is it all right if I pray for you, in Jesus’ name?” He said yes. So Alyssa prayed, and he still felt pain. But maybe 10 minutes later, he said to Aleena, “They prayed to Isa, and now I don’t feel any pain!” Normally it would be hours, if not days before his pain went away.
The generosity of this family was astounding to me. They didn’t even have money for groceries the next week and yet Aleena gave us enough food to bring back to our teammates. She also gave Alyssa traditional clothing and Hannah and I bracelets.
These kind of interactions are part of the reason I wanted to go on the Race. We didn’t try to convert this family, but instead made a way for them to experience Jesus. We were able to show them love and be loved by them. We got to hear their story and learn about the struggles they are going through as persecuted refugees. We got to just hang out with their kids, looking at pictures of their family or watching whatever random YouTube video they wanted to show. I wish we had more time to spend with them but am glad for the time that we did have.
I am still raising funds to be able to continue on the Race for the next five months (I can’t believe I only have a little over five months left!). The official fundraising deadline has passed but I’ve been given a new deadline to reach 13,500 by June 30 to not be sent home. I just need 1,407 to reach that deadline. If you are able to contribute, you can do so here!
Jessica
