Never ever would I have thought the words “ I don’t want to leave Malaysia” would ever come out of my mouth and now I say it about 5 to 10 times a day.
The first two months in Malaysia were super difficult. I was with my old team in Changlun which is right beside the border of Thailand. I was in a small muslim community teaching at a kindergarten filled with kids from the middle east.
((rewind))
6 months prior to leaving the race, The Lord was moving my heart for the country Iran. I remember making a prayer request to my girls at bible study about how I wasn’t sure why my heart was so burdened and I remember my friend Ashlee telling me “Press into it and trust that this is the Lord giving you this burden.” So for six months before the race I had this little girl as my screen savor as a reminder to pray for the country and children of Iran.
(fast forward)
Entering into Guatemala I remember purposefully removing that off my prayer list because I didn’t understand the call for intercession. I didn’t understand why I had a burden for a country I knew nothing about, I knew was never (HA) going to visit.
So…. coming into Malaysia the Lord gave me a glimpse of why He was asking me to partner with Him in this call of intercession.
The first week teaching at the kindergarten, I distinctly remember the moment of the kids introducing themselves to us, and after finding out that a lot of them were from Iran, tears just started streaming down my face. I honestly couldn’t even explain why I wasn’t able to hold them back. That day I explained to my team about how the Lord had been moving my heart for that country and how I had removed and rejected the calling of intercession He was calling me into.
The two months I was there the Lord continued to grow my passion for the people and kids of Iran, so I did what I was told…. I started praying. And honestly I can’t even begin to explain what He has shown me through that.
At the end of the second month we had debrief and I had a team change. I left Changlun and moved to Penang. I was nervous but extremely excited for what the Lord had for me this season.
Let me remind you… I still had no heart for Malaysia, I still didn’t like the country, I still had it my mind that this was just a growing experience and it was all apart of the race.
Well, I was wrong. SO wrong.
My first week in Penang was hectic, I went from 4 hours of ministry a day to some weeks with no days off. I was busy all the time. Monday Wednesday and Friday mornings I began teaching at a refugee school filled with precious burmese children. From what I know a lot of people aren’t aware of the persecution that is going on in Burma and Sri Lanka. Basically the muslim burmese are being killed for their faith, and are facing tremendous amounts of persecution by buddhist monks. It is weird because neither country is facing an Islamist militant threat. Muslims in both places are a generally peaceful and small minority. Since this is going on violence has left many burmese muslims homeless and some have fled to Malaysia and I’ve had the honor in teaching these precious kids.
I started going to Penhop (the Penang House of Prayer) on Fridays from 8pm- 12am and Tuesdays from 3pm -10pm where I met some incredible people. Penhop is a partnership that basically just has the desire to meet weekly with members of the Body of Christ. We spent intentional time in the word. We worshipped with the word (that was new for me) and had specific time for intercession.
I helped out at Rejoyce Cafe on Tuesdays at Saturdays, where I fell in love with a baby that I post pictures of all the time, and fell in love with the owners and the people that worked there.
We helped out at a tutoring center called J-Kidz for under privileged kids that weren’t able to get the education they needed, and we did that on Monday nights and Saturday mornings.
I will not be the first or the last to tell you that the Lord is moving in Malaysia. It is not a dead country, the gospel is moving, the Lord is so evident here and surpasses all the spiritual warfare and demonic oppression that anyone encounters.
Coming into this country I was not able to see the things I see now.
On the contrary, there is a lot of spiritual confusion. You will see a buddhist temple next to a baptist church next to a mosque and maybe even on a corner of a brothel. Prostitution is big, you will see men dressed up as woman which are referred to as ladyboys here. Your heart will burden after sitting on a corner watching these men and woman get rejected over and over and over again and you just might walk up to the them and tell them how loved they are, tell them they are beautiful, they are worth more, they can find healing, they are more than the pain, more than the rejection, that they experience redemption and sometimes you have to sit back and just pray because you’re with a team filled with girls and you have to keep in mind of the safety of your team and the people around you.
I don’t think I’ve ever been in a place where theres so much confusion, but I know the Lord hurts for Malaysia. I’ve felt it every day. Every waking moment I’ve had this ache in my heart, sometimes its leads to depression, sometimes it leads to anxiety, but It’s forced me to rely on the Lord even more.
This month has been the first time on the race I haven’t wanted to go home. I haven’t missed my family, my friends, my community, and I haven’t had a desire to go back. I’ve struggled with leaving; I’ve become an emotional wreck and I’ve even allowed myself to become consumed with the pain and not wanted to move past it.
I’m struggling with grieving, I’ve never had to say goodbye to people that I care about with a possibility of never seeing them again, but I see the Lord’s hand in all of this. Even in the pain the Lord has been more than faithful to continue to reveal himself and remind me of His truth.
Please be praying for my new team that I received yesterday.
We leave for South Africa tomorrow and I get to see my mom for PVT! After that I head to Botswana to my new home where I will be living my tent for the next 3 months! HOLLA!
Love Tex
