This week, after a 6 hour bus ride, we
find ourselves in the small town of Pengkalan Hulu. It is around a 5 minute drive to the Thailand
border and filled with people from all different faiths and heritages. We are the first world race team to come to
this contact and we are finding our time here invaluable. We are experiencing the culture and people in
a way we had yet to experience in the past 3 months. We have already been to cell groups and
services for 5 or 6 different people groups with a few more to come.
You could say this week is a world apart
from last weeks mission or the past 3 months in general. We have left
the big city for small town life and even ventured in to the interior of
Malaysia where the native people live on the shorelines of Banding Lake
surrounded by thick jungle filled with tigers, elephants, pythons and many
other wild animals. We will post another
blog going in depth about our time in the jungle. For now I just want to focus on what we have
been doing here in the town of P. Hulu.
We are working with a Lutheran Church
that reaches out to people who are living in a world where Buddhism and
Hinduism are the dominant religion.
Pastor Loh has done an amazing job of building up this church despite
the years of religious teaching many received from birth. She has been here for over 20 years ministering to this community and the natives. It has been an honor serving with her in ministry. We have been able to lead 4 services and many
small groups to encourage the local members.
During this time God has been teaching us a lot about different cultures
and the challenges and celebrations that come with them.
Here
are a bit of the cultural/language differences we have experienced:
·
They
will feed you triple the amount of food you can eat, but you are expected to
eat it anyway as not to offend them
·
Time
is something that is talked about, not necessarily something that is followed
·
When
you speak with an interpreter, make sure to use words that you know the meaning
of and at least one synonym
·
When
you think you have clearly communicated something, you have probably just confused
them even more
Here
are a few of the ways God has shown us he is above and in all the cultural
differences:
·
We
have seen that prayers hold the same power no matter the language
·
A
smile or kind gesture can overcome any boundary that might exist
·
Worshiping
in different languages together is a heavenly sound
·
God’s
people desire to bless each other in their own unique ways
·
The
body of Christ is made whole by our brothers and sisters around the world!
This week has been a week that many of us
asked for on the race. To live outside our comfort zone, interact with people
from different backgrounds, experience new and exciting places, and share the
love of Christ no matter how hard it may be.
We are continually learning what it looks like to truly die to ourselves
and live for Christ. We are so thankful
for the opportunity to be stretched outside of what we can handle alone, so we
may fully rest in the Lord!
