Previously, I have shared with you all that we had an unexpected route change which led to my team spending 3 weeks in Malaysia, 3 weeks in Indonesia, and 3 weeks in Thailand. These 9 weeks have been and will continue to be spent doing “Ask The Lord.” What this means is that our teams enter a country with no contacts, no hosts, no where to sleep. We ask God “where do you want us?” … and we wait to hear His voice.
In Malaysia we had some pretty intense ups and downs where we truly had to depend on God for EVERYTHING. It was only through his divine appointments that things worked out … and boy did they work out. I would like to share with you my teammates perspective on a portion of our journey in Malaysia.
Rebecca’s point of view:
“God’s Magnolias have made it to Port Dickson for our last week in Malaysia, and let me tell you, we have experienced God every step of the way here. Our original plan for our time in the country after a week of debrief was to spend a week doing ministry in Kuala Lumpur, followed by a week of ministry in Penang. Last Friday when we went to purchase bus tickets to Penang, we were faced with a series of road blocks.
Throughout the week, our team treasurer, Kayce, had tried to purchase bus tickets multiple times but was never able to. After we packed our bags and were ready to head out on Friday morning to purchase the tickets, we learned that we did not have the finances necessary to travel to Penang. There was a glitch in our team treasury account, and the funds that were needed for this kind of travel had not been transferred.
As a team, we took time to regroup and listen to God to find out what his plan was for us. We stopped fighting, stopped trying everything we could to get to Penang, and started listening. A few of us felt called to a beach or a place with water, so we started researching the closest beaches to KL. We took the time to pray for guidance, and the next day, we were given a direction and blessed with donated funds to stay in a hotel at Port Dickson.
We planned out the best route possible and the best way to travel to Port Dickson, and even verified our travel plans with the women who worked at the hostel we were staying at. These women loved us so well and genuinely wanted the best for us, so they made sure we were going to be safe and well taken care of.
We left Saturday afternoon for the train station where we ended up taking two trains, about 1.5 hours worth of travel. When we got off the train, we were greeted with a torrential downpour, so we sat at the train station for an hour having fellowship over the delicious waffles that were provided by a nearby waffle stand. When the rain let up, we proceeded to walk for 10 minutes through a tunnel to get to the bus station.
At this point, it was 8 PM and we were all feeling tired, but still had a positive attitude about our circumstances. Upon arriving at the bus station, we were immediately approached by multiple people trying to get us to ride their buses. It was overwhelming to say the least. Kayce and Alisha took action and found out which bus was the correct one to take us to our destination, while Ariane and I took a walk around the bus station, praying for God to send us someone to guide us.
We found the right bus to take and as soon as we got on, a woman who was sitting on the bus immediately stood up, counted how many of us there were, and helped us all get tickets. She then pointed to six open seat throughout the bus for us to sit in and sat by me for the entire bus ride. An hour later, we arrived at our stop. The woman stayed behind with us and made helped all of us put our packs on, making sure that we were situated before we exited the bus.
Next, we went to call for a taxi, and the woman from the bus came to help us. We later learned that she had called taxis for us before we even told her that was what we needed. She stayed with us to make sure that the taxi drivers who came were trustworthy, and even helped us communicate to them exactly where we needed to go. We loaded up the taxis with our belongings and were driven to our hotel right down the street.
Our taxi drivers have been amazing. We have called them every day since we’ve been at Port Dickson, and they have gone above and beyond any expectation of a taxi driver. We went out for lunch one day and called them to pick us up, but after we called them Becky, Katie, and I decided to head to the 7-11 and the market to pick up supplies so that we could celebrate communion later that night. When the taxi drivers saw that only half of our team was waiting at the restaurant, they drove around the town trying to find us to make sure that we were ok. Later that night we went to the beach at sunset. On our way home, we learned that the taxi drivers stayed at the beach the whole time we were there, neglecting to drive anyone else, just to make sure that nothing happened to us and that we were safe.
God has provided us with people placed perfectly in front of us right when we need them. He has given us people for guidance and strangers who are genuinely concerned for our well-being. From the angel on the bus to the taxi drivers to the people who work at the front desk of our hotel (who ordered pizzas for us when they saw us struggling) God has given us divine appointments with the people he wants us to meet.
Before the race, my teammates and I each had an unshakeable faith that was deeply rooted in God. We knew what it meant to fully trust in him and his provision. However, our traveling has given us each a firsthand experience of what it means to head out in a direction that he’s given us, not knowing exactly what we are walking into, but trusting that he will provide a way and the means necessary to get to where he wants us to be. We planned as much (or as little) as we needed to and let God do the rest.
We have never felt unsafe or in danger whatsoever on the Race. We’ve used discernment to learn who to trust when help is offered to us from strangers, and truly believe God has been answering our prayers for guidance and wisdom when we ask him for it. He has continued to be faithful to us, and we choose daily to remain faithful to him.
I have constantly been amazed with my team. God’s Magnolias is a group of women who take struggles in stride, who always see the positive in any situation, who have learned how to lift each other up when we need it. We know what it looks like to fight for each other when we each feel too weak to fight for ourselves. We’ve created a safe environment within our team, and have carried each other through our moments of vulnerability with open arms and encouragement. We’ve facilitated growth within each person, not pushing anyone into anything they’re not ready for, and being patient with where each person is in their personal journey.
This “mess” and confusion of a travel day would not have been as fun as it was without the Mags by my side. God has not only blessed us with divine appointments through our traveling, but has also blessed us with divine appointments with each other. I love my sisters with everything in me and I praise God daily for the journey he’s allowing me to share with them.”
I loved reading Rebecca’s recap of our journey over the course of a few short, yet very long days. I hope this blog has blessed you as much as the experience and Rebecca’s words blessed me!
Love,
Kace
