For the past week I have been living in Klang, Malaysia. The weather here has been hot and very humid; you sweat just trying to fall asleep here. It is also very rainy. It is Monsoon season right now which means that most afternoons here it rains, hard. It can rain for 10 minutes or 2 hours. I have only ever seen so much rain in a short period of time once in my life. It was back in 2007 (I think) when Concord, North Carolina, and other parts as well, received many inches of rain in 1 day. Everything was flooded and school was cancelled for a day. Here it can rain 2 inches in 10 minutes. They have major drainage systems that help prevent flooding when this happens. This past week, when it rains, I have often found myself in awe of God and what He is capable of. He never ceases to amaze me.
This blog came to me on 12/16 at 3:45pm while I was laying in bed, trying to take a nap during the biggest storm we have had yet….
I have been living and ministering at an orphanage here in Klang. The parents of the children have given over their rights of the children because they are not able to take care and provide for them, but they still can have contact with their child. Most are single mothers who cannot financially support their child on their own, but some of the other parents have struggled with abuse of drugs and alcohol.
Many of the girls here have been abused both verbally and physically. These children have been through so much pain at such a young age. My heart breaks every time I see their scars, every time I remember their background and remember what they have been through. I have a hard time keeping back the tears that just want to flow from my eyes when I am around them.
My main ministry this month is to spend time with them, to love on them and to be good examples for them. This month I am an older sister and have 13 younger sisters looking up to me.
God has told me to pour into these girls the same way he has to me the past 5 months. Just to love them. Love has been the biggest theme for me on the race. I have been working on being still in His presence, letting God love me, and letting that love be enough to make me happy.
Love like a Monsoon. Pour so much love into these children that their hearts are overflowing. Hug them. Kiss them. Be real with them.
So, that’s what I have been doing. Waking each morning and asking God to pour into me so that I may pour what He has given me into these young women. We pray for them, play games with them, and snuggle on the couch during TV time in the afternoon. I love these girls; it’s a love that I have never experienced as the youngest child. I want to protect these girls from hurt from all the bad things that life has to offer, but I know I can’t and the only way to do that is to remind them daily to put on the armor of God by praying to Him and reading the bible.
1 John 4:11-12
Dear Friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.
Sometimes the girls have been a little overwhelming; testing patience to see how long you can last or not listening when things are asked of them, things that typical teenagers do, but it does not make me love them less.
As the famous love verse states 1 Corinthians 13:2-7:
If I have the gifts of prophecy and can fathom all the mysteries and all knowledge , and if I have faith that can that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always preservers.
I have some reflection questions about the way that you love others in your life:
- Do you get easily angered? If so, why? What is the root of that anger?
- Are you patient with everybody in your life? Even the waitress at your favorite restaurant that may be a little slow when you are in a hurry?
- Do you have a list of every hurtful thing that people have done to you?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, close this page and ask God what you are holding on to. Ask him to free your heart of the chains that are holding you back so that you can love the way He loves us.
I am 97% funded and have 15 days to raise $462. Support me by clicking on the “Support Me” tab and make a tax deductible donation. 2 of my teammates are also trying to get fully funded. To support my teammates as well visit their blogs and make a tax deductible donation:
bethanydilts.theworldrace.org
christinareid.theworldrace.org
