I’ve been to a few countries and I’ve done a lot of things in the past few months. What I haven’t done is a good job of sharing the things that I’ve been doing while I’m away. To be honest, it’s a tedious task to document the ins and outs of ministry. It feels very surface level to me, but I do realize that I am gone for 11 months doing God’s work with some amazing organizations and ministries around the world. These ministries deserve to be highlighted and YOU, my generous, loving supporters, deserve to hear the updates. So, this is my “quick fix” blog series to make up for all of the blogging that I haven’t done and catch you up regarding my happenings over the past few months. If you’d like to read about some of the deeper things that I’ve been experiencing and learning, you can find that in the blogs that I actually have written at www.kristinasmith.theworldrace.org.
Malaysia (February)
In Malaysia we spent most of our time around the HUGE city of Kuala Lumpur finding Unsung Heroes. We had no official ministry or schedule, which turned out to be both scary and exciting. We found a few really awesome ministries that I’d like to highlight.
ACTS CHURCH
Acts Church (www.theactschurch.org) is a church with multiple plants in and around KL as well as church plants in Singapore, London, Australia, and Botswana. I’m so thankful that God divinely had us cross paths with Acts Church because they became such a fundamental part of our month. Being a missionary in different countries has really left me longing for the community that comes with having a “home church”. Acts Church filled that void during our time in Malaysia. The community and friendships attained were definitely ordained by God and the hospitality shown to us has yet to be matched. What amazes me the most about the people who cared for us is the fact that, to them, we were just a group of girls who were doing missions in the city that they lived in. We were not “World Racers” or their responsibility for the month. They simply wanted to show Christ’s love to fellow believers because that is what we, as Christians, are called to do. They definitely live up to their name, as I witnessed first hand what it must have been like to be a part of the the church described in Acts 2.
PKIK
PKIK is another organization that were able to partner with for a few days. They are a home and school that helps special needs adults become self-sufficient and learn skills through applied job training. PKIK also educates special needs children and their parents/care giver by giving one-on-one sessions teaching parents how to work with their child at home. For more details about PKIK, please visit my teammate’s blog dedicated specifically to this great organization: PKIK! An Unsung Moment
DIGNITY FOR CHILDREN
The last ministry that we were able to partner was Dignity for Children. Dignity for Children is a school, but the founders (Pastor Elisha and Pedrina) originally moved to Kuala Lumpur in 1995 with the sole intention of starting a church. Through door-to-door evangelism and their attempts to market this new church, they became aware that the area of Kuala Lumpur that the Lord sent them to had a major illiteracy problem. This awareness helped them to realize another calling in education. They began by partnering with YWAM doing short term projects as well as having their hands in community development and medical missions; they unfortunately saw that through time many of the adults went back to their previous mentalities and ways of life, not caring for themselves or their children. Pedrina realized that in order to make a lasting impact, they must remain present and involved and it must start with the children. Now, almost 20 years later, the Montessori school has 1000 children ages 2-20. While spending a few days with Dignity, we helped teach various classes and painted one of the classrooms. One of the wonderful things about Dignity for Children is that although it is not a “Christian school” by label, it is run by Christian pastors, who now also have a church in the area called New Covenant Community Church; although it is in a majority Muslim community, the education provided is so good that enrollment continues to grow and children are being ministered to daily.
My Biggest Take Away for this month was witnessing first hand God’s provision through miracles and generosity of strangers everywhere we went.
