So, we're nearing the home stretch of our month in Malaysia. We're now in Sitiawan, on the west coast. Yup, we've gone cross-country, and are now Malaysian West Coasters. We're again working with an Indian church, and Phl and I are staying with the pastor and his family (two young kids who want our ipods and phones and anything else electronic all the time….) We're only about a day into things here…but have already crashed one two-year-old's birthday party…so, things are lookin' good. Oh, and I preached for over an hour this morning at church, about how JESUS CHANGES LIVES! Well, the pastor had to interpret, which makes things take twice as long…so I really only spoke for 35 minutes. Still…warming up my chops for those looooong African church services I've been hearing about.
And speaking of chops…I finally shaved my beard/ghotee thing. It was time…
But, enough yammerin'. Here's a photo recap of last week in the city of Kuantan!!! (Again, most of our time was spent with the pastor of the church we worked with…we lived him him too! Pastor Samuel. Totally awesome. We drove all over the place in his van..much newer than our last van, and with air conditioning…usually.)
We spent some time at a small "village" of indigenous Malaysians…most of whom are Christians. I preached on loving your brother, and how important it is to love. We sang some children's songs, and helped hand out food to the kids and their parents. Great first day!!!
We spent most of the week visiting families. Some Christian, some Hindu. We shared stories of Christ changing our lives. We asked them about their lives. they served us tea and coffee. We prayed for them.
This next family was a hard visit. They have a young boy, about 5…though he looks 2, who has a serious brain tumor. He was bed-ridden, and had minimal motor skills. We prayed and sang over him, and were praying desperately for healing, and declaring for it to happen during our time there. Please, say a prayer for him…it was absolutely heartbreaking.
This is a family of recent believers. We loved getting to hear some of their story. Lots of laughs here.
We also spent two days helping the church with a youth camp. Phil and I spent about 2 hours with the guys (boys…men, I mean young men ages 13-17) and talked to them about what it is to be a man, and a man who follow Christ. We talked about making choices, and shared our own stories of mistakes and discoveries in Jesus. We also led a healing service on our second to last night, which was great.
We were all really, really sad to leave Kuantan. We really fell in love with the people there. I mean…we miss them. A lot. It was a definite highlight of the year thus far. An incredible week of being blessed. It's a place worth visiting…for the people alone. An incredible church family full of love and hospitality. Lots of joy last week. Lots and lots and lots of it.
Our God is SO GOOD! ALL THE TIME!!! SO, SO INCREDIBLY GOOD!! I LOVE YOU POPPA!!
