Before I left for the race, I had some family and friends sign some journals that I would be using throughout this year. My friend Lisa had the brilliant idea to pick a random spot in one of my journals and tell me to do a top 10 list of the country I was in at the time.
So, in Malaysia, I ran across the top 10 page and made my list.
Here we go. The top 10 things of Malaysia, in no particular order…
1) Hot Milk Tea (commonly called Teh Tarik)
This is the local drink and it is delicious. Everything is naturally sweetened so of course they are amazing. And this drink was not limited to the city. The jungle people actually made some of the best hot milk tea. Let me paint the picture for you. It was approximately a thousand degrees in the jungle, or more like 105 on average, but it always felt so hot. I dripped more sweat than I ever had in my entire life. So normally, we would crave ice and extremely cold drinks. But what do the jungle people drink? Yep, hot coffee and tea. It actually is supposed to help with your body temperature and being hot, but that didn’t take away from the surprise we had when we first had hot drinks in the jungle. We learned to love it and it was probably one of my favorite things about the jungle and Malaysia.
2) Wake-Up Call (at 5:45am…)
During the week that we stayed at a church in Kuala Lumpur, we received the traditional wake up call of the Muslim faith at 5:45. Some of my teammates were able to sleep through it. I never did, and for some reason, every time I heard it, I also had to go to the bathroom. Weird.
3) Dear Mom, I love you…
Every time I rode on a motor scooter or motorcycle in the Philippines, I would say out loud to my mother, “Dear Mom, in case I die, I love you a lot.” This was probably the ride that I should have said that on. We went outside the jungle for a night to skype and post blogs. Four of my teammates rode in the truck and me and Jake (the red-head and blond stepchildren as we refer to ourselves on Team Malachi) were stuck on the back of two motor scooters, riding with Pastor Hem and another man involved with the jungle church. It was an incredible ride, though. Definitely the best way to see the jungle. And it really wasn’t that unsafe or scary. I actually found myself enjoying every second. Mom, no need to worry…
4) Building Material of the Year Award goes to… BAMBOO!
I never knew bamboo was so cool until I got the jungle and saw the many uses. People’s entire homes were made of bamboo and some nails, the local men made us cups of bamboo, we made staffs out of bamboo, everything worth having was made out of this material. Some of my teammates have even contemplated making their future homes out of bamboo…
5) Mowgli Lives in Malaysia
Or at least his spirit does. We could have named every one of the children Mowgli for the ways in which they marched around the jungle like they owned it, and they really do. It was not uncommon to see a 4 year old carrying his dad’s machete, using it in whatever way he wanted. And it wasn’t just the boys, those jungle girls know how to use their machetes just as well…
6) No Translator Needed
Yep, two weeks without a translator and the quote came true, “Always preach the gospel, if necessary, use words.” It’s about spending time, trying to speak Malay, holding kids and having a presence, even without communication.
7) It Has to be Done
We have to talk about the bathroom situation in Malaysia. I understand this may make some of you uncomfortable, but most of you are more interested than uncomfortable, so here it goes. Yes, it’s true that there were no toilets in the jungle. There were some woods behind the church though, and that became our bathroom. It really wasn’t that bad, but every time you took 3 steps back in the woods, the mosquitos would start attacking and it was not fun. In the city though, it was always a gamble when you went into a public restroom as to whether you would have a regular toilet or a “squattie pottie.” I’ll let you imagine for yourself what a “squattie pottie” is, but let me just say, I’m fully American on this topic.
8) I am an Impromptu Kindergarten Teacher
This was one of my favorite days on the race. We were able to go do a small presentation for the Burmese Refugee School that the Korean church in Kuala Lumpur helped start. All the teachers and students are recent refugees from Myanmar (also known as Burma). Most haven’t been in Malaysia for more than a year. We did a small presentation, sang some songs, taught them a Bible story, and also listened to them sing/yell (It was one of the cutest things ever!) Then, we mentioned that we would like to be a part of their classes, so they invited us in to teach the last hour and a half. Emily and I tag-teamed and taught the Kindergartners, or actually they taught us more than we taught them. It was awesome to see how much they already knew, and much of it was in English. I was blown away by the dedication of everyone to make this school a place of high excellence. Please keep these teachers and 156 students in your prayers.
9) No Middle Ground
We saw a great contrast in Malaysia regarding the pace of life. The jungle was extremely slow, sometimes painfully slow for some of my teammates. We adjusted though, and learned when and where to interact with people. Going to Kuala Lumpur pushed us into almost an American fast pace of life. It was crazy to jump from one to the other and realize that these two ways of life exist only three hours apart.
10) Chinese and Indonesians in Malaysia
Some of our contacts for the month were incredible people. Peter and Carol were the overall contacts that worked closely with Team Se7en. It was amazing to spend some time with them, and I would go back and work for them for a few months in a heartbeat. Pastor Tony and his wife Lisa head up some of the jungle ministries and also have an incredible story and influence in Malaysia. I love seeing couples that have completely trusted God with their lives and the ways in which He works through them are an honor to be a part of. Toryono (nicknamed Big T) was our translator driver in and out of the jungle. He is from Indonesia and still struggles with his English. We taught him how to play Phase 10 and his favorite phrase after that was, “I skip you!”
Here’s our video from the jungle, that we gave to Pastor Hem and his family. There was a team there in February and they watch the video that that team made every night when they have power for two hours. So this was our tribute to them.
