Well, we made it to Malaysia after 58 hours of travel last Friday at 5:30 a.m. We were dropped off on a random street corner in the pitch black. It was raining and there were some crazy noises coming from the creek behind us, but we waited patiently and had faith that someone was going to pick us up. The theme so far this month is all about TRUST and FAITH.
We found out that we are in an extreme Muslim state. Women must be modestly dressed at all times. There is a call to prayer that plays over the entire city multiple times a day. We were told that we cannot mention God's name at all and we must not share the Gospel. It is against the law for a missionary to share the Gospel with a Muslim. If they are caught, they could be put in prison for that action. Our contact told us that fear is having faith in Satan, but as Christians we know that our faith comes from God. Fear is not of God, but we must TRUST in Him and have FAITH in Him.
Out contacts told us about these beautiful caves and mountains we could climb. He told us it would be a perfect place to declare God's love for this city and his plan for his people. This city has extreme rules and God's name cannot be uttered in the presence of locals. Everyone was pumped for this experience of spelunking and hiking a mountain. I, on the other hand, was quite nervous. I'm a very clumsy girl. Even if there is nothing to trip on, I'll still trip and fall. The thought of hiking is a nice thought and sounds fun, but the reality in the land of Megan is a pile of broken bones. Recently, I fell over putting my backpack on, so hiking for hours truly scared me. Unfortunately, there was no way out unless God granted my wish to contract the bird flu. So the night before, and morning of this hike I prayed like no other. I prayed that I would not fall once, that I would not be out of breath, and it would be a piece of cake. Most of the people on the two teams love hiking and do it often, so I didn't want to slow anyone down during this hike.
We started the hike on a very narrow, steep trail. The trail consisted of huge rocks you had to climb up, luckily there were roots and vines to hold onto and a couple of ropes on the really extreme rocks. So far so good, God had been answering my prayers. By the way, our contacts told us it should only take us about two hours for this adventure.
We made it to the opening of the cave. It was very narrow and could only fit a human being if they were sideways. I got a little nervous as others were making there way through the narrow walkway into the cave. I'm not a size zero and definitely have some junk in my trunk. I didn't want to get stuck in the narrow opening and all I could think of was the movie 127 hours. I definitely was not going to drink my own pee. I got up the courage and had FAITH that I could get through the opening even if my team had to pull and drag me out. It was tight, really tight, but not that bad and was totally worth it.
The cave was incredible! It blew my mind. How did God even come up with ideas to make thing like these? We started exploring these caves, there was so much to see. At this point I was so happy that I had come and was actually enjoying myself. Hiking isn't that bad, I could totally do this. My prayer were answered so far.
Annie and I thought our goal was to make it to the caves to make our declarations over the city, but that was not everyones goal. Some of my other teammates found a trail that would take you up to the top of the mountain. The only problem was you would have to climb a huge rock wall that didn't really have a good way up. There was a little rope you can hold onto and a few places to place your feet and hands. Needless to say, I wasn't into this idea. I've never rock wall climbed! I signed up to hike a mountain, not climb a massive wall where I could fall to my death. I watched person after person go up this wall, getting more nervous as time passed. People kept encouraging me to climb this crazy wall, but I'm a person of logic. If a thing goes up, it must come down at some point. Remember, I'm the clumsy girl who falls just trying to get her backpack on, how in the world am I going to climb a wall 13 feet tall, and get down without breaking a bone!? Of course the tears start as I try to explain this to my team, but they told me there has to be more than 1 trail and we will cross that bridge when we get there, lets just get to the top. So against my best judgement, I climb this ridiculous rock wall. I make it without any cuts, broken bones and I was pumped. I thanked God immediately for giving me the gift of balance and strength.
At this point it had been about 2.5 hours, remember this hike was only going to last 2 hours. So we started up the mountain which continued the theme of a steep narrow trail with rocks cluttering the pathway we had to climb. Of course it had stormed the day before and the trail was extremely muddy and slick. Every step had to be in the perfect spot, or you would slip and fall. After another hour hike we made it to the top! It was beautiful and we worshiped God and shouted his name from the mountain top! It was an amazing experience.
Sir Issac Newton was a smart man and understands gravity. If a thing goes up it must come down…logic. Well luckily for me there was ONLY 1 path. So we make our way down the mountain which is much more difficult then going up because of the slope and the muddy path. Many people fell, but God was answering my prayers. In the back of my mind all I could think about was that dumb cliff I would have to climb down.
Well, we made it to the cliff, and breathing started to become more difficult. I remember saying over and over again "God you NEED to show up now, it's your time to shine". I watched others struggle to get down and I started to get more worked up. Everyone was telling me it was going to be okay, it was going to be easy, no problem! So I make it to the edge of the cliff, the girls are trying to explain to me where to place my hand and feet and I lose it. The sobs that came out of me would embarrass a small child. They told me to lean off the cliff with my butt in the air. I was on the verge of a panic attack. My team kept encourage me, telling me that I could do this. I've never actually been that scared in my entire life. I was sure I was going to fall and break all the bones in my body. That was the destiny I thought I was in for.
Somehow I did it and made it down that cliff, but only with God's help and my team. It takes FAITH AND TRUST. I trusted that my team knew how to get me down from that cliff. I trusted my team with my biggest fears and true emotions. I had faith that God would give me the strength to make it down. I had faith that he would answer my prayers. AND HE DID! I never fell, I was never out of breath. The hike took 6 hours total, that is a long day of extreme hiking. I did end up with 54 bug bites, 19 bruises, and 5 cuts, I'll know what to pray for next time! But the lesson in this long story is God will always show up when you ask! Just have Faith and Trust in him!
( We climbed to the top of this mountain where the big green flag is)
