These past couple weeks have flown by. My team and I have made it to Thailand but before telling about our first week here I wanted to give a glimpse into our time in Malaysia! Apologies for the lack of updates recently. There has been a lot happening so fast with the logistic changes and changing countries and thinking about PVT coming up! Please check out the a day in the life in Malaysia!
4/6/18 – made it to Penang, Malaysia!!!
4/7/18 – today we went to church at the Kawan (Friend) Center. It was exciting to meet the people we would be doing ministry with all month! We also went to a glow in the dark museum and painted our faces!
4/8/18 – we were all up until 3am because of jet lag. But we got to explore the city that we are in: Georgetown.
4/9/18 – this was our first morning serving in the Kawan Center: a soup kitchen. We learned how to cook some Malaysian food and eat fish right off the bone. And for dinner we went to Tom’s Burgers food truck! Tom is so nice!!
4/10/18 – started a new journal!!! Did worship at the YWAM base and went to PenHOP for a night of prayer and worship!
4/11/18 – had a logistics day and went to a place that makes 3D coffee!! This evenings ministry consisted of going out and finding people to talk to and love well! The group I was with prayed over a hotel and met people in Little India.
4/12/18 – we met a man named Jose who was painting a mural outside and he put us in contact with a man that needed a mural painted for his upcoming business. We also went to a coffee shop, Wheeler’s, and drew on cups to try and fill the place with love and encouragement.
4/13/18 – a church from Minnesota is on a mission trip with PenHOP and was doing a conference this weekend. The encouragement that came from the group from Minnesota is unforgettable. God truly sent a team from America to encourage us Americans halfway around the world.
4/14/18 – we helped facilitate church at the Kawan Center this morning and Melissa and I went out to meet Tommy, the man we are painting the mural for. He is so cool and this is a great opportunity to spread the message of Christ because he is letting us paint wherever we want! We also spent the evening at the Penang International Food Festival!
4/15/18 – went to a church this morning that spoke about the dangers of a complacent heart, great message! And then a few of us went rock climbing!
4/16/18 – we went to the Kawan Center this morning! It’s so fun to just hang out with and worship with the people that are there! I also got to share about our trip with Tom, who we have gone to see almost every evening!
4/17/18 – tonight Haley and I had a phone call with our leadership from the States and were told that we would not be logistics anymore.
4/18/18 – today was supposed to be a logistics day so Haley and I got to hang out and try and talk through how we were feeling about not being logistics anymore. We talked, answered questions and in the afternoon we went to the movies to try and distract ourselves and just have fun together. The movie was pretty stressful but it was nice to be with her! The squad also found out we were asked to step down this evening.
4/19/18 – today haley and I made a training guide for the new logistics coordinators (don’t know who they are yet). And we talked more about how we were doing. It was so unexpected that neither one of us really know what to do.
4/20/18 – today we took a sermon to the mainland to lead a church service. Naomi and Melissa lead worship and I had the opportunity to lead the sermon! It was fun! The church was so kind and made food for us and hung out after! Then we were taken to some gardens and ice cream!
4/21/18 – this morning we had a squad meeting about the logistics change and found out who the new coordinators were, which was good. Then we went out and painted some of the mural today! We got the whole background done!!
4/22/18 – today was our day off and went to Penang International Food Festival for their second round and ended up finding a chili’s and having a spontaneous GNO! IT WAS DELICIOUS. We all are way too much but sometimes a little piece of home is nice.
4/23/18 – Naomi and I helped out at the Kawan Shop this morning! We sorted and ironed clothes and built relationships with the older ladies that work there! They are so sweet!!
4/24/18 – Haley and I did the logistics training with the new coordinators this morning which went well. We’re both looking forward to being completely out of the role. I also got to go see a movie with Marah today!
4/25/18 – this morning we got to go back to the Kawan Center! And this evening we had ATL with our friends from here and out German friends. I went with the Germans and we talked to people who are homeless trying to provide love and encouragement and Jesus to them.
4/26/18 – we finished the mural today!!! It took the whole day but it was worth it!
4/27/18 – went to the Kawan Center this morning and one of our other teams joined us which was really cool! A couple of us helped in the kitchen and the rest talked to the people that came in!
4/28/18 – this morning we did our last church at the Kawan Center and as a team we went to watch Avengers: Infinity Wars. No spoilers here but all I can say is DANG! And we went out to dinner with Tommy and his wife (people we painted the mural for) which was a ton of fun! Ate lots of different fish!
4/29/18 – today was our last day at the Kawan Center which was bittersweet. I’m going to miss the people there. And we got to meet a team from V Squad and share stories and gain advice from them because they are on Month 10!!
4/30/18 – today at 4am, we left for Thailand. Malaysia was such a beautiful country and experience. Tom ended up giving all of us burger key chains to remember him by and our friends at the Kawan Center added us on Facebook to stay in touch. We also arrived in Phang Nga, Malaysia today to do ministry for a week with Share the Love before heading up to Chiang Mai to finish up the month. We met our hosts for Share the Love and I can tell it will be a good week!!
