Funniest moment
Paul – Dan was swinging a badminton racquet around and Ben stuck his butt out and got whapped hard.
Katrina – I can’t think of just one, but I had a wonderful month full of laughter, surrounded by beautiful women. It was a pleasure to do life with you “TKP”!
Paul – My squadmate, Ben, needed $2000 in order to stay on the race and God provided the right people along his path and he got all of it, plus more in less than a week! Praise God!
Katrina – In the days leading up to our departure, we received many cards and letters from the girls expressing their love, gratitude and best wishes. One of the older girls wrote, “I didn’t understand why you came here and loved me so much. My own mother who carried me in her womb for 9 months didn’t even want me, and you were only here for a few days and showed me love. I didn’t understand why, but then I realized it was because you knew God’s love and were showing that to us.” I couldn’t believe it when I read those words…our prayers had been answered, they got it – they understood why we came to live with them for a month and my heart couldn’t have been happier.
Paul – Malaysian chicken curry with rice. Oh so good! We asked for it almost every dinner time. Perfect amount of spiciness!
Katrina– Garlic naan and roti canai; two types of amazing Indian flatbread that we would buy from the local corner side restaurant. Both were served with different types of delicious curry to dip them in. Naan is thicker – kind of like a pita (but way better) and roti is thin and fluffy like a mix between a crepe and a pancake.
Paul – Went on a trek through the Malaysian jungle with a bamboo stick and a machete looking to find some caves. Eventually hopped a fence and chopped down some long grass and hiked through a cave with our headlamps. So cool!
Katrina – Went to Singapore for the weekend!!
Who we’re going to miss the most
Paul – The guys I lived with for our month of Manistry. We had a great group of guys; I wouldn’t have picked them out any different to spend an entire month with. I probably would never have had that type of living environment any other time.
Katrina – Agnes – with my whole my heart; I think of her every day. God gave me a passion in Malaysia, a cause to fight for: that all children should know and experience love. Adoption has always been on my heart, but now it’s stronger than ever.
Something I learned
Paul – That even in northern Malaysia, KFC is still gross. We went there as a treat… lol.
Katrina – Indian/Malaysian culture has a very strong, positive emphasis on education but a questionable approach to discipline.
Most challenging moment
Paul – Dealing with a difficult contact. His cultural background/norms made it hard to stay positive during ministry. We just didn’t understand each other.
Katrina – Attempting to change things that were going on in the home and feeling like we weren’t being heard by the pastor.
Most fun moment
Paul – Climbing a waterfall with Dan Lidwin! We got a day off to swim in a waterfall and Dan and I climbed to the top of it.
Katrina – Staying at “PODS” – it was this sweet hostel in Little India that we stayed at for the beginning and end of the month as well as one weekend with our team. It was such an artsy place with really cool people, hot showers and AC (a luxury)!
Paul – When we finished building two large exterior walls for a future church. We started work at 6:30 am and worked till it was too hot to continue; but we finished it!
Katrina– I loved teaching this month! I felt such joy to plan lessons and practice English with kids who appreciated it. On my last day, I gave them a test on everything I had taught…some of them did very well, and then they gave me going-away presents.
Most beautiful site
Paul – Our first 2 weeks we lived on a palm tree plantation. It was literally IN the jungle. It was so nice to be away from a big city without the pollution and noise. We experienced God’s nature every time we stepped outside.
Katrina– Driving into and out of KL on the bus. The highways were lined with rows of palm trees – it resembled northern Ontario and the reforestation of pine trees. Malaysia was a very tropical and beautiful country!
