Hey Everyone,
Malaysia has really stolen my heart. Ministry this month looked pretty different from past months. Coming into Malaysia I had some expectations like my team would be working with the homeless and a soup kitchen. Haha…You would think by now I would have known better than to walk in with expectations cause God blew me out of the water. This month I was a volunteer at a Hospital…YAY!!!!! My team was given the task to earn money for the Heart Patients Fund at the Penang Seventh Day Adventist Hospital. So, showing Jesus's love this month meant walking around the hospital for about five hours each day selling teddy bear cell phone charms and asking for donations. It costs about 25,000 RM which is aprox. 8,000 USD for one heart surgery so we made it our goal to raise 15,000 RM which is about 5,000 USD in about two weeks. Don't worry…we pulled out all the stops. Lilli and Billy played guitar and made up three jingles about buying a bear, saving a life. They even made up a special Valentines Day jingle. Elaina made a sign with a thermometer that she would fill in at the end of each day. I must say that the team really pulled together and got really creative with fundraising in a hospital. It was probably my favorite ministry so far. It wasn't until our last day at the hospital that I realized the connections I had made with people at the hospital. A lot of the time I would hang out by the bakery in the hospital to catch people on their way out. Anyways, I got really close to the ladies who worked at the bakery and they were just the sweetest ladies. I had also built relationships with some of the patients at the hospital. There was an Australian couple who I would speak to when they left the bakery. I don't really know how to explain the relationships I built this month because I haven't quite processed it but I do know that they saw something different in me. Many of my new friends commented on how they couldn't understand why or what would motivate a young person…a young American to travel the world and volunteer. I figure I must be doing something right.
So, here is some interesting to know, I am heading to China tonight which means I will not have internet at all in the coming month….Translation: I am going to MIA for about 3 weeks :/ but then I will be back 😀
-Rebecca
