Month-Eight Debrief provided each one of us time to bond together as a squad, as well as gave AIM staff a chance to encourage us to go hard for the last stretch of the Race as well as prepare us for re-entry into home culture. It was a time for rest, reflection, and refreshment for most of us, and also a time to make adjustments to teams to prepare us for the last three months.
And so, Team Deeper Roots has now made way for Team Deepest Roots. We are excited to welcome MIKE and LOGAN to this new team, as Ben and Brandon become leaders of another team.
(Mike is currently in the hospital being treated for dengue fever, which is transmitted through mosquitoes. He should be discharged from the hospital today, and together with Logan joining us in Ipoh, Malaysia by the end of the week.)
DEEPEST ROOTS
It’s a continuation of our old team name, except even better. I love this name because sad though we may be to lose Ben and Brandon from the team, God has chosen Mike and Logan to bring us even greater growth and to even deeper knowledge and love of Himself and each other. That is our hope, to go even deeper than before, even closer.
Our verse, as always, is Eph 3:17-19 “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
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Here are some ways that God is taking care of Deepest Roots already!
While booking travel to Gua Musang, Malaysia, our team discovered that we were only able to book a train to the border of Thailand, to Hat Yai. We would have to figure out transportation as we arrived at each city.
Team Deepest Roots was able to travel with Ben and Brandon’s new team, as we were going to the same town. This was a blessing as our men were to join us later when Mike had recovered.
Once we arrived at 9:45am, there was an option of choosing the train (4pm-7am) or the bus (11am-9pm) to Kuala Lumpur. We wanted to choose the train so that we wouldn’t have to find a hostel to stay in Kuala Lumpur, but there weren’t enough seats so we chose to take the bus. We were spared from waiting 5 hours at the train station.
At the border, we discovered that we had stayed a day over the visa limit and had to pay a fine. Thankfully, since we were on the bus, we were able to walk to an ATM to withdraw the needed money. Thank God!
Upon arrival at the bus station in KL, our leaders bought SIM cards and called our contacts. We discovered that Team Deepest Roots had been redirected to a different ministry site in Ipoh. The last bus of the day left for Ipoh in an hour. We were able to buy dinner as well as hop on the last bus to Ipoh out of the station.
At 1:30am, we four women are dropped off at a random location by the side of the road and told it is "Ipoh". Thankfully there was a pair of glowing golden arches nearby, and we headed for refuge (and some oreo mcflurries) at McDonald's. Pastor was able to pick us up at 2:30am and take us to his church where we slept on cushioned chairs.
Thank God for taking care of us as we continue to travel in His Name!
