Well… we made it to Gua Musang, Malaysia! We left Chicago on Saturday the 8th
around 11 o'clock and arrived at the Gua Musang train station at 7:30 Tuesday morning.
It was an exhausting couple of days. The last leg of the journey was the hardest for me.
We took an eleven hour train ride through the night from Kuala Lumpur to Gua Musang.
Once we arrived our contact met us at the train station. He had the biggest smile on
his face. His name is Kumar. He gave us the rest of that morning off before having a
briefing at one o'clock. Kumar and his wife, Josephine, are directors of KJ generation;
a ministry they started three years ago. They have three beautiful children, Judith,
Kenrick, and Joash, whom we get to homeschool everyday. I get the privilege to teach
science and math to Kenrick everyday. Kenrick is eleven years old, and his smile and
joy is contagious. The Lord has used Kenrick to teach me about joy and happiness. As
believers we should be the happiest people.
Before the Holy Spirit called Kumar and Josephine to Gua Musang, he was a pastor
and journalist in Penang, Malaysia. They shared with us how they had a comfortable
life there, and they did not understand why the Lord would call them to the Jungle (Gua
Musang). Kumar and Josephine's vision for KJ Generation was to be able to teach
English and through their actions show Christ's love. Gua Musang is predominately
Muslim, so there is no open evangelism. Kumar and Josephine have an amazing
relationship together. Their trust in Lord first and then in each other is so beautiful.
They have never asked for any support of KJ Generation because they feel Jesus has
called them to a total dependance on His provisions.
We have been here a week and a few days so far. Here is a little idea of what my teams
schedule looks like. Monday thru Friday we homeschool their kids in the morning.
Tuesday thru Thursday we have English classes from 3 to 10 o'clock. Saturday we work
around the building. They have given us an opportunity to paint a mural on the outside
of the building. As a team we view this opportunity as one to raise up an ebenezer in
Gua Musang to show that the Lord is working in this place. Sunday is our off day.
Here is the story behind the title of the blog: So I was not excited about teaching English
and a little nervous. On the second day of teaching I was going through a workbook
with seven and eight year olds. A little Malay girl was reading and so stopped on the
word "archipelago." I got nervous because I had no idea what that word meant. About
that time a teammate leaned over and asked, "what is an archipelago?" We both just
laughed. Another teammate knew what it meant. It hit me in that moment that I was too
focused on performance and getting everything just right that I forgot to just love on the
kids with a smile or a touch on the back.
This past Sunday we went Spelunking! It was an amazing time of just bonding and
worshiping in creation. I was in awe of the size of this cave and the stalagmites and
stalactites. We hiked to the top of the mountain and prayed over the city.
Please pray for Gua Musang! Pray for my team as we fight for community and continue
to press into one another through encouragement and carrying one another's burdens.
