Malaysia!!

The Adventure Begins
On October 7th we got on a plane flying out of Atlanta to Qatar. 

This was a pretty big experience for me, my first time leaving the county and our flight was 13 hours… 

In Qatar
But we made it!! (ok, I know you didn’t doubt that). The experience in the Qatar airport was crazy boujee though. Most people wearing suits, random sports cars on display, and even a whole forest inside the airport. 

Next we Hopped on our flight headed to Kuala Lumpur, the capitol of Malaysia. 

Me, Caleb and Jackson in the Kuala Lumpur airport 

From there we met our ministry host! a big friendly Indian man named pastor Thomas (we call him PT). We took our luggage onto on a bus and drove north to the place where we’d be staying in Sungai Petani, Malaysia.

On the tacky coach bus, so comfy

Malaysian Orientation
    When we showed up, we were generously granted the sanctuary of PT’s church (with incredible AC) to sleep. So 34 of us, all jet lagged up, sprawled our sleeping mats and bags on the floor and passed out.
    For the next couple days some of the church members would show up in the day to take us out to eat and see places around the city. We drive around in beat up vans packed tightly together to explore malls, coffee shops and food courts. On the weekend we rested up, and prepared for the beginning of our ministry on Monday! We’re going to spend our days teaching English Monday-Wednesday to refugees, and in the night volunteer around the city or in the church! 

On a Real Note…

   The Lord has done some incredible things this week in Malaysia! But there has also been much he has graciously revealed to our squad. Our living conditions have been to many of our standards quite humble. We live all together in 2 rooms, sleep in one, and shower, eat, go to the bathroom and store our stuff in the other… and it’s been such a blessing!! But it’s not always easy and if there’s one thing we all need prayer for right now it’s that we would learn to love each other through conflicts.
    It’s definitely not a coincidence that our living situation in the first country looks the way it does.  God has big plans to grow all of us, by calling us to let go of our American tendencies and comforts and embrace his way of life full self giving love and joy. It doesn’t always look like that though, we have bumps in the road and some of them quite jostling. So all your prayer for our personal growth would be so encouraging!

Made in His Image 
During this time it’s been really cool to see how diverse and different Malaysian culture is from my own. Sungai Petani is really packed, very humid, people drive very freely, and most speak 3-4 different languages. In this though I’ve learned how universal a smile is, and how beautiful every human being bears the image of  God. We live in a diverse location, all around there are Indian, Chinese and Malay people. 

coolest coffee shop table I’ve seen

eating some finger food

We wear different clothes, live in different houses, eat different foods and much more. But we all smile, all laugh, all long to be told by someone that they are truly proud of us, and all need the Gospel. God is so good and every human heart bear his unique signature. 

Until Next Time
So Thanks for checking in! I’ll keep y’all updated next week with how our ministry is going! until next time peace out or as they say here, 

Jumpa lagi!