Ministry In Malaysia

Hey friends and family! 

We have officially completed 2 weeks of ministry here! Being in Malaysia (a country that is so closed off to Christianity) with the main goal of spreading the good news of the gospel has definitely been weird and challenging, but I have been blown away by the many opportunities that have simply been placed right in front of us. It is crazy how hungry and ready people are for something new that promises so much goodness and joy! 

A beautiful Malaysian sunset!

The women from the church gave all of us traditional dresses and shirts!

A Week of Ministry! So… what does a typical week look like for my squad? 

• Monday through Wednesday, my squad runs a school for refugees where we teach basic English and math to about 35 students. This is our main ministry for our time here in Malaysia, so I will be doing a deeper dive into school down below! 😀 
• On Monday and Tuesday evenings, small groups from my squad teach English bible stories and play games with the children from the church! This was so sweet to be able to run around and laugh with the kids! Although our ability to communicate is fairly limited due to the language barrier, we were able to teach them the creation story and to play Simon Says, musical chairs, and duck duck goose! My favorite part about the children is their joy! Through everything they do, they have such vibrant smiles and so much laughter! They are a light to me in the time I spend with them, and I know that they are a light to everyone they come into contact with simply through their joy!

Some of the girls from the church!

• On Wednesday evenings, my squad breaks off into small groups and leads house churches all over the city. House church has been amazing to get to know a few people better and to learn the things that they are currently walking through in life! My group was able to pray over specific requests for the family and we will be continuing to pray over those requests throughout the week!

My house church group!

• Friday night is church!! My favorite part about church is seeing the boldness these people are walking in to follow Jesus in a culture that is so anti-Christianity! After service, the girls love to take pictures and to play with us! It is so much fun!

A Deeper Dive into School Ministry! Our main ministry here is school, and I am absolutely loving it!!! As I said above, our squad is teaching basic English and math to refugee students! Each squad member is paired up with one student, and I am so grateful for the chance to have an individual connection with my student. Although he really can’t speak much English at all, we communicate mainly through me asking him questions, and a thumbs up response! 😂 But, he is the most precious child ever, and his smile melts my heart! These kids also have a tremendous joy that is so beautiful and inspiring to me! They have endless energy, the most contagious laughter, and the most genuine smiles. My absolute favorite is when the kids call us “teacher” since they have such a hard time pronouncing our names correctly! It is so precious!

High-fiving my student after mastering a new math concept!

Teaching the kids about animals through playing charades!

All of the kids are so joyful, and they have the BEST smiles!

Praises!

• My sweet student, his contagious joy, and readiness to learn!
• The best ministry hosts we could ever ask for!
• Growing depth of squad connection and relationships!
• Planting seeds of relationship in the local community with non-believers!

Some of my squadmates and one of our ministry hosts, Jessica! She is AMAZING!!

Prayers!

• All of the schoolchildren! Pray for their ability to learn and to be receptive! Also, be praying for my squad and our ability to teach them effectively and to spread the light of Jesus to them, even though we can’t explicitly evangelize!
• Our ministry hosts! Be praying for our host, his family, and his church!
• Safety and health for my squad! Many of us are getting sick as we aren’t used to the food and all of the local bugs, so prayers for quick recovery and healing!
• More and more spontaneous opportunities for us to share the gospel!

These are some verses that have been so encouraging to me in the past few weeks!

Thank you all for praying with me and for following along on this journey! I am so thankful for all of your support!

Love you all,

Alia