Saya Sayang Awak, Malaysia!

In Malaysia, we partnered with a church in Sungai Petani called Bethel Assembly, pastored by Pastor Thomas, or PT. The teams all came together and we got to spend it with the whole squad. Another squad was there at the same time, staying in a separate building, but doing ministry with us. It was so great to be with the whole squad again and to serve with other racers as well!

Our primary ministry was kids’ ministry by teaching English and other subjects to about 60 refugee kids, mostly from Myanmar and mostly Muslim. Bethel Assembly teaches these kids because they can’t go to the government schools because of their refugee status. Malaysia has rules about not being able to try to convert Muslims. Because we were partnered with a host that lives there, we really had to make sure we were abiding by those rules so as to not put our hosts in jeopardy. Because of this, we couldn’t explicitly share the gospel with the kids, but it was still really cool to show them the love of Christ. It was also really encouraging to watch them learn and grow, and it was so rewarding to work with them and watch things click as they learned. The kids are all so precious and even though it was frustrating to deal with wrangling them, it warmed my heart to be able to help them and give them attention and love. Typically, when racers are not there, they have one or two teachers, so they don’t get as much attention, so it’s a blessing to them when racers come to be able to give them the individual attention they need to learn best. 

We also had opportunities to minister to others as well, such as our Grab drivers. (Grab is like Uber or Lyft, but for Southeast Asia). We would find creative ways to have conversations. If they weren’t Muslim, we could share the gospel with them. We also did house church at night a few nights a week. Sometimes we did house church with members of Bethel Assembly, and sometimes we did house church with non-believers that people from Bethel invited to have house church.

We also served in a Bakery called Pekaka, which employs people with disabilities. We helped paint the bakery, and hung out with the workers that work there and did some fun activities.

Malaysia was really cool, it’s really a melting pot of Asia with lots of Chinese and Indian people and food as well as from other Asian countries. 

Our accommodations were pretty nice too. We stayed in the community center of Petani Baptist church (check out a tour here!)  and they had bedrooms for us, AC, and plenty of bathrooms and showers! We also assisted with a program on Fridays that took place there called Boy’s Brigade, which is a Christian youth organization. We led teachings and facilitated games and activities, which was a lot of fun. 

It was really sweet to get to know the girls on K squad. They are a Gap Year squad, which is made up of 18-21 year olds. Malaysia was their last country on the field. They are all so spirit filled and show the love of Christ so well!

Mini Debrief: 

We left from Sungai Petani to Kuala Lumpur briefly for a mini debrief which had some teachings and they announced team changes and role changes. Check out a tour of our AirBnB here! Previously I didn’t really have a role, but about a week before debrief I was asked to be a raised up squad leader! Me along with a fellow squad mate then began training in the Philippines by our alumni squad leaders to learn how to serve the squad, serve as liaison between the squad and leadership back home, plan out debriefs and teachings, have intentional one on ones with our squad mates, be there to help them in tough spots, etc. It’s a big role with a lot of responsibilities and involves a lot of dying to self, but I’m honored to be in this role and I know God has a lot in store for me in it and He has called me into this for a reason, and I know He’ll equip me and guide me. I know a lot of prayer goes into the decisions of who gets asked to be in each role, and I have a lot of peace about it, but I would greatly appreciate prayers as I undertake this mantle! 

PT and Bethel Assembly do a lot!  He preaches at church weekly, oversees the school, ministers to people without homes, and does house church twice a week. Bethel has such a great passion for the Lord and for outreach! Bethel Assembly could use more funds to support the outreach that they are doing. If you would like to partner with them financially, you can give via Paypal to @JessicaEsther17. This can go towards school directly or Bethel Assembly, please include a note.

Things to Pray for: 

That the Lord would reveal Himself to the refugee students at the school, and other people in Sungai Petani and Malaysia that don’t know the Lord.

That Bethel Assembly would continue to receive funding to support their outreach efforts.

Bethel Assembly has dealt with a lot of vehicle breakdowns lately. They use these vehicles to bring the refugee students to school, and for other ministry purposes, so they need extra funds to cover those costs. Please pray that extra funding would come in to cover the extra costs. If you feel led to support them, you can send money to the Paypal account above.

That funding would come in for my squad mates that are actively fundraising, in order to allow them to continue ministry on the field. If you feel led to give, check out this link.