We're Here!

Hello from Malaysia!

After 21 hours of plane travel and 27 hours of total travel we were definitely pleased to land in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. All of us made it safe and sound and on time. Tianna and I were unpleasantly and really not so surprised to find out that our luggage didn’t make it past LA. For now we’re coping with one change of clothes and borrowed materials from our hosts and fellow travelers. Our luggage should arrive tomorrow. We find it more than a little ironic that Tianna and I were the ones who most advocated rechecking our bags in LA. Unfortunately there wasn’t time so we weren’t able to. Oh well, these things are to be expected on such trips! :)

Malaysia is HOT!!!! The heat and humidity is really surprising and affects every aspect of life here. Yesterday was 88 but with 100% humidity it really feels like 120. Things start early and go late because that is when the temperature is most bearable. The house we are staying at does not have air conditioning. It’s a three bedroom house we share with two Malaysian Navigators and university students: Kiasin and Kelvin. It’s in a small suburb of Kuala Lumpur called Petaling Jaya. The squat toilet was a little bit of a surprise but there’s a western style one upstairs. The boys share a room and the girls share a room. All the bedrooms are on the upper level with a small balcony. The living room is our favorite place to hang out because it is cool and has a giant ceiling fan! The nights here are pleasant except the giant swarm of mosquitos that attack every dawn and dusk. Avoiding getting bitten is impossible. It’s all about mitigating the damage! Thankfully our bedroom window has a screen and a plug-in mosquito repellent.

The food here is excellent! We eat mostly at Chinese outdoor restaurants. The food is good and extremely cheap. I think for all 8 of us it cost only like $15 USD to eat lunch today.

We’ve been keeping busy today after waking up pretty much recovered from our jet-lag by preparing for the summer training program. We’ve been putting together workshops and getting things organized. Tomorrow we leave for a small town in the countryside east of KL called Bentong. Here we have rented two apartments where we will run the summer training program. Things will definitely be cramped for the next few weeks. The rooms will truly be asian style with wall to wall mattresses! On the up side, we expect Bentong to be a little bit cooler since it’s at a higher elevation.

Keng Yin, who is the navigator staff member in charge of the ministry we are assisting is amazing! She has been so nice picking us up from the airport and helping us get settled into our home for the next seven weeks. The other Nav students have also been amazing! They take us out to eat, they help us shop, go to the ATM, everything! They are excellent hosts. I have a new appreciation for the difficulties of foreign exchange students in America.

That’s it for now! Stay tuned! We have one 3G wireless card for our use so we’ll try keep regular blog updates as we have time. Unfortunately due to low speed of our internet, we won't be able to regularly upload pictures! Sorry! We'll do our best.

Prayer requests:
1.) Please pray that mine and Tianna’s bags arrive safely and timely!
2.) Please pray for our continued health and security (no problems yet!)
3.) Please pray that the Lord would work through this training program and use it to enrich the student’s walk with God in radical new ways
4.) Please pray for the students who are experiencing resistance from parents allowing them to come to the program. Please pray for the softening of their hearts and for the softening of those students who are resisting coming.
5.) Please pray for divine appointments, wisdom, and discernment in interacting with the local community.
6.) Please thank God for our safe arrival, and for his abundant support of every aspect of this trip. It is truly resting securely in his capable hands!!!!!


Tim