The Last Two Weeks in Review

Hey everyone, Cynthia here. Tim asked me to write a quick update about what all has been going on here the last few weeks in Malaysia. After our first week of events on campus, we were able to meet over 100 students and collect contact information from at least 80 of them. Though this was a major success in our eyes, it also meant a lot of work for the following week. We immediately got to work splitting up the list and trying to meet up with people on a more individual basis to see where they were spiritually. Although all of us began the task with much enthusiasm, we soon realized that plans don’t always turn out the way we expect them to. Despite our efforts to meet with people one on one, many of us were unable to get any kind of response from our contacts. We soon realized things work very differently here in Malaysia. After a bit of trial and error, we learned to meet with students in small groups and developed some methods on how best to reach out to them. A lot of us went through periods of both encouragement and discouragement, .but in the end we were all able to come together to support one another and put our trust in the One who has everything under control. We are still waiting to see a lot of the fruit of our labor, but we have no doubt that He has us here for a reason and that His plan is so much greater than our own! Despite the hard work, we have also been finding time to hang out and have fun. Here is a list of some of the things we have been up to: birthday parties (Kyle and some of the Malaysian girls), movies (including the new Harry Potter), hanging out at the beach (some of the guys took a one day vacation), going to KLCC (downtown KL where the Petronas towers are located), sleepovers (during which the girls totally pranked the guys although I’m sure they will deny it), cave exploring (which turned out to be a whole day event), and hanging out at the night markets (tons of cheap food and fun stuff to buy). Sorry again for not updating you earlier, but I hope this gives you a little better idea of what we have been up to. With only one week to go, we have a ton of work still to be done, please keep us in your thoughts!

The first week on campus!

Hi everyone! Sorry for the long delay between updates. In America everything is instant. We want our information instantly at our fingertips. Here in Malaysia though, the locals enjoy a slower pace of life. I suppose it’s rubbing off on me a little! :) Enjoy the new pictures!

Our first week on campus went extremely well! We were so pleased by how faithful He has been to us! This first week was all about meeting people and forming relationships. At times it was difficult to walk up to random people and initiate conversations. Now looking back though, I’m glad we persevered. We have gotten to know so many wonderful people this way! The whole goal of this week was to contact as many people as possible and help get them plugged in with the Navs through large events. Planning the logistics of the large events was challenging at times. Many of us students (or former students as the case may be) have begun to appreciate in a much greater capacity all the work our full-time campus Nav staff do for us!!!

This week we had two sports nights, a movie night, an American food night, and a day trip to Kuala Selangor to see some amazing fireflies! The American food night, organized and cooked for by Kyle, Doug, and Cynthia was a raging success. We had 85-100 people show up to our little house and enjoy BBQ chicken, chili cheese dogs, potato salad, chips, soda, brownies, and a whole desert bar! We were so grateful to our community friends who stopped by to help clean up and serve simply so that we could be free to continue to develop friendships. The community has given us so much support! We can always count on them to be ready to serve us by organizing rides for day-trips, helping serve food, or even helping us clean up our house!

Yesterday we had a day trip to Kuala Selangor to see the fireflies. We expected only 5 to 10 people but somehow around 50 people came out of the woodwork! As more students signed up, more volunteer drivers came forward! How faithfully He has supported us! We had an amazing time seeing the fireflies. First we had an excellent sea-food dinner by a river that feeds into the Strait of Malacca. Next we went to a nearby river and took little boat rides. The small green fireflies twinkled and lit up the trees around the river like Christmas lights! Meanwhile, lightning and thunder flashed in the dark and distant night sky! We all had a great time and we think the students enjoyed themselves as well.

With such an amazing first week we can hardly believe that we still have two more!

On a more personal note (though I’m sure my thoughts are echoed in the hearts of the entire team), I’m really beginning to understand for the first time how few in number the laborers are in proportion to the amount of work to be done! He wasn’t joking when he said we have to ask the Master of the Harvest to send out laborers into His field.

Prayer Requests:
1.) There is so much to be thankful for! Please thank and Praise Him for his faithfulness
2.) That the next two weeks would be fruitful in plugging new people into the ministry and that those who get plugged in would make that all important decision.
3.) That the current students we are investing in would have faithful and available mentors to help equip them in their walk.
4.) That the current students would learn to pass on what they've learned to their friends who don't believe and that they would invest in the next generation of believers.
5.) That Brian would be able to quickly adjust and jump right into the work here, though he just joined us yesterday.
6.) That the Master of the Harvest would send more laborers into his field.

-Tim

Mini Vacation and Campus!

Piggybacking off of Tiana’s idea, I’ve made a new list of accomplishments:

Ben: Ben had tea with a stranger at the train station.
Kyle: Ate a whole sack of oatmeal
Brendan: Learned the secret of walking on water at the resort
Doug: Went for a very refreshing run. He just didn’t realize it would be a spectator sport!
Tim: Got juggled in a barrel on the feet of a Chinese acrobat
Tiana: Encouraged the girls to take Psalm 119:62 literally in the boy’s room at midnight. (Yes, the boy’s retaliated appropriately)
Lydia: Helped pick out flowers for Keng Yin that apparently is a symbol of death.
Cynthia: Got stung multiple times by a huge jungle insect.

The training program officially ended last Wednesday. Since then we have had a good rest punctuated by intense periods of work. After the training program we were given 3 days of vacation at a different resort nearby. The resort was very nice. It was high up in the hills and surrounded by tropical rainforest. All 8 of us fit into one apartment rental. Before we arrived Keng Yin took us grocery shopping. We survived for 3 days on instant noodles, eggs, and crackers! The resort was a little bit like Disney world. It had a whole French village and a Japanese Tea Garden. A shuttle service took us from place to place in this giant complex. The resort was beautiful! Each morning we woke up to a cacophony of monkeys hooting and howling. Although our time there was very restful we also got a lot of logistics and administrative work done. The first night we returned to Petaling Jaya we hit the ground running! We were up until 3 am one night preparing for a meeting that we presented to our friends about the training program.

The house we are staying at is getting quite crowded! Brian joins us later this week and another Malaysian roommate has joined us. With so many housemates, Keng Yin has graciously offered to let Cynthia, Lydia, and Tiana stay with her. They will be staying in an apartment below Keng Yin’s that she hopes to eventually rent to new students once we leave. Keng Yin lives a few blocks away from the house where the guys are staying.

Yesterday we went to the campus for the first time! All of us were a bit nervous about what it would look like for such out-of-place looking Americans to meet new Malaysian students. Trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible, we split up into pairs or threes and went to various cafeterias on campus. It turns out our fears were unfounded. The students here are so friendly and welcoming! We were able to meet many different people and invite them to the various activities we have planned for the first week. Today we were also on campus meeting new students. The Malaysian students with the ministry have been partnering with us fully and have been showing us around and initiating new relationships as well. We get to and from campus using taxis or our friends drive us.

There might not be many pictures for awhile! It’s a little too conspicuous to bring my camera to campus.

Prayer Requests:
1.) Please pray that many students would get plugged in through the American Food Night on Thursday night.
2.) Please pray that we would meet many freshmen (called Freshies here J )
3.) Please pray that we would meet more males who can be equipped for leadership
4.) Praise God for the continued support of our friends and supporters here!
5.) Please pray for continued ease getting onto campus through the gate though we are not students
6.) Please pray that each of us would have great wisdom in our speech. That we would only speak when prompted and that our mouth would close when prompted.