The Final Week

Hello everyone!

I'm a bit sad to say that this will probably be my last update from Malaysia. As expected, the last two weeks have flown by extremely fast. In less than a week I'll be on my way home. I find myself trying to slow down and enjoy each moment while I'm here, savoring it like a slice of rich cheesecake I know will soon be gone. The last two weeks have been a great time for me to really savor this country and all it has to offer. I've developed such strong friendships while I've been here that it will be difficult to leave them and fly back home to the other side of the world. I pray that sometime in the near future He may open up opportunities for me to return.

In the last two weeks the students have all been very busy with coursework and the UM convocation. Convocation is a HUGE deal here! It is a far bigger celebration than anything I've seen in the states and the whole campus transforms into a giant marketplace to accomodate the crowds of people who come to support their graduates. The whole thing lasts an entire week and during that time the whole campus is abuzz with excitement. The festive atmosphere has provided me with some great opportunities to meet with students and encourage them in their faith. Though my role on campus has shifted to a more encouragement and mentoring role of students rather than an outreach role, I still feel like there has been plenty of work to keep me busy.

This week UM has had a one-week vacation from classes for the Mid-term break. Most of the students went to their respective home-towns to visit their family. I took the opportunity to travel with Kai Sin and Wen Shiow, two of the students with our group, to Singapore for a few days. The trip was really fun and we were so thrilled to have to opportunity to visit Ivy at the National University of Singapore (whom we met all the way back at the beginning of the trip at the training program in June). Singapore is a charming port city with nice clean streets and many modern amenities. Yet, that said, I was relieved to come back to KL and enjoy the more rustic and culturally rich atmosphere afforded by this world-class city, which, at times seems to be cut right out of the jungle.

I'm not sure what God has for me for the next few days up until I leave next Wednesday but I'm convinced he has still has great plans for me for the next five days. Here are some fresh prayer requests as I prepare to leave. Thank you so much for all your faithful prayer support of me and this ministry. I'm growing increasingly aware of how much your prayer has been crucial to the team and my success here in Malaysia.

Prayer Requests:
1.) Please pray that students would remain well grounded in their disciplines and faith after I leave and that none of them would fall away when the worries of life grow up and try to choke them.
2.) Please pray that the students who are meeting with other students would stay encouraged and motivated to continue to pass on what they have learned
3.) Please pray that God would reveal soon what the next step is for me on my path towards pursuing Him.
4.) Please pray for a quick culture-shock/jet-lag recovery as I return home to the States.
5.) Please join me in thanking God for his abundant provision on this trip. He has blessed me with more than enough funding to remain here for the last three weeks.
6.) Please also join me in praising God for the marvelous work he has done in the lives of these students over the last 10 weeks and for his great plans for them and for their campus.

A New Chapter Begins!!!

Some of you may be a bit surprised as you drop by the blog today to notice a new entry. For those of you who still regularly check the blog I thank you dearly for your faithfulness! It takes a rare commitment to invest so much for so many weeks with so little return for your efforts. This I must confess is the result of my own neglect and for that I must apologize. I am only recently coming to realize how vital your continued prayer support is to the ongoing work here. And how can you pray for us over here when you have no idea what to pray for?!!! Although I’m sure much of the readership has dropped off now that the rest of the team is home I still pray for the continued faithfulness of you who still remember that the work here in Malaysia is ongoing, with or without a whole American team to support it. In light of the American team leaving, we need your prayer now more than ever! I hope to update more frequently in the next few weeks so that you can be more accurately appraised of our prayer needs.

As I have alluded to in the previous paragraph, the CU Navs Malaysia adventure has finished its course for most of the team members. Brendan and Kyle left two Mondays ago and the rest of the team followed this last Sunday. I (Tim) have decided to remain here for another three weeks to continue to help the ministry in any way that I can. This decision was both very simple and very hard for me. In one sense I feel definitely ready to go home and see my friends and family again. If you asked me if I really WANT to stay for another three weeks I would have to honestly say no. However, that said, I think after seven weeks here in Malaysia I am just beginning to push against the formidable psychological line between being here for “just a trip” and “living here”. Had I left with the rest of the team on Sunday I think I would have not yet broken through this barrier. In the next three weeks I think I probably will. That is the part of the decision that makes it hard, knowing that I must face this barrier. The easy part of the decision is that I definitely feel like the Lrd has asked me to stay. Given this knowledge, I have a great sense of peace in my heart that He is with me and that he has a definite purpose for my time.

And now finally for the update portion: How is the work here coming?! In a word? Wonderfully!!! I feel like the last seven weeks have had a profound impact on the group of people we have been helping. People are really beginning to take up the mantle of the work and invest in it. I now am getting great opportunities to coach rather than do everything and let the students watch. We have at least 4-5 solid new recruits to the ministry with the possibility of many more since the outer network of contacts has widely expanded in the last few weeks. Although the work has made tremendous progress in the last few weeks, there is still MUCH to do. There are precious few people to help the students continue to grow in their walk with the Lrd. The workers are very few!

Now that the team has left I’m noticing a morale drop among the students we’ve been helping. I’ve been trying to gently encourage them to stick with the disciplines and continue to get their life from the Book. That said, they need your continued prayer now more than ever!!! Please especially pray for Kaisin, Kelvin, Esther, and Wen Shiow since they have a heavy burden as the students in the ministry who are really stepping up and taking charge.

As for me, the loneliness has not quite hit me yet. God has blessed me with a lot of wonderful opportunities to continue his work. The night the rest of the team left I was able to join in a student initiated bible reading with two freshmen. The night went very well and I think the freshmen are really excited about learning more about the Lrd. There is a lot more work to do now that I am the only one here and so God has been blessing me with much work! This weekend we are planning a short day trip to Malacca with some new students to the ministry. We’re praying for some great discussion during the trip. I feel so blessed to have a great community of believers here who have welcomed me without reservation into their midst. How can I be lonely with such great brothers and sisters here to support me in addition to the Great Friend, Brother, and Father? Thanks for all your continued prayer!

Prayer requests:

1.) Please pray that the students would continue in their disciplines and build their foundations and roots in the Word
2.) Please pray that our network of contacts would be expanded in the next three weeks and even more people would be recruited to the ministry
3.) Please pray for L. His seed fell among the rocky soil. Please pray that it would find its way to good soil!
4.) Please pray for my continued stamina and that I would continue to rest in the Lrd’s strength
5.) Please pray that He would quickly correct me when I stray.
6.) Please ask Him to grant me wisdom and discernment in where to invest my time for the next three weeks and what strategy is best.
8.) Please pray that the students spirits would soar and that the community would bind together stronger now that the American team has left.
7.) Please pray for Kaisin, Kelvin, Esther, and Wen Shiow that He would continue to strengthen them and reveal himself to them and that they might become leaders ready to carry on their knowledge to the next generation.