An entire EPIC week!

My first thought about the blog today was, "It's been probably two or three days since I blogged, perhaps I should update things." Well, it has been an entire 7 days since my last update!!! This week will hopefully allow more regular updates, especially with the hotel having free wi-fi and an internet lounge all set up :-)

Monday we started our CI in Penang, Malaysia. We set up in the morning and that evening we opened the 2010 Penang CI with a bang, getting the teams all good to go for the week. All the other days revolved around getting ready for CI, teaching CI, trying to find time to sleep, and talking to my team leader (also my roomate last week). Victor Peh has been awesome to room with, and his spiritual insights were both motivating and inspiring!!! We had a great time sharing a space last week, and spent several nights staying up very late, discussing life purposes and goals and the things of God. It was truly one of my favorite things about this trip so far.

Throughout the week we tried to go do different special things, like visiting an orphanage in Penang. That was quite the experience. Let me explain exactly why...

Some of our kids came from this poor part of town called "Rifle Range." It is the poorest, dirtiest, most dingy part of the entire island. The neat part about visiting this orphanage was that two of the children on my team were from the Rifle Range, and I saw them at the orphanage. The team joined the kids for an awesome time of playing, singing, jumping around, a skit, and a prayer (but we were not allowed to say anything about Jesus - you can be put in jail for trying to witness to Muslims in Malaysia, and it was an Islamic institution I believe). Showing Christ's love to the children and staff was so enjoyable!

Our team this last week was interesting. Our kids were terribly quiet - I am looking forward to taming children who are wild, especially after two weeks of calm kids! :-D near the end of the week the kids started to be a little more out-going, and for part of the last night and the entire last day we combined our team with another. The kids drew off of each others' energy and both teams benefitted from the combination!!!

On Thursday morning, our team sat down to have a serious talk. The original plan was to go on a scavenger/treasure hunt all over Penang, but as we gathered together, the entire team agreed to spend time with God instead of enjoying a treasure hunt. So we all walked to the beach and spent time along the boardwalk, each of us getting into God's Word and spending time in prayer. After that, several of our team members opened up, and ever since then our team has been so much closer.

Another cool thing was our Friday, our day off for the week :-) Taking a brand new bus to the world's only museum and preserve for live butterflies, we spent the entire day touring, shopping and enjoying the culture and sights of Penang. It was totally awesome!!! We first stopped at this place called "Sam's Batik House" and there I did a lot of shopping. (Just wait until you hear of how hard I bartered!). There was one shirt I wanted to get that had an original price of $120 RM. But that is wayyyy too much to pay for ONE piece of clothing! That translates to about $35 in US currency. By the time I finished, the price was $65 RM and I had a very nice shirt :-)

From there we went to the Museum and Live Preserve place (not sure of the name), and saw all the butterflies, reptiles and bugs that they had there. It was top of the line and very beautiful. After about an hour and a half we left there and drove further up the coast to a place where we spent the afternoon taking pictures on the beach, eating and walking around town. When we first arrived, it started to rain! :-/ But soon it was over and we were able to continue enjoying our time there :-) There was this really creepy guy who ran the watersports there, and he was making eyes at all the girls. Needless to say, us guys were watching him pretty good. But when the group huddled up on the beach and everyone was together.... I collected shells.

That was such a fun day... I really enjoyed spending time with the team, shopping in the different towns (we drove so much that I have no clue where all we went), and having a day to relax. I did miss Victor being there though - he stayed back at the hotel to pray and seek God, to make sure that he was doing everything he could to lead our team the way God wants him to. What an example of Christ-like love and dedication to excellence!!! I cannot say enough good about our incredible team leaders, Victor and Eunice Peh. They are totally on fire for God, completely dedicated to HIS work, and they lead with a contagious zeal. It is truly an honor to serve under and with them. They call themselves "willing rascals!" :-D

Something you learn over here is culturally polite traditions. For example, eat EVERYTHING on your plate. The most difficult thing I've eaten so far was not just bad-looking, but it smelled bad too. It was a plate with rice, vegatables, and chicken joints. Not like a leg or a meatless wing, but joints! They tasted and smelled like mud from a barnyard. Disgusting. But hey, its protein and I got it down :-)
Another great food we tried this last week was a fruit called "Durian." It tastes like a rotten sweet onion, and the smell is even worse. Oh, and guess what... Penang is having a DURIAN FESTIVAL!!!! apparently, its a local delicacy. I'd take it over the chicken ;-)

On Saturday we had the a few skits, and those were very enjoyable! The first one was the story of Esther, and I got to be Haman. :-) With the black marker on my face, glasses, and a deep scary voice (the girls on the team were freaked out), it went well and I had lots of fun with that role! :-D The second skit was where Victor and I showed the kids how it is important to be a real Christian on the inside and on the outside, and when we ate the "mud" from the inside of the cantelopes, they truly flipped out :-) Totally awesome.

The most wearing and difficult part of Saturday was right before we were supposed to go to Parent Presentation. There is this one boy named Benjamin, and he threw an absolute tantrum before we were supposed to go upstairs. So much so, that I volunteered to stay back with him while everyone else went to show off the week's work to the parents. Well. It was an experience :-) He bit, kicked, flailed, screamed, cried, twisted, writhed, threw my glasses on the floor, spit up phlegm several times, and by the time 50 mintutes went by, I was dripping sweat. I am pretty sure that the spit on my face was not mine either.. lol! Finally, his team leader came back from the Parent Presentation, and I was able to have a few moments of respite before the final skits.

Today, we left the hotel at 6 am, and drove to the airport. We flew to Singapore this morning and spent the afternoon resting and then went to church this evening.

Another thing - on Saturday, we had these black things in our rice... it was Chinese fungus. But I'm not sick though, so its all good. :-) Also, after the CI was over and things were cleaned up, we were taken to a 5 star club where we had a buffet dinner with lasagna, lamb, salad (something we don't see much of over here, if ever), a large fruit bar, and desserts like bread pudding and flan. Incredible. and after we finished eating, we all went to the beach (right outside the back door of this place) and waded in the waves! I caught a crab and picked it up... and grabbed his leg with my teeth. Manly moment. *takes a bow* :-D :-D


So, those are my highlights from the last week! I look forward to letting you all know what God does in the days ahead :-) Keep praying that God prepares the hearts of the kids, but that He will also transform the hearts of our team members - its about the kids, but we want to experience change also! I hope none of us go home unchanged :-)

I'm a team leader with Marie Peh as my assistant - pray that we do well this week! :-)

Love you all!
Gladly serving Christ,
Lewis

Ice Kachung!

Today has been quite busy, as have the last several days. I am sorry I've been unable to post updates more recently than now, but it has finally become possible for me to make regular updates this week. :-)

We drove from KL to Penang on Sunday afternoon and went to a very nice Chinese restaurant Sunday night for dinner. I ordered some noodle stuff, but the funny thing is, they didn't bring my food until everyone else finished eating! :-D its ok though, because I was not hungry by the time I got it, and the flavor was quite heavy with soy (not quite my favorite just yet). That night we moved into our next hotel, the GoodHope Inn. It is great! kind of rustic, with a tannish orange color on the exterior walls, and decent rooms. The interesting thing about this place is that the bathroom multitasks - it contains the toilet, sink and shower in one little room :-) Kinda fun! I'm rooming with Victor Pey, our team leader, and he is awesome! We are really enjoying rooming together. We stayed up until 3:30 our first night rooming together, talking about spiritual things, solving the Rubix cube, listening to music and just enjoying hanging out :-)

Today I tried something called Durian and ice kachung. Durian is a spiky outside, pods on the inside, type of fruit... kinda tasted and smells like a rotting sweet onion. the Ice kachung was also very unique! It has shaved ice, topped with a red juice (don't have ANY idea what flavor it was), and creamed corn, black gelatin strips, and red kidney beans. Pretty good stuff :-) when we went to lunch, I bought a chicken and rice plate... when I tried that hot sauce... yeah. pretty much burned my mouth off at first contact :-) :-) awesome!!! :-D

Pray for the team, especially over the next few days. We are going to be using alot of energy, and its not through our strength that we can do anything, but only as God gives us help! He is the reason we are where we are, and its incredible to see Him at work. Keep the prayers coming!

Gladly serving Christ,
Lewis

Hi Everyone, My name is Lewis!

WOW!!! This trip is amazing!

God is great!

First off, I want to say that my team leaders, Victor and Eunice, are totally amazing. They are certainly a God-send and their expertise in what they do has helped the team feel equipped for the challenges and obstacles ahead. our team is totally drawing closer together each day and gaining new ground for God's kingdom!

Yesterday, we gathered for Teach training in the morning and had breakfast (yogurt cups and honey sticks, a little cups of juice) in Eunice's room. Then we all had devotions and prayed together before truly diving into the material of the day. After a couple hours we went to Subway (I know!!! Shocking that we got american fare! :-D ), and there I devoured 1.5 foot-long subs... I was slightly hungry - thinking is alot of work! Then we went back to the room for some additional training and they said that there was a test we needed to take...

1. this made me a little nervous. I forgot to study at lunch (remember the amount I ate? thats 18 inches of sandwich..)

2. I had no idea what the nature of the test was. It might be fill-in-the-bubbles. It might be multiple choice. It could be oral or freestyle or in Malaysian for all I knew.

It wasn't! They picked about 6 people to stand up in the middle of the room (I was one of them), and they had us close our eyes while they put little notes in our hands. I didn't realize why I was not given a note at first, then they said, "ok, this is an example of a group and Lewis is going to teach the lesson." :-D Cool!!!

So, we all sat down and got comfy, and someone mentioned I needed an assistant. (I got one, thank the Lord!) then they gave the word, "Go!!!" Things got intense fast. The kids started making noises, picking their noses, hitting each other, slapping each other, crying, turning around, moving, scratching, complaining... all at one time! I separated the most rowdy two first while the most needy ones went on a walk with my assistant (bathroom break i think), and I had the most active guy (we're talking a 6'2" kid who can't sit still) come and get in my lap and help hold my book for me. Then I pulled out a comb and asked "HEY!!! What do you use a comb for?!? Do you use it to brush your teeth?? Would you use it to eat with??" then, once I had the children's attention, I quickly tied this into the lesson about God's design for us and how the comb reflects how each person is made for a specific purpose designed by God. Fortunately, the test only lasted about 10-15 minutes, and I passed with flying colors according to the positive and encouraging feedback I received!

Last night's CI was pretty good also! We had 4 children, Rinnah, Yasha, Stephanie, and Samuelle. They were great :-) The funny thing was, instead of being the little dynamite sticks of energy I had trained for, they were the world's quietest and shy children... So that was tough! But tonight we got three more kids who were more outgoing and they changed the entire dynamic of the group and it went much better! :-) All in all, both nights went terrific!

Last night our story was about Abraham and Isaac and about how Abraham had to sacrifice Isaac on an alter, but God provided a ram instead, when He saw that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his ONLY and precious son for God. I played the part of Abraham and the kids really seemed to love the play! We had a great time and I ended up picking Jeremy up (Isaac in the story) and carrying him over my shoulder like a rag doll. good times!

Tonight we did eggs and dropped them onto the floor from a ladder, and then dropped one in a parachute to demostrate how authority only works when we are underneath of its protective canopy. It will not work to wrap ourselves inside of it, lay on top of it, land on it, go around it, but only when we are completely underneath our authority can God bless us and give us the things He has in store for us. Victor did an awesome job of telling that story and the kids received it very well!

The second story tonight was about the ten plagues in Egypt and the team did a wonderful job of telling the story! The markers drawn onto Connor's face were AWESOME and he looked super freaky :-D :-D WOO HOO team!!!! great job!

Last night we were served dinner before the CI, and there was rice, strips of chicken, nuts, a bit of fried egg, and little dried out fish that looked like someone's guppy. A great meal, and tonight's was wonderful also although it was different! We also enjoyed an Indian lunch today at a local restaurant, which was totally unique and delicious! :-)

Please keep praying that our CI's go well, and that we keep our energy up!!!

also, two of the girls on my team are sick - one with a virus, the other with a sore throat/cold. Please pray they are restored to full health asap!

We go to see an orphanage in the morning - I'll let you know how it goes :-)

Love you all!

Glad to serve,

Lewis

Where am I?

We will be traveling to Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia over the course of the month. Please pray that God uses us to make a positive and lasting impact on childrens' lives! I will not have phone service overseas, so if you need to contact me, please email sonics.sk8r.boy@gmail.com or message me on Facebook. Thank you everyone!

Loving Christ,

Lewis