:-)
Today had so many things happen that I hardly know where to begin! But, as a wise man once told me, "Just start at the beginning, and tell the story to its ending."
This morning I woke up and ran down to breakfast. I am so grateful that they serve a free breakfast, even when Chocolate-Frosted Sugar Bombs are the only thing that draws me from my comfortable sheets!!! The egg-like mixture and hot dog pieces and other dishes just don't have the "selling power" that cereal does. :-D
The team met for devotions and then we all went on a treasure hunt at a local mall. The list involved things that each team would do, like sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" on a busy street, take a picture of an Asian with blue eyes, etc. We got a few things on the list done, then took some time to shop. It was a nice afternoon, and everyone enjoyed themselves.
There was this one hill on the way back from the mall that made an indellible impression on my mind... all 142 steps from the bottom to the top!!! It was CRAZY!!! the steps here are steep, tall, and slanted downward... it made walking up them quite the undertaking :-)
When we got back to the Hangout, everyone hurried to get ready for the CI, and then we trundled down to the bus, and before you could say "Bayuwch!" (a word we made up especially for CI), we were off.
I can't thank God enough for the awesome dinners we have enjoyed this week! It has been delightful to dine at the church each evening... Buffet style, delectable asian cuisine... Totally amazing :-) Tonight they had noodles with ham and cheese, and then this dish of rice with shrimp and ham, accompanied on all sides by asian desserts and Coca-Cola :-)
Marie told me before the kids came, "I hope they have energy tonight!" and I totally agreed. Teaching energetic children is awesome because their energy fuels the teacher and the lesson is more fun all around!!! Tonight was no exception. Our kids were excited to attend CI and they behaved awesomely! One of the precious little girls, Jewel, came up to me repeatedly, and asked for help with her craft. I wanna adopt asian babies now!!! :-D Every one of our kids is so precious and I love them all. The way they smile, laugh, pout, and every other mannerism, just makes me love them more. God truly has given me a love for His children, and I am sooo honored to have a chance to show HIS love!!!
Jewel asking for help with her craft was one of my two highlights of my entire day. The other was when I was asked to play background theme music for our Job skit :-) :-) That was soooo much fun! The music seemed to flow with the skit, and God blessed us in a special way.
It is 1:40 am and I should sleep a while before a full day of fun and rest tomorrow!
Love you all!!!
Gladly Serving Christ,
Lewis Carter
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Put Yourself in My Crocs..
So last night I posted a blog update at 1:30 am, right? This morning, I am starting at 1 am :-) It only gets better! :-D
After I left the computer room last night and went back up to our room, I found all my roomates asleep (God bless their poor weary souls). Using my ipod for a light, I navigated across the treacherous expanse of our room, which was littered with clothes, souveniers and things that reach out to grab my feet when I least expect it. My bed is in a corner, and against the wall, on the other side of John's bed. My suitcase took all the space between the foot of the bed and the wall, so there is just a narrow space between the feet of the beds and the wall in which I can scoot towards my stuff. Kinda fun :-) Try doing that silently, at 1:45 am, with your ipod as a flashlight... it was an adventure!!!
Once I'd gotten ready for bed, I settled in for a peaceful night's sleep. First, let me tell you once again that my suitcase was at the foot of my bed. The last few days I've kept my duffel bag on top of the suitcase (which was on top of a stand thing), and I'd been piling things on top of the two of them. What a recipe for disaster!!! :-D As soon as my feet bumped the pile, it all cascaded onto my feet and legs, the coins from shopping, the receipts, the bandanas for skits, my puppet, anything and everything you can imagine!!!
So around 2 a.m., I fell asleep in my pile of awesomeness and slept clear until 7:30. Then, I woke up suddenly and was WIDE awake. Since breakfast was calling my name, I bundled downstairs to chow down on another free meal!!! (Gotta love those!)
It has been a completely full day, as you can tell from me posting this in the wee hours of the morning. In the morning, our team gathered outside and left for the beach! It was sooo pretty out, and as soon as our bus stopped and we unloaded... it started to POUR!!! The lightning was gorgeous and we spread out to study our Bibles under whatever shelter we could find. I wound up in the most interesting of places...
From a distance, it looked like a big yawning giant, with its awning stretched across a 50 foot span of concrete steps and a small stage. There were two homeless guys sitting on the top step and a rusty remnant of a bike lay abandoned along the concrete walk. I sat down on the edge of the stage as the rain poured, and what do you know, they have speakers mounted on the stage that were playing popular american music! Fun stuff. I settled in and read a few chapters of Isaiah, and then I watched as the bottom level of the concrete fill up with water. The drains were pumping water IN instead of out! The rain only worsened and I could visibly see the water rising. Totally awesome!!! :-D :-D
After an hour and a half, I wandered back to the McDonalds that everyone was gathering at, and we sat around until the bus came back. The attitude of my team is both incredible and inspiring! Instead of complaining about how the rain prevented us from riding bicycles along the beach, we prayed and thanked God for protecting us from what might have happened if we had gone biking, and for the time we were able to spend with Him. I love my team :-)
We spent the afternoon back at the Hangout, and I got a chance to organize my things in a better spot, away from my bed :-) Napping was very needed... I don't know how I fell asleep, but it happened and I thank God it happened!!! :-D I felt so much better after a little sleep :-)
Dinner was tasty, and the CI went well! Our kids were wonderful and Marie taught responsibility because its her favorite lesson. I really enjoyed watching her and studying the children's reaction to her :-) My absolute favorite part of the night had to be when we were doing the Sycamore tree and Zacchaeus skit. I played the tree, the table and a beggar under the table. for one part, I bit off a piece of a foam paper and hid it in my mouth, then put out my tongue to show my empty mouth. The kids went CRAZY!!!! :-D I love doing this stuff :-)
Now it is time to rest and sleep :-) I still need to try and wake up for breakfast though... we'll see :-)
Keep praying for our team! God is daily showing Himself faithful to us, and we are encouraged, but the enemy continues to attack our team members. Please pray God's protection over each one of us as we seek to fulfill His work in His kingdom in Southeast Asia!!!
Love you all!
Gladly serving Jesus,
Lewis
After I left the computer room last night and went back up to our room, I found all my roomates asleep (God bless their poor weary souls). Using my ipod for a light, I navigated across the treacherous expanse of our room, which was littered with clothes, souveniers and things that reach out to grab my feet when I least expect it. My bed is in a corner, and against the wall, on the other side of John's bed. My suitcase took all the space between the foot of the bed and the wall, so there is just a narrow space between the feet of the beds and the wall in which I can scoot towards my stuff. Kinda fun :-) Try doing that silently, at 1:45 am, with your ipod as a flashlight... it was an adventure!!!
Once I'd gotten ready for bed, I settled in for a peaceful night's sleep. First, let me tell you once again that my suitcase was at the foot of my bed. The last few days I've kept my duffel bag on top of the suitcase (which was on top of a stand thing), and I'd been piling things on top of the two of them. What a recipe for disaster!!! :-D As soon as my feet bumped the pile, it all cascaded onto my feet and legs, the coins from shopping, the receipts, the bandanas for skits, my puppet, anything and everything you can imagine!!!
So around 2 a.m., I fell asleep in my pile of awesomeness and slept clear until 7:30. Then, I woke up suddenly and was WIDE awake. Since breakfast was calling my name, I bundled downstairs to chow down on another free meal!!! (Gotta love those!)
It has been a completely full day, as you can tell from me posting this in the wee hours of the morning. In the morning, our team gathered outside and left for the beach! It was sooo pretty out, and as soon as our bus stopped and we unloaded... it started to POUR!!! The lightning was gorgeous and we spread out to study our Bibles under whatever shelter we could find. I wound up in the most interesting of places...
From a distance, it looked like a big yawning giant, with its awning stretched across a 50 foot span of concrete steps and a small stage. There were two homeless guys sitting on the top step and a rusty remnant of a bike lay abandoned along the concrete walk. I sat down on the edge of the stage as the rain poured, and what do you know, they have speakers mounted on the stage that were playing popular american music! Fun stuff. I settled in and read a few chapters of Isaiah, and then I watched as the bottom level of the concrete fill up with water. The drains were pumping water IN instead of out! The rain only worsened and I could visibly see the water rising. Totally awesome!!! :-D :-D
After an hour and a half, I wandered back to the McDonalds that everyone was gathering at, and we sat around until the bus came back. The attitude of my team is both incredible and inspiring! Instead of complaining about how the rain prevented us from riding bicycles along the beach, we prayed and thanked God for protecting us from what might have happened if we had gone biking, and for the time we were able to spend with Him. I love my team :-)
We spent the afternoon back at the Hangout, and I got a chance to organize my things in a better spot, away from my bed :-) Napping was very needed... I don't know how I fell asleep, but it happened and I thank God it happened!!! :-D I felt so much better after a little sleep :-)
Dinner was tasty, and the CI went well! Our kids were wonderful and Marie taught responsibility because its her favorite lesson. I really enjoyed watching her and studying the children's reaction to her :-) My absolute favorite part of the night had to be when we were doing the Sycamore tree and Zacchaeus skit. I played the tree, the table and a beggar under the table. for one part, I bit off a piece of a foam paper and hid it in my mouth, then put out my tongue to show my empty mouth. The kids went CRAZY!!!! :-D I love doing this stuff :-)
Now it is time to rest and sleep :-) I still need to try and wake up for breakfast though... we'll see :-)
Keep praying for our team! God is daily showing Himself faithful to us, and we are encouraged, but the enemy continues to attack our team members. Please pray God's protection over each one of us as we seek to fulfill His work in His kingdom in Southeast Asia!!!
Love you all!
Gladly serving Jesus,
Lewis
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
A Really Good, All-around Awesome Day :-)
Today was really encouraging and refreshing!!!
To start with, breakfast (the free one from the hotel) was really good. :-) I'll be taking advantage of that the rest of the week! :-D
Next was team devotions at 8:30 am. That was really cool, and three members of our team shared testimonies and we all enjoyed both learning about them and worshipping God together.
At 9:30 we left for a daycare, and this was truly an awesome opportunity for us to witness!!! The people there had posters that featured different religious holidays from various religions, and they allowed us to share the Gospel explicitly. It was a golden opportunity for us. Supposedly, these kids are underpriviledged and come from average to low income families - not as poor as the orphanage we saw in Penang last week, but kids are kids no matter where they come from, and we enjoyed sharing Jesus with them :-)
We sang songs like "this little light of mine" and told the story of Zacchaeus, complete with me being the "tree" that he climbs!!! :-D it was so fun! and I had to "transform" into a table for Jesus, Zacchaeus, and all his sinner friends to eat at. :-) good times! then we had a couple minutes to visit and take pictures with the children. I have never known what it is like to have so many kids in my lap at ONE TIME!!! I had 3-4 children in my lap and two on my shoulders! Totally smotheringly AWESOME!!! :-D :-D
From there we went to Singapore's "Chinatown," and shopped for a while. I bought some really cool stuff when I lost my group... but don't worry, I found people again :-) I really enjoyed the Chinatown because it was SO CRAMPED AND BUSY AND LOUD!!! :-D :-D I truly loved it... the cacophony of music, the smells of strange fruits and packaged leather :-) totally amazing and relaxing... :-) What a day!!! :-D
From there, we came back to The Hangout and got prepared for the CI tonight, and I took a nap. We went to the CI and ate a tremendous dinner, and it was soooo good!!! :-D :-D :-D
The dishes included were as follows: fish paste in banana leaves, fish meat balls (and something i couldn't quite figure out, even with taste. possibly pork balls?), salad, corn salad, chicken wings and legs, some gelatin-like layered dessert treat, another gelatin thing covered in coconut shreds, pizza, coconut rice, curry vegatables, and FRUIT!!!! A whole plate covered with slices of mango, starfruit, guava, papaya, and watermelon, along with a couple other fruits I couldn't recognize, but they SURE TASTED GOOD!!! :-D
The CI tonight was sooo good. I mean, SO good. It amazes me how God encourages us when we need it... I needed God's reassurance that I had His help in teaching. Tonight, I taught for an entire 40 minutes about authority and how God uses it in our lives for good. The entire time that I taught, the children were totally attentive!
Then I drew out the word "Authority" in graffiti letters on the whiteboard, and the kids LOVED it!!!! One boy liked it sooo much that he took a picture of it and put it on his cell phone :-) So cool.
When we came back from CI, Tiffany brought out cheesecakes that SHE bought with HER personal money, and treated us to a delectable dessert!!! It was sooo sweet of her (in more than one way, haha!), and we really enjoyed that :-) perfect ending to a perfectly awesome day!
Please pray for a few people on my team. Yesterday, we found out that one kid's mom is gonna be having a surgery soon and its kinda stressful. Today, a couple of the kids found out that their grandfather was given 24 hrs to live, but they decided to stay here with the team.
Continue to keep us in your prayers.
On a lighter note, the highlight of my day was when Victor was introducing himself and went ahead and introduced his sisters too. Then he pointed to me and introduced me as his brother!!! That completely made my day... :-) :-)
Quoteable Quotes from the last two days:
"Moses wanted a son that he could call......... Son."
"Moses was his name, and coolness was his game."
Thanks for the laughs Victor! :-D
Alrighty! Its going on... lemme see here... 1:31 am. :-) Full day.. so its time to sleep!
Keep praying for our team! Like I said before, Satanic powers are majorly attacking our team, and we need the prayer warriors to buckle down and seek God on our behalf! God can move a mountain, and the greatest stronghold of darkness is nothing under God's mighty hand.
Loving the frontline,
Lewis
To start with, breakfast (the free one from the hotel) was really good. :-) I'll be taking advantage of that the rest of the week! :-D
Next was team devotions at 8:30 am. That was really cool, and three members of our team shared testimonies and we all enjoyed both learning about them and worshipping God together.
At 9:30 we left for a daycare, and this was truly an awesome opportunity for us to witness!!! The people there had posters that featured different religious holidays from various religions, and they allowed us to share the Gospel explicitly. It was a golden opportunity for us. Supposedly, these kids are underpriviledged and come from average to low income families - not as poor as the orphanage we saw in Penang last week, but kids are kids no matter where they come from, and we enjoyed sharing Jesus with them :-)
We sang songs like "this little light of mine" and told the story of Zacchaeus, complete with me being the "tree" that he climbs!!! :-D it was so fun! and I had to "transform" into a table for Jesus, Zacchaeus, and all his sinner friends to eat at. :-) good times! then we had a couple minutes to visit and take pictures with the children. I have never known what it is like to have so many kids in my lap at ONE TIME!!! I had 3-4 children in my lap and two on my shoulders! Totally smotheringly AWESOME!!! :-D :-D
From there we went to Singapore's "Chinatown," and shopped for a while. I bought some really cool stuff when I lost my group... but don't worry, I found people again :-) I really enjoyed the Chinatown because it was SO CRAMPED AND BUSY AND LOUD!!! :-D :-D I truly loved it... the cacophony of music, the smells of strange fruits and packaged leather :-) totally amazing and relaxing... :-) What a day!!! :-D
From there, we came back to The Hangout and got prepared for the CI tonight, and I took a nap. We went to the CI and ate a tremendous dinner, and it was soooo good!!! :-D :-D :-D
The dishes included were as follows: fish paste in banana leaves, fish meat balls (and something i couldn't quite figure out, even with taste. possibly pork balls?), salad, corn salad, chicken wings and legs, some gelatin-like layered dessert treat, another gelatin thing covered in coconut shreds, pizza, coconut rice, curry vegatables, and FRUIT!!!! A whole plate covered with slices of mango, starfruit, guava, papaya, and watermelon, along with a couple other fruits I couldn't recognize, but they SURE TASTED GOOD!!! :-D
The CI tonight was sooo good. I mean, SO good. It amazes me how God encourages us when we need it... I needed God's reassurance that I had His help in teaching. Tonight, I taught for an entire 40 minutes about authority and how God uses it in our lives for good. The entire time that I taught, the children were totally attentive!
Then I drew out the word "Authority" in graffiti letters on the whiteboard, and the kids LOVED it!!!! One boy liked it sooo much that he took a picture of it and put it on his cell phone :-) So cool.
When we came back from CI, Tiffany brought out cheesecakes that SHE bought with HER personal money, and treated us to a delectable dessert!!! It was sooo sweet of her (in more than one way, haha!), and we really enjoyed that :-) perfect ending to a perfectly awesome day!
Please pray for a few people on my team. Yesterday, we found out that one kid's mom is gonna be having a surgery soon and its kinda stressful. Today, a couple of the kids found out that their grandfather was given 24 hrs to live, but they decided to stay here with the team.
Continue to keep us in your prayers.
On a lighter note, the highlight of my day was when Victor was introducing himself and went ahead and introduced his sisters too. Then he pointed to me and introduced me as his brother!!! That completely made my day... :-) :-)
Quoteable Quotes from the last two days:
"Moses wanted a son that he could call......... Son."
"Moses was his name, and coolness was his game."
Thanks for the laughs Victor! :-D
Alrighty! Its going on... lemme see here... 1:31 am. :-) Full day.. so its time to sleep!
Keep praying for our team! Like I said before, Satanic powers are majorly attacking our team, and we need the prayer warriors to buckle down and seek God on our behalf! God can move a mountain, and the greatest stronghold of darkness is nothing under God's mighty hand.
Loving the frontline,
Lewis
Sunday, June 13, 2010
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
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
Monday, June 7, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Goodmorning Everyone!
It is about 12:30 am here in Kuala Lampur and today went very well! We got up this morning and met for breakfast downstairs before leaving for the orphanage. The orphanage is called "stepping stones,"
and it is an openly Christian institution for orphans and underprivileged children. When we got to the orphanage it was approximately 10:30 in the morning and the children were all smiling and very happy to see us. It was so wonderful to see where they live, and to interact with them. I packed my puppet, and the kids just loved it! they put their hands in his mouth, tugged on his hair, pulled on his sleeves and laughed like crazy while i made his head move around and opened and closed his mouth. Then our leaders, Victor and Eunice, led us all in a few songs and we played a couple of group games.
One thing that happened that was kinda scary was while we were singing "shout for joy, Hallelujah," Timmy jumped up (one of the actions in the song) and one of the fans caught his hand pretty good. He said it didn't hurt, but we got it under alcohol and antiseptic pretty quickly so it would be able to stay clean and heal. Immediately, we stopped everything and had a word of prayer for him, and then we started singing again!
The net thing on the agenda was a skit put on by 6 members of the team. It was called "Mrs. Hockenstock." Essentially, the teacher Mrs. Hockenstock, had a Very Very Very Special Book that nobody was allowed to touch until after recess. When the class was out to recess and the teacher was out of sight, one of the children came back into the class and looked in the book. THEN, one of the other kids came in and frightened the person looking at the book and they ripped it! then the rest of the skit revolves around the teacher asking who did it. One child said aliens tore the pages, one said that they did it (trying to be sacrificial and lie to protect someone else), another simply acted crazy and senseless and the last one simply cried (they were guilty :-) ). The moral of the story was to show that telling lies is wrong and that eventually your sins truly will "find you out!"
The CI tonight was wonderful as well! My team was very cooperative and we enjoyed a great game called "Wack-o!" We had all the children stand in a circle and one person in the middle was supposed to "whack" the person whose name was called with a magazine. But if the person whose name was called said someone else's name before the "monkey in the middle" hit them, then that would be the new target, and you continue until someone can't say another person's name fast enough. Our kids really enjoyed it and Liz did a great job of getting the kids to interact and talk with each other :-) I love having an assistant!
Praise God that both Rosalee and Priscilla are feeling somewhat better! Rosalee has been feeling a bit under the weather and stayed at the hotel to rest all day today, but Priscilla's voice is slowly coming back :-) We are glad that they are getting better, but please continue to keep them in your prayers.
A couple things to remember for the team as you pray:
1. That God will bless our efforts as we seek to glorify Him.
2. That we will keep up our energy for the children, especially as we anticipate the 8 hr day of CI on Saturday.
3. For the health of each team member. Not only is it difficult to stay healthy as we have so much to do, but we are around children and a lot of them. It is very easy to be exposed to a lot of sickness in a night.
4. That God prepares the way for the next CI!!! :-) We have so much to look forward to in the weeks and days ahead!
Thank you all for your continued prayer and support!
Love ya'll!
Gladly serving,
Lewis
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
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
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