Malaysia update 3

Hey!!

I'm sorry this email is sooooo late!  I've been drafting it for about three weeks, but I'm just now finishing - I'm
sorry!!

Malaysia is probably one of the only Asian countries where it's possible to forget you're in a foreign country for a
while.  Often the palm trees, massive malls, and beaches look more like L.A.  The East really does meet the West in
Malaysia.  The culture may be one of our biggest assets in ministry.  We're meeting college students and making
relationships with them as our main ministry and the cultural understanding between us really helps to bridge the
gap.  We have many of the same kinds of struggles and obstacles in our lives and we even speak the same language,
so God has cleared many paths to relationship here.

On the other hand, the culture is different enough to let me analyze my own from an outsider's perspective.  The Western
mindset of self-sufficiency and individualism is a bigger obstacle to my faith than I thought it was.  God has shown
me how I so often put much more faith in myself and my own efforts than Him.  And I certainly don't trust the body of
Christ the way I should.  The disunity I've experienced in past mission experiences and that I've fought against this
summer is largely a result of this distrust.  In my selfishness, I've focused so strongly on my personality and
how it clashes with others' that I've taken my eyes off of His personality.  Hebrews says our God is a consuming fire,
but this doesn't call me to lose my individuality and be a tract-distribution zombie.  I think it's more like being
consumed with Him and seeking to fit into His plan any way I can instead of trying to squeeze Him in on the margins of
what is actually my plan.  Sounds simple, but it's never simple with God.

Two words keep reappearing this summer: gospel and community.  The weak perception I have had of the gospel has
been obliterated this summer.  The Lord continues to show me the vast expanse of the Good News He has brought to us in
Jesus.  I have treated the gospel like little more than a doorway - albeit, a very important doorway - for outsiders
to be introduced to Jesus' sacrifice for our sins.  It's that and so much more, though!  It is the POWER OF GOD for
the salvation of those who believe (Romans 1:16).  That's huge.  And it's not something that's easy to fit into tracts
or 2-minute testimonies.  It is a lifetime of obedience and pursuing holiness.  God is challenging us to step it up!  It
won't do anymore for me to lazily fumble through a Christianity of convenience.  One of the main things I've
learned in Malaysia is to be intentional about community and relationships.  Necessary in that process is allowing the
Lord to interrupt me.  As always, the best laid plans have gone up in smoke this summer, but God has worked in every
situation to lead us to great conversations with people and opportunities to share the gospel.  I'm still making sense
of most of the things that have happened this summer, so I'll definitely have much more to share once I'm home. 
Thank you for being in prayer for our team this summer!  It has made all the difference!

Love,
Leah

Malaysia update 2

Hello everyone!!

It's week 3 in Malaysia! We've been busy lately with Frisbee, English classes and chat clubs, and building the relationships we've begun here. Some more college students have started coming to the student center where we're working and some have questions about our faith, so pray that in the coming weeks we can effectively share the truth with all our friends here.

Beau Bristow, a musician from Nashville, TN, just came to Penang earlier this week to give two free concerts. Our team worked with him to make contacts at those concerts and we had an after-party where students came to hang out with
Beau and be introduced to the student center. We're hoping some of the conversations Beau had with students about his journey through life will lead to sharing the truth with them.

Another university here is starting classes again in July, so there will be many more students in Penang shortly!! Some of these already attend the student center. This university is closer to our student center, so it may be easier for us to get to the campus, but our supervisors say the administration is very strict and has repeatedly kicked them off campus, so pray that the students we already have contact with there will be able to help us meet new students and involve them in the student center.

Thank you for all of your support and your prayers!
Leah

Malaysia update!!

Hey everybody!!

It's week three and we've made a bunch of contacts here at the college that we see throughout the week! There are pictures on Facebook of some of the stuff we've done here and you should be able to click on the title ("Malaysia update!!") to see those.



I'm going to post the previous email I sent in case you haven't seen it yet:

Man! We have been way busy!! We've made a bunch of new friends in Penang and we're spending a lot of time with them. My team is Margaret, my friend from school, and a brother and sister, Paul and Libby, from Louisiana. During the week we play ultimate frisbee four times and we're starting two English clubs on one of the college campuses this Thursday. Other than that, we're building relationships with students from all over the place - S. Korea, Japan, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Iran, Nigeria, and Sudan. Malaysia and its people are really diverse. We've visited mosques, temples, museums, and markets (where I bought pork in Mandarin!!) and I've eaten food from Thailand, India, China, and Japan. Margaret and I are making southern food (or the best we can manage in Malaysia) this Saturday for a bunch of friends, so that should be fun! We're also planning a cookout and a movie night for a bunch of folks in our apartment (which is actually nicer than my apartment!). The coolest thing, however, is that we're going to a prom! The engineering school at a college here is having their prom July 3 and we've weaseled our way into it!! It's going to be hilarious, I'm sure!

So, we're staying busy and trying to move our relationships into talk about spiritual matters. (Sorry I can't say more about this, but security is pretty tight.) I miss you all and thank you for your prayers!!

I'm leaving today!

Hi everyone!
I'm leaving for Malaysia this afternoon! I won't be able to communicate via email until around June 8, so perhaps I'll have more to tell you all about what I'm doing by then. Thanks to everyone for their support and especially for all your prayers!

Leah

Malaysia!

I'm going to Malaysia this summer!! Just found out last week and I'm pretty pumped. Check the blog this summer for updates!