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