THIRTY-THREE YEARS LATER…

We sat on the 11th floor balcony of the Flamingo Hotel in Penang, and marveled. Thirty-three years ago in 1986 our family had moved to Malaysia. On outreach with a mission group, we had rented a semi-detached furnished home in this location. Leaning over the balcony, I looked down on the tiled roof of the house on Medan Tanjong Bunga. Spacious, with marble floors and a small garden, it was just two blocks from Dalat School where Jared and Nick attended 2nd and 9th grades.

I mused on God’s goodness. We and 16 other young people were friendly tourists for those two months while we witnessed on the streets and did skits, shared in churches on weekends. But our family was able to live in this lovely home—and slowly furnish it with dishes, towels, pots and pans--and local prints we framed to hang on bare walls. Malaysia was a mix of Chinese, Malay, and Indian cultures, but many spoke English due to former British colonial influence, so communication was easy.

After the outreach ended four of the young people and our family stayed to establish a mission base in the country, and start a discipleship training school. We were all rather inexperienced…we prayed a lot. Eventually a large house opened up—furnished—owned by a Christian Chinese family. We bought bunk beds, tables for desks, and in the fall eleven students began the five month school. God was so faithful!

We lived in Malaysia a total of three years, then came back to teach from time to time. Now all these years later we view the bay from our balcony. Turquoise water on the right, dark blue hills on the left enfolding high rises, busy streets, and bungalows. Through the years the bases have multiplied to five, there are 20-30 staff in Penang alone. Dalat School has grown to around 700 students on their renovated, modern campus!

What can God accomplish over time? Seeds sown on good soil can “produce a crop—thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times what was sown.” (Mark 4:20) We are amazed at the Lord… Encouraged to keep planting seeds!