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To: kattracks; Alamo-Girl

This is an account from a Freeperette in Indonesia::

Hi you all!

Thank you so much for your concern and prayers.... As you can see, I'm alive and doing pretty well, although it hasn't all been easy.

I arrived in Malaysia on December 19th, and we were in Kuala Lumpur for the first couple days, for orientation. The first thing you notice when coming here is the extreme heat and humidity... I'm used to hot weather (mostly having lived in hot places), but the humidity I wasn't used to... even after being in Hawaii for 3 months!

Then we took a bus to Penang, and we found out that our itinerary had changed. Originally we were supposed to go to Medan Indonesia, a couple days after getting to Penang. (to be for Christmas and for 2 weeks) But they thought that it would be better if we had time to adjust and get settled in, so the trip to Indonesia was postponed til January 8. My family and close friends were worried because they didn't know that my plans had been changed, and they didn't know if I even survived. Believe it or not, my mom knew about the earthquake before I did... because I didn't even feel it here in Malaysia (some of our teammates did), and she must've been watching the news, and called the office here, right after it happened.

It probably was a Godsend that our plans had changed, and as it turned out, there was a lot of need here in Penang... pretty much all the little houses and shacks on the coast were either destroyed or flooded from the tsunami, and tons of people needed help. So we did a lot of work down on the coast, in this area, picking up people's belongings (which mostly became trash, and were caked in mud), shoveling debris and wet sand from the street drains, and picking up all sorts of trash and people's belongings that were strewn all over the beaches. The place was a disaster area, and lots of people lost everything they owned. It was hard and dirty work, but we wanted to show God's love to those affected by the tsunami, and it was worth it.

There was one Malaysian man, whose house was destroyed, and we found out that he had divorced his first wife because she became a Christian. Then his kids and second wife began going to church, and he was totally against Christianity. But he saw that pretty much the only people who volunteered to pick up the wreckage at the beach were Christians, local churches, and I was told something by a local pastor that was awesome to hear... The pastor told me that the man saw me shoveling mud, and he was touched, by seeing us helping, and his mind was changed about Christianity. So I heard that this man is coming to Christ, praise God! (this is someone who was opposed to Christianity, so it's amazing news) Btw, I remember when I was shoveling a Malaysian man who lived in one of the homes that was destroyed asked me where I was from, and I told him I was from California and I was there with a Christian organization. So maybe that was the man the pastor was talking about..

There's a lot more to tell, but I'm going to post some pictures now of the flood... these were taken by someone on our team, a Norwegian kid with his video camera... a few on our team were there the day that one of the big waves hit, so the shots you'll see are from that day, and you can see some of the wreckage.
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So, it is clear, and not just from news, that Christians acting like Christians will show the love of God in Christ.


16 posted on 01/07/2005 9:13:51 AM PST by RaceBannon (((awaiting new tag line)))
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To: RaceBannon
PRAISE GOD!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
18 posted on 01/07/2005 9:29:23 AM PST by Alamo-Girl (Please donate monthly to Free Republic!)
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To: RaceBannon

"that Christians acting like Christians will show the love of God in Christ."

It's what we do. Or what we''re supposed to do at least.



Thanks for this.


31 posted on 01/08/2005 5:10:42 AM PST by Valin (Sometimes you're the bug, and sometimes you're the windshield)
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