Burnett Family

Read the first two reports here: Part 1 and Part 2.

As soon as the ATI conference ended on Nov. 6, we drove a couple hours north to Kuala Lumpur (KL), the capital of Malaysia.

Mary and I stayed together with the Peh family who were wonderful hosts! They have 5 children who range in age from 10 to 20. We had SO much fun together, and really encouraged each other in the Lord. I was especially challenged by the passion with which they live for eternity!

Tracey Peh

Marie and Evangelina ("Van")

Be careful, though – they aren’t all as sweet as they look. :) And don’t believe everything they tell you about "cat’s eye tea", either.

Can imagine having never heard of biscuits and gravy?? I had a blast whipping up a bit of southern cuisine for them…

…which I really enjoyed eating. :)

Eunice Peh has such a passionate, sincere heart for God. She and I talked into the early morning hours one night and had one of the most powerful times of prayer together that I have ever experienced!

After arriving in KL, we had two short days to rest and prepare before the mother/daughter conference started on the 9th.

Making major alterations to the schedule

Around 100 moms and daughters attended, which was more than we expected! God did a mighty work in these two truth-packed days. I shared a testimony about the new victory I was experiencing over fear and lies, and then Michelle and Caitlin went more in-depth about how to overcome Satan’s lies (i.e. I am worthless, I am a failure, I am all alone, I am ugly, I can never measure up, etc.). The Holy Spirit began moving hearts, and with tears the moms and girls wrote down lies that they had been believing and literally threw them in the trash! "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32

The next day, we sensed the Lord rearranging the topics on our schedule. As we followed His leading, we saw Him show up again in a powerful way as Mary passionately shared about "wasting our lives at the feet of Jesus" like Mary of Bethany (John 12)! I realized in a greater way that it doesn’t matter how much we share, challenge, or plead with the girls – all is in vain unless the Lord moves their hearts by His power alone. I believe many victories were won in their lives!

Other adventures in KL included riding public transportation and shopping at the night market where there are lots of creepy vendors who stare at you while you’re shopping, just waiting for you to look interested in their merchandise!

Another taste of local cuisine…including pig’s ear. It tasted really good, actually. I prefer it to the pig intestine and stomach that I tried another time. :)

Indian food was my favorite! This dish, roti prata, was so delicious.

It seemed like there was always another exotic fruit to try. This one, called dragonfruit, was very good and had such a brilliant color!

Some were quite impressed with my chopstick skills….thanks to all the Chinese meals we fix at home. ;)

After a super blessed time with the Pehs in KL, we said goodbye and took a short flight back to Singapore, where we reflected on what God had done and spent time with believers there.

Me, Caitlin, Michelle, and Charissa enjoying curry soup (with NO fishballs!) at the mall on our last day in Asia.

^"Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them. The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad. " Ps. 126:2-3

Wow, it is good to be back home!! So many things are still stirring in my heart – lessons I learned, new ways God revealed Himself to me, zeal that has been rekindled – I pray that the Lord will root it all deep in my heart that I might grow in His grace.

I can’t say how much your prayers meant and what a difference they made. Thank you!! May you continue to lay up treasures in Heaven as you follow our Lord in this moment of time.

To God be the glory!

Hannah

Read Part 1 here!

After being in Asia for nearly a week, we were very ready to get to work! The COMMIT team’s job was to run the girls’ program during the ATI family conference. Normally, we work with girls from ages 12-15, but this time we had 6-15 year olds! As you can imagine, we encountered a host of obstacles with attention spans, how we presented our sessions (6 yr. olds learn different than 15 yr. olds!), handling behavior issues, and so on. It was more like an all-girl C.I. with only 7 small group leaders and 2 assistants for 90 girls! Although it was definitely chaotic at times, the Lord gave grace and creativity for each step. Most importantly, we shared many vital truths with them such as delighting in the special ways God made you, knowing how much He loves you, becoming good friends with your siblings, what true salvation means, and more.

One of my jobs was to lead the girls in memorizing 1 John 4:16-19. On the last day, they quoted the passage with hand motions for all the parents and did GREAT! I know that even if they forget who we are or the lessons we taught, the Word they have hidden in their hearts will not be in vain.

I was also in charge of coordinating the special interest groups where the girls got to do something hands-on…

Card-making was very popular. I came home with several cards and pictures the girls made for me. :)

The hair-do group – what girl doesn’t like to get her hair done??

Drawing – there were quite a few little artists!

Knitting was a big hit! We also had groups for games, drama, and choir.

Large group session

One afternoon, we took all the girls to the park where the boys’ program was going on. We got to play lots of outdoor games and learn valuable lessons from each one.

Wild monkeys live in the park and come around whenever they smell anything like food. So guess what happened when we pulled out bunches of bananas for snack? The monkeys surrounded the pavilion. Girls began screaming. We told them to just gather in the middle and sit down. They screamed some more. We told them to hurry and eat their bananas so the monkeys would go away. Little girls began stuffing bananas in their mouths and the chaos continued. Made for some hysterical memories. ;)

These girls and I sang song after song on the bus ride back…a special highlight for sure!

She was my favorite. :)

Our amazing leadership team!! Each one played a vital part in sowing seeds in the hearts of these young girls. Eternity will tell the fruit that God will bring forth!

Hi! I’m back home. :) Thank you so very much for holding me up in prayer during my time in southeast Asia. I stand amazed at all that God did and hope to give you a glimpse of His mighty work!

October 27 – the COMMIT team (Mr. and Mrs. Reed, Michelle, Caitlin, Mary, and myself) met up in California and traveled overseas together.

Me, Caitlin, and Mary, ready to board the plane in San Francisco! The longest leg of the trip was the 14-hour flight to Hong Kong. It wasn’t too bad, but I can’t say I’m a big fan of airplane food. :-S

Once there, we spent several days in Singapore recovering from jetlag, touring the botanical gardens, shopping in Chinatown, and preparing for the first conference to be held the next week.

View from my bedroom window

Shopping in Chinatown

FRESH coconut juice

Thomas and Pamela Teh were the coordinators of our entire trip. They took such good care of us! God is using their godly influence to disciple many Asian families.

Singapore is a very successful, clean, organized country – in some ways it seemed a lot like America.

Charissa (daughter of our host family), Caitlin, and I enjoying breakfast at a "hawker center"…sort of like an outdoor food court.

Michelle, Mary, and Caitlin – after doing so much planning via email, it was good to finally sit down together and work through lots of details in person!

On November 1, we took this bus from Singapore to Malacca, Malaysia where the ATI family conference would be held – about a 5-hour drive.

It took a little time to get used to driving on the left side of the road!

Alan, a local from the area, took our team on a historic tour of Malacca in this little van.

The view from the top of the fortress was incredible!

This was the closest thing to home I could find :)

I had heard lots of things about the legendary fruit of durian. Finally, I got a chance to try it for myself. Imagine a combination of slimy gooey-ness, a taste like onions and something kind of rotten, and a very unpleasant smell…and you have durian. I did manage to swallow it, but my first bite was my last bite!

Alan wasn’t worried that we didn’t like his favorite fruit – he had no problem finishing it off for us. :)

He treated us to his favorite local restaurant where we had coffee that would put Starbucks out of business! So delicious.

It was certainly different to see such a large Muslim presence. Hearing the Muslim prayer calls from the mosques made it very real! May the Lord send forth laborers into this harvest that so needs the Light of Christ.

Muslim school kids touring the historic buildings

At this point in the trip, a lot of fears that I thought I had dealt with before began resurfacing in my heart. Speaking, teaching, and leading are comfort-zone stretchers for me, and the other girls on our core team seemed to have it all together. I felt like the "weakling" and was frustrated that I was still battling fear in this area. Fear always stems from a lie, and the main untruth I was believing was that it was about ME… and whether I was good at speaking, whether I had an outgoing personality, whether I could come up with good ideas for our lessons, whether it all came as naturally for me as it did for the other girls, etc.. All of this became very overwhelming, and combined with the drastic changes of experiencing so many new things in a new country, I had a major meltdown!! Michelle listened as I sobbed my way through everything, and gently shared God’s TRUTH with me. After that, I began to listen….not to people’s opinions or Satan’s deceitful whispers, but to the LORD’S voice as He spoke His truth to my heart! I praise Him for another breakthrough in my journey to walking fearlessly in all that He calls me to do.