We all started the day with Sanjay and David wandering off to MacD’s (A familiar breakfast), Grant, Madeleine and Stephanie (Local shop for something a bit more exotic) and Torben & Maria decided to stay in the apartment.

Then we all got together for a devotion time with Stephanie leading a short time of worship with Torben giving a devotional on positioning yourself daily in God and stepping out in boldness and being courageous.

After this the guys had some downtime for a few hours at the Bukit Jalil mall – just a small 4 level mall where you can travel around on two trains if you get tired of all the walking.

While the boys were doing this, the girls had gone along to a ladies meeting to share.

Maria and Madeleine gave their testimonies. There were about 20 ladies at the meeting. Maria shared an honest testimony about some difficult times in her life and God’s blessing in those times. Madeleine shared her testimony including how much she had learnt about Gods love for the lost.

Stephanie shared a great word on outreach and evangelism which included examples from her own life.

The 3 of them had a great time.

We all had a rest then we went out to the IOI Mall which is the largest mall in Southeast Asia and is the 3^rd largest mall in the world. This place was ginormous. The girls had fun shopping, and the guys went on a tiki tour checking out everything. Had dinner at a well-known Malaysian place called The Oriental Kopi.

Looking forward to tomorrow morning’s service at Putera Aman Assembly.

We started our day with  a worship song and prayer led by Stephanie, followed by Sanjay sharing a scripture of how Jesus sent His disciples for witnessing in Luke 9 &10  with power and authority.

Soon after our devotion,  around 9am we went to Putera Aman Assembly, followed by a light meal provided by the church for our team.

We had an anointed time of praise and worship. Also an awesome skit, played by Putera Aman church team on the topic “does Jesus really know you”. Then David shared a heart touching testimony  of how God wants us to move from being a bond servant and actually becoming God’s

friend. Then a special healing prayer for Ockie was lead by Madelein and the whole church prayed with her. Followed by Pastor Grant preaching on the Resurrected Jesus and the Access that His death, burial and resurrection has given to his disciples an us. At the end of the service we spent a powerful  time  ministering and  praying for people, for healing and restoration. Also Torben, Stephanie, Madelein and Grant prayed for Pastor Brian and his ministry.

Pastor Brian and his team has been very generous to us. He  took us for lunch at  “Banana leaf Spice Kitchen” for  us to get  a taste  of South Indian Authentic dish. Food was very delicious.

At around 3pm we were back into our apartment,  while the rest of us rested,

Maria and Stephanie sneaked out to take a dip in the swimming pool.

Around 5pm we went to  see Petronas Twin Towers, one of the tallest in KL and also a great place to take pictures. From there we  also took a taxi ride to KL’s China Town on Pitaling Street to experience the night Market. It has been a very blessed day.

We are looking forward to spend time in the orphanage from Monday, ministrying to the kids, please keep us in prayers.

Day four arrived and we are getting into a routine of breakfast, group devotion and going out to do what needs to be done for the day. Our group devotion every morning is such an encouragement. God is faithful and we can just so experience His presence every time. In the morning, we went to the Putra Mosque. Stephanie’s wealth of knowledge pertaining to everything middle eastern was such a blessing. She showed Maria and I how to wear our scarves. Everybody, including the guys, were dressed to the T. The mosque is an impressive and grandiose building. Inside, a few of us were chatting about the difference between western and eastern culture, when a tourist guide approached us. He was very enthusiastic to share his faith and we excused ourselves just before he made an alter call 😉. Outside, some interesting conversations took place. We are so glad we are serving the only living God. But, it is our hearts desire for all these beautiful people to meet Him.

We returned to our apartments and had a good rest. In hindsight, it was needed. In the afternoon we left to visit the Desa Amal Jireh Orphanage. It is an amazing set-up. The people at the facility are extremely friendly and hospitable. We had a tour of the place and an info session. Later we spent time with the kids during their hour playtime. It was exhausting but lots of fun😊. We were given a very nice dinner where after we had devotions with the different age groups. It was very insightful. Very tired but contempt, we arrived back at our apartments. Looking forward to seeing what God is going to do next. Thank you for all your prayers. It is sincerely appreciated.

The morning started with a word from Maria about taking from God’s storehouse so that we can be more generous in sharing God and ministering to others, all for the purpose of giving thanks to God.

Stephanie and Maria enjoyed some retail therapy while the others took time to prepare for the day ahead and rest.

The team were humble servants, cleaning and sorting at the orphanage this afternoon. It was very hot, and we all had to change before our dinner of whole fish.

We had devotions with the children again:

David’s kids learned a new song and saw pictures of the Prodigal Son.
Maria’s girls learned more about seeking God when they feel bad and loved the smiley face stickers.
Sanjay and Grant’s boys insisted on the stories of how they met their wives. They spoke about Jonah and the whale, using it as a good example of admitting when you do something wrong.
Madeleine’s girls were very well-behaved, thanks to marshmallow rewards, while she taught them about Samuel and how children can also hear from God. Torben’s group was so engaged as they learned about God and listened to Torben’s stories. Stephanie’s group had a special time sharing their hopes and desires.

Overall, it was a really positive day, and relationships were strengthened.

We started of the day with a devotion which focused on what can we take on board here in Malaysia that we can take back with us to New Zealand. In other words what areas of our lives have been challenged by this trip and how can we grow from being here.

Then we went off for the morning to the Mid Valley Mega Mall to look around, as thunderstorms were predicted for the day, and it was felt not to go to Malaka, because of the weather.

We had a very nice Malaysian lunch at Mama Kwan’s. A few challenges ordering food but we got there with help from friendly staff.

We had a bit of a rest day later, which was good, after helping in a physical way the day before. Some of us older people in the group 😊 needed to recuperate.

Then off again to the orphanage to have devotions with the kids. I’m so impressed with the boys’ group I lead, 16 and above. Their enthusiasm to want to worship and sing blows me away. Also, they are so intent on wanting to learn.

So a great end to the day.

We began the day with the regular routine we’ve established – downstairs at 7 for roti breakfast, I check if McDonalds is open for a cappuccino – they were not, so I settled for a cold ice coffee at our roti place. This morning we had the whole team around the breakfast table, and Sanjay and David fought over who got to pay the bill. Sanjay won coz David covered our lunch yesterday.

During the mornings team devotions, we took extra time to pray over several things. We prayed for Ockie, it’s been awesome to have had several windows in time where we are available pray as soon as a prayer request comes through, God has been arranging our time to accommodate for our intercession. Sanjay brought to us a prayer request from someone, it was of a sensitive nature so we shared wisdom and then covered the situation in prayer as well, prepping him to minister with the individual later.
Last but not least we stuck Grant in the middle and prayed for his ministry. What an awesome opportunity to be with him on his first trip in the commencement of his ministry and to pray and prophesy over him and Nee!

We headed off to Batu Caves, a popular Hindu worship sight and in the 1 hour drive there, several of us were preparing for our final night of devotions with our kids. Well done to Maria for prepping her box making activity in the car!

Batu Caves, brightly coloured temples everywhere, and probably as many monkeys as deities! But before we jumped out of the car we prayed a blessing over ourselves that just as Peters shadow in Acts 5:15 released healing and life over people as he passed, that the blessing of Jesus would be released as we walk.

We arrived at the orphanage at 2 ish, the ladies continued with their work to sort clothes while the men emptied another utility room.

The first dinner of the day was brought to us with joyful abundance by a family friend of the Cullums, Allison. It was as if she had been waiting all year to pour out such a feast on us! The best satay in Kagang! Mutton, chicken, and beef. ABC kachang and Rose sugar kachang, and coconut kachang. Plus a box full of coconuts! Young David took a few moments to continue his ministry to octogenarians – this time to some of the residents here at the orphanage. In addition to children, there are 14 senior citizens who are given accommodation here.

This is the last evening of delivering devotions to the kids. In my group I invited girls to come for prayer at the end of devotion time if they wanted to be filled with the Holy Spirit – what a privilege to do that with them! Three girls stayed back, and thankfully re-enforcements came to help me pray for each girl. Maria joined me and prayed and ministered to one girl. An older girl at the orphanage who is a youth leader, and wants to be a missionary and is applying for bible college came up to help pray for the girls. I asked her to pray for one of the girls while I took the third. So awesome!!!

At the end of the evening, Shanti, her mother Kamilla, and Florence wanted to shout us a Chinese dinner in Broga town (yes, second dinner). They had asked us to dinner the day before, we insisted on paying, they fought us … so during the day we teamed up to pool our rinngit so we could be quick on the draw. I was nominated to hold the purse.

Instructions for Sneaky Dinner Bill Paying:

1. Check all ordered dishes have been delivered to the table by asking “Are we getting any more dishes? I want to make sure I taste everything”

2. A little time later ask one of your hosts at the table where the toilets are (this works well if cashier is near toilets, which they were)

3. Pay for the meal

4. Casually walk back to the table and watch the slowly dawning shock on the faces of your hosts as they piece together the events – it’s too late! Bill has been paid!

5. Come up with a new tactic for next year.

Day eight of our trip and it started with the usual trip to have roti and curry for breakfast. This is a must for all Malaysian adventures. The focus of the day was getting our final preparations together for the seminar starting tonight in the orphanage on The Father Heart of God. The key message is going to be that our Heavenly Father will always be there for them and they can trust Him for their future. One of the kids lead the worship and did an amazing job. Torben shared a testimony and Sanjay did the main message. The response from the children was awesome and we look forward to another special morning with them tomorrow.

Today, our team started the day with a nice healthy fruit breakfast in the unit. Followed by a worship song led by Stephanie and a devotion message by Sanjay (we are God’s masterpiece).

At around 8:15am we head off to the orphanage for our last day of 2 sessions with the children. Stephanie led the the first worship song and played the Sword drill game. Ashley got the highest score with the 1st place, Mahesh 2nd then Andrew and Mary in the 3rd place. Kid’s had a lot of fun. Followed by two songs by the orphanage worship team. Grant shared his testimony and David brought the message on “Father heart of God.”

We finished this 2nd last session by awarding kids with a “Child of God certificate” and The Father’s Blessings by placing hands on them and declaring the promises from Deut 28.

Kids were also given an opportunity to place their finger prints on their bookmarks to remind them of the importance of their uniqueness to God. Maria shared her powerful testimony of how God has been graceful in their daughters lives with all their life challenges. Madelein shared a powerful message on the Father heart of God and what happens when we come to know God as our Father. We also had a ministry time with the children at the end . Some of them also asked for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Kid’s were so attached to the team that it was a heart breaking experience to leave the orphanage.
We reached back at our apartment by 1:15pm. Some of us sneaked out to McDonald’s to get a quick bite while others freshen up for our next service. We arrived Agape Community Centre Nilai church around 3:30pm. The whole church gave us a warm welcome. Madelein gave her testimony.  Stephanie shared a powerful message on ” Living life by the Spirit” from Isaiah 61. And how to stand and declare the Word of God instead of listening and accepting the voice of the enemy (Satan).

We had a wonderful time ministering prayer needs and felt a vibe of our home church. Pastor Nally and her husband were very generous to take us to try Malaysian Thai Cuisine. Food was delicious 😋. We had a long, but a very fruitful day. Team are very encouraged and looking forward to Sunday’s service.