Brokenness Behind The Scenes

Each day, I am slowly learning that Penang can be a lot like home. People go about their own business each day, carrying out their own routine no matter what. But you see something different when you intentionally seek to meet people where they are at, seek to see their heart, not their routine.

We have been partnering with PenHOP, a house of prayer that has allowed me to deepen intimacy in my relationship with the Lord and hear Him when he speaks to me. I have met some of the most passionate, Christ exalting people here. We have also worked with a cafe called Let’s Meat that is expanding not only their shop, but their ministry as they open their very own church, expand their restaurant, and build a rock climbing gym. Sometimes building the kingdom may quite literally mean “build”.

While both of these ministries have grown me and stretched me in so many ways, it’s the people that I’ve met when doing street outreach or just exploring the city that have really touched my heart. These people suffer so much, and do so without the hope in Jesus that we so strongly profess. Their country and race forces them into allegiance to a god that is powerless, a god that cannot save them. By immersing ourselves into society, we meet people who otherwise may never know the love of Christ.

As you walk past a mosque, where the crippled, disabled, and sick must wait outside, it is easy to see the brokenness that plagues people there. When you walk through the back alleys of Time Square, Penang, you see up close the sex trafficking industry, and you can actually feel darkness in the atmosphere. To meet someone where they are, you may have to physically go there.

I have seen the lost and the lonely, the hurt and the poor, the sick and the outcast, and I my heart yearns for them to know the hope and grace that God freely provides.

Had I been in Penang for anything other than to love on broken people, I would not have seen these places and these people. I would not have seen the life that they live under the shadow of a society painted to hide its flaws. Yet, these are people Jesus came to save, just like you and me.

These few weeks have already convicted me of how little I seek out people to encourage, love, and care for, wether in a physical location or just in the hearts of those around me. Brokenness is in everyone. We all have baggage; so many of us work to hide it while so few seek to discover it in us. The truth is, brokenness is what God uses to show us our need for Him and his compassion. As we encourage one another to bring burdens to Jesus, as Matthew 11:28-30 calls us, then we allow each other to experience the healing power of Christ. Why then do we ignore the hurt when we could be restored by the One who created and saved every one of us? And why do we sit back when we know those we love are hurting?

As I go home in a few weeks, I am challenging myself to dig deeper into relationships and seek out ways to encourage and love my friends, family, and community well, helping them to experience God as I have these few short weeks. I am also inspired to allow others to encourage me, breaking down the barriers that I put up to hide my shame and hurt and letting myself be truly embraced by the love of my Father. I encourage y’all to do the same.

This life is not meant to be lived alone. We need others to remind us that our flaws are a divine invitation for God to make us stronger, because why fix something that was never broken? He is the glue that makes us whole again, even more beautiful and glorious than before. So, let us set out to be a kingdom minded people, desiring above all else to love people and give them hope in Jesus Christ, who became broken himself that we may have life to the full.