the most important decision she will ever make.

Posted on by Gina Garcia

Life and death is not something we think about in America when we decide to profess faith in Christ. Most likely your families will not disown you if you become a Christian. In America we are allowed to practice Christianity without the possibility of being beaten or thrown in jail. We are not persecuted for our faith. However, this has been the reality I have been living in these past 9 months. This risk for myself is far less than some of my friends. Living here has given me a new perspective on the very real dangers facing Christians in other countries.

I was having lunch with a friend yesterday and she was telling me how one of her friends from another country became a Christian. He felt that since he had been close with his dad he could share with him about this change he had made. His dad said to him “You are not my son, you are dead to me.” I thought, how could a father say that to his own son, just because he has chosen to believe in Jesus. A couple of days later he started getting phone calls that his life was in danger. His father had told the secret police, who could take him back to his country where he would be killed for his faith. He is currently trying to leave my country for a non-Asian country where he will most likely be safe.

THIS IS REAL!!! The dangers of becoming a Christian here are very real. Yet even knowing the dangers he has still chosen to trust in God. What a testament to his faith.

I have a friend who recently accepted Christ. For her safety I will not mention her name or where she is from. For her, choosing Christ is much more than a decision. She knows that if she goes back to her country and people find out she could be beaten and killed. She knows that one day she must tell her family, and they will disown her. She knows that she does not have an easy time ahead of her. She knows all of these things yet she still has chosen to profess faith in Christ. WOW! If you were in her shoes could you do the same? She is so incredibly joyful all the time and constantly thanking God for his gift of grace. It is encouraging to see how on fire she is for the Father and how willing she is to learn! She is growing strong in her faith everyday and is constantly asking questions. She chose life and may face death because of it. Please keep my friend in your prayers that she would stay safe and grow in her faith and that she would always trust in God and seek His face.

I live in a population with 61% Muslims and only 6% Christians. A very scary reality that the people I sit next to on the train, the people I teach, and the people I pass on the street are headed to an eternity separated from God. That doubled with the realization that I only have 70-something days left has kicked me into high gear and I am filled with a sense of urgency to share the good news. I am grateful that I can so freely worship my God without consequence. Choosing Christ isn’t more than a decision for us in America and we should be so amazingly overjoyed because of it. Friends, we have it easy, do not take for granted the freedom you have in your faith.

a day in my shoes (longest post ever)

Posted on by Gina Garcia

my day starts with jasmine green tea:)

My sister asked me to blog about a normal day in Malaysia but there is no “normal” day for us here so this is my day today. Woke up, went to another city to tutor at a college, met some people and talked with them for a couple of hours, came back to my city, and had dinner. That’s just today, sometimes we don’t have many things to do and other times our schedule is so packed I wonder when we will get a break. Its all fun and the more time I spend here the more I love it. So here it is, my day today.

leaving our house to go get a "teski"

walking along the side of a road

teski!!

waiting for a train ticket

waiting waiting waiting..

my teammate alli stole my camera

team on the train!!

going to school to hang out with whoever will talk to us

goofing off of course

emily always has a snack ready:)
sitting in the cafeteria

my chinese name means beautiful flower (practicing our Chinese)

we made some new friends!

and saw some old friends

DANCING ON THE TRAIN

traffic ):

dinner

Thank you Kingsland!

Posted on by Gina Garcia

Kingsland family, because of your financial support for our missions ministry, my team was able to take 14 people on a faith-building retreat up into the beautiful (COLD) mountains of Malaysia.

Let me tell you, this trip was amazing, and not just because the temperature was below 25ºC the whole time. We left KL on a Friday evening and started what was supposed to be a 3 hour bus ride up into a beautiful place called Cameron Highlands. I’m not a good travel companion because I get very motion sick very fast — lucky for the others I  remembered to take my dramamine and slept the whole way. It took us about four and a half hours to get there because of traffic and weather but we finally arrived at midnight!

We started the next day with a delicious breakfast of pancakes and oatmeal followed by two morning teaching sessions. Our guest speaker taught on how to live out your faith practically and how to tell others about what you believe. He did a wonderful job of explaining how and why to talk about your faith and taught them things like the Romans road and bible storying. We went into town for lunch and visited a tea plantation and went back to the house and had another session. We then proceeded to get the fireplace going and played hide and go seek and had a massive pillow fight.

Two of my favorite moments happened that night. First, we went outside as a group and under the stars we sang worship songs to our King. The second, similar, but seemed much more intimate happened when my 2 teammates and I went outside around midnight, sat on the wet grass under the stars  singing praise and reading scripture to and about our wonderful God. I am truly blessed to be working with these amazing girls!

Sunday morning started with a review of  what we had learned the previous day followed by sessions led by myself and one of my other teammates, Alli. We were sad to leave after such a wonderful weekend but most of them had schoolwork to do so we had to :-( I recorded video messages from the students, thanking Kingsland for your support. I hope to have it up within a few weeks.

Kingsland, you don’t know how much this meant to our team and our students. You are investing in the lives of these people half a world away and have given them the opportunity to not only grow closer to the Father but to learn how to expand the Kingdom. On behalf of my team and my friends here in Malaysia, THANK YOU!!!

Cameron Highlands

Learning

Steamboat for dinner

Friends from Africa and China

The girls at a tea plantation

Alli, Emily, and I

Not A Fan

Posted on by Gina Garcia

In January I took up the challenge to read one Christian book a month until the end of my term in Southeast Asia. Realizing how the last two books I have read have been very insightful and useful to my life here, I plan to continue the challenge even after I get back home.

The book I am reading this month is “Not a Fan” by Kyle Idleman. I must say I didn’t know what to expect when I first started reading it, mostly because I had never heard of Idleman and didn’t know anything about the book. Turns out I really love this book and Idleman’s writing. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. WARNING: This is not a “feel good” book. This is a stick a knife in your gut and twist it kinda book. This book is amazing and really makes you consider your walk with God.

The basic premise of the book: Kyle is asking whether you are a fan of Jesus (which he describes as an enthusiastic admirer) or a follower of Jesus (which he defines as wherever, whenever, whatever). In the first few chapters he talks about determining the kind of relationship you have with Jesus — knowledge of Him vs. intimacy with Him; decision or commitment. I have to say that the last one got to me. The next few chapters discuss your personal relationship with God. In the last bit of the book he breaks down Luke 9:23.

So blah, blah, blah. I could sit here all day saying how great the book is but here is what I took away with me. Somedays I do live life as a fan. I’m there with Jesus in the good times. However, when things start to get rough or uncomfortable I tend to turn to myself or worldly things for comfort or acceptance.

I must “come after” Jesus as a lover. He wants me to love Him with all that I am and put Him above everything and everyone else. I must deny myself and totally surrender my life to Christ as if I am His slave. I learned that a bond-slave is a person who chooses to stay a slave even after their commitment to their family is up — a person who gives up everything to their master, probably because they know that they are better off being a slave for them than they would be otherwise. I want to be a slave of Jesus and to be bound to Him always.

I should “take up my cross daily.” Kyle puts this in a very straightforward way, explaining that this means an everyday death. Luke 9:23 is an invitation from Christ to come and die. Being hung on a cross as a form of death was a symbol of suffering and humiliation. Before crucifying their victims, the Romans would beat them to within the brink of death. If you think that you can go through life easy then think again because you can’t carry a cross without suffering. Kyle poses an interesting question, “Am I really carrying a cross if there is no suffering or sacrifice? When was the last time your relationship with Jesus cost you something other than a little bit of uncomfortableness?” The last part is to “follow Him” — wherever, whenever, and whatever.” Pretty self explanatory.

This book helped me determine how I am presenting the gospel and what my relationship with Christ looks like. Denying ourselves is something we must do everyday as Jesus’ followers, not just something we try to do. What does your life look like and does it reflect what you believe? Are you a fan or a follower?

You can learn more about the book at www.notafan.com.

Thailand | The Land of Ties!

Posted on by Gina Garcia

Last week was the celebration of Chinese new year. Tons of oranges, red lanterns, and fireworks everywhere. Actually people are still setting off fireworks right now as I write this … at 12 am. Anyway, my two new teammates and I took a trip to Thailand last week that turned out to be better than we expected. I must say that Thailand is now one of my favorite countries that I’ve visited so far. It’s beautiful and the weather is fantastic!

My teammate and I decided to make it our mission to find the perfect ties while we were in Thailand — and, I must say, I believe I did. Light blue silk with little elephants on it (you’re welcome dad). We also took this opportunity to make as many puns using the word thai (tie) as we could and I have to confess they weren’t very good.  But nevertheless we still continued to annoy people all week with what we thought was wittiness. After 9 hours of babysitting six two-year-olds everyday, the best relief was, of course, shopping at the night market! We also got Thai massages for about 3 US dollars. It was fantastic. I opted for a back and neck massage along with one of my new friends. They took him into the room before me and about 10 minutes later it was my turn. I followed a 40 something year old up the stairs to this small room with mats on the floor and the first thing I see is this Thai woman on her elbows and knees on my friend’s back. I immediately thought, “Oh my goodness what did I get myself into!?” It actually felt pretty incredible. I can honestly say, best back massage ever!

One of our first nights there we bought some paper lanterns and decided to light them and send them into the sky. It was so much fun watching them float up, I felt like I was in the movie Tangled :-)

This trip was a time of firsts for me and for my teammates as well. On our third night there we asked the hotel concierge where we could get the most authentic Thai food. She did not disappoint us. Map in hand, we took off down the back roads of Thailand in search of a little restaurant. We got lost only once, I might add! We eventually found the place and, at first glance, it seemed to be a nice outdoor restaurant with beautiful gardens surrounding the tables.

This dreamy feeling lasted only until we were handed our menus and were quite surprised with what we saw: pig brains, chicken innards, and frog soup were some of the many strange things on the menu. However, I was feeling a little adventurous that night and so was my teammate. We ordered the frog soup. It was actually pretty good, very spicy, it tasted like chewy chicken. I enjoyed every bite until I got to the skin, then I had to stop.

Apparently my other teammate was also feeling adventurous because when someone said “Hey look at this tiny chili pepper … I mean we’re in Thailand, someone should eat it!” She decided to take on the challenge. As you can see by the reaction picture, she did not enjoy eating it. Although it did produce some very funny quotes such as, “Spicy isn’t even a word anymore,” or “Are my ears bleeding?” and, my personal favorite, “Am I breathing fire?” Needless to say I don’t think she will be eating anymore chili peppers on this trip. It was an incredible trip and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to go!

The Hardest Time

Posted on by Gina Garcia

Hello all I know I haven’t written in quite some time but I plan on being better these next 6 months!

I am in no way a writer. I really do not posses my father’s talent to write so eloquently what I am thinking or feeling. But for this post I do not need to conjure big words or fancy sayings. I feel the subject matter will stand on it’s own.

I believe most, if not all, of you who read my blog also read my father’s blog and are well aware of the hardship my family is going through. My Uncle Craig was a man of extraordinary strength and faith who lived his life as I wish to live mine. I have never known him to be unkind or unpleasant. Some of my favorite memories revolve around listening to my uncles many stories of his time in Navy. Being a career military man serving 3 deployments and 30 years in the Navy, you better believe he had some amazing stories to tell. My uncle had an unwavering faith that never diminished even when given the news of his illness. If anything, that only made his faith stronger. Uncle Craig displayed his faith for all to see, and unknowingly gave me an amazing example of how I should live my life daily.

Little did I know that the last time I would see my uncle in person was June 2011 when I drove to Corpus Christi to see them before I left for this trip. When I got the news of his rapid decline I spent the day in my room crying and praying, wishing I could go back home to be with my family. I got to Skype with him for the first and last time in December and what struck me the most was not his obvious decline or extreme weight loss, it was that he had a smile on his face.

My Uncle Craig, Captain Reynolds, was a hero not only to the men he rescued in the Vietnam war, but to me. He was a bright light that shone in a world full of evil darkness. Although he is gone his light still shines through the people he knew and the people who loved him.

Another Six Months

Posted on by Gina Garcia

Sometimes a surrendered life to God means expecting Him to completely alter your plans. Four months ago I wrote telling you that I would be going on what I thought would be a six month mission to Malaysia. However, God has made it clear that it is His plan for me to remain here in this city for another six months. This is not a decision I have entered into lightly and I am confident that this is what the Lord has for me at this time in my life.

Yes, I anticipate struggles but as he has been my strength thus far, I am confident that He will continue to be strong in my weakness. It has been my greatest blessing throughout the past few months to be connected here where God has not only grown in the hearts of the students I work with but in my own heart as well. I know with all my heart that “greater things have yet to be done in this city.” Thanks for your continued prayers.

Kuala Lumpur at night.

A Taste of Home

Posted on by Gina Garcia

Tonight we had an end of the school year pot luck for all of our friends! I made some Mexican food that made me feel so at home and I also got to experience a little taste of Africa and Korea! This is a great way to get connected with students and meet new people as well. And, it’s also a lot of fun. Afterwards we played charades and their favorite game — Signs. We had a good time hanging out with our friends and meeting some new people!

My calabaza con pollo was a big hit!

I didn't cook my Spanish rice correctly, but it still tasted great!

Black bean and corn salsa. My personal favorite!

Oh, yeah! We also introduced our students to the piñata. I’ve never seen so many college students rush for candy like kids at a party. It was so much fun to watch!

The piñata was a big hit! No pun intended!