Patience is a Pain

The first month of our missions work has looked a little different than expected. We arrived in Thailand after a 30-hour travel day, just to immediately be put in a detention center where we were held for over 6 hours. Then we were told that we were being deported back to our home countries, separated between the U.S. and Nicaragua. We begged, pleaded, and negotiated until they allowed us to be deported somewhere nearby together. We were sent to Singapore late that night after being in airports for what felt like a century. 

We woke up in Singapore the next morning feeling confident and hopeful. We were ready to make the most out of the 3 days that we were told we needed to wait until we would receive the visa and re-enter Thailand. The confidence began to fade when 3 days turned to 5, then 8, then 10. We had no idea what was going on and no control of the situation. After 10 days of calling and emailing the embassy and receiving zero information on our case, we decided to move north to Malaysia, where it would be significantly cheaper since Singapore had wiped out our entire emergency fund completely. 

We continued waiting in Malaysia, a little less patiently this time. After 10 more days of waiting, we received a notice saying that we had to submit everything again and start the waiting process all over. We submitted it as soon as possible and after 3 more days were told that they still needed more from us. Once everything was finally squared away, we felt great that we would definitely be heading to Thailand in the coming days. Little did we know that the embassy would be taking the entire next week off to celebrate Chinese New Year, meaning zero visa approvals for the next 7 days. 

So here we sit, in our cheap hostel without air conditioning, 34 days after we were guaranteed a 3 day wait for a Thai visa, trying to stay patient. It is pretty well known that patience is definitely not my thing, but this time feels a little different. I feel a weird sense of peace in it all. I have been going through a Bible reading plan called “The Bible Recap” that I highly recommend if you want to read through the Bible chronologically in a year. You read a few chapters every day and watch a short explanation/devotional about the chapters and their cultural/historical context. It is so wild how God has used each day’s reading to shape our hearts. For example, when we were in the detention center, hot, exhausted, and in fear of being separated, I decided to open the Bible app to not lose my streak. This is weird because everyone around us in the center had their phones confiscated, but we still had access to ours. 

In the midst of wondering what God was doing, frustrated that our timeline was being thrown off, and nervous to see where we would end up, the reading that day was the story of Joseph. As I opened the Bible app and began reading, it took no time at all to draw similarities and be filled with peace. Joseph didn’t plan to be sold into slavery or thrown in jail. He had no idea what God was doing in his life, but he had faith. He trusted God’s timing, He trusted God’s plan. He knew that it was all pieces of a puzzle yet to be put together. He couldn’t see the bigger picture, but he knew there was one and that it was good. We took solace in this. We felt relief knowing that His timing is always good. I even felt peace about going to Nicaragua if Allan was sent there. We felt 100% sure that wherever he sent us was for a reason and however long we had to wait was all part of His plan. We trusted that He would use us wherever we went.

During our long bus ride from Singapore to Malaysia, I cried out to God again to use us. It had been 10 days and still no ministry connections. I reached out to a friend in Thailand and asked if she had any connections in this country. She reached out to her neighbor, who reached out to a friend, who introduced us to her team. They had been praying desperately for the Lord to send someone to aid in their new website. As missionaries, they were not in a place to pay for a website, but in this day and age, they could not continue to thrive without one. They offered us a place to stay and unlimited meals in exchange for building them a website. Allan worked night and day around the clock for over a week with their team to create something truly amazing. They were stunned by his skills and willingness to continually add, edit, and create for them for free. They could not stop singing his praises. They could not stop thanking the Lord for interrupting our trip to send us there.

As soon as we met the team, we knew exactly why the Lord had delayed our trip to Thailand. The group loved to joke, “Sorry, we were praying too hard for someone to come help, God had to delay your visa to send you to us.” We laughed every time they said it, because that really was how it felt. I was so worried about being delayed from starting ministry, when all the while God was bringing us straight to the ministry that needed us most. He really does know best. 

We finished our project with the team and said our goodbyes. Now we wait to see where the Lord sends us next. We feel significantly more peace now then we did coming into Malaysia a few weeks ago. We trust in His timing, because we have seen that it is good. We can hold on to the idea that His plan is better than ours, because we just lived it. We didn’t plan to visit Malaysia, yet here we are. We never would have connected with that group unless we were brought here. We prayed for the Lord to open the doors where He wanted us and close them where He did not. That is exactly what He did. We were so distraught that He closed the Thailand doors for the time, but praise Him that He opened new doors we didn’t even know existed in Malaysia. 

I wonder if Joseph, once he became a high official, ever thought back to all of the hardships and saw them all fit into the puzzle perfectly. Did he recognize that everything that seemed to block his path at the time was actually paving his way? We can start to see it now. We are learning to thank God for every open and closed door, because we have no doubts that they are all part of His master plan, a plan that is good, timing that is perfect, and a God that never fails. 

Thank You, Lord, for sending us to Malaysia.

-KALLAN