About Time!

Sorry we haven't done a post in a long while! We have been away from the internet on assignment. This will be Colins post in response to this past week, and later I believe Rachel will post also!

I can't go into much detail about our latest assignment. We will save that for a face to face talk sometime! But I can tell you about what amazing things we learned! Please click the read more button to keep reading, there are a lot of good things still to read in this post!




First of all, I would like to share with you where in the world we are since some of you might not know. We are on the Island of Borneo, which is actually quite large, in the country of Malaysia, in the province of Sabah, in the town of Kota Kinabalu (kk). (Look at the top right of the map) If you want to see where this is in relationship to other countries check out google maps!

This week we were traveling to do some photos and videos of a project happening in the interior. We went by bus 8 hours away to another city in Sabah. Then we took a 2 hour car ride to get to the center.

There we learned about the project there, and took photos and videos, and got to stay a few days with the guy in charge of the project there.

We were very humbled to not just see another way of life, but we got to live it.  The home we were staying in was typical for this area. It was up on stilts like many of the homes here, however this one actually have a first level. The outside was sided with wooden boards. The interior had panels of a thin wood and had many windows so as to allow the breeze to flow through. There is no running water or wells in this area so the homes rely on collecting rain water from their gutters to be stored in a large tank.

The drinking water is all purchased in town, however the collected rain water is what is used for daily water tasks like showering, flushing the toilet, and washing dishes. Because you never know when it will rain next, It's also important to conserve water. So the water used to wash dishes or shower is collected to be used to flush the toilet later.

The rest room was a bit different that we were used to. Instead of a the toilets we were used to in the states we had what is in the image to the left here. Basically instead of pulling a lever to flush you dump the water in that you had used to shower. I would be lieing if  I said that I wasn't scared when I first saw this toilet. But after you use one and you learn how to flush it's really know big deal. At this point I have no idea of what was uncomfortable about that before!

Taking a shower was also a bit different. Instead of having a shower head mounted on the wall, you stand in a wide mouthed bucket and use a smaller bucket to splash cold water on yourself. the bucket you stand in helps collect that water to be reused later. It was quite nice to have cold showers since it did get a bit hot during the heat of the day there.

I mention all of that to basically just say that It was really nice to realize just how accustomed to luxury we were, and how much of a gift it was from God that it was no big deal adjusting to this way of life. This is the norm for most people in the world probably.

While on this trip we also had the opportunity to go to two funerals. It was a bit awkward going to funerals where you didn't know the deceased, but also where you don't know anyone there, but it was a great chance to see all of the member of the village at once. I don't think we would have met or seen all of the people we did had it not been for that event. I think God placed us there at the time in order to pray for the families of the deceased.  We were glad to be able to do so as well.

When you don't have a tv or internet your evenings usually involve more socializing. Rachel and I loved getting to spend the evenings talking for long hours with the people we were staying with and getting to know them. Even though we were only there for a few days it really did feel like the 5 of us there were a family for that time. We miss being there already!

Throughout the trip we also met and talked with many people that shared with us a lot about their life. It was really inspiring. Through their stories and lives we are sooo amazed at what God is doing in the world. We have come back from this trip sooo refreshed!

We are now back In KK, took Friday off and are enjoying a weekend off by celebrating our 1 Year Wedding Anniversary by being lazy and going out to eat! It has been a great weekend so far!

I'm sorry if anything in this post is vague, if you want more details on anything, shoot me an email and feel free to ask! thewhitehursts@att.net

Thank you for all of your support and concern and prayers!
If you would like to pray for us this week, here are a few requests we have!

-That we would be able to edit all of the images and video we shot this week quickly
-That God would help us remember the experiences we had on this last trip
-For another great year of marriage!
-For our Upcoming Flight in one week to Kuching!

Thanks, Until next Time
-Colin