I was able to dip my feet into a bunch of cool ministries in
Malaysia.
It was really a privilege to go to Malaysia and see what God
is doing through people and ministries there.
We started off the month with some cultural training, education,
and later, visits to mosques to help us interact with people in Malaysia. Food, culture, and religion are
generally popular conversational topics and it’s no exception here in
Malaysia. The food in Malaysia is
super yummy and definitely important to Malays. Indian, Chinese, Malay, it’s all tasty. It was Chinese New Year this month so
people were taking part in lion dances, receiving red envelopes with money
inside, and other interesting festivities. The Malays are legally Muslim, and others in Malaysia
practice Chinese religion, Hinduism, Buddhism. Mosques and temples line the cityscape and the public prayer
rooms show the importance of adhering to the ritualistic prayer time.
Back to the topic of food, we participated in a weekly street
feeding program in downtown Kuala Lumpur.
What really struck me about the program is that it was run with
excellence and with the intent of honouring the participants. The people attending are regarded as
the discards of society. However
during this time these people are treated with dignity by being served a
delicious and well presented meal, and they receive medical attention from
volunteer doctors. Top it off with
live music and good company – good times.
Still on
the topic of food… we worked in the restaurant that our contacts Peter and
Carol own and operate. It was
almost nostalgic for me to get back into the graceful bustle of the restaurant
business. It was inspiring to see
Peter and Carol using their business as a ministry tool to provide people with
jobs, housing, and offer their employees spiritual and practical guidance.
We took a
hiatus from city life and ventured out into the jungle for a couple days. In the jungle, we went to small
villages and played games, sang songs, and shared from the bible and spoke
about what God is teaching us.
I loved
our short stint in the jungle.
We also
had the opportunity to be involved in interceding on behalf of women working in
brothels or in prostitution.
Prostitution is acceptable in society because there is an understanding
that this will prevent men from cheating on their wives with other women. In this way, prostitution promotes a
healthy society. Skewed way to
look at it… We also worked with
women who are given the opportunity to leave the sex industry and earn money by
making jewelry.
Lastly,
we went to refugee schools and taught English there. The children were refugees from Myanmar. When I was teaching them about travel
vocabulary I asked them how they travelled to Malaysia… the answers included walking,
taking busses, and trains. I can
only imagine their stories and journey they’ve been through already.
In
Malaysia, the Myanmar people are under the cover of the UN; not the Malaysian
government. So these children
receive no public education.
Christian organizations that we partnered with see to it that the they
receive education. These children
and their stories pulled on my heart and I am interested in knowing more about
how I can be involved in bringing justice to this situation.
God
speaks right into their situation about how even though these children may not
have a country to call their own, they are called children of God (1 John
3:1-3), we belong to Christ, despite our nationality or culture (Galations
3:26-4:7) a chosen people and holy nation (1 Peter 1:9) , they have citizenship
in heaven!
God is
showing me this crazy truth, that through His grace I truly belong to Him, and
that God not only intends for us to receive redemption from the law, but so
much more…. also to receive the full right of sons and daughters, we are
co-heirs! Sweetness. I encourage you to dive into this rich
truth with me and ask God about what this means applied in your life.
