I’m really excited for the things that God has in store for month 8 of this journey in Malaysia. When I found out our location and ministry I wasn’t sure what to expect. Throughout the World Race, when our teams find out our assigned ministries and their locations just days before actually arrival, we have come to learn we never really know what to expect until we get there.
Things change…hey; it’s the world race.
But wow. This month.
We spent our first night in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at a hostel together as a squad, and I immediately fell in love with the city and Malaysia as a whole. The next day my team and I left on a four-hour bus ride to our ministry location in Kulim, Kedah Malaysia with Vineyard Music Mission. The scenery during the bus ride was beautiful. As tired as I was I didn’t want to sleep! We passed palm trees, forests of palm trees, and rocky mountainous terrain before arriving in Kulim.
Malaysia not like the other Southeast Asian countries because it has Islamic roots as opposed to the Buddhist roots in Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia. The three main people groups of Malaysia are the Malays (traditionally Islamic), Chinese, and Indian. Islam is the main religion of Malaysia, and it is actually illegal to evangelize to the Malays.
Our host this month is incredible, and his name is Pastor Mark Shan. His family is Indian, and his church/ministry serves the Indian community in Kulim. I am really excited to get a taste of Malaysia and India all in the same month—especially because India is not a part of my route. Pastor Mark has been hosting World Race teams since 2012, and he is a very welcoming and incredibly accommodating host. Pastor Mark has told us he wants to be our “spiritual father” and his wife our “spiritual mother” for the month, and we are coming into his family for this month. In the first half hour of him introducing us to the ministry I realized this month is an answer to a lot of prayers. Pastor Mark’s eldest son moved to India to study music professionally, and therefore creating an understanding through his son of what it is like to be in a foreign country away from family. The past couple of months I have been hit really hard with feelings of homesickness among other things, and by God’s grace I have my very own family away from home!
Vineyard Music Mission has three parts:
- Vineyard Church
- Music School
- Missions – locally and globally
Vineyard Church is a smaller church that caters towards the Indian community here in Kulim. Pastor Mark has hopes for the church to be rising up missionaries from the younger generation within the church community. In his words, “We have enough pastors, we need people to get out there and go!” This is where we come in. Our team is able to share our testimonies with the church members to hopefully plant seeds and share our stories of our journey this year.
Vineyard Music School helps to bring together those from within the church and outside of the church. Pastor Mark and his family are exceptionally talented musically. They offer Western music lessons including drums (taught by his middle son, Aaron), guitar, and keyboard (taught by his youngest daughter, Esther). In addition Pastor Mark also teaches music lessons of traditional Indian instruments.
Vineyard Music Mission operates through missions locally and globally. Locally they help with different children’s homes and orphanages, as well as music classes, and English classes. Globally Vineyard Music Mission is partnered with a leper village in India.
This month Team Ovida will:
- Spend time building relations, loving on the kids, and teaching English in a local orphanage
- Take part in multiple prayer walks in the different parts of the city
- Take part in prayer meetings following the prayer walks
- Engage in church activities including: worship service on Friday nights and Bible Study on Tuesday nights
- Teach English classes
- Engage with the community and learn more about Indian culture in Malaysia
I’m really excited for what this month has in store. We have an incredible host, an opportunity to further unite and dig in as a team, and a wonderful community that has welcomed us in with open arms.
Me with my host, Pastor Mark Shan
