Most people would really envy what we did this past month in Malaysia. I
could put some really pretty pictures of the country side and jungle along
with this blog, but the reality of the situation is, if I were to add
pictures, the Malaysian government would most likely research there
location and arrest the people we worked with and shut down their
operation. Malaysia is a closed country and doesn't want anything to do
with Christianity. In fact the government has laws in place to make harming
Christians justifiable. Their constitution allows for freedom of religion,
however it also states any person born in Malaysia to Malaysian parents is
Muslim. Their law also makes it illegal to convert or change religions. So
you see, this makes thing rather challenging when the entire purpose of me
being in Malaysia is to usher people in to the Kingdom of God.
I'll give you a little glimpse into our life this month. We came into
Malaysia from Thailand after being stuck at the border crossing overnight.
When we finally did make it in, we had an 8 hour bus ride to the capitol
city of Kuala Lumpur. In Kuala Lumpur our contact gave us very little
instructions on how to get to our hostel. All we knew was to take a cab to
a hotel which was close to our hostel. But this is not uncommon for world
race life, therefore everything worked out just fine and we made it to our
hostel. After talking with our contact he gave us our first ministry for
the month. Due to the sensitive nature of their work, I cannot give names
at this point. Because our team had just changed a couple of nights before,
and our new contacts wanted to split us up, we went to a different ministry
first were we would all be together.
We spent the first week of Malaysia in Port Klang fellow shipping with
pastors and encouraging believers in secret churches and secret meetings.
After the first week was over, we came back to Kuala Lumpur and began our
original ministry. Sometime in the week we were gone, our ministry figured
out how to make it work where we were all kept together while working with
them. Our first task was to disappear an hour and a half in to the
Malaysian jungle and build a farm. Literally! When we arrived at the farm
we learned it is a fruit farm. They produce durian fruit, mangostine fruit,
bananas and ginger so far. There is a two room structure with a
kitchenette, a few beds (disassembled) and quite a lot of building supplies
and equipment. Phillip and I were given the task of digging holes for fence
posts, while the ladies were tasked with cleaning up the "house" so we had
a place to sleep and eat. A later discovery of tables and chairs made the
"house" feel a little bit more normal. There is running water but it is fed
from a waterfall and often becomes clogged and the cistern runs out of
water. There was no electricity or any of the western comforts except a bed
and toilet.
This was the type of place where you are constantly on the alert for
leeches on you, pythons above you and cobras under you. Oh and you must be
on alert for sick or injured tigers wandering from their territory to the
farm land seeking refuge. Sounds like fun!? Our biggest task of the
adventure was to build a fence surrounding the entire property. This
doesn't sound like such a difficult task, however you must remember, this
is not only the jungle but also the mountains. More simply, some of the
place we had to put fence are places people will probably never set foot
again, and for good reason. We were also tasked with setting foundations
for homes, digging and laying sewer pipe, building an equipment shed,
adding temporary electricity to the current structures, clearing land and
harvesting fruit. However, in two weeks we never harvested any fruit
because the locals come onto the land and steal the fruit, hence the need
for a fence.
Through all this incredibly hard work it was difficult to see God in every
leech pulled off, swing of a hoe, slither of a snake or cut of a chain saw.
But one thing we all have been learning since we left the west is how to
live ministry, which means finding God in every situation and responding in
the way which gives Him the most glory. If you don't think this is
difficult, you should try to implement this in your life for three days.
Here is the secret, you have to remove yourself from every situation and
only think about Gods glory. Living ministry to the fullest is being
entirely selfless in every single situation even when you are at your most
uncomfortable state. No, we haven't mastered this yet; we are still in
process. But when you are in the midst of the jungle it tends to be more
and more difficult with each passing day.
There are a lot of things about the world race I may not be enthusiastic
about or full heartily believe in. However living ministry and consistent
criticism, both positive and constructive, are areas in which the world
race has something figured out. It was truly amazing, not unexpected, but
amazing to see how we still found our family roots and loved each other
this month during some of the most difficult of situations. Gods glory
began to shine in every scale of a snake and every spike of the durian
fruit. Look up a durian, it will make more sense. The jungle was most
definitely a time of struggle and even more so a time when we thrived. To
say the least, this was the best hardest month of the race and these next 7
months are going to have a hard time beating Malaysia.
As He leads me,
Jason
