I am currently on month 6 of my 11 month journey called the World Race. I am now at the halfway point and simply cannot believe how fast time has flown by. This month I am staying in Kulim, Malaysia. My team, Righteous Oaks, is partnering with a local church and working with the Indian community specifically. So far December has been a great month and the lord is doing so many things in this country through this ministry.
God has placed a lot on my team’s plate this month and has blessed us with a lot of ministry for us to engage in while we stay here in Kulim. As I previously stated, we are partnering with a local church which I cannot name. For me to do so would put the ministry in jeopardy. You see, Malaysia is a very interesting place with a very different religious and political environment than that of the US. In Malaysia, the Malay government will say the country has complete religious freedom but in reality that isn’t the case. If you are a Malay then by birth you are a Muslim, there is no say in the matter. It is illegal to evangelize to these people and if you are caught trying to convert them odds are that you will end up in jail. If, however, you are Malaysian citizen but of a different ethnicity (Chinese or Indian) then you have a say in which religion you choose to follow and you will not face persecution if you choose to minister towards these people. You see, in Malaysia there are 3 main people groups, the native Malays (musilms), Chinese, Indians, and then others. Most of the Chinese in Malaysia follow Buddhism or Taoism and the large majority of the Indians are Hindus with a small minority of them being Christians. (The church I am with this month is made up of all Indians) There hasn’t been much room for Christianity and its western roots here in Malaysia and that is due to the bad rep the early missionaries got back when the country was colonized and also the country’s strong Islamic influence.
Going to church in Malaysia looks a lot different on the outside but the service itself looks a lot like one in the states. The church my team is living at is on the second floor above a family pharmacy. One thing that is very different about this church and most churches in Malaysia is you will not see the word church on any sign. I’m not sure if its a law or simply taboo but you will rarely see the word church on any of the signs. This church operates a music school as part of its ministry so you’ll find the music school’s sign in place of where a church sign should be. Despite these differences, Malaysia is still an incredible place to be and worship. While it may be an extremely spiritually dark place, there is a desperate need for the Kingdom and the Love and light of Christ.
This month my team and I have been doing a lot of relational ministry. We spend time walking around the neighborhood and engaging the locals. This includes having a conversation with the sweet lady at the laundry shop or the woman and or child at the small corner store right next to our church. Almost every evening we would walk down to the small food stand on our street and talk to this sweet Indian couple running it. Side note, if you are ever in Kulim you need to go to this stand, they make the best chipotee from scratch and their spicy noodles are incredible. They are such endearing people and every time I get to see them my spirit is lifted. One day we went around passing Christmas cookies to all the people we have built relationships with within the neighborhood and seeing the joy in their faces when we handed them the cookies melted my heart. Doing this kind of ministry isn’t easy, in fact it can be very difficult and even stressful at times. Not everyone is open to talking to the weird white people in town. It can be very awkward at times but God has stretched me and taught me a lot through doing this. I have learned that life is all about relationships and it is through these relationships that the Kingdom is built, not by simply adding numbers to the church. The Kingdom is about multiplication, not addition.
My team has also spent time learning Christmas Carols and then going to the homes of some of the church families and performing them in front of the entire family. This has been a huge blessing for me to take part in. One of my favorite things on the World Race is to be invited into the home of one of the locals and simply indulge in raw fellowship. It is an incredible thing to connect with these people in their own homes and bless them with some carols. One really good bonus about caroling in Indian homes is that it is their culture to always feed their guests. So we go in there and sing a few songs and then they bless us with a feast. It is times like these, when I am in these people’s homes, sharing with them the love of Christ through the act of fellowship, that I am reminded why I am on the World Race.
Just a few other things my team has been doing this month has been taking part in prayer walks around the town, visiting a local orphanage, praying over families in their homes, helping out with the music school, and even taking part in the Church service and worship. This month has been great because I get to play bass on stage every week and get to participate in the worship band just like I did back home. I also had the honor of delivering the sermon one week. My team was even put in charge of the Christmas Eve service.
You’re probably wondering what Christmas is like here in Malaysia. Well, the temperature is very hot and humid rather than cold and snowy like back home and there are very few Christians here so Christmas is more so just a large commercialized holiday. This year it looks a lot different for me because I will be spending it with a new a family, and this family happens to be Indian. I will be spending Christmas dinner with the pastor’s family eating a lot of traditional Indian foods. Even though this will be my first Christmas away from my family and friends back home, it will be a wonderful own nonetheless.
So as you can tell this month has been a challenging and stretching at times but it was also a blast. I am constantly learning more about God and what it truly means to be his son and what that looks like on a day to day basis. Malaysia is an incredible place with a great amount of diversity. There is a lot of spiritual darkness but the Lord is still doing some incredible work here and I got to see it first hand this month.
Soon I will be inThailand and I expect God to show up in a big way just like He has this month.
My Christmas Wish!
I only want one thing for Christmas this year and that is to meet my final fundraising deadline on time. In order for me to be fully funded, I still need to raise about$3,200 by January 1st. I humbly ask that you prayerfully consider blessing me this Christmas with a financial gift. Tis the season of giving and I pray that you will help me stay on this incredible mission God has called me on. If you would like to make a tax deductible donation, then please click this link.
Thank you for your time and support and may God bless you abundantly this holiday season!
