January was our fastest month on the Race yet. We traveled across the country and back to the city we passed through before debrief. We first traveled to the wrong city, and spent 24 hours traveling on a bus that should have taken a mere 4 hours. When we were in the city before debrief, I could feel the darkness there, and prayed the Lord would not bring me back. Well, the Lord had other plans, and there we landed for a month! We were in Chang Lun, Malaysia working at a kindergarten that was starting the week we got there. Our contacts began the kindergarten because the Lord told them to use it as a tool to bridge the gap between the different races and religions within the country.
Malaysia is made up of Malay people, Indian people, and Chinese people. The predominant religion is Islam, but some people are also Hindus or practice Buddhism. The government is currently in the process of making the country into a solely Islamic nation. It is illegal to publicly share the gospel in this country and you can be put into jail without trial if caught. The most recent development in the country, is that the government wants to burn all of the Bahasa Bibles (the Bibles in the Malay native language) because they use the word “allah” to mean God. The government wants the rights to that word to be only for Islam. Because of the resistance towards Christianity, we were not allowed to talk about the Lord while we were there, unless we used code words or talked about Him in our house. We had worship nights, prayer nights, and church service in our house with the windows covered.
The family we worked with is an Indian family that followed the Lord from a city in Malaysia that allowed Christianity to Chang Lun, where they are persecuted for their faith almost daily. Despite this, they are some of the most joyful, spirit-filled people I have ever met. They consider it joy to be persecuted for their faith, which was inspiring to watch. We have fear of sharing the Lord because we’re afraid of what it will do to our reputation at times, and these people joyfully share the Lord knowing they face more severe repercussions. Along with the kindergarten, they also minister to people around the country, including Burmese refugees in the jungle. They are praying about buying a plot of land that they would like to plant a church on in the near future.
This family began the kindergarten a week before we arrived there, and we had the blessing of helping them love and educate nearly 40 students ages 3-6 of all races and religions. It is crazy how much they are taught at such a young age. They are learning English, Bahasa, and either Tamil or Mandarin depending on their race. Along with these things, they are also learning math, science, etc. Many of the little ones cried and screamed the whole day, which echoed throughout the two-story school, making it hard to teach the older ones. However, it was a joy to watch them all learn.
Because of idol worship and other aspects of the different religions, the spiritual atmosphere was dark and heavy. It could tangibly be felt. We fought in prayer through spiritual warfare the whole time we were there, and prayed revival over the country (the biggest prayer of our contact). Though there were crazy spiritual things happening there, the Lord is so much bigger than anything we faced, and showed up in incredible ways. He walked us into deeper intimacy with Him, and we learned more about the Holy Spirit and the gifts the Lord offers. It was a privilege to fight with the Lord for His children. I believe the Lord has great things for Malaysia, and I believe He is sweeping through the country and capturing hearts.
Please pray for this family as they stand up for the one true God. They are being watched and have huge strides to overcome in the near future. They are more than willing to stand up and fight the Lord’s battle with Him. Please pray protection, strength, endurance, peace and provision over their family.
