Ministries in Malaysia
During our month in Malaysia we lived and did ministry with Vineyard Music/Community Center. The sign outside read Vineyard Music and upstairs was one large room with a sectional dividing off the back portion of the room. This is where we lived for the month and every day we would pick up our sleeping mats and stash them behind the divider. In the back of the building was a sink, refrigerator, toilet and shower….and this was where we lived. Saturday through Monday the building was used for music lessons that Pastor Mark and his children would teach to members of the church and community. They taught the tabla, drums, guitar, and piano.
There’s a lot of unrest here in Malaysia between the religions. There are three different types of people here in Malaysia: the Indians, Chinese and the Malays. Most Indians are Hindu or Muslim, Chinese are Hindu or Buddhist and the Malays are Muslim. The Malays don’t have any choice with religion, they are taught the Muslim beliefs in school. There is some conflict right now over the word “Allah”, which when translated means “spiritual god”, which can pertain to any religion, but the Muslims are claiming it is their word and no one else can use it. A group of extremist set off a homemade bomb in a church, no one was hurt but that was only half an hour away from where we were. If ever asked by anyone what we were doing in Malaysia we were instructed to tell them we were students who were in Malaysia to teach English or cultural studies.
Most days were free for us, and ministry usually wasn’t until the evenings. Tuesday nights members of the church came for Bible study led by Pastor Mark, Wednesday evenings was English class that was open to the community, Thursday nights was our prayer meeting and Friday nights was church service. Vineyard Community Center has about 25 church members including children.
The sign outside said Vineyard Music, the building was known in the neighborhood as the community center and music center, but only those who came on Friday nights knew that Vineyard was really a church. We had to be very careful what we said to people in the community because we didn’t want to get Pastor Mark or ourselves into trouble.
On a few occasions we were able to go to a Christian orphanage and teach English and play with the children. While we were there the first time, 2 children manifested and were possessed by demons. The young boy (who manifested as a snake) grabbed a large kitchen knife and would wave it anytime someone tried to get close to him. Luckily there were enough of us to over power him and get the knife away. We prayed over the young boy and older girl, but I was scared out of my mind so I called Pastor Mark informing him what was going on. After he came to pick us up, we sat with Pastor Mark as a team and debriefed on what had just happened. We went back to the orphanage a few days later with Pastor Mark as he performed a deliverance on 1 young boy, and 2 girls. I have never seen anything like it, and honestly hope to never again.
Once a week we would do a prayer walk around the neighborhood praying over different houses that we saw with shrines built to idols outside the house. We talked with individuals in the neighborhood and would invite them to English class or tell them about music lessons.
My favorite part of the month was spending time with Pastor Mark and his family. Sometimes we would go over to their house and watch the food network with Tina, the pastor’s wife, but we also got to take a day trip to the island of Penang and visit little India and eat authentic Indian food. We had great fun going to the river and cooking out, doing the tree top walk, and attending Pastor Mark’s barbecue! Pastor Mark and his family were definitely the best part of my time in Malaysia.
