These past few months have been difficult in the realm of active mission work.
In Nepal, India, Thailand and Malaysia the major religion is Islam, most commonly referred to as Muslim.
(Islam is used to denote the religion or community of believers, Muslim is used when referring to a person)
In these countries it is illegal to be a missionary with a tourist visa.
In Nepal if you are innocently talking to someone and they decide to accept Jesus and Christianity, you can be arrested for accidentally converting someone.
In India, we couldn’t share many pictures, the town we lived in or who we were working with because they could be arrested for being an “accomplice”.
In Thailand, we couldn’t even tell people we were volunteers but only that we were traveling to experience culture.
In Malaysia, we were not allowed to evangelize or say the church we were associated with, much less that we were missionaries.
So we had to get creative when trying to spread Kingdom in these countries.
Luckily, our Father is THE MOST CREATIVE!
We were able to meet a fellow Christian volunteering among the Muslim community. We got to sit, eat with and encourage her that God is using her in BIG ways.
We were able to go on prayer walks around town, with each step bringing light and authority as we declared truth and freedom over the city.
We were able to intercede in prayer for the whole country of Malaysia and their election.
(The party we were praying for WON THE ELECTION!)
We were able to bring the love and light of Jesus to our favorite local Chinese restaurant.
We were able to teach English in a predominantly Islam elementary school, showing the students and teachers the love of Jesus and teaching them the dance…church clap 😉
Then…
GOD GAVE US A STAGE!
We had the opportunity to lead 1,200 Muslim students and teachers in ZUMBA.
We did not get on stage and preach the word of God.
We did not pray publicly.
We did not try to win souls for Jesus.
All we did was get on the stage God gave us and lead an hour of ZUMBA in the heat and humidity of Malaysia.
We know that’s all God wanted from us.
He wanted us to be obedient and say yes so that His light could shine for all to see.
We danced.
We butchered dances.
We sweat our lives away.
We laughed.
And yes… I peed my pants on stage.
(While butchering a dance I decided my teammate’s popular “happy raptor” move was the most appropriate to improv, thus resulting in uncontrollable laughter and me running off stage)
We have NO IDEA what God’s purpose was in giving us that literal platform, but even if it was just to bring an opportunity for them to laugh and release stress, it was worth it.
