We’ve been in Malaysia for 2 weeks now (sorry I’ve slacked on blogging) but I have completely fallen in love with this place. We bused from Northern Thailand all the way down to a little island off of the mainland called Georgetown, Penang.
Georgetown is one of the coolest places I’ve ever been. It is a Muslim nation. I was kinda terrified to go to Malaysia because it is illegal to evangelize to Muslims. But the first day we arrived we were told about all the different cultures that live on the island. The big three are the Malays, Indians and Chinese, and so many more all living together so peacefully. They blend together so beautifully it actually puts America to shame (get your crap together USA!!). There aren’t just many different cultures but many different religions as well. There is a Buddhist temple, Islamic Mosque, Taoist temple, Hindu temple and an Evangelical church all on the same street. It blows my mind that they can all believe such different things and get along so peacefully, while the US is a predominantly Christian nation and we cannot get along at all. But I won’t get into that 🙂 Proabably 80% of people have excellent English which was so unexpected and so different than anywhere I’ve been. The isn’t really a language barrier here. Not to mention, most people speak at LEAST 3 languages. Anddddddd the tap water is clean (WHAT?!!?!?!?!)
These past two weeks have been slammed packed with different outreach opportunities. There is a homeless shelter called the Kawan Center which provides meals and church services to local homeless individuals. I had the opportunity to share my testimony at their church service and my team and I have been able to help prepare and serve food to whoever comes. Associated with that is the Kawan Shop, which is right under our hostel in Little India. It’s basically a GoodWill and we’ve been able to help sort, iron, and fold clothes to help the ladies that run the shop. We’ve also had two outreaches on the mainland. We helped with a refugee school and met a local pastor and his family and have been helping to kickstart a church in that area.
Most of our ‘ministry’ is during the week; Sunday is a day of rest and Saturday is an off day to do whatever we’d like. But lately I’ve been learning that we shouldn’t have designated days for ministry and days we don’t. Every week, every day, every second, every encounter we have we should be showing Christ. Colossians 4:5 says “Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.” First impressions are usually lasting impressions and we have the choice to constantly show strangers grace and kindness or to do the opposite. This is especially important in this culture where it is illegal to share the gospel to Muslims. We have to show them Christ through our actions and not our words.
Colossians 4:2-6 says
“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may be able to proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversations be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”
This passage is one that needs to be constantly prayed over Christians. Prayer for opened doors, boldness and making the most of every opportunity. I think that is so vital. This is my prayer for myself, my team, my squad, my church at home, persecuted Christians and everyone who has called upon the Lord to be saved. I pray that doors are clearly opened and that we would boldly and excitedly take advantage of every second and would be able to show people the grace we were freely given.
Fundraising update!!!
Firstly, thank you thank you thank you for every single penny. The fact that so many people have said yes to the Lord and donated is so encouraging to me! I am roughly $2,700 away from being FULLY FUNDED and have until the middle of January to do so. I’ve started a Bible reading plan to finish it in 6 months and I’m currently going through Numbers. The Israelites were complaining about not having meat and that they were missing Egypt and the Lord responded by saying he will give them meat every day for a month. Moses doubted him, and the Lord said “Is the Lord’s arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you?” (Numbers 11:23). This really resonated with me during this time of raising support. But who are we to doubt God? To put a limit on him? To define him by a number so small? Numbers are infinite and so is he. The Lord works in fascinating ways and I cannot wait to see how he provides the rest of the money!
