We spent the last week in a town called Gua Musang in the jungle of Malaysia. It was a 10 hour overnight train ride (don’t be misled by the picture…it wasn’t that dramatic!!) into the jungle and into the heart of Islam. Malaysia is a Muslim country, and Gua Musang is in the state of Kelantan, which is known for having many Muslim radicals. The spread of Christianity is not welcome here in Malaysia. It is illegal for a Christian to share about Christ to a Muslim. One of our contacts in Kuala Lumpur said Muslim spies are often seen in churches because Christianity is viewed as a threat to Islam. 
The government will take away many rights from a Malay and often imprison them if they convert to Christianity. They also don’t like Americans. They see our country as a nation against Islam and view any white person as an opponent to their faith. As we arrived in Gua Musang, one of the few Christians we met here welcomed us to the front lines of a movement to make Christ’s name known in a place where any such movement is actively opposed.
We thought our purpose was to share love to the very few students who attended the classes. The Lord had much more planned. His desire was to break down barriers in this community, and he started that process through children. The children flocked to us. One of the first nights, I was sitting outside a bakery and said hello to 3 of them. Within 3 minutes, there were 15-20. We laughed with them and taught them cool hand shakes and fist pounds. They loved it. And the adults were always watching.
God works in crazy ways. The next day, these same kids followed us back to the center and found out about the English classes. Then they brought their parents back to sign them up for the class and the adults talked to our contact about how weird it was that there were white people here. Then our contact had us go up and down the streets to hand out flyers about the classes. It was amazing to walk up to the adults. They would have looks of uncertainty when they saw us approaching. However, the atmosphere would change immediately after greeting them warmly and talking with them about the class. 
I would often look back as I walked away, and you could almost see the walls come crashing down inside them. They would still be smiling, or give me one last look, or even just stand there with a look of surprise. They had just had their first conversation with an American Christian, and it was good. By the time we returned to the center, our contact was already getting calls. He received calls and visits throughout the afternoon. A hotel called and said that they want all 10 of their employees to start attending the classes!!
His enrollment more than doubled in two days after being obedient to the Lord and coming to this town over a year ago. More importantly, though, the Lord is at work in the heart of Malaysia. He is using this team and its aroma to break down barriers in a town and country where that aroma is actively resisted. The magnitude of his purpose for us in Gua Musang blows me away. I just thought we’d be teaching few English classes. I should probably know better than that by now. We stink like Christ here, and I hope to stink like Christ for the rest of my life. He is going to continue to use that pleasing aroma for his kingdom.
