Do I Even Know What Country I’m In?

Walking down the street, I hear the sound of Indian music blaring over a loud speaker placed in the middle of the street.  I walk past a shop and I smell the spicy fragrance of Indian curry.  Several women I walk past are wearing the typical Indian sari.  Want a roti, tandoori chicken, a mango lassi, or curry?  Just stop in at the many restaurants that line the street, even just right around the corner from where I am staying.

Where am I?
Nope, not India.

As I walk to the coffee shop that I am volunteering at, I pass by several Chinese temples.  Many of the people here are Buddhist, some are Taoist, and others follow other Chinese ethnic religions or ancestor worship.  Yet the Chinese make up the majority of the church population here.  

But I am not a part of the underground church in China.
So where am I?
Not China.

As I arrive at the coffee shop, I find a Muslim lady wearing a head covering sitting outside the caffe.  Good thing we sell Halal (Islamic lawful diet, similar to that of Kosher in Judaism) food here, to be able to cater to and reach out the the Muslim population here.  Later in the evening, I hear a call to prayer from the mosque just a couple blocks over from where I sleep.  Most of the population here is Muslim.  In fact, for more than half the population, is is law for the people here to be Muslim.  They are born Muslim, and Muslim is on their identity card.  People can be Christian here, but not this people group.  It is illegal to share the Good News to them.  This people group is considered one of the more than 6,000 unreached people groups in the world… and I walk past them in the city every single day.  They are right outside my door.

What people group is this?
The Malays.
What country am I in?
Malaysia.

I am staying in Gorge Town, Penang, Malaysia, on an island.
This is the first time on the Race that I’ll be staying in the city.
We have two teams here, doing about 5 different projects.
I myself will mainly be working at a Christian coffee shop and doing fundraising for a not-for-profit Christian hospital.

This is perhaps one of the most evidently culturally and ethnically diverse places I have ever been.  Just by looking out off the 4 sides of our roof, I can see a Muslim mosque, a Chinese temple, a Christian church, and Hindu places of worship.  Walking down the streets in this city, I can smell the scent of Indian curry and Hindu incense, hear the sounds of the Muslim mosque and of Indian music, and I can see Indian saris for sale and Chinese art and script on the Chinese temple.  

I can nearly communicate with almost everyone because most people here know English…and 2 or more other languages!  Malays, Chinese, Indian, and orginal peoples (all considered Malaysian), along with tons of Western backpackers from Europe and the Americas, all collide on this very street on live on.  

Yet these people are so separate.  Racism exists in this city.  Pluralism, although advertised for this city, doesn’t work.  Religions don’t mix, and it can even be illegal at times if you try to do so.