Tucked away in a little shopping center in the jungle of Malaysia is an English center.
Mr. Kumar and his wife Josephine, the owners, have a real simple motto;
allow them [students and the parents] to see the gospel in us.
The center was started five years ago by the Kumar family with the idea that if they met a need for the community (teaching English, a highly valued skill) the community would be more willing to get to know them and in turn Jesus.
Josephine says, "we're like a bridge. They are looking for a relationship even if they don't know it. It's discipleship in the purest of forms. They don't want to be forced."
The part of Malaysia my team is living in this month is very Islamic. Talking blatantly about God is just not done. The people just don't want to hear it.
Fine by me.
They may not be ready to hear about Him. But I can't guarantee they won't see him.
Not one of my team members is a teacher. But we put our best teaching skills to work so they will learn something substantial.
We love the kids with open arms.
We're silly with them and play games.
We started having "free time" at the center where kids could just come by to hang out without having to pay for a lesson. The turn out was much better than I anticipated. A few of the teenagers just asked us to move the day around because they have school activities that interfere with them being able to come.
What the kids get at the center is educational and character building. Which I am sure makes their parents happy.
But they also get cared for genuinely, invested in personally, and loved on intentionally.
We're building the bridge alongside the Kumars.
Bridging the gap between their hearts and God's.
