A few nights ago at the prayer meeting it hit me: this is what I have been waiting for…
I spent some time getting my mind blown by a book about angels and then I walked downstairs to worship and pray in a combination of English songs I know and Malay songs I can’t even pronounce. This is beautiful.
We just met with our contact to hear about the other ministries his organization does and I learned some incredible things. Here are a few cool facts and awesome stories… … … …
It is illegal in Malaysia to openly evangelize to a Muslim, but if they approach you it is a different story… a while back the head of an Imam training school came and asked a man here to teach English for them. The Christian man was a bit skeptical so his group decided to take some time to pray. A month later the Muslim man came back to ask again. The group was upfront and honest with him- they said that they were Christians. The Muslim’s response was, “I know, that is why we want you- we hear that the Christian missionaries are the best English teachers.” Whaaaat?!?!? That is an awesome opportunity.
In Malaysia Malaysian Bibles are illegal but it is ok to have one in another language. Because of this there are no Bibles in the pews in the churches.
It costs $40 US dollars to send a Malaysian child to school for an entire year.
In Myanmar (Burma) it is illegal to build a new church.
There is a blasphemy law in Pakistan which includes a mandatory death sentence for anyone found to have by words, representation, imputation or insinuation, directly or indirectly defiled the name of Muhammed. A blasphemer against the Koran gets life in prison. These laws can be used against you if you convert to another religion or if you evangelize. You only need one witness to testify against you in order to be convicted. Neither of these sentences can ever be appealed. We heard the story of a man who has been charged with these crimes and is on the run. He refuses to leave Pakistan because God has called him to share the Gospel with his own people. Because of who he was before he became a Christian he now shares the Gospel with members of the Taliban.
God is so much bigger than we can imagine and He is doing work that blows my mind. I love being just a small part of all of this.
So this week we keep getting put on the spot once or twice a day to share an encouraging word with people and the message that keeps pouring out of us is that you can be a missionary anywhere. You don’t have to travel the world or have money or anything else- all you need is a heart dedicated to serving God and bringing Him glory wherever He puts you. So you, dear reader, are also part of this huge, beautiful, intense, supernatural, glorious and exciting adventure in missions.
