You never truly realize the kind of freedom you have until suddenly it’s gone. For those of us growing up in America, we have never known what it’s like to be told what religion we can or cannot practice, that we can only celebrate in certain places on certain days or that we must monitor what we talk about to each other. Freedom of religion and freedom of speech—These are precious gifts; gifts that I too often have taken for granted.
Last month in Malaysia I experienced for the first time what life would be like without those freedoms, and I’ll be honest: I hated it. The air felt heavier, as did my heart. Constantly watching what I said and who I was talking to, I felt like I was wearing a mask and suddenly, my thoughts and opinions were placed in a shoebox and kicked under the bed.
As I mentioned in my previous blog, Malaysia is a semi-closed country run by a Muslim government. Because it is not completely closed, I as a Christian was free to talk about my religion, but there were conditions. Talking to indigenous Malays or Muslims in a way that could be seen as trying to convert them is illegal. As a foreigner you could be deported, and as a local you could be thrown in jail without a second thought. Let me clarify, it doesn’t matter if your intention was actually to convert them or not, this is the punishment for if they simply felt as if you may have been trying to convert them.
During my time in the country of Malaysia I could not openly mention the name of Jesus until I had built a very solid foundation and friendship with that person, and when asked about my trip I had to refer to it as a service/volunteer trip—a travel opportunity. Each time I heard myself say it out loud I wanted to stop mid-sentence and shout out, “That’s not the reason I’m here!”
“I’m here because the one true God of the universe called me here! Because His son Jesus Christ taught us to be true disciples of Him and to go out and serve His people in love the way that He did; to stand for and beside the poor and the weak—the forgotten and marginalized. I’m here because experiencing the love of Jesus has changed my life, and I want to give others the opportunity to encounter that kind of radical, unconditional love.”
…“I’m just traveling with an organization to do volunteer and service work.”
This was the most challenging part of the month for me. Although the conditions and laws were only set for certain people groups, because there was such diversity of people (Malaysia’s three main people groups are Malays, Chinese and Indians) it was nearly impossible to distinguish who you could and could not openly talk to about your faith. Therefore, the restriction was basically placed on talking to anyone about religion. Granted, we did have some very meaningful conversations and made some friends that we eventually were able to talk to about the real meaning behind our trip and even invite to church.
Malaysia, though very beautiful, is a spiritually heavy place. For the first week and a half, some of the girls on my team and I were unable to sleep for more than a few hours due to spiritual attacks in many forms, one of which being terrible nightmares. We later found out that over half of the members on our squad were experiencing the same attacks. It was in the air and it was weighing down on us.
One night in the car on our way to a caroling performance, I began asking our Malaysian friend some questions about the government, freedoms and how Christianity fits into it all. Here are a few of the things he shared from his experience growing up and living in Malaysia:
- In Malaysia if Muslims try to convert to Christianity they are sent to “reeducation camps”, where they may be beaten, locked up and/or brainwashed until they throw away the idea of ever truly leaving the Muslim faith
- During Muslim holidays that require fasting, if Malaysians are seen entering into a restaurant they can be thrown in jail
- A Muslim man and woman who aren’t married cannot check into a hotel together or they will be arrested
- An Islamic group in Malaysia just recently raided a warehouse where hundreds of bibles were kept and stole them all. The government finally agreed to give them back after stamping each with a stamp that said Muslims are prohibited from reading them, and then they still sent the bibles to the opposite side of the country
- The Malaysian government accepts Muslim refugees from the Philippines and Indonesia in order to increase the Muslim population, while they encourage other religious groups to leave the country. These refugees are illegally given identification cards, while the little Indian children at the orphanage I volunteered with this month (because they are not Muslim) are still waiting to receive their own Identification cards after years of residing in this country. They are unable to enroll in school or get an education until they do. One of those boys should be in 5th grade this year.
While in the discussion he kept saying things like, “Well the government says there is freedom of religion, except for…” or “Well you are allowed to say whatever you want, unless…”
All these so called freedoms had conditions, which if you think about it, really is no kind of freedom at all.
It got me thinking about the rights and freedoms I have always grown up knowing; the rights and freedoms I have taken for granted. I now see a new beauty in and respect for the opportunity to speak your mind; to voice your beliefs and your doubts and your questions and to declare your truths without fear of repercussion. Too often back home have I found myself holding off on sharing my faith or bringing Jesus into a conversation in fear of offending someone or seeming “uncool.” How ridiculous is that? We have freedom—a gift that a large percentage of the world has never known, so why not use it?
I would encourage everyone back home to start talking. Use your voice. Regardless of what religion you follow, what cultural background you come from or what your political views are, speak it out. Voice your beliefs. I’m not telling you to go out and buy a megaphone or start picketing. I’m simply stating that we live in “the land of the free”. So let’s be free. If you honestly believe something to be true in your heart, why be afraid to voice it or bring it into the conversation, even if the person sitting a table away believes differently? And if we do have disagreements or questions, lets be unafraid to speak up about those as well. Let’s become educated and have discussions. Share thoughts and opinions and not only tolerate each other’s differences, but respect each other for standing for something.
For me, I believe that Jesus came to this earth to save me from a life of sorrow and of hopelessness. That if we would step out boldly in faith and follow the calling and the purpose He has set out before us, we could see God’s kingdom on this earth today; That I have been given the gift of freedom and forgiveness and hope and I don’t want to waste a single second of it. That my Jesus loves me enough to give His life and that one day I’ll get to see Him face to face.
I have the good news and you better believe I won’t keep it to myself any longer.
**Please join with me in praying for the country of Malaysia: that true freedom would emerge and any oppression, spiritual or political, would come to an end. That God would be working in the hearts of those in government and that the spirits of the Malaysian people would be lifted and no longer beaten down. Pray for freedom and pray for peace. Also, please specifically pray for the church we partnered with, Real Love Ministries; that they would stand strong with outrageous courage and keep doing great things in Malaysia. And pray for the orphanage my team volunteered at: that those kids would know real love—the love of their heavenly Father and that broken hearts and relationships would be healed between them and their earthly families. Also, that the children would have the opportunity to receive an education.
