Can I See Your Religion Card?

 

Interesting fact about Malaysia: From the time you are born you carry around an identification card, but on this one your religion is listed. Religion isn’t just something you choose here; it’s a part of your identity. There are three major cultures here and thus four major religions. The Malays who have been here since the beginning of time are all Muslim, if you are born Malay, you are born Muslim. Next are the Chinese, who migrated here during the 1800s, the major religion among Chinese is Buddhist. The Indians also began migrating here at the same time as the Chinese and with them brought Hinduism. Many Chinese and Indians are now Christians and we have visited several churches that include both cultures but no Malays. 

 As we began asking questions, we kept getting the same answer that no one would evangelize to the Malays, but we didn’t understand why. In our minds, these people need to know Jesus just as much and if you are a pastor, shouldn’t this be who you are reaching out to? We thought it was simply cultural, the Indians minister to Indians and the Chinese to the Chinese, but then that left no one to minister to the Malays. Unfortunately it’s even more than that. 

Here in Malaysia, you are allowed to changed religions if you like, you can evangelize to anyone you like, and you can preach to whoever you like…EXCEPT THE MUSLIMS. The law here states that once you are a Muslim, you must always be a Muslim. If you decide to convert not only does that mean being kicked out of your family, but government persecution as well. No one is allowed to preach to the Muslim population because it is against the law. If someone were to come into our pastor’s church, they would simply ask for everyone’s identity card and check to see if anyone is Muslim. If there is a Muslim, the pastor and the church will face persecution. 

I thought coming into this month that this was an open country where I could preach the gospel freely. And in many ways it is, I’ve gotten to preach to a wide variety of Indian and Chinese people, but I have never once gotten to pray over a Malay or share the truth of Jesus with a Malay.   So what can we do?

I’m asking you all to join with our team.   Starting today we will be fasting lunches in preparation for Ramadan. We will spend that time praying for the Muslim people of the world and especially here in Malaysia. This is a Muslim holiday in which everyone fasts from sun up to sun down; it is supposed to be a time of cleansing and prayer. There are so many stories of Muslims seeing Jesus during this holiday because of the people praying for them. So please join us either in prayer or in fasting during this time and let’s take part in the freedom Jesus has given us to call on His name for WHOEVER, WHENEVER!