The transition from Central America to Asia is nothing short of drastic. Anywhere from the little things such as driving on the opposite side of the road or the fact that public transportation, at least in Kuala Lumpur, doesn’t look like shoving 100 people in a tiny bus with body parts actually hanging out of the windows, but instead much cleaner and cordial. Malaysia is also drastically different in that Muslim and Hinduism make up over 90% of the population here. In fact, if you are of Malaysian decent you are required to convert to being a Muslim, if not you will either be forced out of the country or sent to a prison where they tourture and force you to de-nounce Jesus Christ. Everywhere you go in Malaysia you see so much beauty, but a lot of times behind that beauty is the reality that these are gods these people are worshipping and making sacrifices too. These are gods full of no hope, no promises for eternal life, no redemption or freedom. It’s easy coming into Asia to feel fear of being a Christian. Specifically in Malaysia Christianity is boarder-line illegal. Prayer in public, wearing Christian clothing, and even professing the name of Jesus will likely get you in trouble. So, with all this being said, it was a bit daunting. I knew this is where God had us for the next four months, but for the first time in my life I was getting ready to experience what it really means to be persecuted and hated. I wasn’t expecting to meet any other Christians or see any other Churches while in Malaysia, but boy was I wrong. The best part of this blog is yet to come, because God’s plans are ALWAYS bigger than mine.
God is feverishly pursuing the hearts of the nations- so why for one second would I think Malaysia wasn’t one of them?
God is in love with Malaysia. He is desperately in love with this nation of people and desperate to see them lay down their false religions and turn their eyes to the True One. He has already been at work and in just under a week I have gotten to experience some of the most powerful worship and prayer in a closed country.
Let me rewind to where God has me this month. If you read my last blog, I talked about a new role of leadership I am stepping into for the next 7 months on the worldrace. I’ll be stepping into squad leading, which means my team is no longer the beloved Anchored in Waves. Instead I am on a new team with two other squad leaders ( Liz & Jacob) and together the three of us will serve the squad and do life with the squad in a new way. That also means that from month to month I won’t be with the same team. I’ll be travelling from team to team each month and spending a month doing ministry with them, serving them, pouring into them, and just doing life and then the next month i’ll go to a different team and so on. So this month is Squad leader training month. So far we spent the first week of the month training and now I am currently spending a week with a team continuing to do more training etc.
So currently I am with basically my old team plus the darling Ashley Ganahl (new member of the team) & Brian Cooke (Alumni squad leader). We have spent the week in Kuala Lempur looking for ministry contacts for the world race to send future teams too. But, more than that we are falling in love with KL. Literally, I never want to leave this city.
SO HERE IS WHERE IT GETS GOOD. I just want you guys to really be sitting here with me right now because I always explain stories better in person and plus you get the bonus of me screaming and using my hands a lot when I am really excited. Don’t you all miss the spaz?
First, we found A CHURCH. An amazing powerhouse Church in KL called Kingdom Cities. We read about this church online and decided to all check it out. This night in particular at their church was Vision night so we basically spent an hour with the Church Body praying and casting vision for the upcoming year. We also talked about Psalm 23 and what it looks like to have goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives. How crucial that is to grasp for 2015- break free from the false identities of lies that have been following you and instead seek out what it looks like to have goodness and mercy follow you! The message was amazing- the room of people were on FIRE and Holy Spirit was outpouring! And I was moved. I was surrounded by some of the most amazing Christians- Christians that risk their life for their faith and worshipping the same God. Afterwards, we got to meet so many people which lead to a conversation with a man named John and his wife Radiance. Apparently this guy is referred to as the asian Bill Johnson because he goes out on the streets and sees crazy miracles and healings happen everyday. SIGN ME UP!!!!!!!! (this will be a blog to come because we are going out with him tonight to pray for the sick)
The next day we got together with an amazing women for dinner named Peei and she told us about something called The Burn and asked if we wanted to come. With a name like that, we all were so excited to go! She then mentioned that a group from Uganda was going to be there. (You know the children’s choir from Uganda that travel the world and do events? yeah that group) You couldn’t have gotten us to this place fast enough!! When we entered the room the Holy Spirit immediately fell and I was a sobbing mess. Worshipping with so many brothers and sisters from around the world is one of the most powerful experiences I have ever had in my life. All the while in a closed country that hates Christians. Two hours of worship flew by and at the end we spent time the 40 or so of us hugging, praying for each other, getting connected, and it felt like long lost family. It felt like I was at home- in the House of the Lord. It felt like Heaven. Different nations, One True God. I didn’t know a thing about these people except that I was desperately in love with them and I never wanted to leave that place. My heart was exploding last night and continues to explode today. Oh and best part… we ended worship with Shekinah Glory. Imagine that dance party.
God is taking Malaysia back. This soil is righteous soil that is going to be reclaimed by Jesus. This country is held so captive by false gods, false beliefs, false doctrine, but they could live in total abandonment! Total freedom to be who they are! Freedom is what makes life so worth living- freedom to worship a God who interacts with us. Who loves us back. Who sets the table for His children- and He says come and feast. This time in Malaysia has reminded me of why I am here in the first place. It’s all for Him and I pray that from this day forward I never lose the focus of His face or His heart for the nations. He is so worthy of it all.
