Exciting news! We made our first official contact to submit to AIM! Yay Jesus! And we actually made two! 🙂
Our Malaysian friend who is a former World Racer told us about an organization that ministers to the homeless in Chinatown called Kuala Lumpur Urban Fellowship. We met up with them on Saturday and they gave us an overview of their ministry and all that they do. Then we got to go with them into the street for their Saturday food sharing. They were so excited to host future World Race teams. They asked if we could send them a team next month.
The heart behind KLUF is Matthew 25:34-40.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
They do so much to help meet every possible need that a homeless person would have: physical, emotional, and spiritual. First of all, they meet the most immediate need that the homeless have and want: food. They take food into the street every Saturday for their food sharing. They set up a huge tent, sound system, hundreds of plastic stools, and tons of plastic containers with meals inside. When we got there they had already started worship. They spent about 20 minutes just praising Jesus with KL’s least of these. Then they gave a message in Chinese and translated in Malay. Obviously I couldn’t understand a word, but one of the volunteers told me that they were talking about change and invited them to let Jesus change their lives. After the message, we passed out the food and then collected the garbage. The man in charge of the organization told us that when they started in 1998, the street they meet on was known as “Addict Alley,” but now it’s known as “Jesus Lane.”
The Saturday food sharing is the main outreach, because they do it in the streets, where the people are–where they feel comfortable. But for those who want more than just a meal a week, they can find more at the center.
KLUF meets so many more needs than just giving them food. They provide medical care and medicine, showers, clothes, English classes, activities for children of the homeless, lawyer services, and more. For those who want more than just physical needs met, they can find friendship and emotional healing. They have support groups, counseling, cards and other games, retreats and outings, and other things like that. And for those who are ready, they also find spiritual nourishment through worship services, Bible studies, discipleship, and chances to step into leadership and begin helping others. Both of the men who run the center used to be former drug addicts, and now they live to reach out to others who are in the same position they were once in.
I love how the focus of KLUF is to meet every need they can, to befriend the friendless, and offer (but not force) the Gospel to anyone and everyone willing to accept it. I’m excited for the future World Race teams who will get to spend a month partnering with this ministry.
Yesterday we got to meet up with another organization that our friend put us in contact with. The ministry is called Redeeming Roses and they reach out to exploited women in KL. Their mission statement is: “Bringing healing and wholeness to women who have suffered abuse and exploitation through the redeeming love of Jesus Christ.” They go out and find women on the streets, in bars, brothels, and wherever else women are exploited, and they befriend them. They invite them to their center to get out of the heat, shower, eat, and hear about the love of Jesus. They also teach the women how to make jewelry and sell it, to offer a way for the women to learn a skill, make some income, and give them another option than the life they are currently living. They also have Bible studies and, for the women who are ready, they help them find legitimate jobs. Their main objective is to just be friends to the women, to take however long is needed to build trust, and then to provide them with whatever help they need to redeem their lives. We got to sit in on their jewelry making, and got to take home our own pair of earrings with the Redeeming Roses logo, and Bible study. It was great to meet some of the women they work with.
The woman who runs the ministry is from New Jersey, and has been there for 15 years. She told us that she had a really rough time when she first came to Malaysia. Because the process of helping women out of lives of exploitation to lives of wholeness is such a slow process, she was constantly feeling like her work was ineffective and fruitless. But now that she has been here for so long, she can look back over the years and see all the lives that have been touched and changed by the love of Jesus. Her journey with the Lord is so beautiful, and I felt so blessed by her sharing her story and her wisdom with us. She kept saying “God really does honor faithfulness,” and I could tell by the way she said it that she knows it because she has lived it. She also told us that God has taught her over the years that He really wants our focus on Him, not on the ministry. It’s good to want to help the women, but when they are our focus, we get discouraged easily. But when our focus is on Him, He heals us, and when we ourselves are healed and whole, we can minister healing and wholeness to others just naturally from our lives.
So far this month in Malaysia has been amazing. I’ve loved getting to be the Unsung Heroes team this month and getting to find all these amazing people, churches, and ministries that are living the Gospel here in Malaysia. I am so encouraged to see all that God is doing here, and I am being super blessed by getting to meet them and learn from them.
