Malaysia has a very wide variety of people living here. There are a lot of immigrant workers here from other poorer countries in the region. With that there is also a variety of religions practiced here. There is freedom of religion here, but apparently only for some. I’m still not quite sure how it all works, but it is illegal for a local Malay Muslim to convert to any other religion. It is also illegal for someone else to try and convert a local Malay Muslim to any other religion. Now we as foreigners can get away with a lot in this area, but local people do not take these laws lightly.
A few days back, I was up stairs over the Restaurant were we are staying, and one of the workers came up and said that there was a man down stairs who wanted to talk with one of the missionaries. I was the only one not busy so I said I would go. As I walked into the restaurant, I saw this man sitting there eating lunch and immediately I noticed just a presence of joy around this man. I’m not sure quite how to explain it. So we sat and talked for a quite a while. Anyway this guy, who introduced himself as Gideon, is local Malay who converted to Christianity about five years back. This man is breaking the law by professing Christ. He can’t even use his real name when talking to most people. There is a very real danger of him being thrown in prison for this. He told me stories about having to move around and hide so he wouldn’t get caught. When his wife found out about his conversion, she divorced him and sent the authorities after him. As we were talking and he was telling me these stories, he was just praising and thanking God for his provision and protection. The presence that was around this guy was amazing. There was joy just radiating.
This was the first time I have ever met someone that is actually persecuted for his or her faith. It was an eye opening experience. It made me really reflect on my own life and think if I’m ready to still chase after God no matter what the consequences.
