Crazy.
Gangster.
Weird.
Stylin.
Swaggy.
These are all words that describe my ministry contact here in Malaysia. Pastor Thomas. But we call him PT. (A nickname given to him by one of my teammates that quickly spread throughout the ministry and family.)
PT looks and act a little differently than you would expect for an Indian pastor in the conservative culture of Malaysia. He is a big ol Indian man with a long beard and great man flow (meaning he has long wavy hair). This is completely unheard of in Malaysia. In fact PT is the ONLY pastor with long hair.
You can usually find him wearing a snap back and sunglasses, flashing you signs with His hands. He dances like a G and will never fail to make you laugh. He is crazy, weird and different.
You can also find PT at hookah bars almost every night. This is because God has given him an incredible heart for evangelizing. He has one of the biggest hearts for lost people I have ever come across. PT pays no attention to one’s past or everything else that culture says about people, and he meets them where they are at to minister to them.
And his church looks different because of that. There are a huge handful of young teenage boys that formerly come from gangs that PT has taken under his wing. There are people who have walked away from bad decisions, other religions, failing marriages, everything that you can think of. Bethel Assembly is a church that looks a lot different than most church that surround it.
One night, during a conversation with one of my teammates, “You know culture is this box. This box that seems impossible to break out of. Everyone lives inside that box. But you know Thomas, He lives life differently. He lives life outside of that box. And that is why we all follow him.”
But unfortunately, just like back in Jesus’s day, there is a price to pay with living outside of that box. Many pastors in Malaysia question PT’s pastoral role. Many don’t respect him or even recognize him as a pastor. They say he shouldn’t be hanging out with who he does, acting the way he does, or doing the things he does. But little do they know the impact he is having.
One night, I may or may not ridden on the back of a motorcycle with a boy in our ministry named Sammy. Just around by the church don’t worry. Sammy is a really good kid, but hadn’t always been this way. He is one of the kids PT brought out of gangs. Before meeting PT, he smoked and drank and hung out with all his thug friends, probably never being up to any good. But after being exposed to Jesus through PT, he walked away from that life style and into Bethel Assembly.
So here I am riding on the back of his motorcycle, after PT said it was okay of course. Once we rounded the corner of the church, I told Sammy he could go faster since he was probably driving only 10 miles an hour. Sammy’s immediate response was, “No. PT said make sure you go slow with her on the back.” Upon hearing this, I joked back at him, “PT is a loser.” This made Sammy laugh, and he responded with, “Maybe, but he is a good pastor. And I will listen to him.”
This is such a testimony to the impact PT is having on his community. He is pouring into young boys life, and pointing them towards the Lord, which is completely changing their direction. PT is bringing them into the church, and God is changing their hearts. I’ve seen testimonies like this happen so many times over the past three months.
And all PT does is listen to the Lord. He pays no attention to what the culture says who he should be and how he should act. He acts out in faith, and the Lord works His will. PT lives outside the box, just as Jesus did.
