Malaysia is an interesting country. The many smells: overwhelming puffs of smoked/raw goat meat, incense from the many religious practices, and the not covered, trash filled sewage lines are not pleasant. The people, however, are kind and full of culture in every sense of the word. There are mosques and temples on every block. Their architecture is foreign and interesting to me, but the fact that they are so frequent reminds me of why I’m here.
This week my team and I were blessed to hear from a man who has been an evangelist in Malaysia for 5 years. STOP…Don’t be put off by the word evangelism. That word literally means building relationships with people who need to know Jesus Christ. He and we try to understand where they come from and love them through whatever that may be. We then convey the hope of THE God who understands, endures, and comforts all of our heartache and pain!
What I learned in general:
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I am forever grateful for the freedom of religion in America. Not only are we able to choose Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hindu, Scientology or any other teaching, we are allowed to practice it freely and tell anyone about it without being rebuked by government.
- In Malaysia, however, the Malay people and anyone who follows Islam is NOT allowed, by LAW, to change to any other teaching.
- In Malaysia, if I speak directly to a Muslim man, woman or child simply sharing Jesus, I can be banned from the country.
- In Malaysia, if any Malaysian speaks to an Islam follower (Muslim) about Jesus directly, they will, by law, be tortured or worse.
- In Malaysia, if a Muslim becomes a Christian, or any other religion, they could be tortured, kicked out of the country, and more often than not, killed.
–ALL of this is legitimate in government under the “SHARIA LAW”, which to us is a foreign language. Talk about
oppressive. Just think about the freedoms we have in general and then specifically about the freedom we have in
religion. We are free to believe whatever, and speak about whatever and are not condemned by the National
GOVERNMENT. How strange then to realize that religion rules the government here?
- Malaysia consists of 50% Malaysian people, almost all of which are Islam followers, or at least they have to be. Twenty-five percent of the population is made up of Chinese people following many religions, one of which is Christianity. The other quarter of the population consists of Indigenous and Indian people.
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Islam consists of 5 parts:
- Strahda Creed
- Praying five times a day
- Fasting for 40 days (Ramadan)
- Alms-giving 2½ % to the poor
- Pilgrimage to Mecca in ones lifetime
–These things by themselves are not bad ideas, but religion is rules, a relationship is more important.
- The sad part of what I learned is that Muslims view Christianity as the “immoral religion”. There are many reasons for this, but the most prominent to me is the amount of American people that say they follow Christianity instead of allowing a relationship with Jesus to form and letting Christ shape each individual and their life choices in that.
I love you all and hope that your fall weather is treating you fantastic! Drink some hot chocolate for me! 
