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Make a 14 Dollar Difference!
This
month I find myself in a suburb of Kuala Lampur, Malaysia… working at
a restaurant. While this might not sound like typical missions work,
let me tell you a little bit about why it is so important.
There
is a situation in Burma, which you may or may not know about. About a
month ago, the Burmese government transformed from a military
dictatorship to a democracy, much to the approval of the western world
and united nations. You may have even read about it. But what you
probably don’t know is that the elected officials in Burma are now the
Generals that were in charge of it during the dictatorship, they just
have a new fancy name. Now these men are, as our Burmese Cultural Coach
called them, “not a people of mercy.” They are known for the rape,
plundering and torture of the outlying tribal people in Burma, and are
still conducting such practices now, under the guise of being elected
officials. This has caused a large flood of the tribal people, which
are mostly Christian tribes, to be displaced, terrorized, or forcefully
removed of their homes. So they make their way through the jungles of
Thailand, and swamps of Malaysia to Kuala Lampur, where large groups of
them congregate in refugee communities. Then for about 3 years they
stay waiting for diplomacy to allow them to be relocated to different
countries, since they cannot go home, and the Malaysian Government will
not allow them citizenship for fear of over crowding.
And
So…. The restaurant! We are working at an American Food restaurant
called Kennedy’s run by Peter and Ian Loh, a father and son team of
Malaysian nationals that use the restaurant to raise funds for mission
work to aid these Burmese refugees. They sell hamburgers in order to
provide the displaced families with English Classes, regular schooling,
and church services among other ministries including job training for
ex-prostitutes. Basically, these are amazing people, who have a heart
to serve and a great respect for the Race and everything that it stands
for… going into the world to see God and provide freedom. They have
even set up a World Race wall to promote us and all that we do, and to
provide a space for us to talk openly about Jesus in a Muslim country!
This brings me to what you can do! The
restaurant is just getting up and running, and currently is in various
states of staging and decorating. There have been 24 teams of racers
to go through the doors here, painting and staffing and coordinating
improvements. But what we need is a little bit of America in
Malaysia. So. If you would consider getting involved in helping this
restaurant get off the ground I’m going to ask you to do something!
Get a box of AMERICA together! Pack a Small Priority Mail Flat Rate box with maps,
pictures of you and your friends, license plates, posters, doodles,
magazines, college logo things (baseball caps, shirts, banners, pendent,
posters), classic American books and other things and send them over!
Basically anything that reminds you of America. It may seem like
something silly to you, but this restaurant supplies the community with
desperately necessary programs and it needs you to help take ownership
in that.
I
haven’t come across a ministry yet that has so tugged at my heart, and
with some effort from you all we could REALLY impact an entire community
by investing in the engine behind their ministry. So if you are a
part of a small group, get together and do one as a group. Or do one as
a family or an individual. (Emily’s Mama… this sounds like the thing
for you!) There are no rules!
Here is the shipping Information:
Ian Loh c/o Kennedy’s
No. 20-1 (Ground Floor), Jalan PJU 5/5
Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansura
47810 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Best Way To Ship!
United States Postal Service Priority Mail SMALL International Flat Rate Boxes.
They
come in different sizes (but stick with the small one), and will ship
to anywhere in the world for the same price. You can also pack them as
heavy as 4 pounds (So pack like a World Racer…. smash and squish that stuff in there!) They cost only $13.95 to send!
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