If you read our last update on Featured Racer Angelique Sturm, you know she willingly left
the US with no assurance she could return. She risked deportation to go on the
World Race.
Angelique knows about
sacrifice for God, but even she wasn’t prepared for the level of radical faith
she encountered among the believers in Malaysia.
“From the
city to the jungle to a port harbor to an island – our team partnered with some
radical believers who risk it all daily for the sake of the gospel. It was the
most extreme experience I’ve had in my life.
“I met Christians
in Malaysia who are willing to die for their faith. We were only there for
a short while, but the believers we met will continue living at great risk long
after our visit. And the crazy thing? They don’t even seem to care. They really
get it. They get that their lives are useless if not used to leverage the kingdom
of God in their country.”
Angelique and her team
learned about the four major people groups in Malaysia, each with a different
background, belief system, and even skin tone from the others.
Three of these people
groups enjoy freedom of religion. One group does not: ethnic Malays.
The Malaysian constitution
defines all ethnic Malays as Muslim. Laws are designed to favor the Malays
as long as they remain under Islam, but punish them severely if they do
not.
If a Malay becomes a
Christian, he forfeits his ethnic status and becomes a social outcast. His
family disowns him, and he is instantly fired from his job.
He cannot claim his inheritance;
he loses his rights as a parent.
He may even be sent to a
“rehabilitation center” to be restored to the Islamic faith. Horror
stories of the torture and electrocutions that take place in these facilities
are common.
“The government
has done everything it can to build a hedge around the Malay people. They are,
for all practical purposes, untouchable. Anyone caught trying to convert a
Malay will face certain imprisonment, torture, or even assassination. Because
of this, Indian and Chinese Christians are terrified to reach out to the
Malays, and as a result, Malays have become one of the most unreached people
groups in the world.
“Even when a Malay
chooses to accept Christ, it is virtually impossible for him to find a place to
worship and fellowship with other believers. No church readily welcomes a Malay
through its doors for fear of what the government will do.
“This
means that 17 million people are going to hell while the only ones who could do
something about it sit back and watch, paralyzed by fear.
“But there’s hope.
In Malaysia I met some people who weren’t scared to risk it all for the sake of
the gospel. They refused to be paralyzed by fear of a government, understanding
that the one they answer to has far more authority than any government ever
will. Meeting them wrecked me.”
Angelique and her team
spent the month evangelizing alongside their courageous contacts. She edited
sermons to be translated into Bahasa Malaysia. She helped build a farm that
will eventually be a self-sustaining home to six Malay families who have become
Christians. She helped create a safe community for them.
“Our time at the
farm was the hardest for me on the entire Race. When we arrived, it was little
more than a construction site. We even built our own beds. There was only a
simple shelter assembled from pieces of green tin with no electricity or
waterproofing. The daily Malysian downpours left the floor of our room
permanently drenched. On a most days we ate rice and fish for every meal. The
critters – wild boars, snakes, mosquitoes, and leeches – were abundant.
“Each day we
worked from sunrise to sunset doing intense manual labor. We were given a long
list of tasks to accomplish. We mixed cement, dug holes, built fences, chopped
down trees, did electrical work, shoveled rocks, weeded the property, and
gathered fruit. It was exhausting work.
“The pace was
fast. The work was urgent. There was no time to rest, rain or
shine.
“There
were literally moments where I thought, ‘ I can’t do this. It’s physically
impossible.’
“In those moments
the only thing that kept me going was remembering all the Lord did to bring me
here and what a treasured gift it is. The work was grueling, but what a
privilege to work alongside these incredible people.”
Angelique risked her own
legal status to follow God to a place where believers surrender their security
everyday for a relationship with the God they love. Like the Malaysian
Christians, Angelique understands that nothing – even home and family – is
worth more than Christ.
