Greetings from Malaysia!

Hi friends!

This is my first update from my July trip to Malaysia. First impressions: this place is hot. Very hot. And humid. The hostel we are staying in is nice, I have my own mattress, our room has AC, we have clean water, clean showers, and western toilets (PTL). We are very safe here.

There were so many questions and so much uncertainty about what to expect on this trip, but I feel confident that God had a reason for bringing me to this place. This week, God has spoken to me through the testimony of several believers I have met. I want to share parts of these stories to give a better depiction of what faith looks like in a country where there are few Christians.

Within minutes of arriving in the country, we discovered a man we had met was a Christian. I was surprised, since 90% of the population is Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist. I had just met this man, but suddenly he’s giving us advice about how to share our faith in the city. He told us about his miraculous conversion from Islam, and secret church cell he leads for other illegal converts from Islam. During the week, he drives a fourwheeler into the deep jungle to visit the Christian schools he has planted in the headhunter tribal villages. If that isn’t Jesus I don’t know what is.

The founder of the school I am working at and the founder of our church shared some of his story as well. He was raised Sikh, but decided to follow the Lord after he heard God in a vision. His wife was raised Buddhist, but also had a miraculous encounter with the Lord and became a Christian. 

A friend from East Malaysia told me there are entire towns and villages  on the island of Borneo that practice Christianity. The government tries to pay these people  to convert to Islam, but most refuse.

Other friends have told me how they have overcome poverty and  encountered Christ through the ministry at the school. Some of these students are refugees and undocumented migrants who come from Myanmar, Pakistan, and even as far as Sudan. These students are unable to attend the public schools, but are accepted at Dignity School, where they see faith lived out daily by teachers and leaders at the school. Over 1,000 students attend school here, and are impacted by this ministry.

In the most unlikely of places, God is at work in a powerful way. Christians here are few and far between, and the government and the culture make living as a believer difficult here. I have been blessed and encouraged by the stories of faith I have heard this week, and I hope that you have been, too!