Closing thoughts

Thank you for all your prayers and support for this trip (if indeed anyone still reads this blog!) It was a fantastic experience, and I was greatly priveliged to be able to go. I learnt much about Christian ministry, Malaysian culture, myself, and what it means to serve others.

The flight home passed without any difficulties - it was a relief to see the family again but still quite sad to have left all the people we met and food we ate behind. The only remnant of Malaysia in our kitchen at the moment is a few sachets of the notorious Kopi!

The second guest dinner that I mentioned in the last post went very well. Attendance was good and Sam spoke clearly. I had a chat with a non-Christian but (yet again) he had to leave early. We pray that God may grow these seeds that have been planted.

On the last day we had a meeting together to talk about how the trip had gone, and who Mark, Chris and Andrew need to focus on in terms of meeting-up and discipleship. This provided yet further proof of the perceived importance of this type of meeting, and pray that these will spring up amongst the OICCU fairly soon.

What did I enjoy about Malaysia:
- the food (excellent quality & cheap prices)
- the people (very friendly, albeit difficult to talk to sometimes)
- our team (endless banter, they were all a good laugh)
- Kuala Lumpur (despite the haze, a lovely city)
- the countless opportunities we had to serve Jesus Christ

What didn't I enjoy:
Honestly can't think of anything. It was hard work but you've got to expect that.

Highlight: Holiday club or visit to Tasik Chini

Would I go back: Yes (if asked)

There we go. Thanks again.

Just a quick post to say that the study/seminar on 1 Peter went really well. There were less students there than I had anticipated (maybe they were told in advance it was me doing it!) but we had an encouraging time nevertheless. Gordon's talk on addiction went well too.

We are very thankful to some of the SMACC families for having us over for dinner and giving us free reign in their swimming pools!

This might be the last post here. We fly home on Monday evening, please pray for safe travel. Info about the last guest dinner and general reflections on the trip and Malay culture will come soon...

Kids club over

Praise God for a very successful kids club at the Cathedral that we ran this week. The message of Jonah was proclaimed faithfully and about 20-25 kids came along which was great. It was immense fun and hard work at the same time!

I am still preparing my seminar at the medical college tomorrow - I'm going to do a bible study on 1 Peter 3: 8-18 followed by looking at Two ways to live. It's very likely that the Christians haven't seen this before, so please pray that it would be helpful to them. There might be some non-Christians coming too, so please pray that we can be a good witness to them.

The next Guest night is on Saturday - Sam is speaking on "How can I trust the Bible". Please pray that many non-Christians would come and that God would grant all the understanding of His word, and pray that many would turn to it as a result. Pray for good conversations at the tables.

A few other things:
- Please continue to remember the girl from the youth camp that Bryony, Caroline and Laura are meeting up with, that she would keep reading Mark's gospel and know Jesus. Pray for sensitivities with her family.
- Thank God for the work the Ebbe's girls have been doing with the Girl's Brigade. They had the opportunity to teach them a song based on John 3:16 and explain what the verse meant. Pray that this ministry can continue and bear much fruit.
- Even though there is little time left, we are still trusting that God can provide some opportunities to meet up with SMACC folk. Thank God for the conversations that have happened already.

This last point might need some explanation. Part of the purpose of our trip is to encourage some of the SMACC people to have a more mature view of what church is for (Eph 4) and thus help them to see the importance of so-called "horizontal" sharing of God's word between each other. We're not sure quite how well this has gone, but pray that we would have been of some use.

Here's the English translation of that song:

He is Lord, He is Lord
He is risen from the dead and He is Lord
Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess
That Jesus Christ is Lord

Who's the king of the jungle?

We've just got back from a two-day trip to Tasik Chini. This village is in the middle of the Malaysian rainforest/jungle, and it was an amazing experience. We were all very struck by the contentment of the people - poor though they are, and the beautiful scenery that they live around. (Pictured: Michael, Caroline, Bryony, Gordon and Chris rehearsing songs at Tasik Chini)

The teaching was mixed. The pastor who visits them every Thursday gave a talk on Daniel 2 - giving the main application as asking God for help if you have bad dreams. It does not take a biblical scholar to see that this is a long way from what Daniel 2 is on about! On the other hand, Andrew Cheah, the pastor at SMACC, gave a faithful presentation of the cross which we trust and pray will impact the people. It was hard work to serve them - we spent Friday morning cleaning up their village - they don't seem to have heard of bins! But nevertheless the trip was lots of fun - the Ebbe's folk providing some much-needed banter for most of the time.

We're back in KL for the 12 days we have left. Some things coming up:

- SMACCTeam tonight, the monthly church fellowship meeting. They have a meal altogether, pray, report back and have some training on encouragement. Gordon and I are doing a presentation on the Tasik Chini mission - pray that we'd get it sorted in time;
- Thank God that Sam is now back to good health, and pray for his remaining talks and sermons (two Sunday services, one Guest Night, one praise evening, Dialogue suppers);
- The holiday kids club (Mon-Wed), for Michael and Ben doing talks on Jonah, and for the kids to repent and trust in Jesus;
- For Gordon, doing a CU talk on Addiction on Friday;
- For me - I've been asked to do an hour-long talk/seminar to a CU group on Friday. Provisional thoughts are 1 Peter 3 - please pray for wisdom and help from God to prepare this.

We sang some songs in Malay at Tasik Chini - here's one of them (translation comes next post, see if you can guess what it is)

Dia Tuhan, Dia Tuhan
Dia bangkit den kubur dan Dia Tuhan
Tiap lutut bertelut, lidah mengaku
Yesus Kristus Tuhan

Work goes on...

The last few days have been quite busy. We have been engaged in preparation for the SMACC kids club which starts next Monday. Most of the work has been cutting out cardboard and drawing fish-like shapes on paper. It is mundane stuff but joyful when you know who you're doing it for. A verse which continues to encourage me:

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

(1 Cor 15:58)
The first SMACC guest night happened last night. It was a very posh meal at the Amada hotel and I think most of us ate far too much. The talk (given by Sam) was titled "Is there such a thing as truth?" Sam spoke on John 14:6 and gave a challenging message to all of us. Praise God for some great conversations over dinner, and please pray for a non-Christian guy I met on Sunday who came along, that there would be more opportunities to chat with him, and that he may know the truth and the truth would set him free.
We are going on Thursday to Tasik Cini, a rural inland settlement inhabited by Orang Asli - indigenous minority peoples. Please pray for opportunities with them and for God to help us with language barriers - they don't speak English. We'll be organizing activities for the children. Pray too that God would keep his people safe.

Worthless idols

Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD.

(Jonah 2:11)
A few reflections on the last two days:

Yesterday we went to Batu caves - a sacred Hindu temple scattered with statues and idols of all sorts. Once we had climbed the 272 stairs leading to the caves, we were given a headset which explained why the gods looked the way they did and the function of their several wives.

What was particularly striking was how beautiful the caves were in terms of the rock formations and the sunlight peering in through the top. We also had much fun taking photos of monkeys, and I have to say that was much more interesting than looking at the statues. The irony is the caves and their inhabitants, while reflecting the glory of the True God, are filled with all kinds of other worthless idols.

In the evening Gordon and I prepared a small study on 1 Peter 3 that we planned to use today at a CU meeting. It turned out to be an informal congregation in McDonalds and we didn't use it. The time was instead spent getting to know the Christians and finding out how their ministry is different to ours.

This morning we went half-way up the Petronas towers to the Skybridge that connects the two buildings. This was followed by a trip to the aquarium.

Gordon and I are going to a cell group tonight, and tomorrow there is a dialogue supper. Please pray that the talk at the supper would be clear and that the conversation would be full of grace. Two of the team have been unwell recently so please pray for good health and spiritual/physical strength.

The first week

This is brought to you from an Internet cafe beneath the Petronas towers - am thankful for a free(ish) morning to update this. (Shown - St Mary's Cathedral)

I'll go through the whole of our first week here.

Wed/Thur

The flight went surprisingly quickly given its long duration. There was plenty of in-flight entertainment - films, music, computer games, travel info etc. Food was good by airline standards, and some of us even managed a few hours sleep. We were met at KLIA by Mark, Chris and Andrew - the two apprentices at SMACC and the SMACC leader respectively. The drive to our guest house was quite long - the airport had been purposely built a long way out of KL to encourage growth in the corridor.

The guest house we're staying at is run by OMF and used by their missionaries and directors as a base in KL. It has been interesting to chat to a couple who are there at the moment about their experiences of Malaysian mission and church work. The rooms are spacious and beds comfortable - indeed the standard of living as a whole is enormously high as will be apparent from these reflections. In the evening we had dinner with Andrew and his family followed by a much-needed night's rest.

Fri

In the morning we went into KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Centre) to a big shopping mall beneath the Petronas towers. Later in the day we went to the top of the KL Tower - a needle-like structure like that you see in some American and Canadian cities. Needless to say the views from the top were superb. Once back at the guest house we got ready to go on the SMACC youth camp. It was for 12-19 year olds in a resort in the hills an hour or so from the city.

Sat/Sun

The youth camp went really well. Sam's talks on "Knowing God" were really good and the kids by-and-large were keen to discuss what they'd learned and were great fun to be with. There was one non-Christian there who remarked that she had learned a lot at the end of the camp and so please pray for the follow-up with her that one or more of the female members of the team will do.

Mon

In the morning we went to the National Museum - an informative insight into Malay culture. In the afternoon we watched a John Chapman video on preaching.

Tue

Today we did some practical ministry - moving old OMF archives from old dusty boxes to brand-spanking new Ikea ones. We didn't get time to look through much of the material but we were told that its contents ranged from interesting to controversial! We had a long chat with the Home Director of OMF in Malaysia about her work and what mission in Malaysia is like. In the evening we went for a swim in Mark and Chris' pool.

Today we are going to Batu caves - a sacred Hindu site.

I found these prayer points on Sam's blog - my hour on the internet is running out!

1. Quiet times: We're ill-disciplined at the best of times, but factor in jet-lag and a variable routine - please pray that these times would be the most precious of the day.

2. The team: a great bunch, but pray for unity, and health/safety.

3. We'll be working particularly closely with Andrew Cheah, the pastor of Smacc: pray we'd be a blessing and encouragement to him in the fine work he's been doing.

4. Sam is speaking at an evangelistic banquet on August 14th: pray for truth, clarity and passion.

6. Sam will also be preaching at Smacc Sundays 13th, 20th and 27th on the theme of prayer.