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.