Mission: Malaysia

2006-07-30T08:52:00.000+08:00

We are on our way home today! Right now it's about 8:45 am, so after church services, lunch, and a final prayer meeting with the church, we will be headed for the airport. (I think there's a caravan of about 5 or 6 cars that are accompanying us to the airport!) Time has flown! If you're reading this on Saturday evening back in the States, pray for us to finish strong and be able to encourage the church as we leave. It's is really hard on us to leave and we have a long journey ahead, but we are looking forward to seeing many of you soon. May God be glorified in this work!

And if you haven't watched Eric's slide show below, I highly recommend it.=) It includes just about everything we've done, minus our free travel and the farewell parties. Eric did a great job!

2006-07-29T10:39:00.000+08:00

Well, it took a while for me to upload it, but here's the farewell party's slideshow. This is a collection of pictures and videos that summarize the parties and a lot of the reader outings. It's eleven minutes long, so I wouldn't attempt to play it without a decent internet connection.

2006-07-28T20:06:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone! We haven't forgotten about you, we've just been participating in more parties, good-bye ceremonies, social gatherings, and crying festivals in the past few days that I ever knew was possible. The readers are coming out for their final reading sessions and are hanging out to get in their last good-byes, not to mention showering us with outlandish gifts. (Loraine's readers have brought her enough jewelry to last a lifetime and she's just going to wear it all home in an effort to set off every metal detector between here and Nashville.) Right now I feel like we're running a big Asian CSC--even at this moment we have readers hanging out to study, watch movies, and eat pizza.=) Now we need to work on kicking everybody out at 11 pm.=)

One interesting fact is that Eric has been making his readers cry. Seriously, one of Eric's readers came out of his last reading session today bawling and hugging all over Eric (not even kidding.) This made Loraine and I cry and it was kind-of turning into a huge kleenex festival. Then Brad came out and told us we were all a bunch of pansies. At first I was wondering what on earth Eric had done to the poor guy to make him cry so hard, but then Brad astutely pointed out that he would cry too if he were about to be separted from Eric for who-knows-how-long. Fine point, Brad, fine point.

To be serious, I am so touched by how deeply these kids have become a part of our lives in the last 6 weeks. We've laughed with them, ate with them, traveled with them, danced with them, studied with them, shared Jesus with them, and now we cry with them and say good-bye for now. There's a time for everything. Last night at our farewell party we gathered our readers around with the church members and sang "A Common Love." It was so touching to look around and see people from all over the world singing and to know that indeed these we have a common strength and a common hope. And I believe, that to the glory of God, many of these students will have a common future with us as they begin to take hold of the truths that have been imparted to them these past weeks.

We thank God for everyone he has sent to us here in Malaysia. May He continue to bless them!

2006-07-23T23:17:00.000+08:00

I just wanted to share with everyone how happy I am today. Today has been a great wonderful awesome fantabulous day! I can't even begin to describe it. First off, Eric preached an excellent sermon on trials this morning that really registered with the church, I think. God really spoke through Eric powerfully. Plus, I just tend to be really encouraged on Sunday mornings anyway and the class and service this morning were especially touching.

Immediately after service we had a special treat. We got to witness Eric's reader James being baptized! How awesome! James came to the church about 3 months ago after "randomly" finding the address online. James is 18 and after he recently moved away from his family to begin his studies, he began to feel the need to seek God. He didn't have a Christian background, so it's obvious the Holy Spirit was working on him to bring him here. After getting to know the church members here, studying with them, and going through LST, James decided to be baptized. We all gathered at a nearby swimming pool to witness it and I must say that it was a spectacular moment. Praise God that James is part of our family now!

After the baptism, another reader, Veronica, showed us around Chinatown. We were blessed to have a young lady from the church who is exactly Veronica's age join us on this trip and it's so great to see how God is building bridges between readers and church members. We are so excited to know Veronica and look forward to hearing how God is working in her life in the near future.

You can see why it's been a grrrrrrrrrrrreat day! I'm exhausted from all the things we did this weekend, but I still bet it will be hard for me to sleep tonight from all the joy it has brought me. Praise be to our marvelous God!

2006-07-23T22:59:00.000+08:00

We have had some awesome opportunities to hang out with readers this weekend and just have fun. God really answered our prayers as far as giving us some excellent outreach opportunities!

Picture #1: Four readers accompanied us on a trip to the bowling alley on Saturday night. We played 2 rounds and I even broke 100 if you add my two scores together. After bowling, we grabbed some dinner with this group!
Picture #2: The readers are bowling away. We had so much fun cheering each other on!
Picture #3: On Friday night, nine readers accompanied us on a trip to a historic ship called Doulos, thanks to some help with transportation from the church members. This was definitely a moment when I realized how little faith I have. The ship was an hour and a half away and I really thought we'd be lucky just to get a couple of readers to come. But God really blew our socks off when nine showed up! It was a cramped car ride, but a very interesting trip! In this picture, the 4 LST workers are pictured on board the ship with the 9 readers who attended.
Picture #4: Here's another picture on board the ship that's a little easier to see. This picture clearly shows us that Americans tend to be taller than Asians.=)

2006-07-21T10:06:00.000+08:00

After dying the eggs, the LST readers went on an Easter egg hunt in the church building. They're pretty eager to get some eggs.

2006-07-21T10:04:00.000+08:00

Our 4th party centers around traditional Easter activities. Here we have the egg dying portion.

2006-07-20T12:05:00.000+08:00

Hello, everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates; we've been having plenty of reading sessions recently. We should have a video of tonight's upcoming party ready sometime tomorrow (hopefully). Until then, here's some pictures of reading sessions:

2006-07-15T14:06:00.000+08:00

As long as anyone in Malaysia can remember, there have been no Christian missionaries from other countries coming to Malaysia for a long-term stay. Sure, there are groups like ours' that come on tourist visas for short-term projects, but those visas are only good for 90 days. For many years Christian missionaries were illegal in Malaysia, and today it is still next-to-impossible to get permission to come to Malaysia as a missionary. Although it is legal to preach Christianity, the Muslim-controlled government is determined to keep Christianity "under control." Ever since I arrived here, I marveled at the number of healthy Christian churches and ministries that seem to be flourishing here in spite of the absence of trained preachers and evangelists. Of course God can prosper His remnant anywhere He chooses, but who did He use to spark the flame in Malaysia? After last night, I have a much better understanding of this question.

Upon the insistence of some church members, we attended a memorial service for Vaughn Young (whom we have never met) last night. What an honor! Young was an engineer with a degree from Texas Tech who went into the oil business during the boom in Texas. I don't know all the circumstances of his career, but I know that as Malaysia increasingly became an Asian oil power in the 1970s, he was transferred to Kuala Lumpur by Exxon. Even though Christian missionaries were illegal in Malaysia back then, Christian oilmen (and their families) were not! And even though Vaughn Young was experiencing a successful career as an oilman, his highest calling was that of a Christian. He blessed and encouraged the church here immensely, including becoming a spiritual father to 2 of the leaders at Wangsa Maju (where we are working now.) I also learned that as Malaysia increasingly became more industrialized during the 1970s and 80s, dozens of Christians came to Malaysia to not only fulfull their role as businessmen and engineers, but more importantly to fulfill their role as vocational ministers. As I listened to the stories of these pioneers of Malaysian Christianity last night, I was very convicted. None of them were professionally trained in ministry or sponsored by a church in the U.S, but they all understood the importance of working for their Savior. And God used them to make all the difference! I was especially touched listening to our sister Nalini, who with tears rolling down her cheeks, told how Vaughn Young's family and the other "oil families" were a Godsend to her during the time that she was disassociating herself from a Brahmin Hindu family and becoming part of the Family of Faith.

Like Vaughn Young, I believe that each of us, because of our career or friends or circumstances, has been given the ability to reach a demographic or group of people that most cannot reach. Maybe you attend a public school or work in a politcally-correct workplace where outward expressions of Christianity are "against the rules." Maybe you're a member of a social club or a sports team where Christianity isn't especially popular. But the Holy Spirit will still be shining in you! How awesome that all of us are called to be ministers wherever we are!

Vaughn Young had been living in Texas for the last 20+ years (where he was a leader in Houston's inner-city Impact Church), but he had such a profound effect on the Christians in KL during his 8 years here that the KL Christians also gathered to celebrate his life and commitment to the church. Apparently the KL Christians were close to his heart even during his waning moments. During this same time, Christians in Houston (where it was still Friday morning) were gathering for the same purpose. Both gatherings ended with the singing of "Victory In Jesus."

O victory in Jesus
My Savior forever
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood
He loved me 'ere I knew Him
And all my love in due Him
He plunged me to victory
Beneath the cleansing flood

2006-07-14T16:52:00.000+08:00

Our third party has the readers decorating T-shirts. We interview each artist, showing off their work. I end up judging the competition with my patented "Thumbs Up" rating system.

2006-07-13T16:03:00.000+08:00

Brad here again. Here are some other things I'm thankful for:

1. My plans for visiting Hong Kong after we leave are working out perfectly. I've got some appointments set up and have found a great hostel to stay in.

2. Ravi, our contact here, teaches a great class on James. I'm learning alot.

3. Our party preparation went sooooo smoothly this week because Eric prepared so well.

4. Butter naan

5. Some of my readers are really now my friends and not my students. And I have alot in common with them. I'm glad they are willing to hang out with us on a less formal basis.

6. Milo

7. God has fought off my soar throat about 3 times now via tea and herbal throat drops.

2006-07-13T15:50:00.000+08:00

I would like to prove a point. In the book of Acts, we find God sending a Christian to the house of a man who was persecuting and killing Christians with alot of authority. Obviously, the Christian was no so sure it was a good idea, but God sent him anyway. And then Saul became Paul, and the rest is history. Often it is the least likely people who surprise you.

I had a reader the other day whose pronunciation is not so good. He missed the first 3 appointments we had made, but I kept calling him to reschedule instead of marking him as a dropout. I was surprised when he finally came. In our first session, I could barely understand him, and our talk was very uneventful. The next time he came, I took a deep breath and began what I thought would be a fairly taxing reading session.

Surprise. It was only our second session, and he was asking me what God's plan is. I said to make a way for people to be forgiven of their wrongs so they can live in Heaven. He asked if God can take a murderer and make him into a good person. Then he asked how. We talked about the Holy Spirit, and we talked about angels and salvation and how God protects us and how God saves us from ourselves. He kept nodding and agreeing and ended with, "Thank you for explaining."

I didn't even do anything! He just started asking all these great questions. It was my best session of the day, and I thought it would be the worst. There's a lesson in this.

You never know what God is doing, so give it your best no matter what you're up to.

It proves that we're just here as available instruments. God does all the work and should get all the glory.

Please pray for my reader W.S.

Brad

2006-07-13T12:08:00.000+08:00

It's hard to believe, but our time with the readers is past the half-way point now. Time has flown! For these next two and half weeks, we will be trying to spend every waking moment with the church members and/or the readers. We had a meeting this morning and roughly planned about 4 or 5 special outings that we will invite readers and church members to attend with us. Haha, by the time we get back to the U.S, we will probably be desperately craving some "alone time," but we feel that since our time here is so limited, we must pack in as many outreach activites as we possibly can. Pray that we can use these last 16 days in KL wisely and effectively.

The hardest part about doing LST work is that about the time you begin to feel close to your readers, it's time to go home! That is definitely the case for me. On Tuesday, I had a reader who opened up and shared with me that she had been thinking about finding a Christian church to visit for awhile now because churches seem like such peaceful places to her. She asked how long I had attended church and why I choose to go, and I got to share some of my spiritual autobiography with her. There's a part of me that would love to stay here for a long time and be her companion as she begins her spiritual journey, but I know that God has only given me these next two and half weeks with her. I will have to plant the seed and trust somone else to water it. Of course there will still be e-mails and occasional phone calls, but I will still have to give up my desire to "control" this situation and leave her to God's good care. I am thankful that God has given me a treasure in this broken jar of clay that I can shine for Him, and that He has allowed me to cross paths with so many different people all over the world so that I can be blessed by each one of them. Pray for this reader! I know these next 2 weeks will be a very special time for her. (Ok, I'm already tearing up. I'll probably be a mess by the time I leave!)

For these next few days, pray that we will really be able to become friends with the readers and be able to finish strong. Particularly these past few days we've noticed that readers have not been able to come because of schoolwork and mid-terms (and one day a huge downpour of rain put a big dent in our attendance.) It's obvious that Satan is providing a lot of distractions and excuses. Pray against this! Pray for us as we come home, report on our experiences, and integrate ourselves back into ministries in the U.S., accepting new challenges. Pray for Loraine and I as we will be looking for employment as soon as we arrive.

We also look foward to hearing how God has worked in each of your lives this summer! We've already heard some powerful stories from Brazil, Austrailia, Hong Kong, Honduras, Thailand and of course, various locations in the good 'ol USA. How awesome that we serve a God who is active in the lives of people all over the world.=)

P.S.--Will the person who signed our blog as "blog blog blog" reveal his/her identity? I think I know who you are and I might be able to win a bet!=)

2006-07-11T19:53:00.000+08:00

This is Brad again. We're kicking off the third full week of reading, and everyone seems to feel strong and ready. We've also gotten to go out to eat with readers a couple of times, and I think we're all starting to get really comfortable with them as our friends.

I was very honored to get to preach this past Sunday, and I'm looking forward to Eric's sermon in two weeks. I realized again how true it is that the best way to learn is to teach. We're doing a very serious Bible study of Acts in Bible class, and of course we're all getting to know Luke. On top of that, getting to do a sermon means I have to really search the Scriptures. So it is all very educating and fulfilling. I'm glad that the church puts such an emphasis on Bible study and the fact that faith comes from hearing the word of God. They really stick to the Bible.

Sunday, we went out for a while, and I got to go through the Islamic Arts Museum. It was every bit as good as I had hoped. As I'm trying to work on a novel set in a kind of Persian/Islamic culture, the museum was really inspiring. I love seeing such old artifacts. Highlights included archer's rings, intricately carved ceramic water filters, horse blankets, weapons (includings some rather mean looking push-daggers), beautifully crafted old legal documents and marriage certificates painted and made with gold foil, etc. I also got to learn alot more about the background of Muslims. I saw a story book for Muslim children, and it was about the first man. It basically read, in the beginning Allah created man from the dust, and he named him Adam. I am surprised Muslims and Christians look at each other as so foreign, when so many of our beliefs are the same or similar.

At KL tower, I got to fly across a zipline high over the road twice for about $5 or $6. It was well worth it, as I've never traveled in quite that manner before. We need ziplines from the hill to the library...seriously...it would work.

So as usual, we're having fun and working hard. There will be so many inside jokes by the time we get back that you guys won't want the four of us to be together.

Peace and best wishes to all,
Brad

2006-07-08T15:40:00.000+08:00

Our second party centers around a game of Bunco. This is a montage of some of the videos we took that night.

2006-07-08T10:10:00.000+08:00

Just a quick update to let everyone know that we threw another successful party last night, praise be to God. This time it was a rousing round of Bunco (the non-gambling version for those of you who were already getting your smark aleck comments ready), complete with all the normally dignified church members screaming and punching the tables by the end of the night. (Bunco has that effect on people.) One interesting thing that happened is that Eric threw 2 big buncos in a row (meaning all three of the dice landed on 6) and quickly did some math to find out that the chances of that occuring are less than 1 in 46,000! What talent that Dobbs kid has! He will indeed go down in the annals of Bunco history.=)

In addition, we have been blessed with a steady stream of readers. We will wrap up another week of reading tonight with more reading sessions than we had last week. Of course, more important than quanity is quality. We each now have stories of readers who are beginning to open up and let themselves become affected by the Word. We are so glad that we have 3 more weeks with them and look forward to the transformation God will work in them. We covet your prayers as we continue this process! Pray that the readers will want to come often (3 times a week is best), that they will come to their appointments, and that they will be thoughtfully considering the words of Luke. Pray for us that God will make us competent to do this work (2 Corinthians 3:5)

We love and miss all of you at home. As always, stay tuned for some photographic footage from the dynamic duo of Dobbs & Williams.=)

2006-07-06T20:28:00.000+08:00

Well, friends and neighbors, we've completed a little over two and half weeks of work here at our friendly Malaysian church. Things are still going very well. Our schedules this week have kept filling up as readers add all the sessions they can handle with yours truly and team. I think the only thing we've had difficulty with so far is keeping Brad's sessions under the three hour mark. ;)

God has really blessed us with the people here. I know that we all keep saying that. So, it must be true. The church members here make every day interesting, blessed, and fun. I am already sorry that they live in Malaysia and not closer to my home. Although, I am quite fond of my Christian family there as well.

We are gearing up for another day of reading tomorrow, followed by a dynamic party with games, snacks, and fellowship. Please keep us and our readers in your prayers.
Thank you for your support and encouragement.

2006-07-06T13:31:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was a very busy, but very exciting day. I met with 8 readers and read the story of Christ's birth with most of them (a couple of them were on other lessons.) Normally working that long would exhaust me, but I instead found myself to be very energized by it. This is evidence that God is working!

The amazing thing about this project is how many readers have told me they have never heard the story of Jesus before. (Christmas is nothing more than a commerical holiday here.) My experience shows that most non-believing Americans at least have some idea of who Jesus is, but with these Malaysian students we are starting with a completely clean slate. It is exciting to know that God is planting seeds that will continue to grow as they go throughout the rest of their lives. Please pray that they will not only be interested in these stories, but they will begin to think about the spiritual implications these stories hold for their lives.

Once again, I wanted to assure all of you that you are a vital part of this work. Without your roles as encouragers and prayer supporters, we would not be able to do what we are doing. Thank you for letting God work through you to encourage and sustain us!

". . . so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." --Isaiah 55:11

2006-07-04T15:11:00.000+08:00

Left to right: Doreen, Brad, Loraine, Angela, Meredith, Eric.

I wanted to tell about two amazing angels of mercy we have met on this trip. The first is Doreen. Doreen is our pint-size Malaysian grandmother who has blessed up immensely with all 90 of her pounds! This week the church hired her to be their first secretary, which is a good idea since she was already doing that job anyway. She cares for us and cleans up after us and keeps us smiling. We all get the biggest kick out of Doreen! The first day we were here for our information meeting she literally paced back and forth in the church building all day long for hours repeating over and over again in her adorable little voice how excited she was that LST had come to Malaysia. ("Praise God! It finally come to Malaysia! It make me sooooo glad!," she would say.)) Doreen knows the Bible like the back of her hand and she's one of those people who never meets a stranger. I think every time I've seen Doreen she's either been studying her Bible or making a new friend. But soon she's going to branch out by leading the bunny hop at our upcoming Easter party (hopefully!) Stay tuned for the footage!

Angela is our Malaysian auntie. She took off work the week of our information meeting so that she could call all of our prospective readers and remind them to come. We would not have had such amazing reader response without all of Angela's recruiting! Since we have started the reading sessions, she has come to the church building each evening to get to know our readers and to encourage us. Angela has shared a very touching testimony with us. Through some very sad circumstances, Angela was never able to have children of her own as she had always dreamed. For many years, she was sad and even angry about this and was only minimally involved in church. About a year ago, someone introduced her to the idea of spiritual children and told her that it wasn't too late for her to "raise children." God put it on Angela's heart to come to Wangsa Maju and help them plant their campus ministry, where God would bless her with children. And as many of you know, LST is helping to launch this campus ministry in many ways. I literally don't think it's an exaggeration to say that God has used this LST program to change Angela's life because she believes that each of our college-age readers were sent to her by God to be her children. At the LST meetings, she glows and says, "I prayed to God for children and he made the mother of 70!" Even after we leave to go back to the U.S., I know that Angela will make sure that her children/our readers are in good hands.

When we came to Malaysia, we were hoping to be a blessing to our readers and the church members, and we were expecting to be blessed by LST, our hosts, and all our supporters back home. All of that has been true, but true to His nature, God has been even better to us than we expected. He has filled our cups to overflowing with Angela and Doreen. Interestingly enough, Doreen and Angela are both coming out of some very hard seasons in their lives. God is not only using LST to introduce 70 college kids to the gospel, but He's also using it to lift 2 of his treaured daughters out of their season of discouragement! Praise Him for His abundant blessings!

2006-07-01T17:57:00.000+08:00

I am really excited about how the work is going. Praise God! We have had two inquiries about church times and Bible lessons. There seem to be some people here interested in learning more about Christianity.

Plus, there are some youth here who have not yet converted but who seem close. Perhaps our personal stories can encourage them to give themselves to the Lord. I'm happy to see such a great opportunity and response within just the week we've been hard at it.

If you are reading this during the daytime, probabaly those readers thinking of coming to worship with us are asleep on Saturday night. Please pray that they will decide to come to church when they wake.

God bless, and praise be to the Lord.

Brad (T3hCh0(0@731!11)

2006-07-01T08:41:00.000+08:00

After our tea-tasting party, Alvin (one of the readers) gives us a bit of information on the best way to have Chinese tea.

2006-06-30T22:31:00.000+08:00

Here are a few pictures from the party. Video coming soon.

2006-06-30T21:45:00.001+08:00

The first party was a smashing success! As many of you know, after previously being on an LST team with Jesse Troxler, I have proclaimed a burn ban for any parties I am involved with. Never again will any LST team I'm a part of burn things at their parties, nor will they be spending any of the party budget on pyrotechnics. So we had a tea party! It was very low-key, gave everyone time to fellowship, and did not require us to set any trash cans on fire (ask Jesse sometime.)

I was very impressed with my team's creative efforts for this party. Loraine ran a British tea station, complete with cucumber sandwiches and shortbread, and she taught the readers about British afternoon tea time. Eric ran an African rooibos tea station, in which he gave us a very impressive history lesson on African tea (thank you, Google.) I ran a Southern sweet tea station in which I taught the readers to talk with a Southern twang and let them try some butter cookies (since chicken fried steak wasn't available.) And of course, Brad/TehChOcOlate ran a Chinese tea station, in which the readers got to sit on the floor around a Chinese-style table and listen to Brad expound upon all the many health benefits of drinking Chinese tea. One of church members here let us borrow some of her beautiful teaware and I am just thankful we didn't break any of it.=)

The goal of the parties is to allow the church members to mingle with the readers and to show the readers that Christians can have fun. I would definitely say those goals were accomplished tonight! We will be giving parties every week and hopefully as the readers become more comfortable with us, more of them will want to come to the parties.

I also wanted to say how thankful I am for my team today, as I have been feeling sick and they have had to do more than their fair share of party preparation. I knew that even when I was sick and needed to rest that the party planning was in good hands. Brad prepared the teas and planned the talks, Loraine really went the extra mile with food preparation and party set-up, and Eric ended up making several trips to the store at the last minute to buy items. It is a privilege to serve alongside these guys. (And I am feeling much better tonight!)

I'm certain that Eric will put up some of his extensive photography soon!

2006-06-29T22:38:00.000+08:00

Our first party is tomorrow, which means extra hussle and bussle is required. I'm nervous because it is our first party. We hope lots of readers and church members alike will turn up and mix. We'll be mixing too ... tea of course. It's a tea party! For those who are thinking about us today, please pray that our first party will be worked out by God and that we will allow him to adequately minister through us to all the people who come.

My reading sessions have been terrific so far. I feel totally at ease with all of my readers. I have 5 new ones tomorrow, so I am thankful for that as well. If they are as eager as those I've met so far, it will be an even greater blessing.

One of my readers liked her Tuesday session so much that she came on Wednesday and Thursday as well. She seems really excited, and I think she is a seeker.

We'll just have to keep praying that God will give us good soil for us to plant His seeds of truth in. And on top of that, we're already improving English, keeping Ye Olde mother tongue alive and well in the world.

Peace and blessings to everyone who is reading our posts,
Brad

PS my displayed name has been changed for added humor.

2006-06-29T11:01:00.000+08:00

The church building is becoming more and more like our home. We went on our first grocery outing two days back. Now, grocery stores in Malaysia are similar, but still different, from their American couterparts. Imagine Kroger's, but with fish heads and fried chicken feet on sale today. We got all sorts of good stuff: cereal, spaghetti, a pineapple, etc. We've already cooked and eaten half the spaghetti. It's nice not having to leave to get lunch. Oh, and guess what? The church had a meeting last night. Turned out they were also surprising Ravi with cake et al since his birthday was the next day. And the best part? They got Domino's pizza! And the even better part? There's leftovers! It may not mean much to you guys, but it just feels more like home when there's pizza in the fridge. ^_^

Tomorrow is our first party. We'll be giving our readers a taste of teas from around the world: African Rooibos, British, Chinese Oolong, and, of course, Southern sweet tea.

And while I'm posting, here's a few pictures:

These people need better English!

2006-06-28T15:35:00.000+08:00

At the KL Butterfly Garden, we find a pond full of turtles. Brad is, yet again, captivated.

2006-06-28T15:05:00.000+08:00

Here we have a monkey eating a can. Not alot else. Just a quick view of the rock wall in Batu Caves. The last monkey looks like it's coming for Brad.

2006-06-28T14:48:00.000+08:00

Brad wants me to pet the chicken. Neither I nor the chicken seem too excited about that. Brad seems to think lots of things are cute.

2006-06-28T10:49:00.000+08:00

Isaac gives us some warnings about the monkeys in Batu caves. This part of the cave had a large opening above with vegetation growing all around. Very cool.

2006-06-27T21:52:00.000+08:00

This just in.

Team Malaysia reaches all time statistic high.

Reader turnout peaks at 122.22%.

Just as my teammates were winding down for the evening, two of our lovely readers who were on the waiting list showed up. There had been some miscommunication. They had been expecting a call this week to inform them of their reading time, instead of next week.

Mer and Brad gamely jumped into action. Having two empty spots at eight o'clock, they whisked the girls in and had a lively conversation hour with the two of them. As our recorder, Eric did the math and concluded that adding in two people where there were none results in us having 122.22% of our readers come to the sessions.

It just goes to show that you never know when a miscommunication can spike your stats.

2006-06-26T21:40:00.000+08:00

Wow, my teammates have become rather prolific in their blogging. I better hurry to catch up! For those who are suspicious, it is definitely true that Brad's long-held secret affection for blogging is starting to come out. Crazy! Watch out; next thing you know, he'll be starting up a "cars are good" campaign!

I just wanted to share a few thoughts I keep having about home. Even though I have loved every minute of our Malaysia trip and have been blessed with good health and wonderful support while I am here, every day I encounter reminders that I am not home. Some days it's the unique-tasting food (to state it optimistically.) Other days it's the cold showers. Sometimes it's my inability to communicate with people because of the language differences. Other times it just looks different: the cars are driving on the "wrong" side of the road, the people dress differently, the terrain and the buildings look different. I don't have to look far to remember I am not home.

But isn't that how we're supposed to feel everyday, never being fully satisfied with what this world has to offer and always remembering that a better day is coming? Are we ever really supposed to feel like we're "home" as long as we live on earth? Maybe some of the feelings I'm experiencing on this trip are the same kinds of feelings Jesus felt when He left Heaven to come to earth. Yes, my earthly home may be in the United States, but my real Home is in Heaven. How wonderful that God is using this trip to remind me of that!

We have over 70 reading sessions scheduled for this week. Please pray for these readers, that they would meet their friend Jesus, and come to see where their real Home is!

God bless you all. Your prayers are making a difference!
Love, Mer

2006-06-26T11:36:00.000+08:00

We go check out the Batu Caves. The entrance is guarded by fierce monkeys and about 270 stairs. Brad seems to like monkeys.

2006-06-26T00:30:00.000+08:00

There was a song we sang in Singapore at Pasir Panjang COC last Sunday that struck me as particularly beautiful in both word and music. I didn't remember hearing it before, but wanted to share it.

Because He Lives:

God sent His Son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal, and forgive;
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.

How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he gives;
But greater still, the calm assurance,
This child can face uncertain days because He lives.

And then one day, I'll cross that river,
I'll fight life's final war with pain;
And then as death gives way to vict'ry,
I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He reigns.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

2006-06-25T18:13:00.000+08:00

This is Brad again. I have something else to share. Today, after going to the caves, I came back and took a shower. Well, sort of a shower. Since the water is cold, I put a hose in a large plastic bucket to fill. Then with a smaller plastic pot inside, I pour water on myself to bathe. In the morning, that is pretty cold if you've just woken up and are not moving. It helps to jump around and box the air to get your blood moving before pouring that water down your back. But after the caves, I was hot and sticky and dirty.

So I had the most refreshing shower since I've been here. It was fantastic! It reminds me that God is teaching me on this journey, as he has always taught those who go on journeys, that contentment is a virtue. After a long hike, water's value soars higher than any stock. After a fast, a mouthful of white rice can taste better than your favorite sweet. After working outside all day, sleeping can be more fulfilling than all the entertainment money can buy. And after trudging through a stuffy cave, a shower can be a wonderful blessing! Contentment, happiness, with simple blessings.

So my encouragement for everyone is this: next time you take a warm, high-pressured shower with your own soaps and shampoos, remember what a blessing you have. Be happy and content with what God has given you. Imagine how much better a hot shower is than the cold one you could be taking if you were somewhere else. Say a little thanks to God the next time you shower. And if you have a jucuzzi or hot tub or something like that, say a big thanks to God.

God truly provides us with all that we need or would want, if only we were content with the simple pleasures of life in his world under his grace. Simple pleasures like the blessing of a shower to make us clean.

Love in Christ,
Brad

2006-06-25T17:58:00.000+08:00

This is Brad, reporting. Today was another great Sunday to worship God. The church service focused on the necessity of sharing the gospel as an act of love for God and our fellow men. How true. And I'd like to thank our contributors again for sharing the gospel by supporting us. Your support strengthens our faith and glorifies God. To make that less Bible-ese: your sharing your funds and time through prayer builds up Christ's reputation and honor.

We went to Batu Caves after church today and enjoyed climbing steep steps and watching monkeys and such. We also went on a tour of the Dark Cave, where we donned helmets with headlamps and saw old cave art and such. The Batu Caves house Hindu places of worship. One of the Indian sisters, Nalini, explained some Hindu stories and customs for us.

And that's the micro-lesson for this post. She showed us how all other religions' stories have a connection to Christianity, as if in their hearts they knew of God but made up their own myths to replace the true stories. The other religions are distortions of true knowledge of God, and thus their stories are similiar, like an imitation is to a real piece of art. But like an imitation, when tested, other ways besides Christ come to nothing.

I'm thankful for the faith of everyone at Laurel and here in Wangsa Maju. We owe our adventure in part to you, for you have allowed God to use you to give us opportunity for this exciting work. Peace and grace to you all.

Please keep our readers in your prayers!

With love,
Brad

2006-06-23T20:54:00.000+08:00

Hey all, I've heard that there was a problem with the comment system, that only Blogger users could comment. We've fixed the problem now. Anybody can coment!

We've just finished (or are still having) our last info meeting. We knew that everyone who came tonight would have to be put on a waiting list, so if we had too many, we wouldn't be able to read with everyone. Suprisingly, very few showed up, so we'll probably get to read with everyone who wants to read! More to come soon.

2006-06-23T13:37:00.000+08:00

Finally! Still pictures for those without a super-fast internet. Take a look:

2006-06-23T11:44:00.000+08:00

We take a quick tour of Wangsa Maju Church of Christ and note points of interest such as the auditorium, the conference room, and our new roommate "Gecki."

2006-06-22T23:47:00.000+08:00

It is way past time for us to hit the sack here on the other side of the world, but before we go to sleep I thought I'd post a copy of the e-mail I sent to LST a few minutes ago. It should keep everyone updated and we will put up some pictures and stories from the information meeting tomorrow:

Our team held 2 information meetings today at the church building here in Kuala Lumpur (since the building is rather small), and we signed up 63 readers. Eric has 15 readers; Brad, Loraine and I each have 16. This is defintely an answer to prayer because we did not have to turn anyone down today as we feared. We prayed earnestly that God would make it obvious to us which people to read with and we feel like the fact that He sent us the perfect number today is an awesome answer to prayer!

Another information meeting is scheduled for tomorrow night. The church is expecting about 20 readers at this meeting, and we are planning to explain the situation to them and place all of them on the waiting list. Please pray that these readers will understand the situation and that we will be able to handle them with grace.

As far as team dynamics, I can't brag on the team enough. Such a truly fun and flexible group! The church here has been wonderful. Almost the entire congregation turned out for the information meeting. They were a big help with welcoming and registration and even prepared refreshments for the readers. I've never seen a church so pumped up about LST!

We are so excited to start reading! We are all glowing tonight from the positive experience we had today. So awesome! Thank you for all your support. We can definitely feel that we are being prayed for.

Love, Meredith

2006-06-22T14:44:00.000+08:00

It is approximately 1 hr and 16 minutes until our first information meeting. Yes, there are 3. We are about to see God save us from utter chaos. We have faith that God will somehow deal with the 148 potential readers (many of whom are bringing friends) so that we can all take our maximum number (60) and no more. It is the best problem we could encounter. How to sort out who gets in and who doesn't? We don't have a list of people in the order they called. Now we just wait for God and see what's in store for us, as He's in control.

This has got to be the most exciting mission trip ever. Alot of experimentation is going to have to occur, and we're breaking alot of new ground. It has taken alot of innovation and flexibility to get set up so far. We've set a schedule, planned our parties, set up for this meeting, etc. It seems God has put the right people in the right places, stirring hearts to bring this all together from different angles. But now what's going to happen here in Kuala Lumpur? Wangsa Maju and we ourselves feel something big is coming. Everybody is a bit tense and very prayerful.

More from us soon. Here we go...

2006-06-22T09:15:00.000+08:00

The team takes a cable car trip to the island of Sentosa. We're treated to some audio commentary along the way. Brad feels tranquil.

2006-06-22T09:14:00.000+08:00

Brad gives a quick account of what's happening in Singapore. We're next to Clarke Quay just before our trip down te river. Everyone else is pretty quiet.

2006-06-22T09:13:00.000+08:00

Team-Malaysia-Adamo takes a sleeper train to Singapore. Meredith seems to be having trouble sitting up in her bed, and Loraine points out Brad's safety violations.

2006-06-21T23:35:00.000+08:00

Our travels are over. They were thorough and exhaustive, much like our media coverage of it all (only a small portion of those have been uploaded to the blog). There are still a couple of gems waiting for their debut. We covered an island, two cities, and a country. That's impressive, if I do say so myself.

Meredith reported very eloquently the grace that we've encountered while we've been here. It has been literally at every turn. I have felt that as one church member offered their service, others were just waiting in line to provide us with some other act of love. I can't thank everyone enough.

True to form, the Wangsa Maju church has pitched in and gathered 148 readers for us. I am praying that God will support us through the next few days, because I know it's not this girl that has the strength. That being said, I want to thank my team members and everyone who has given their support. I couldn't do it without you, either.

God Bless.

2006-06-21T18:17:00.000+08:00

When we first arrived in Kuala Lumpur, we were met at the train station by Brother Stephen. Stephen greeted us warmly and immediately insisted on buying lunch for us, hosting us at his house, and helping us plan trips to various attractions. Once he got us to his house, his wife Eileen set to work getting us the best accomdations in the house. She gave us her all. Brother Stephen drove us to see the Aggies For Christ at the youth camp after he found out my brother was there, and later that day drove us to his home province of Melaka to give us a tour. Stephen and Eileen took us to see monkeys and fireflies and to get a traditional Chinese dinner. All the while they insisted on serving us in every way. After a couple of days of this kind of service, you could imagine what happened to us. We began feeling guilty. We were costing Stephen and Eileen a lot of money and effort, and we could probably see most of these sites on our own. We had the money and the ability to travel by ourselves, so I told Stephen and Eileen that we were very appreciative of their help, but we hated to be troubling them. At this, Stephen's face glowed. As Brad would later say, the care and concern in Stephen's eyes are evidence that he has been deeply rescued and lives life by the power of the Holy Spirit. "You are not troubling us. You are our family. I want to be like the New Testament Christians in Acts, where it says they shared everything they had. Everything we have is yours," Stephen said. Immediately I understood. Stephen and Eileen had experienced Grace and they wanted to share it with us. Our role was to accept their hospitality and by our actions and humility to show them grace as well. We would repay them by showing others the same grace they showed us.

Throughout our stay, we have run into several special people like Stephen and Eileen. While visiting Singapore this weekend, we were taken in by the Pasir Pajang church as if we were their own. At first their acts of kindness towards us seemed too outlandish for us to accept, but we saw Christ in their acts of mercy and understood how important it was to accept and enjoy their fellowship.

As I've been processing these thoughts the past couple of days, it has reminded me so much of our relationship to God. God lavishes all kinds of undeserved spiritual gifts upon us, but how hard it often is for us to accept them! Sometimes we feel too guilty to accept them and other times we would rather do things our own way, but God longs to fellowship with us. When we experience this kind of grace from Him, how could we help but lavish it on those around us?

I think the thing that has amazed me most about the church here is how well they understand grace, and how well they show it. But then again, grace often flourishes under fire and in many ways the church here is under fire, being a small and sometimes persecuted minority. God is flourishing His small, but faithful remnant here in Malaysia.

Today we did a lot of planning and had a long meeting with our lead host, Ravi. We will hold our information meeting tomorrow. There are presently 148 people scheduled to come to the info meeting, but we only have 65-ish slots! Please pray that God will work in this situation, that He would send us the readers that are most ready to hear the Word, and that we will be able to handle the students who are turned down with grace.

2006-06-17T17:08:00.000+08:00

Brad gives us a taste of China's dim sum. In my opinion, it loos like alien eggs. Tastes good, but Brad is very hush-hush whenever we ask him what's in it. Oh, and there's lots of tea.

2006-06-17T00:05:00.000+08:00

In the heart of Kuala Lumpur, our team has made it to the skybridge connecting the two Patronus towers. This time it's Loraine who seems to be a bit nervous. Brad does some crazy camera-ing.

2006-06-15T11:24:00.000+08:00

This is Brad, not Loraine.

For my first post, I would just like to thank everyone who is supporting us and praying for us. Since we've arrived, I've come to see by the day how important our mission is. Not only is Wangsa Maju a new church actively seeking the lost, but we're the first LST team to work in Malaysia. On top of that, the church here has done some very time and money-consuming advertising for us. They sent teams walking around to recruit, made posters, distributed bookmarks, placed an ad, etc. It seems that everyone has pitched in. They don't know much about LST, but they are so excited about having us because of what they've heard in the Asia Mission Forum that we feel extra pressure to really let God have us and work through us. We're all hoping for great results, and with people stateside and in our church here who have put so much investment into this, the burden is heavy on our shoulders to do this perfectly. That will involve alot of serious humility, because we will have to be totally surrendered to God for him to work through us as powerfully as we hope for.

I would also like to add that the team dynamic is excellent. As we've backpacked together and spent about every minute together, we've grown closer in love and not gotten on each others' nerves (or if I'm on theirs, they're not telling me :)

More from me later. I have nothing but good things to say about the church members here, especially Steven Shee and his wife, who have taken care of us and shared good talks with us.

-Brad

2006-06-15T09:57:00.000+08:00

Hey guys! Here's a post to assure you that everyone is still doing well. We've had a blast this week!

Malaysia is a really interesting blend of eastern and western culture. In many ways, it seems to be the melting pot of Asia with a very big Chinese and Indian population in addition to the indigenous Malays. So much yummy Chinese and Indian food is found here! There are some strong British undertones that date back to the time Malaysia was a British-occupied colony, perhaps the most evident being that English seems to be pretty widely known and spoken. Most of the restaurants we've visited will have menus written in 3 or 4 different languages. The university that is near our church here has a very big Chinese population, so most of our readers are Chinese.

Earlier this week we went to the island of Penang and had some wonderful group bonding time. Brad got us lost for a while in a Malaysian jungle, which was very un-funny at the time, but now that everyone is unlost and okay, is becoming slightly funny. (Actually Brad would like to put in a correction: He was not lost. He simply took a very interesting-looking detour on the hiking trail and it didn't end up going where he thought it would.) Last night we rode back to Kuala Lumpur on a sleeper train. What is a sleeper train you ask? Well, think about crawling into the overhead storage compartment of an airplane (only on a train) and spending the night there and you'll get the right idea.

Here's an update on the team: Loraine is keeping herself busy laughing at Brad and Eric's antics and eating lots of yummy Indian food. Many in Malaysia seem to be attracted to her, most notably the Malaysian mosquitos. She has received over 50 mosquito bites since arriving here, earning her the title of yummiest team member. Eric is busy taking many pictures that he will post as soon as get our technology in order. He enjoyed the sleeper train so much that he has decided to have his next birthday party on a sleeper train. You're all invited!Brad has forgotten that he is an American and has taken on an Asian identity (but what's new.) He says: "Hello to all my friends! I is in Malaysia and I is sooooooooo happy! But I miss all my friends so they should come to seeing me in Malaysia and bring me a pop tart." Mer is having the time of her life soaking in the culture. Presently the team is debating whether to nickname her Butterscotch, Wheels, or Fireball. Don't ask.

There you have it! We love all of you and are so grateful for your support. We are looking forward to starting the LST work soon!

2006-06-07T18:45:00.000+08:00

Note: this was written a good two days ago... we had to run before I got it posted, but here's what you would've read two days ago:

Hey guys! Looks like it's my turn to post. The name's Eric, and you can consider me the team member that likes to hear everyone laugh and is up for whatever. Here's an update on our travels:

On Monday we all met up in Gallatin for one last American meal before heading out to the great unknown. We got to the Nashville airport and were seen off by Justin and the folks (and sister). After a group prayer, we headed out through security, bidding Tennessee goodbye. We had a bit of waiting, but managed to pass the time by whatever means were available (pooling our pocket change to buy a six-pack of gum). The flight was comparatively short. Within four hours we were on the West coast of America in the LA airport. Here's about where jetlag started becoming noticeable. Our flight wasn't until about midnight Pacific time, which is fairly late for Eastern and Central. As we waited for the call to board, we had a good laugh on how there were so many levels: first was 1st class, then business (at this point we started joking about even more levels), then ruby sapphire and emerald clubs (at this point we laughed harder about the fact that we were right). We decided we were somewhere around the "talc" level, maybe "limestone." We boarded our second flight on time. Over the course of the flight, we were treated to all the benefits of intercontinental travel: dinner, breakfast, and, get this, complimentary socks. Seriously.

I'm fairly sure we got some sleep in there, but I can't be certain. Now, things have gotten pretty weird as far as keeping time goes. Since we passed the international date line, we've completely lost June 6th. Never had it. On the plus side, we'll be getting a second August 1st in a few weeks.
Sometime early that next morning, we arrived at Hong Kong. Our layover wasn't nearly as long as the one in LA, so we only had time to comment on how messed up our sleep schedules were. Loraine did provide us with some laughs, however, as she seems to be the most heavily hit with jetlag.

Finally, Kuala Lumpur. We landed sometime around noon. After passing through customs and more security, we exchanged a bit of money for the local currency (Malaysian fives have a hole in them!). We bought tickets for the train and got in touch with our local missionary contact. He got in touch with (unsure of spelling, so going with American equivalent) Steven who met us at the other end of the railroad. He's a really great guy.

He's taken us in for the night, and is even taking us sightseeing soon! He and his wife have shown some serious Malaysian hospitality. She's a linguist, so Brad and her have been going back and forth about Asian languages.

All in all, things are going great. We haven't had a single delay since we started, and I've nearly finished reading my book (Don Miller's an awesome writer). And here you are, reading this as if it's happening so far away, like on the other side of the world, and it is. But I'm only using that as a metaphor. What I'm saying is, don't go reading this thinking you aren't having any effect. Alot of you guys supported us financially in getting over here to begin with, and alot of you guys supported us with encouragement. And it doesn't end with us getting here. No way. Even now, keep praying for us! Never underestimate the power of prayer. Here's what you might want to keep in mind: safety (that's been a big worry of all our parents...) and our readers.

2006-06-05T09:18:00.001+08:00

Well, tomorrow's the day of departure! It will be 27 hours of transit time (we certainly hope it's not more than that!) I just wanted to take a minute to tell you how supported I've felt today by all the kind words and promises of prayer support I was given. The Laurel family was awesome today--I even had a couple of people give me notes with blessings and hand-written prayers. I've also gotten several encouraging e-mails and I found two sweet prayers written on blogs today for our team (here and here.) I just want to let all of you know that you are just as much a part of our work as we are and I can already tell that your encouragement and prayers will sustain us while we are there. As I sit down to read the gospel with people who have never heard it before in a couple of weeks, I will tell them about what a privilege it is to be a part of the Family of God and I will be thinking of many of your faces when I do! Have a blessed week!

2006-05-25T18:15:00.000+08:00

Here's the team (clockwise from the top: Brad, Mer, Loraine, Eric) at a weekly Tuesday night training session at the Christian Student Center this spring. The team has successfully completed (approximately) 247 modules of training and been fully versed in the importance of 1-A (one another) leadership, which is entirely different than A-1 leadership. In t-12 days we will be hitting the friendly skies and can hardly wait to see what God has in store for us in Malaysia! Tune back in for updates on the Asian adventures of Team UTKnox!

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. --2 Corinthians 4:6-7