The end of our first week!

Our first week in Malaysia is drawing to a close, and it has been absolutely amazing. It’s been very busy but packed with many things that I hope we’ll all remember for a long time. 

KLCC from our street.

Carrying on from where I left off a few days ago, here is what we’ve all been up to (loads!):

Wiggy and I had the privilege of joining Marianne and two other members of the congregation, Sam and Ivy, as they visited a mentally disabled home called Shal home. Marianne is a lady, who works incredibly hard for the church reaching out to many people with the good news of Jesus, and is a great encouragement to many. Sam and Marianne regularly visit the people at the home and share the Bible with them in a very interactive way. We had chance to join them and take part in some acting, which was hilarious for the both of us and hopefully for everyone else too.

That lunchtime we headed across the road to an exclusive restaurant, where some members of the church hold honorary membership, for a truly hands-on dining experience. We ate some incredible food served on banana leaves, by the traditional hands only method. It was rather messy but great fun and very tasty. 

'Tallest flagpole in the world'

The rest of the day consisted of a team training session on the life of the great Athanasius and his struggles to uphold the truth about the Trinity, followed by a Bible study in the Ampang district of the city on the sermon passage for the week.

Saturday brought a welcome morning off after a tiring last few days. In the afternoon, Nicky and I joined the Tertiary (higher education/university) Bible study led by my kind host Brian. We were looking through the final two chapters of the book of Romans at the apostolic ministry of Paul and the great unity and welcome that we as Christians share as Christ welcomed us! At the same time, Wiggy and Alice were visiting a place called Cheshire Home, where Wiggy led an interactive session on John 6 and the Bread of Life.

Sunday was a big day not only because it was my birthday (apparently), but more importantly because there were 4 services we were involved in. In the morning Rob attended the main SMACC1 meeting while the rest of us had a great time helping in the various Kids’ Church groups. We all then went over to Ampang for the ACA service that takes place at 2pm before rushing back to the cathedral for 5pm for the SMACC2 service. Both SMACC services and the ACA service were led by Andrew who was speaking on John 5 and how the Son is given authority, by the Father, to give life and judge the world. 

John 5:24:

²⁴Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life.

SMACC meeting room. Post-service community dinner.

The service was followed by a community dinner where we had great chance to meet more members of the congregation and share in the many encouragements we have as brothers and sisters saved for eternal life by the blood of Christ. 

The day ended for Nicky, Wiggy and myself, with a late evening visit to the Chin refugee church that takes place in a fairly run-down apartment block somewhere on the outskirts of town. Wiggy was making his preaching debut on Psalms 20 & 21, which is a fantastic achievement, even more so when you consider that every line had to be translated into the Chin language by an interpreter. That night was an incredible experience for all of us and I’ll probably never forget it! It was such an incredible privilege to see these people who meet in such tough conditions but have such zeal and love for the same God we all trust in for our salvation.

The small room where the Chin community meet. It was packed during the meeting.

Today was our day off…yay! We just lazed about in the city most of the day :)

That’s all (I’m tired), night