Still, over the past four years we do want to give God the praise and glory that on average there is always one single soul that will make a profession of faith to Christ, at least one per day while every three days one new convert will take the step of faith to undergo water baptism. Sad to say however, when we compare the number of those who leave and those who have just arrived, our efforts at evangelising are but a mere  drop of water in the ocean of spiritual needs.

The figures indicate the bleakness of this situation. On average. some 15-20 % of the migrants will fulfil their 3-4 year employment contract and return home while another 15-20% fresh new migrants will replace them. Taking into account the present population size of some 2 million of registered migrant workers in Malaysia, it’s obvious that about 300,000-400,000 of them will leave Malaysia without anyone telling them of God’s love for them. These don’t include the two million migrants who arrive here without the proper documentation and are deemed illegal.

Our evangelising methods remain conventional. We have always relied on a full time migrant evangelist to do all the preaching and pastoring of the alien sheep and certainly there is only so much a lone person can do. The teeming masses of foreign workers to reach out to, pose a strong challenge for us and our miniscule efforts, well meaning as they are, hardly make any dent on the massively fluid migrant population in Malaysia. For us, it’s akin to putting new wine into old vine skins, stifled as we are by our traditional ways of reaching the unreached. Something’s got to give if no new ways are devised.

Well, beginning this year, we opted to decentralise our meeting places, now we encourage the new believers to set up their own fellowship near or at where they are living so they no longer need to go to a central location for their Christian worship and weekly gatherings. Instead we sent up multiple worship times and places that offer easy access for the different groups, reminding them in the process that so long as they meet in their respective strategic locations and the Bible is read, shared and discussed, they are a church and should rely wholly on the prompting of the Holy Spirit to lead them in their walk with Christ.

We believe that by taking this more prayerfully smart and direct access to the various migrant communities, we will raise more active worshippers to assume a more dynamic leadership role in their respective places of work and areas of popular congregation.

Now, instead of only a few gifted leaders, we are able to raise up many more potential “Peters of great calibre” who are capable of engaging actively among their migrant peers.

Now, instead of generating more passive listeners and bored bench warmers, we have now galvanised them towards a more active participation within their own places of worship and warm fellowships.  Now, instead of being mere receivers they are learning to give of themselves for the blessings of other migrants who have yet to receive God’s blessings.

In effect, we’re emulating what  Jesus said and did ( John 14:12) ……that anyone who believe in Him would do the same works as He did and greater works he will do……..

So will you walk with us along this new path of faith, to reach out to the migrant population and bless them with your time, your resources while increasing your faith in the process?

Please see the web link of “Crushing Dreams of Refugee” reported by CNN News and we urgent all our Partnering Churches to unite with us in prayer for all refugees in Malaysia.

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/01/26/coren.rohingya.refugees.cnn

Andrew Ng

How then do we define this great disparity before we even talk of the poor among us. It will depend the different mindsets we are from or we may be talking to people whom we thought understand what we sharing.

There may be classifications in various ways, but in principle, the division seems to be four fold. Firstly and economically speaking, there are the indigent poor, who are deprived of the basic necessities of life. Secondly, there are the indolent poor, who are responsible for becoming impoverished because of their own behavior. Thirdly, and sociologically speaking, there are the powerless poor, who are oppressed victims of human injustice. And lastly and spiritually speaking, there are the humble poor, who acknowledge their helplessness and look to God alone for salvation

The first group, the indigenous poor are economically deprived. They may lack food clothing or shelter or all three of them. We are aware that millions of people within Malaysia are deprived of the sufficient income to meet ends meet. An average family (2 adults and two dependent school going kids) to make a decent living in the Klang Valley will need about RM3,500 per month for food, lodging, transport and other general expenses. Even with two working adults’ salary, it is hardly sufficient.

The Bible focuses its attention on poverty as an involuntary social evil to be abolish, not tolerated…

Zec 7:9 So speaks Jehovah of Hosts, saying, Judge true judgment, and practice kindness and pity, each man to his brother.
Zec 7:10 And do not crush the widow or the orphan, the alien or the poor. And do not devise evil in your heart, of a man against his brother.

As MMK is ministering to the aliens, we will at this time focus on this specific group and understand their predicament and cries for help. Most of the legally employed general workers will need to cough out an average of RM4,500 to RM7,500 agency fees (depending from which country they are from) for the work visa which will enable them to work here. Depending on the industry they are placed in, the work visa is renewable every year at the cost of between RM1,800 to RM2,000. Most of the migrants will use their first year’s income, toiling at an average of 10-14 hours a day (including their overtime and preferable with weekends) just to pays off their debt. Then they work the same kind of hours for the next 2-4 years to make their living.

According to the Dewan Rakyat (Nov 09 report) we have about 2 million legal working aliens and possibly an equal number of undocumented workers (figures are hard to verify depending from which NGO or agency we refer to).

How then, can we as a body of Christ, respond to these down trodden, deprived and marginalized group of about 4 million people?

Being down trodden, they are deprived of their basic human right, in spite of what had been advocated that there are labor laws to protect them from being abused. These cases of abuse are not due to ignorance of the law but they were treated as a social class lower than us, as marginalized people!

How are we instructed by the Bible when responding to the poor around us? The following verses apply.

Lev 19:13 You shall not defraud your neighbor nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not stay with you until the morning.

Lev 23:22 And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not completely reap the corner of your field. When you reap the gleaning of your harvest, you shall not gather. You shall leave them to the poor and to the stranger. I am Jehovah your God.

Deu 24:14 You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, of your brothers, or of your strangers that are in your land within your gates.

Exo 23:11 But the seventh year you shall let it rest and let it alone, so that the poor of your people may eat. And what they leave, the animals of the field shall eat. In the same way you shall deal with your vineyard and with your oliveyard.

Likewise, Jesus championed for this class of deprived people. The NT speaks well of His association with them

Luk 12:33 Sell what you have and give alms. Make for yourselves purses which do not become old, an unfailing treasure in Heaven, where no thief comes nor moth corrupts.

Mat 25:35 For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in;
Mat 25:36 I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.
Mat 25:37 Then the righteous shall answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, and fed You? Or thirsty, and gave You drink?
Mat 25:38 When did we see You a stranger, and took You in? Or naked, and clothed You?
Mat 25:39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you have done it to Me.

Can we, as disciples called by His name, do any less?