Displaying items by tag: Malaysia

In 1973, Solomon Bulan resigned as a secondary school advisor in Bario, Malaysia, confessing his lack of personal conviction. His emotional confession triggered a community-wide revival marked by repentance and reconciliation. The movement, known as the Bario revival, spread across tribes and communities, sparking four waves of spiritual renewal over eleven years. This led to cultural transformation and contributed to the growth of the Malaysian church. Despite periods of spiritual dryness, faithful intercessors sustained subsequent revivals. The revival's impact extended beyond spiritual realms, healing the land and fostering a vibrant worship culture. Prayer meetings, spontaneous worship, and evangelism became commonplace, emphasising God's power to transform lives. In recent years, efforts to commemorate and reignite the revival have seen the formation of intergenerational prayer movements like Tribal Gathering 2023, uniting believers across Malaysia and Southeast Asia in anticipation of a new move of God. The heart of this movement lies in young leaders seeking to awaken and mobilise the church for spiritual transformation.

‘Help me, I am being tortured by my employer. I'm covered in blood every day, help me!’ Meriance Kabu wrote, then folded the note and threw it out of the locked iron gates of the apartment where she worked as a live-in maid. A passer-by found it and took it to a retired police officer. ‘If she had stayed there, she would have died,’ he later said. That same day Malaysian police knocked on the door of the apartment Meriance hadn't left in eight months. ‘I felt as if I was falling,’ she says, recalling when she saw the officers. ‘They said, “Don't be afraid, we are here”. At that moment I felt like I could breathe again. The officers called me closer and I told them the truth.’ Her story contained distressing details. Nine years later she still fights for justice. Recently Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to improve the conditions of Indonesian domestic workers. Indonesia is lobbying for the case against Meriance's employer to be resumed.

The polls on 18 November are a year earlier than scheduled after years of political upheaval and the first since the voting age was lowered to 18. The shaky coalition government of prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob is attempting to win a solid mandate to end the political manoeuvring that has seen three prime ministers in nearly as many years. Elections for assemblies will also be held in some of the country’s 13 states. About 21 million people are eligible to vote. The 2018 election saw the United Malays National Organisation lose power for the first time in sixty years, amid public anger over the multibillion-dollar corruption scandal at the state fund. Voters are anxious about rising prices and higher interest rates, as well as the jostling for power among politicians.

Islam is Malaysia’s official religion. People can practice other religions, but ethnic Malays are banned from leaving Islam. Aadam and his wife Kasih are Muslim-background believers facing hardships because they decided to follow Christ four years ago. A young couple with a passion to serve people have been persecuted by family and the community as they lead a few house churches with dozens of believers. The couple and their toddler son and newborn baby were thrown out of their house once their faith in Christ was discovered. Because of lockdown, Aadam was unable to work driving his lorry which was also recently deemed unroadworthy. They had nowhere to stay and no way to earn a living. International Christian Concern heard about their predicament and provided house rental and repair for his lorry, plus two months of groceries. Kasih was so emotional she could not stop crying.

Malaysia, a beautiful nation in SE Asia, is in political crisis as the government coalition came apart on 22^nd February weekend. The King has interviewed Members of Parliament to find out where they stand and consider whether to call a snap election to form a new government.  

Concerns are that it could open the back door for the old, oppressively corrupt regime to come back to power.  The timeline of this developing situation to date is summarised in this graphic.
 
As we go to print, we are hearing that Malaysia's Parliament will not hold a special session on Monday 2nd March to decide the next prime minister, the country's monarch announced, a day after interim Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said the legislative body would do so.

The king made the declaration on Friday, as Mahathir's own party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, made a surprise announcement that it has nominated party president, Muhyiddin Yassin, as its candidate for prime minister.

With the latest development on Friday, it is now unclear what role the 94-year-old Mahathir would play as chairman of the party, also known as Bersatu. Earlier, the party had said that it wants Mahathir to continue as prime minister.

On Thursday, Mahathir had announced that there will be a special session of parliament on March 2 to select the new prime minister.  He also said that if there is enough support for him, he will stay on as prime minister.

But the announcement on Thursday angered his former coalition allies, led by Anwar Ibrahim, who said it was inappropriate for him to pre-empt a decision by the king, whose powers would be challenged by a vote in parliament. The coalition had earlier nominated Anwar as prime minister.

On Friday, the parliament speaker, Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, also contradicted Mahathir, saying that a special session can only be declared through an official decree by the king.

Please pray with our brothers and sisters in Christ there that the King will do the right thing, that the nation will be protected from corrupt rulers returning, and that a new government coalition will be formed that is representative of the diverse racial groups of the nation and broadly accepted to take the nation forward for the good of all.

Here are a few prayers from local believers:

In the Name of Jesus, we declare that the government of Malaysia will rest on the shoulders of our Lord Jesus Christ! And His name will be called:
Malaysia’s Wonderful Counsellor, Malaysia’s Mighty God, Malaysia’s Eternal Father, Malaysia’s Prince of Peace!
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace over our nation.
Jesus Christ is enthroned forever, among us, to restore sound leadership that cannot be perverted or shaken.
He will ensure justice without fail and absolute equity. Always.
The intense passion of the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, will carry this to completion. (Isa.9:6-7)

Father God, we declare Your Word over Malaysia:
Blessed are those of our politicians who follow God’s ways, who won’t walk in step with the wicked nor share the
sinner’s way, nor be found sitting in the scorner’s seat. (Ps.1:1)
Blessed are those of our politicians who act with justice, love to show mercy and are humble as they live in the sight of God. (Micah 6:8)
The godly politicians in our land are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. (Ps.1:3)
Amen

Release International is pressing Malaysia to set free a Christian pastor who was abducted in a military-style operation by fifteen men in balaclavas three years ago. His wife Susannah said, ‘There was an eye-witness to the scene. He thought it was a movie production. My children went door-to-door and found CCTV footage of the entire incident. It was a very military-style operation, well-organised, and done in about forty seconds. Last year, an officer confessed that the abduction was done by the police.’ In 2019, Malaysia’s human rights commission accused the Special Branch of carrying out two abductions - Pastor Koh and a social activist. Both were boxed in by vehicles in similar snatch operations, and have disappeared. Pastor Joshua Hilmy and his wife Ruth also went missing in 2016. Pastor Koh ran Hope Community, an organisation in Kuala Lumpur helping the poorest members of society. See

The family of church-going teenager with special needs, Nora Quoirin, who was found dead after she disappeared from a Malaysian resort near Kuala Lumpur last August, is suing the hotel's owner for alleged negligence. Nora went missing from the room she shared with her siblings. Her body was found by a stream over a mile away from her accommodation, after a ten-day search around the resort. A preliminary post-mortem revealed starvation and stress had caused fatal intestinal bleeding. Authorities ruled out abduction or rape as a motive, but her parents raised concerns over the handling of the inquiry and are requesting a public inquest to determine the events that led to her death. They strongly believe that Nora's disabilities made it unlikely that she wandered off on her own. A window was ajar, with its latch broken, on the morning she disappeared. The resort's main gate was left open without security or camera surveillance. 

Tornado activity is not rare in the United States at this time of year, but the impacts and width of recent storms are notable, creating more fatalities in one day than from tornadoes in the past three Decembers combined. Pray for those who have lost homes, possessions and loved ones in parts of Louisiana ransacked with 160 mph winds. Please continue to pray for Australians living in areas under a total fire ban amid dangerous record-breaking heat and wild winds. 100 wildfires are still scorching 5.3 million acres and covering Sydney in toxic smog. In Malaysia, by 18 December over 10,000 flood victims had been evacuated and taken to 100 relief centres. Pray for the people with disabilities, the elderly and children affected by an extreme unabated monsoon season with flood waters reaching 2.5m deep. See

Malaysia’s human rights commission claims that both Pastor Raymond Koh (in 2017) and Amri Che Mat, a Muslim social activist (in 2016), were victims of state-sponsored enforced disappearances, carried out by a police unit. Church leaders are calling on the government to clarify and separate the jurisdictions of the religious authorities and the police, and for an immediate independent, impartial investigation into both cases, ‘free of conflict of interest’. Eyewitness accounts in both cases reported that the men were kidnapped as they travelled in cars which were boxed in by three other vehicles. A car owned by a Special Branch officer, who has now gone missing, was at the scene of both attacks. The two men are amongst many people who have ‘disappeared’ in recent years. The government’s 2018 general election manifesto promised to uphold the rule of law, stating that ‘all citizens will be treated equally before the law’.

The indigenous Malaysian Church has tremendous potential for outreach to the Malays, but is fearful of authorities clamping down on them. Historically there is deep-seated resentment between the Chinese and Malays because of the favoured status of the Malays. However, many Chinese believers are now being trained in ministry to Muslims. Also, the kidnapping of Chinese pastor Raymond Koh two years ago has changed things. His whereabouts are unknown, but his ordeal has inspired the Church to intercede for him. While they pray for him, they also pray for the Gospel to grow in Malaysia. Now workers say that more Muslim Malays are receiving prayer for healing, and there is a cautious readiness to hear Christians talking about ‘Isa.’