Greetings from Malaysia!
We have been in Malaysia for over a month now and are settling here, south of the capital, Kuala Lumpur, not far from the airport. We are living next to Xiamen University, the Malay campus of a large university in Fujian, China. It’s a cool area. There are many international students, especially from China and Central Asia, and lots of Chinese is spoken all around. (Loads of good Chinese food, too.)
Xiamen University from the Wests' apartment building.
Ben with two friends who came to visit shortly after arriving.
One Church for 20,000 People (+ Students)
There is only one church in this district, a Chinese Church that also serves as a student outreach center. We are already involved and continue looking for ways to make our own impact as well. Far from China’s borders, there are no restrictions on reaching out to the Chinese here in Malaysia. Yet it still feels like there is a “wall” of sorts between the mainland Chinese students and the other students. Pray for wisdom, boldness, and divine appointments!
China Visa Update: So, You’re Saying There’s a Chance?!
I made another attempt to apply for a Chinese visa in late June at the China visa office at the border of Macau. I was denied again but told (politely) to try applying at an actual Embassy. I’m still quite skeptical, but I will indeed attempt to apply for a Chinese visa interview here in Malaysia this fall. Pray that God would open China's doors for me in His perfect time!
Betong: Where North (Thailand) Meets South (Malaysia)
In February 2023, I sat in the fellowship hall of a little church in Mossy, WV, praying for Asia and brainstorming for the future. I knew that southern Thailand had a spot that jutted way down into northern Malaysia, but I had never taken the time to look up what was actually there. That was when I discovered the isolated little town of Betong, at the far southern tip of Thailand.
My initial Google search told me that Betong is primarily a destination for sex tourism. While prostitution IS a big problem, the local food (native fruits and the famous Betong chicken) seems to draw even more admirers than the “other” industry. Also, the region, as a whole, is dominated by Islam (southern Thailand and Malaysia share the same religion and ethnic background).
We first visited Betong as a family in September 2023. On our first day, we attended what we thought would be a regular midweek service at a small local church but were surprised to find a guest speaker (Chinese) from Malaysia and a gathering that had been years in the making. Among others, we met an older (78 y/o) Malay Chinese missionary lady who had been serving in Betong for 10 years. Sweet little Ms. R has since become a friend and our primary local contact.
The Wests with Mrs. R and a couple of her local partners.
Deysi spent the past two weeks serving with Ms. R in Betong and the nearby villages, ministering through English classes, Bible lessons, and youth discipleship classes. Ms. R’s work touches numerous nationalities, including the Lahu and Hmong tribal peoples, who migrated south to work on the rubber plantations. Yesterday (July 27), I was asked to preach in the local Hmong church, where a large group was visiting from Laos for seasonal work in a local durian processing plant.
Deysi teaching children in the village.
Pray for all these hard-working brothers and sisters, who are often far from home and isolated from other Christians, working long hours with barely a day off. Going forward, we hope to visit at least quarterly, as Betong is much closer to the heart of Malaysia than Bangkok, far to the north!
Recruiting Resources vs Reaping a Harvest
My hometown OKC Thunder won the NBA Championship back in June! Afterwards, I spent some time pondering the dynamic of team building versus winning. Coaches spend years recruiting, planning, and preparing for what they hope to be an excellent team. But the time comes when the players must go win the game!
With that in mind, how do we build and sustain a team of supporters while faithfully sharing the Gospel and taking new territory for the Lord in hard places? It’s easier said than done. Days fly by (deadlines, too), weeks and months pass, and testimonies and stories build up into an undefined heap.
Pray that we would be able to update the support team adequately (we could not do it without you!), but in such a way that it doesn’t distract from the work itself! As is often the case, the Apostle Paul shows us how this is done as he shares impactful “updates” from his current place of ministry (prison):
“I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this [imprisonment] will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
(Philippians 1:19-21)
Blessings in Christ,
THE WEST FAMILY
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