DEAR FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Merry Christmas to you all! Thank you for your continued prayers and support!
Slow Yet Steady Improvement
Ariel’s follow-up surgery on her hand took place on October 3 and was a success. Another similar surgery is tentatively scheduled for January to continue to loosen the tendons in her right hand so she can gain more normal function. A different surgery on her left arm and wrist is in the works for later in 2025 but is not urgent. Pray for her continued healing!
My right wrist continues to gain both strength and function, but the doctor says he is surprised I am not in fairly severe pain. (I have almost zero pain). I do have the option for a small surgery to “clean up” the damaged joint and I am still praying about the possibilities. Your prayers for wisdom, the correct timing, and full healing are all greatly appreciated!
Malaysia On My Mind
I was able to visit Malaysia during the last two weeks of September, and the Lord confirmed a number of things related to our future plans there. Here are a few highlights…
First, being back on the ground and connecting with both locals and Chinese Muslim migrants helped confirm for me that Malaysia is the place for us to be. For instance, I was able to meet with Rebecca, an eighty-year-old, Malaysian, Chinese missionary to Thailand, when I was in Penang. We plan to partner with her in Muslim outreach in a remote region along the Malay-Thai border.
Second, on this trip our friends from the Chinese church near Kuala Lumpur hosted a gathering of other pastors and churches from all around the capital region. I was blessed to be able to participate and bring the Word during one of the sessions. The fellowship was sweet, and I can already see that we have many more friends awaiting us as we get settled there in 2025.
Third, I mentioned last time that William Milne became Malaysia’s first missionary back in 1815. I was able to visit Malacca, the city where he lived from 1815-1822, and the cemetery where his wife’s tombstone still stands. While there, I finished editing The Memoirs of William Milne and wrote a new introduction to this moving book that was originally published in 1824. If you want to learn more about the man whom God used to help build the foundation for the Chinese church, you will enjoy reading Milne’s testimony, journals, letters, and unpublished notes and essays in this book. Find The Memoirs of William Milne on Amazon or PrayGiveGo.us.
Last, but not least, the Marquez family (from Venezuela, but serving in Peru since 2018) have made strides in getting their passports and visas in order so that they can join us in Malaysia in 2025. They are in a complicated political situation (being from Venezuela), but things are lining up well for them to be able to leave for the Asian mission field soon. Pray for open doors!
Christmas in Prison
In December of 2018, Pastor Wang Yi in Chengdu, China, was arrested, charged, and convicted for daring to preach that Christ is Lord over all (yes, even the Communist authorities). He was sentenced to nine years in Chinese prison. This Christmas will be his seventh spent in isolation.
What follows are portions of Wang Yi’s Declaration of Faithful Disobedience, which was published by his church after his arrest. In it you will see at least one of his prayer requests in his own words. Join us in praying for him and his family:
"I must point out that persecution against the Lord’s church and against all Chinese people who believe in Jesus Christ is the most wicked and the most horrendous evil of Chinese society. This is not only a sin against Christians. It is also a sin against all non-Christians. For the government is brutally and ruthlessly threatening them and hindering them from coming to Jesus. There is no greater wickedness in the world than this. If this regime is one day overthrown by God, it will be for no other reason than God’s righteous punishment and revenge for this evil…
Those who lock me up will one day be locked up by angels. Those who interrogate me will finally be questioned and judged by Christ. When I think of this, the Lord fills me with a natural compassion and grief toward those who are attempting to and actively imprisoning me. Pray that the Lord would use me, that he would grant me patience and wisdom, that I might take the gospel to them.
Separate me from my wife and children, ruin my reputation, destroy my life and my family – the authorities are capable of doing all of these things. However, no one in this world can force me to renounce my faith…
And so, respectable officers, stop committing evil. This is not for my benefit but rather for yours and your children’s. I plead earnestly with you to stay your hands, for why should you be willing to pay the price of eternal damnation in hell for the sake of a lowly sinner such as I?
Jesus is the Christ, son of the eternal, living God. He died for sinners and rose to life for us. He is my king and the king of the whole earth yesterday, today, and forever. I am his servant, and I am imprisoned because of this. I will resist in meekness those who resist God, and I will joyfully violate all laws that violate God’s laws."
(Read more on my Substack: https://chinacall.substack.com/p/early-rain-forcibly-closed-pastor)
THE WESTS
• Email: china.myadventures@gmail.com
• Blog: China Call Substack
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