Merry Christmas from Malaysia!
Thank you for your faithful prayers and support. Time is flying, and we are having fun, but we would be helpless without the faithfulness of God, the love of Christ, and the sanctifying work of the Spirit!
Filipino Fellowship and Answered Prayer (Sept. - Oct.)
I was in Manila all day back on Saturday, Oct. 11, on a long layover, and was blessed to get to know and minister to the leaders of Christ’s International Fellowship in the upstairs meeting room of a large McDonald's downtown. It was my first time preaching in a McDonald's. Fun times!
Ben preaching at a McDonald's in Manila.
Also, back on Sunday, Sept. 28, we were invited to minister in a local church for Filipino migrant workers in Macau. While there, one of the ladies told us in tears that God had answered my wife’s prayer for a family member during our visit back in June, and she was now cancer-free!
We have many Filipino friends here in Asia, especially in Macau, but also in Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Thailand, and even India. As a Latina, Deysi feels a special bond with them and enjoys some shared Spanish words and yummy food with similar flavors.
Pray for the Philippines, which has been hit with multiple typhoons in recent months!
“Camping” in Ipoh & Thailand (Sept. – Oct.)
Deysi and Abby recently took part in a large youth camp in central Thailand. They had a blast both serving the Thai youth and fellowshipping with other visitors from around Thailand (including our Mexican teammates, the Mendez family) and friends from back in Oklahoma.
Also, my wife was thrilled last month to be able to take part in a large VBS in the majority-Chinese Malaysian city of Ipoh, a few hours to our north. The highlight for her was reconnecting with Palin and her family from southern Thailand. They are from the Hmong people (originally from Vietnam) and were there to learn from the local church outreach.
Deysi with Palin and her family.
Thank God for all these awesome opportunities and encouraging friends!
Chinese Evangelism+ (Oct. – Nov.)
On October 3, we concluded a brief missionary journey to Macau, a densely populated city now known as “the Las Vegas of the East,” situated on the Chinese border.
The highlight was Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 30, as we were able to distribute hundreds of Gospel booklets to locals about to cross the border back into China (where I have been banned from entering since 2018). We still have no news on my Chinese visa, but I'll keep you updated!
Back in Malaysia, besides the many Chinese students and the (majority) Malay Muslims, there are lots of internationals all around us. I recently received new tracts in some ten different languages, including Bengali, Nepali, Urdu, and Arabic!
Pray for new friendships to bear fruit and for wisdom in using all the new resources!
Istanbul, Izmir, and India (Nov. – Dec.)
These past couple of months have provided unique opportunities in diverse places.
First, we spent a few days in Istanbul on our way to the IPHC Global Assembly near Izmir and the Seven Churches of Revelation. Our goal in Istanbul was to connect with some Chinese (Uyghur) Muslims who are in exile there. It wasn't easy, but we made a few inroads. Pray for the unreached Uyghur Muslims!
Second, Global Assembly was amazing, full of fellowship and (too much) Turkish food, plus the unbelievable opportunity to visit many biblical sites, including Ephesus, arguably the greatest of them all. Praise God for using Paul and others to echo the Gospel from Ephesus all around the world!
The Wests sitting on a wall in Ephesus.
Third, at the time of writing, I am preparing for an upcoming teaching trip to the Beyond Borders Training Center (BBTC) from December 6 to 13. BBTC is a ministry training center run by Gopi (from India) and Marites (from the Philippines) in Siliguri, India; a strategic location in the foothills of the Himalayas, sandwiched between Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh.
Pray for lasting fruit in all these places!
Blessings in Christ,
THE WEST FAMILY
