REVIVAL AMONG MUSLIMS - Malaysia
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
-by Matthew C Carroll.
Our calling from God was to stay in Malaysia until (1) 49 years
and 6 months had passed [the Jubilee], (2) we got thrown out of
the country - that was the outcome I expected - OR (3) until a
church was planted among the Malaysian Malays so that they
could no longer be called an unreached people group.
The first 7-8 years we were there, we saw almost nothing happen.
A huge wave of about 20 couples came over 1985-1987 with the
same calling and purpose. By 1991 they were all gone. I remember
vividly pleading with the very last couple that remained - but they
were discouraged and would not be persuaded. They did not even
acknowledge that it was God's will for them to go back. Then we
were alone, Cindy and I, and suddenly, God added a third - on
14 May 1991 our oldest daughter Deborah, born in 1988, received
Christ. But no other families we knew of working with the Malays.
There was a Chinese Christian community that encouraged us.
Then our attack came - the Malaysian government shut down the
program I was working with, and it looked like I could find no
position under which I could stay.
One of the last weeks I worked with this program, I looked out my
office window. A large mosque was there, and the midday call of
prayer was sounding. I saw hundreds of Muslims heading over
there. "... the flock doomed to slaughter ..." as Zechariah the
prophet said. I fell on my knees and started weeping uncontrollably.
I told God I was the last one, and I just didn't want to go. My wife
and even my little daughter were praying fervently.
Our prayers seemed not to avail. We packed all of our stuff and
moved out of our house. We put everything in storage and moved
into the Merlin Hotel, awaiting doomsday - the day my work permit
expired. About 2-3 days before doomsday I sat with my wife and
daughter by the pool of this hotel and told them "we are just outgunned!"
The voice of the Holy Spirit came back very clearly - "You are NOT
outgunned; your guns are not rolled up!!"
"What do you mean?" I responded. I thought of all of my prayers -
unaided by the prayers of other saints. I remember that the Alliance
[the Christian and Missionary Alliance] had four retirement homes,
filled with prayer warriors, godly men and women, retired pastors
and missionaries. I made an agreement with God - if He would
allow us to stay, I would return to the United States for a few
weeks AT FIRST OPPORTUNITY and generate as much prayer
support as possible from these godly senior citizens.
Within a day, a job came through. Not much of a job, and a visa
for only 3 months! But it was something. By then I knew the Malay
language, and this job was a local job, without any supports or
protections. I took it without hesitation. By God's grace I managed
to turn that into a 15-month job that kept me there until I was hired
permanently by the University of Science, Malaysia.
And I kept my part of the agreement. We could not afford to go
back [to America]. We had to wait until the end of our first 3-year
contract, which was renewed. With the completion of the contract
came a free trip to the United States for our whole family - in the
dead of winter, 1995. It was a very hectic time - but with only 2-3
days with each family, all-night drives through snow and ice - we
generated enough prayer support to overthrow the power of Satan
among the Malaysian Malays. I remember standing before a group
of godly men and women in Carlisle, Pennsylvania on 20 December
1995 and saying "There is enough power in this room to overthrow
the power of Satan in Malaysia and reach the Malaysian Malays
for Christ." I believed it, and meant it.
It happened. The first indication I had that something was up - I
had been praying that God would break down the walls of Islam.
About the time of our trip the wall around the National Mosque in
Penang physically fell down! I have pictures of the wreckage. No
one could figure out what in the world happened.
Then help came. God moved the Southern Baptists to consider
ministering among the Malays in Malaysia. They sent an
investigative team to Malaysia, and the team met with church
leaders in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city, who regretted to inform
them that no one was working with the Malays - except, oh yes,
there is this American still living in Penang - anyway, the entire
investigative team showed up on our doorstep. My response was
YES you should definitely come! And come they did. The Alliance
loaned me to the Southern Baptists, and I had the great privilege
of working under one Dr. Bill Gaddis (his Dr. is in "unconventional"
ministries!). In the ensuing free-for-all, involving Indonesians, police
raids, nightmares for the Alliance leadership, and the planting of
Malay-language churches, hundreds came to know the Lord. By
the beginning of 1998, several other Christian groups, including
OMF and SIB, had arrived.
Finally, a major revival broke out in mid-1998 which led the
Malaysian government to finally throw in the towel and officially
acknowlege the presence of Christian churches and groups among
the Malaysian Malays. By this time about 500 Malays had actually
registered as Christians. Some local church leaders set the actual
number as much higher: 7,000 - 10,000. I think this was an
exaggeration. But I am fairly confident the number is in four figures.
No one will truly know this side of the Last Day. I called Dr. Peter
Nanfelt (our Alliance President) after the official acknowlegement
and told him to pull the Malaysians Malays off the Alliance
unreached people group list.
We only were able to experience the thrill of revival a few months
before the Lord pulled us out. Our work was done - the work of
many others would continue. What I thought would take an entire
lifetime took just 12 years....
To this day I am thrilled that the Lord allowed me to throw away
my career and financial success (both worthless) for the sake of
an unreached people group of 13 million.
~Found on the Forum at- http://www.revivalschool.com
[Special thanks to Peter J. Barban]