By MARK BENSLEY
November 23, 2022
As I reflect on my time in Butterworth Malaysia, I’m flooded with feelings of deep gratitude – to God for the opportunity to work beside such Godly and committed men and women who sacrifice so much for the gospel, and to my dear brothers and sisters in Australia for their faithfulness in prayer.
To serve as part of this team was truly life-shaping and faith-building. While I often heard the locals express their thanks to me for serving with such joy and enthusiasm, I felt it was they who were living out the Great Commission with such joy and enthusiasm.
Our international team consisted of five men. The local team consisted of a core of about 15 men and women with another 12-15 who each came with a common purpose of reaching out with the Gospel.
Our goal was to place 30,000 Scriptures. We took Tamil, Simplified Chinese, English and Bilingual (Simplified Chinese and English) New Testaments and Hotel Bibles. We packed them into bags before walking into health clinics, legal offices, accommodation sites and schools.
There are significant opportunities for The Gideons across Malaysia, but it is challenging work as there are spiritual strongholds at work. In a country that is heavily influenced by Islam, there were constant reminders of the fear of owners and managers of being harassed by the government and as such, there was a genuine reluctance from most people to accept a Scripture. That being said, our team was incredibly blessed, and we saw God at work throughout our time in Malaysia.
“We need to pray that the Lord will continue to provide and reap a great harvest now that His Word has gone forth.”
While placing Bibles, we also enjoyed many conversations with hoteliers and business owners. Two conversations about Bibles that stick in my mind were:
- “We don’t want your Bibles here as they will chase away our many gods”
- “Muslims are much more likely to complain about seeing a Bible than Christians will when not seeing a Bible”
Unlike in Australia where you can speak to students in a classroom, in Malaysia we were confined to the front gate and footpath – and we were often pushed back further than we wished. I was excited to hear from the locals that many of the students would take their Testament home, so siblings, parents and grandparents would read them and be exposed to the Word of God. This is particularly exciting as we know that in many parts of Malaysia local Gideons don’t have the funds to place much-needed Bibles. We need to pray that the Lord will continue to provide and reap a great harvest now that His Word has gone forth.
One girl strongly refused a New Testament but asked me where I came from. When I said, “Australia,” she said, “Well thank you for coming all the way from Australia to help us in Malaysia. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to refuse your Bible”. At another school, the principal asked his students to return the Bibles they had received the day before.
On the Sunday we had the opportunity to speak at many local churches – I was asked to preach and give a Gideon presentation at a Chinese church and a Tamil church. I was particularly thrilled by the response and generosity of the local Christians.
The Gideons on the ground are amazing. When we give to international work, we’re putting Scriptures in the hands of amazing men like 70-year-old Richard. Richard contracted polio when he was young and now walks with a very distinctive limp as he drags his leg. Despite this, he was one of the hardest working men on my team and was usually the first to get off the bus and carry Bibles to where we were going. Sometimes we feel we have excuses in our ministry. He had plenty – but none of them quelled his enthusiasm or drive to place the Word of God.
En route to Malaysia I was blessed to be able to share the gospel with a young Hindi man from India. To cut a long story short, I was able to give him a Testament (which was his first Bible) and walk him through the Helps section and the Plan of Salvation. He certainly left our conversation a different man!
During the week, our team managed to place close to 32,000 Scriptures. We praise God for this and how he opened many doors. Please pray that God would use these Scriptures to reach others for His glory.