Malaysia, A Nation of Nations

Malaysia is a nation of nations. If we sit down to chat with another Malaysian, we realise their ancestry can come from places ranging from Guangdong to Jaffna to Fujian to Tamil Nadu to Kalimantan.

Malaysia is also a receiver of migrants. We walk out our doors to meet at least 3-5 different ethnicities other than Malaysians — Filipinos, Burmese, Nepalese, Indonesians, Bangladeshis, South Indians. It also not uncommon to meet South Koreans, Japanese, Syrians where we dine and shop.

Brothers and Sisters, it is quite impossible to be a citizen in Malaysia and not to also be cross-culturally exposed. To do so would be to walk as though with blinkers on.

The Missionary God, Missionary Bible devotional book is akin to taking a deep breath of fresh, cold air. It jolts us with its straight talk, yet invites us into a zone of discomforting and disconcerting paradigms. Dick Brogden, the author, is a missionary in the Middle East who is in the thick of the action. He brings a flavour of urgency as he experiences and lives out the realities of a missional life. His thoughts aim to confront us with the excesses of our lives that we could do away with, in order to make space for the priorities of God. His thoughts electrifies us to pay attention to God’s concerns, beginning with those that immediately surround us. At the same time Dick brings to us the richness of God’s grace and the tenderness of His mercies—like a prophet of old with modern words.

As we cross into the second month of readings, our prayer is that these readings will turn to become conversations with God, and among us. And that our eyes will be opened to our God whose plan for global redemption has unfolded ever since the beginning of the pages of Genesis.

Let us continue what we have started. And may the love and knowledge of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be shown to us, and may we in turn walk in His light.