Remember Ambassadors

Last week, news broke on a decision made by the Malaysian Supreme Court.  The case involved Christian convert Lina Joy, who was raised Muslim but became a Christian at the age of 26.  Since that time, she has been trying to remove the "Islam" designation on her identity card.

Like many of the nations that are more recent converts to Islam, Malaysia has a dual system of law.  The Constitution is secular and applies to all citizens, regardless of religion.  On the other hand, Malaysia has a highly developed system of Muslim courts, which operate using Shar'ia law, and apply only to Muslims.  Shar'ia is the body of law that has been developed from the Qur'an and the hadith (sayings of Muhammed) by Islamic theologians, philosophers, and judges over many centuries.  It mandates a number of Muslim religious practices, including punishing "apostasy."

Lina Joy brought her argument before the secular civil court, arguing her religious freedom under the Malaysian Constitution.  That court, however, denied her claim to change her religious status. In light of Malaysia's ostensible guarantee of religious freedom, their decision is amazing.  The court decided that apostasy is a Shar'ia issue, and must therefore be dealt with by Shar'ia courts.

In short, the Malaysian Supreme Court decided that a person who wants to convert from Islam must get permission from the courts whose responsibility is punishing those that try to leave.  This decision is a huge setback for Malaysian Christians, and will operate as a precedent for a number of other conversion cases.

Let's pray for our Malaysian brothers and sisters, and for Malaysia's government!

For more information–

Malaysia's Crisis of Faith 

Malaysia Rejects Christian Appeal 

High Court Halts Woman's Effort to Legally Convert 

Anyone who has ever used the airlines to travel knows how tough it can be to try to get changes within the confines of airline bureaucracy.  The problem is even greater if you are traveling internationally, and trying to change things just a couple weeks in advance!  But God can come through even in those situations, as He has shown me in the past couple of days.

Our medical team will be leaving for Thailand three weeks from today, on June 22.  We'll be overseas for 10 days, doing medical work for the kids in Freedom House.  Over the past couple of days, though, there have been a few changes to our team.

I first found out that one prospective team member had made some exciting future plans, but plans that required him to miss the trip.  Aside from being disappointed he wasn't going to be able to come, I was very worried that we might lose the price of his ticket–airline policies being what they are.  My fears were confirmed when I talked to United's international booking and was told there was no way that we could transfer the ticket or get a refund.  The best they could do would be a credit which, under its terms, would have been almost useless.

But a few people started praying, and I decided to try one more time.  Amazingly, with no problem whatsoever, the next ticket agent issued a refund for almost the entire ticket price!

I was amazed then, but God wasn't finished.  This morning, I heard the exciting news that a photographer–someone we have been praying for–would be able to come with us.  Ticket prices, though, became a huge problem.  Multiple ticket agents told me that there was no way to get a decent price for those flights.  We prepared to try to ramp up fundraising efforts to compensate–and we started praying.

As a last resort, I called a ticket agent that we have used in the past, just to see if she could pull some strings with United to get us a decent fare.  Within hours, she had done what multiple ticket agents told me was impossible–found the same flights for a good fare.

It would be hard not to be excited about the doors God is opening for us on this trip.  With all that He is doing in preparation, imagine what he has in store for us overseas!