MALAYSIA: STEPPING OUT OF THE OLD LIFE INTO A NEW ONE

For all of his life, Romi called himself a ‘Christian’, but it was something he thought much about. His family celebrated Christmas, but they also joined in with the practices and superstitions of his community, including visiting the local witch doctor.

“In our culture, believing in witchcraft was normal,” Romi says. “Witch doctors could heal – that’s what we believed. I just followed along.”

He tried reading his mother’s Bible, but it wasn’t in his native language so he struggled to understand it: “There was no one there to teach me about Scripture and what it meant.”

OUT OF THE OLD LIFE

Like many others, Romi knew about Jesus, but he didn’t know Jesus. “We’ve known the name ‘Jesus’ forever,” he says, “but we never thought of Him as our Saviour.” Then, one day, a Chinese evangelist arrived in the village and explained the gospel from scratch to Romi. And everything changed.

“I was 34 years old when I truly became a Christian,” Romi says. “That’s when I truly met the Lord Jesus Christ.” For the first time, Romi understood the reality of following Jesus. “That experience completely changed my life – stepping out of the old life and into the new one.”

But Romi still didn’t have a Bible in his first language. It’s something almost all of us can take for granted – but many of the persecuted church don’t have access to God’s Word in a language they know well. Thankfully, that’s where you stepped in. Because of the support and prayers of people like you, an Open Doors partner was able to join the community – bringing with him Bibles and study materials in Romi’s mother tongue.

REAL FAITH, REAL CONSEQUENCES

Romi had learned the reality of a relationship with Jesus, but a real faith has real consequences. “I have neighbours and friends who have different views than I do,” Romi says. “They don’t care about us or want to hang out with us anymore.”

For Romi and believers like him, rejecting Christianity would make life easier. It would improve their standing in the community, give them more access to government benefits and guarantee better futures for their children.

“We keep holding on to Jesus.” That’s why, with your help, Open Doors continues to support believers with discipleship materials and training programmes to help them stand strong. “We’ve learned so much from the discipleship programmes,” says Romi. “Many believers didn’t know how to share or discuss the Scriptures with each other, but they now share what they read with each other and share testimonies.”

KEEP HOLDING ON

Faith in Jesus can be fragile in this part of the world. Without access to Bibles and discipleship programmes, many believers will give up their faith in Christ. That’s why Open Doors partners work to ensure each persecuted Christian has access to God’s Word, along with the tools to understand it. Thanks to your support, Open Doors partners can be there for Christians in Malaysia when the times are tough and when the rubber hits the road.

“I hope that believers will continue to believe in Jesus Christ,” Romi says. “No matter the resistance we might face as Christians, we keep holding on to Jesus.”