Malaysia Day 8

Today we had a wonderful Externally Focused Conference in Kaula Lumpur. Around 250 pastors and leaders met from 9-3 today (a public holiday) to hear Sam and me talk about externally focused church and community transformation. One church leader said starting in June their 100 cell groups will engage their communities with kingdom kindness.

There are a number of reasons Sam and I are impressed with the importance and strategic place Malaysia may have for the world. First, it is a very prosperous country. I think we've all seen pictures of the Petronas Twin Towers--the two tallest buildings in the world from 1998-2004. Last night we went out to dinner and saw them up close! Wow--stainless steel and glass and a real work of art. Second, Malaysia is a multi-cultural, multi-linguistic and multi-religious country--which may be a precursor to what most nations will be in 50 years. Malaysia is small enough (~28m) that it can serve as a laboratory for kingdom transformation. And what works here can spread to all of Asia. Because one of the common languages is English it is easier to travel and make a contribution here. And last (as if we haven't said it enough) Sam and I are thoroughly impressed with Richard, Simon and Piek See. They are very well connected and have a passion / talent for this type of work. They have also introduced us to

a number of pastoral, NGO and business leaders. This evening we will attend a graduation banquet for those who have completed the Million Leaders Mandate training. Everything is so well organized. One other thing, we are very impressed with the worship of this country. Every worship team is passionate and talented. The banquet this evening was saved to be the best for last--over 800 people including business and political leaders showed up to see their friends and family graduate from the leadership classes. Richard even took a love gift offering of over U$ 5K for the people of Myanmar. Pretty amazing.