2012 - Year of Prayer for Malaysia

2012

has been designated as a

24-7 Year of Prayer for Malaysia

jointly organised by the following Christian Organizations in Malaysia.

Let us all make 2012 a year of personal prayer for our Nation. Together with Christians from across the nation, our collective prayers will make a difference not only for the Nation but also make a significant difference in our own personal walk with God.

Please try to obtain a copy of the Prayer Booklet to guide you as we journey together with others in this spiritual prayer walk. You may contact the organizers to find out how to get a copy for yourself.

To view their website click : http://www.24-7prayer.com/

To join their Facebook Group click : 24-7 Prayer Malaysia

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Click on the links below for the individual month's Prayer Agenda

JANUARY 2012

FEBRUARY 2012

Pray For Our Christian Leaders

This is an article taken from the Malaysian Insider Online news. 

After reading this article, let us stop and spend a minute to pray for Rev. Eu Hong Seng that our almighty God will continue to guide him, use him and protect him as he boldly stand firm for what is right in the sight of God.

Click on the Title for the original source.

Rev Eu: Article 153 remarks had to be said

By Melissa Chi

December 28, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 — Senior Christian leader Reverend Dr Eu Hong Seng said today his controversial Christmas Eve remarks about the country’s constitutional protection for Bumiputeras was something that “needed somebody to say it.”

He told The Malaysian Insider today that he had nothing to fear despite the fierce reaction from various Malay groups and denials by the government that Christians or any minority group had been sidelined.

When asked if he thought his speech during a Christmas Eve gathering last week was too provocative, Eu said in a matter-of-fact manner that “it is what it is”, and that “it needed somebody to say it.”

“Enough is said, there is nothing to add.

“There are enough MPs who are well-versed in this issue to carry on with the debate,” he told The Malaysian Insider today.

He described Perkasa’s call for him to be investigated for sedition an example of fear-mongering, adding that no one needs to be “fearful” in this country despite the vehemence from the Malay rights group

“This is not political; I am talking about the social wellbeing of everybody. It is biblical to speak up against any social imbalances,” he said.

The National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF) chairman had said on Christmas Eve that the Federal Constitution’s Article 153 was akin to “bullying” if it only protected the rights of one group.

Article 153 states that it is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s responsibility “to safeguard the special position of the Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities in accordance with the provisions of this Article”.

In his speech, Eu had stressed that he did not have problems with rights of the Malays and the Sultans but “what irks many of us are the ‘shifting rights’” of the majority.

His remarks prompted demands from Perkasa chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali yesterday for Eu to be probed by the police.

Ibrahim said the authorities should charge those who questioned Article 153 with sedition to safeguard national security.

The Pasir Mas MP said disputing the provision would only lead to civil strife, as it was part and parcel of what he described as an established “social contract” that could not be amended without consent from the Malay Rulers.

Amid the growing debate, opposition leaders have claimed that the provision had been manipulated by ruling Malay party Umno and was now being used as “a weapon of aggression”.

Constitutional expert Prof Abdul Aziz Bari had said that Article 153 meant the King must safeguard Bumiputera privileges without impinging on the legitimate interests of other communities.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyddin Yassin previously denied that the provision had been used to bully any community.

Christmas Presents of a Different Kind

This article is taken from GoodTimes online news portal. In this article we read about how different people in Malaysia are changing the world around them with a different kind of giving presents this Christmas. May we all learn from them and possibly rethink about giving differently next Christmas.   Click on the Title below for link to the original source.

Christmas giving that aids communities

By Yam Phui Yee And Susanna Khoo   

Instead of the usual giving of Christmastime presents, several givers share of their charitable aid this Season to help build community lives.

Amidst the numerous and cheerful green, red and white Christmas decor, a large earthen pot on a pedestal greets guests at the home of Devindran Ramanathan and Angeline Jennifer Percival.

Most guests would initially dismiss it as just another decorative piece until you notice the message placed on it. Instead of giving gifts, the Ramanathans welcome guests to donate to their favourite charities, the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS), as well as AnimalCare -- an NGO which promotes care giving to street animals.

Percival explains that they place the pot -- which she calls her “charity pot” – there, because they prefer guests to donate money to charities they support, rather than give the couple gifts.

It is a change from the usual giving of presents, but is more meaningful and cuts down unwanted gifts.

Instead of the usual giving of Christmastime presents, several givers share of their charitable aid this Season to help build community lives.

Amidst the numerous and cheerful green, red and white Christmas decor, a large earthen pot on a pedestal greets guests at the home of Devindran Ramanathan and Angeline Jennifer Percival.

Most guests would initially dismiss it as just another decorative piece until you notice the message placed on it. Instead of giving gifts, the Ramanathans welcome guests to donate to their favourite charities, the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS), as well as AnimalCare -- an NGO which promotes care giving to street animals.

Percival explains that they place the pot -- which she calls her “charity pot” – there, because they prefer guests to donate money to charities they support, rather than give the couple gifts.

It is a change from the usual giving of presents, but is more meaningful and cuts down unwanted gifts.

Lillian Kim Jesudasan and her family offer comfort, food and hospitality to tertiary students who have no one to celebrate Christmas with. The recipe consultant for television programmes throws a Christmas dinner at their lovely home almost without fail every year, to share their Christmas warmth with others.

She had once spent a lonely Christmas with fast food. Her parents were not Christians and therefore, did not celebrate Christmas.

“Nobody knew I couldn’t go home for Christmas, not even my church members,” Lillian remarked.

Knowing what it feels like, she opens her home to students for Christmas dinner, where she treats them to delicious food and a fun-filled time with her family. For some, it would be the first time they celebrate Christmas in a family setting.

This Christmas, Lillian also invites neighbours over for dinner, to foster stronger ties within her community.

She hopes that parents will use the opportunity to educate their children that Christmas is about giving rather than expecting to receive.

“I remember one year, my daughter planted barley greens. When they sprouted after 10 days, she gave them to her friends in pots, to make drinks. Another year, we made chocolate chip cookies to give out.

“It’s not so much the value of the things (we give), but the heart of giving,” Lillian says.

Lillian is a woman with a big heart, whose giving goes beyond Christmas time.

Apart from running a successful catering business under the name A Family Affair, the mother of four also welcomes single mothers and young people to learn how to cook, bake, sew and serve in catering functions.

Dozens of families have benefited from this income-generating trade. Some of the youths later thanked Lillian for teaching them the people skills, work ethics and professionalism that have come in handy when they go out to work.

Giving, however, is not limited to things that come in wrappers and ribbons.

Financial advisory consultant Eugene Yang does not give presents to his friends. Instead, he buys Christmas gifts for poor communities through humanitarian aid NGO, World Vision Malaysia’s Gifts of Hope (GOH) programme (www.worldvision.com.my/goh/).

Buyers can choose what gifts to buy, like cows and goats for the poor in Thailand, sewing machines for Indonesia, hostels for Orang Asli students in Malaysia, safer baby deliveries and maternal care in Congo, or water and sanitation system in Cambodia, among others. The value of these gifts start from RM30 onwards and givers can also choose to share out the cost for more expensive items.

Under the programme, when payment is made for a gift, someone in a poor community somewhere in the world will be beneficiary of that gift.

“Last year, I bought some chicks and chickens, seedlings, farmer’s tools, bicycles, medicine and hygiene kit. As for the first four items, it’s a chance for me to contribute to the economic uplifting and sustenance of these communities.

“The chickens are for laying eggs, the seedlings (are) for crops and income (generation), and the bicycles (are) for villagers to go to work,” says Yang, who has been contributing through GOH for about six years now.

“According to World Vision’s statistics, 26,500 children die from preventable causes every day, such as unclean water, lack of safe medication and proper vaccination,” Yang adds. The medicine and hygiene kits help people in under-developed areas to stay healthy for work, so they could support their families.

Yang is also volunteering with World Vision Malaysiato promote the GOH programme in shopping centres this Christmas.

“Christmas is about the story of Jesus, even though he was not born on December 25. I feel it’s a time for remembrance and for sharing with others of the love of Jesus for mankind, and to give them hope. Jesus also declared in Luke 4:18 that he came to preach the good news to the poor.

“It (Christmastime) gives me an opportunity to remind other Christians that we should help the poor,” he adds.

Blessed Christmas & Happy New Year

South Korean pastor tends an unwanted flock

This is a moving article about an ordinary pastor doing extra ordinary things in the online Los Angeles Times. We hope that this article will move us all to allow God to turn our ashes to beauty. Whatever “ash” experience that we are placed in, let us learn to let God into that experience with us and then allow Him to use us to be a blessing to others. 

From this testimony, we can see that God uses ordinary people in need to be His hand extended to others in need and we learn that to be a blessing is not always about giving money. It is about giving our lives.

South Korean pastor tends an unwanted flock

In a country that prizes physical perfection, Pastor Lee Jong-rak, his eyes opened after caring for his own disabled son, has been taking in unwanted infants, who if not for his drop box would be left in the street.

By John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times

June 19, 2011, 7:55 p.m.

Reporting from Seoul— The drop box is attached to the side of a home in a ragged working-class neighborhood. It is lined with a soft pink and blue blanket, and has a bell that rings when the little door is opened.

Because this depository isn't for books, it's for babies — and not just any infants; these children are the unwanted ones, a burden many parents find too terrible to bear.

One is deaf, blind and paralyzed; another has a tiny misshapen head. There's a baby with Down syndrome, another with cerebral palsy, still another who is quadriplegic, with permanent brain damage.

But to Pastor Lee Jong-rak, they are all perfect. And they have found a home here at the ad hoc orphanage he runs with his wife and small staff. It is the only private center for disabled children in South Korea.

"This is a facility for the protection of life," reads a hand-scrawled sign outside the drop box. "If you can't take care of your disabled babies, don't throw them away or leave them on the street. Bring them here."

Since 1998, Lee, now 57, has taken in nearly three dozen children — raised them, loved them, sent them to school. He has changed their diapers, tended to their cries in the middle of the night. Today, he has 21 wards: the youngest a 2-month-old, the oldest 18.

His motivation is painfully personal. Twenty-five years ago, Lee's wife, Chun-ja, gave birth to a baby so disfigured Lee kept the boy from her for a month until he could figure out a way to tell her the unthinkable, explaining only that the child had a serious illness and was rushed to another hospital.

The baby was born with cerebral palsy. A mammoth cyst on his head choked off the blood flow, slowly rendering him brain-damaged. Doctors gave him months to live.

Today he lies on a bed in Lee's home, his legs splayed at impossible angles, his feet turned back inward. Eyeing the room impassively, he occasionally lets out a snort or sigh, as his parents regularly vacuum his saliva through a tracheal hole in his throat. They call him Eun-man, which means full of God's grace.

He plays the role of emotional touchstone for an orphanage in peril: Health officials have ordered Lee to close his drop box, saying it encourages parents to abandon their babies.

Authorities say Lee has no formal training and not enough space for his wards, only two of whom are not handicapped; they were left by single mothers. Lee has no license, but for years he had operated underneath the radar. Now he worries he will lose the government funds he receives as the children's legal guardian; the money keeps him in operation, along with donations from local firms and private benefactors.

Orphanage supporters say authorities are missing the big picture. Though there are other institutional facilities nationwide for disabled children, they say, no salaried caregiver could match Lee's compassion and paternal touch.

"Rather than look at what he can bring, they focus on what he doesn't have," said Peter A. Dietrich, an orphanage volunteer. "The enormity of his mission hits you between the eyes. I don't know anyone who goes there for the first time and doesn't tear up."

Eun-man's birth caused a religious man to question his faith.

"I asked God, 'Why would you give me a handicapped child?' I wasn't grateful for this baby," Lee recalled.

He soon came to regret those words. Looking down at his son, helpless and beyond hope, he says he witnessed the preciousness of life. He and his wife decided to work desperately to keep the boy alive.

In the mid-1980s, Lee said, the disabled in South Korea were often viewed as embarrassing curiosities — more creature than child. Even today, he said, babies with physical deformities are seen as a national shame in a culture that prizes physical perfection, where cosmetic surgeries have become as common as haircuts.

Given his limited brain function, Eun-man needed constant care. He spent his first 14 years at a hospital. To help pay for his care, Lee sold his family food market, borrowed money and took up odd jobs to bring in more cash.


Click here for link to the original source.