35 Days in Singapore and Malaysia

      The news for this trip began a week before I left on November 19^th for Singapore-Malaysia. On the Monday before I left, I fractured a two parts of one bone in my right foot and was afraid I would not be able to make the trip. After visiting the doctor, he put me in an aircast and said I could make the trip.

      On Tuesday morning, November 19^th, my daughter, Libby took me to the airport to begin my 51^st overseas mission trip. In addition to my usual luggage, I took along almost fifty pounds of books to donate to the Four Seas College library, as well as copies of the book, “Muscle and a Shovel” by Michael Shank. The Shank books were distributed to brethren in three different countries – Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia. In spite of the broken foot, the trip went well and I arrived in Singapore safely. I finally made it to bed about 3:30 AM.

      Late Thursday morning, I went to eat at Subway, then bought oranges and water for the short time I would be in Singapore before heading for a weekend gospel meeting in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. On Thursday evening, I attended the English Bible Study at the Lim Ah Pin Rd. church. Thanks to the brethren for providing me transportation.

     On Friday, after breakfast, I began to prepare for my trip to Johor Bahru. I was taken by one of the members of Johor Bahru (who lives in Singapore) over the Causeway to the house where I would stay for the two nights. The first service of the gospel meeting was on Friday night. There were not a lot of people in attendance, but I was thankful to be able to present my lesson.

      On Saturday, I went along with other members from Johor Bahru back to Singapore to attend the Commencement Exercises of Four Seas College. Originally in my planning, I did not know if I would be able to attend this service, but thanks to the brethren in Malaysia, I was able to go. The service last a little over an hour with Billy Bland and Peter Chin speaking. There were nine brethren from five different countries who graduated this year. We were able to get back over to Malaysia in time for a quick meal before the Saturday evening service. The attendance was much better on this night.

      Sunday morning would see a conclusion to the gospel meeting at Johor Bahru. I spoke at the Bible class and worship hour. After the services, we ate lunch together and visited with the brethren. In the afternoon, one of the families took me back to Singapore where I would be for the next five days.

      On Monday and Tuesday, I had some free time, so took the opportunity to visit with some brethren in Singapore and also give my foot a chance to rest a bit.

      The Four Seas College Lectureship began on Wednesday. It would continue through Sunday, but I left on Friday to go on to Melaka to conduct a bi-lingual Gospel Meeting for the church there. At the lectureship, there were a number of speakers on the program from the United States, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Indonesia. It was good to visit with so many of the brethren in Southeast Asia. There were also Gospel Meetings conducted at night in both Jurong and Lim Ah Pin with different speakers each night. Thanks for all of the hospitality shown to me while I was in Singapore this first time. I would return to Singapore at the end of the trip for further efforts on the island.

      Steven Loo came down from Melaka to attend the lectures and transported me in his car to Melaka to begin the weekend meeting – November 29 – December 1. The meeting began on Friday night. Even though we had planned a bi-lingual meeting, on Friday and Saturday night, there were no Chinese-only speaking people who attended, so the lessons were delivered in English.

     On Sunday morning, we finally had some attend the services who needed the lessons in Chinese, so the Bible class and worship were in both English and Chinese. They also have a couple of members who speak Malaysian, so there are song books for that language, and during the worship, they go back in a separate room and they have translation from English into the Malaysian language.

    After Sunday morning services, we had potluck, then William Leong and his two daughters transported me up to Kuala Lumpur for my next week in Malaysia. I enjoyed Sunday evening with Mike, June, and Hannah Leong.

     For the next couple of days, I had some free time, so along with two other families; we headed up to my favorite place in Malaysia – Cameron Highlands. Unfortunately, I caught a cold up there, so I had to fight through that for the Section 17 Gospel Meeting.

      The gospel meeting at Section 17 began on Friday, December 6^th. The theme of the gospel meeting was “The God of the Bible.” We had a good start on Friday night with a good crowd attending. “Paul’s Sermon on Mars Hill” was the first lesson in the series. The weekend meeting continued on Saturday night with a study concerning the folly of idolatry. It was good to see Roger Campbell at the meeting on Saturday night. The meeting concluded Sunday morning with two lessons – “The Problem of Worldliness” and “The Hidden Gospel.”

      I am thankful for the opportunity I had to be with the brethren at Section 17 and look forward to seeing them again in the future. They took very good care of me and also provided some funds to use for other efforts in Malaysia. On Sunday night, I attended a “wake” (what we might call in America as a “viewing”) for the father of Richard Lim, one of the deacons at the Klang Church of Christ. Ong Eng Boon preached the lesson. It was a very good sermon and hopefully made us all continue to remember there is a time when we will all leave this life.

     On Monday and Tuesday, I had the opportunity to visit with several of the brethren from Section 17 church before heading off to Ipoh on Wednesday, December 11^th. I arrived in Ipoh and was met by brother Victor Chu. We were talking about his father during our drive to lunch and to the hotel. His father had been on the brink of death for several weeks. After he dropped me off at the hotel, he came back to tell me his father had passed away.

      This changed some of the plans for the evening. Brother Victor Chan and Ting Kong Eyo came back to pick me up for the evening services in Taiping. This was about an hour’s drive from Ipoh. We went up to have dinner with brother Megan and to visit with his family before the evening service. There were expected to be about fifteen to attend the evening service, but instead we had twenty-five people to attend. Originally, it was supposed to be an English class, but I ended up delivering the lesson in both English and Chinese.

      I had Thursday morning off. I took the opportunity to catch up on my reports for this trip. On Thursday evening, I was taken to Kampar, where the church at Ipoh had started an effort, primarily among the college students at the local university. We had 23 attend the class on this night. I was thankful for the opportunity to have a part in this effort. I delivered a bi-lingual lesson on “God Demands Obedience” and “True Worship.”

      Friday night was the first night of the gospel meeting in Ipoh. The theme of the meeting was: “Choices in Life.” The lesson on Friday night was “Proving the Deity of Christ.” There were a number who were unable to attend on Friday night because of the death of the father of Victor Chu.

      On Saturday morning, I traveled to Victor Chu’s hometown to speak at the “wake” of his departed father. I was privileged to have a part in this effort to encourage Victor and his family. A number of the members from Ipoh made the two hour trip for this service. On Saturday night, we had the second night of the gospel meeting. The topic was “Can We Understand the Bible Alike?”

      Sunday morning would bring this gospel meeting effort to a conclusion. All of these lessons were bi-lingual, so it took much more time to deliver the lessons in the two languages.

We had a pretty good attendance for the Sunday morning service in Ipoh. On Sunday evening, we had the worship service in Kampar.

      I am thankful for the opportunity to travel to Taiping, Kampar, and Ipoh during this trip to Malaysia.

      On Monday morning, I returned to Kuala Lumpur to spend the night before heading down to Kluang to speak two days. Thanks to Peter Bang for picking me up at the train station, for lunch, and for Kam Wah and Janet Leong for dinner.

      On Tuesday morning, brother Peter Bang took me to the new bus station in Cheras to board the bus to Kluang. After a three and one half hour bus ride, I arrived safely in the city. I was met by brother Hock Heng. We met Tuesday night for a class from 7:30 – 9:30 for bi-lingual class. We then met again on Wednesday night at the same time for the second class. We had ten attend on Tuesday night and twelve attended on Wednesday night. We hope we were able to encourage the brethren in Kluang.

      On Thursday morning, I boarded an 8:30 AM bus for Singapore to finish this current mission trip. After going through the checkpoints for Malaysia and Singapore, the bus dropped us off and I took a taxi to the hotel where I stay while on the island. On Thursday night, Justin Kwan met me and rode the taxi with me to the Lim Ah Pin church building. I spoke at the English Bible class that night.

      The Chinese Gospel Meeting at Lim Ah Pin began on Friday night. There were a number of brethren who are away on various trips, so the attendance for the Friday and Saturday night services was not very good. The attendance on Sunday was much better.

      On Sunday morning, I spoke at both of the English services. It was good to see many old friends at Lim Ah Pin.

     On Monday morning, I boarded by flight for Japan, then two hours after arriving there, boarded the flight for Atlanta. It was the earliest I had every arrived in the ATL. James Guyton met me and drove me home. Thanks for all your prayers on my behalf during this five week trip.

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SPEAKING SCHEDULE

2014   Jan. 7-Mar. 18 Fishers of Men/Chestnut Mtn. Jan. 25-26 Tara Lectureship Feb. 5-10 Texas Trip - SWSBS June 2-4 Chinese Asian Bible Lectures

– John M. Grubb