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“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

I flew 20 hours in order to attend the first Asia International Summer Conference June 29-July 1 2017 at Kuala Lumpur Malaysia hosted by Malaysia UBF. I met Dr. John and Deborah Lee from Lincoln Park UBF at Tokyo Narita Airport. Shep. Vincent Lee who met Christ while studying in Univ. of Chicago was greeted us with a big smile and we hugged each other. He drove us to the conference place-the council of churches of Malaysia (CCM).The room was clean and nice. There was no TV or any other media entertainment. After a long journey, I slept around 2 AM like a rock. In the morning, I met Shep. Ison Hong, the director of Malaysia UBF who met Christ through Bob Henkins IIT ministry while studying in USA and later grew in faith with the support of Springfield UBF ministry.

Ison Hong and Vincent Lee returned to their home country of Malaysia and began to serve the gospel ministry for University of Malaysia. I found good mission model in USA mission work-raise up disciples of all foreign students and send them back to their native country to pioneer the campuses of their home country. They will not have language or cultural barriers to serve the gospel work in their home country.

There are five faithful coworkers in Malaysia UBF-Ison Hong, Vincent Lee, Huong Eng, Lee Hung, and Kok Meng. Ison Hong will establish a house church with Nicky Teng from Kaohsiung Taiwan (Dr. Steve and Allison Haga’s ministry) after the conference. God will bless first house church in Malaysia as a sign of blessing.

This conference is a historical event in two points.

First, the native leaders organized this conference with their pioneering spirit and working together. There was no international conference because there is no common language in Asia. But they overcome language barriers and agreed together and prepared the conference using English as the common language. Everything is possible when we believe. It was their act of faith. Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Brunei, and USA joined this conference. Seventy-five people registered and they have full of spirit and joy.

Second, the words of Isaiah were powerful. The conference theme was “Grace and Peace” from Isaiah chapters 40-55. In spite of the rebellion and disobedience, unfaithfulness of Israel, God did not forget his people and comforted them while they were in exile. God did not forget them though they complained their hopeless situations. They will soar like an eagle when they put hope in God. Dr. Steve Haga delivered the opening message based on Isaiah 40:27-31 with the title “Wait” and Ison Hong delivered the first lecture based on Isaiah 40”1-11 with the title “Comfort.” The messages were powerful enough comforting all attendants with the word of encouragements and hope of God. The second lecture will be delivered by Vincent Lee with the title “Believe”. The third lecture by Bob Henkins with the title “Sing” and the fourth lecture by Jimmon Rubilos with the title “Come.” There will be life testimonies. They arranged pre-conference tours of Kuala Lumpur like city galleries, twin towers, and old palaces.

Kuala Lumpur used to be a muddy tin mine town. Now it was transformed into the most beautiful garden city of the world.  Modern Malaysia is a multicultural and multiracial society of approximately 22 million people were ethnic Malays, Chinese and Indians live together in relative harmony. While Islam is the official religion of Malaysia, freedom of worship is guaranteed and widely practiced. Ethnic Malays are, for the most part, Muslim; Chinese mainly Buddhist or Christian; and Indians follow Hinduism as their main religion. The national language is Bahasa Malaysia (similar to Indonesian); however, as a result of the British colonial period, English is widely spoken and is a compulsory subject in schools. Other main languages found in Malaysia include various Chinese dialects (Cantonese, Hokkien, or Hakka), and Tamil or Hindi amongst the Indian population.

Please pray for the conference to reveal the glory of God and grace and peace in the gospel of Jesus.

Pray for the wedding ceremony between Ison Hong and Nicky (Becky) Teng after the conference.

May God bless you richly!

Jacob Lee from Kuala Lumpur