Reflection on our KL Vision Trip

Written by Sarah Whang

As many of you heard this past Sunday, eight Waypoint members recently returned from a vision trip to Kuala Lampur. During this trip, we were deeply impacted by visiting two ministries in the city.

The first was “Home of Peace.” This is a home for abandoned girls, run by a woman named Justine. The girls taught our team how to paint butterflies, flowers, and fish on basic fabric. While painting, the girls peppered Uncle Artur (Panzo) with questions about his family and his work. At their request, a McDonald’s dinner was provided. Young and Genia led worship and then the girls surprised the visitors with their beautifully harmonized songs. Pastor Lawrence reminded each of the girls that our Father above has never abandoned them, and He loves each of them to the point of sending his only Son to die on the cross for them.

The second was The Peace & Education Center (T-PEC). This is a boarding school for 54 Chin refugee children. Chin people, mostly Christians from Myanmar, have been persecuted for their religion since 1962 and many have fled to other countries. T-PEC is roughly 2000 sq feet dilapidated 3-bedroom space in downtown KL. These kids live and “go to school” in this small space.

Our team spent an afternoon doing crafts and games with these children and Young Lee and Genia led worship. As we were singing “The Goodness of God”, the kids were singing their hearts out with these words, ‘All my life you have been faithful, All my life you have been so so good…” There was not a dry eye in the house amongst the adults.

Our team treated the kids to a McDonald’s meal (at their request, since it is so expensive). The kids were so happy chomping down their favorite meal. The team was so honored to observe Pastor Lawrence showing his love and generosity to these children. For the short time we were there, he surely made them feel loved by playing fun games with them and letting them know how our heavenly Father loves them so. Afterwards, the kids asked when we were coming back.

One sad part of their story is that there is NO path for citizenship in Malaysia for these Chin refugees no matter how long they reside there. Thus, these kids cannot access any social services or attend college. The best they can hope for is to work in the black market as construction workers or laborers. In the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25: 31-46), Jesus commends the righteous for feeding him, giving a drink to him, clothing him, inviting him when he was a stranger, and visiting him in prison. He goes on to say, Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ These Chin refugee children are brothers and sisters of Jesus and are suffering for their faith. Their white board listed the things they are praying for:

1. We pray for our donors and volunteers.

2. We pray for prosperity and happiness of our landlord, management, community, and staff for they are ANGELS to our children.

3. We pray for UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), for continuous assistance in quick resettlement to USA, Australia etc.

4. We pray for the safety and security of all our children, families and friends.

5. We thank you, Lord, for your unconditional love and support for T-PEC and give us peace, joy and love always.

6. We pray for our country, Myanmar that there will be PEACE.

This past Sunday we were able to hear from Miles and Erin Macloud, members of Harvest Church, where Eric Weiner is now the pastor, and how they have been volunteering their time caring for these children. If you would like to know more about being involved, you can reach out to Miles at milesmacleod24@gmail.com or talk to any of the team members.