It's Wednesday afternoon and all is well in Johor Bahru.  It's better than well, in fact!  God has been at work in so many ways here I barely know where to start. 

To say that our days are full is an understatement.  Typically they start around 7:00 A.M. and end at 11:00 P.M. or Midnight.  We start by having prayer and breakfast of rice, vegetables, chicken and curry with the Vietnamese Family   The rest of the day is filled with training, worker visits, with services at a different church starting at 9:00 each evening. 

We have already been received as part of the family, with Bruce being called "Baa" (Father) and the ladies being called "Mae" (Mother) by our new Vietnamese "children".  Bruce also has picked up the title of "Pastor Doctor Bruce". 

The best news of all is that God is expanding His Kingdom!!!

Sunday:  20 decisions for Christ in four church services, 9 baptisms

Monday:  13 decisions for Christ (11 in the prison and 2 in services)

Tuesday:  45 decisions for Christ from two services and multiple worker home visits

On Sunday, the team was tasked with preaching and sharing our testimonies at four church services.  We split into two groups to accomplish that.  Between services in the afternoon we delivered two training modules; Janet's on God's design for the family, followed by 1 1/2 hours of training by Bruce on how to develop and deliver a sermon.  The latter was supposed to be two hours but was shortened by about 30 minutes due to a late start after the morning service.  Pastor-Doctor Bruce and Pastor Duc conducted four baptisms in the morning service.  What a joy in the Lord!!

In the afternoon and evening, Jenny and Sophia went to two services in which they shared their testimonies and led a number of people to the Lord.  Bruce, Janet, and Jennifer stayed at the ministry center for the training, and then went to an evening service, where Jennifer gave her testimony and invited people to come forward to receive Christ.  Five people received Jesus as Lord of their lives.   We witnessed much Kingdom fruit throughout the day, with more people coming forward to receive Christ at each gathering.

We are hearing personal stories from the workers that bring tears to our eyes.  When Jennifer gave her testimony and an invitation on Sunday night, three girls and two guys accepted Christ.  The guys had been coming to Vietnamese church for a while, but now decided it was time to give their lives to Him.  The girls come from one of the worker homes in which a number of the girls do not get enough food from their company supplied meals, so they have had to collect trash like water bottles, clean it up, and re-sell it to make a little money for rice and noodles.  This is after working 12-hour days, 6-7 days per week.  Even so, they are so excited to come to church!  It is the place they have real joy, fellowship with other believers, and learn more about the Lord. 

To say the Vietnamese people have captured our hearts is an understatement.  God is doing something absolutely magnificent here, and all I can think about is coming back for more training, and to meet the other needs of the Vietnamese family here and in Vietnam.  The needs are staggering.  They include training for church leadership, medical needs, counseling needs, just about anything you can think of.  My thought now is about what El Camino might do to continue to expand our ongoing relationship with the "Vietnamese Family". 

On Monday, we visited worker homes in a brick factory.  The workers live in 40-foot shipping container boxes (the metal ones that go on ships, rail, and trucks).  There were ten guys to a box, with no air conditioning, toilets, or running water.  They said they drink the local ground water, which should be boiled.  Often they don't have time for that.  On Monday we also visited the prison, or "camp".  Each of us shared our testimonies, and all eleven prisoners we met with received the Lord after the invitation given by Bruce.  Pastor Duc had spent many hours preparing paperwork for one man who was going back to Vietnam the next day.  We rejoiced with him!

Our experiences on Monday were a mix of sadness and joy as we visited the prison and worker residences before joining the workers for dinner and attending the evening church service.  We got back to the hotel around midnight.  One unexpected discovery is that some of the workers choose to stay a fourth or fifth year, even though their contract with the plant and government is only for three years.  Many of them come from people groups in extremely impoverished parts of Vietnam, and the dismal circumstances they have here are better than starving at home.  Much of this is hard for our American minds to grasp. 

Last night, Sophia, Bruce, and Janet went to a girls' residence at one of the plants.  To say they received us with joy doesn't even begin to describe what happened.  At picture-taking time after the testimonies and prayers, we stood there and had our picture taken with girl after girl.  With much giggling and laughing, the girls would come up two or three at a time and hug us to be in the picture.  It was one of the most relational moments we can remember.  Thy, our translator, said she overheard the girls saying how beautiful the foreigners are.  We were thinking the same thing about them!   

The big Christmas Rally is coming up on Sunday.  This is THE big event of the year.  The expected number of people to attend is now around 1,000 total, rather than the 2,000 we were told earlier, but a good sized harvest is still waiting for us, I am sure! 

- Please pray for buses to pick up the workers.  If the buses and vans cannot be found, the workers have no way to get to the rally. 

- Pray for one young woman who shared she has horrid dreams and visions.  She was praying to multiple gods, including the One True God in the list.  We think this is why she is having trouble.

- Please pray for the many workers who are sick and in prison.  

- Pray for Thy, Pastor Duc, Nang, and the other Vietnamese Family workers.  They are running full blast to get ready for the Christmas rally, and we are doing what we can to help them.

- Pray for funds.  We are giving the extra funds collected for this trip to them, but they will still be about $2500 short on the expenses for the rally.  And believe me, this is not a big-budget event.  They are proceeding on faith. 

 Check out the new pictures I am posting:  http://picasaweb.google.com/.  Click on the one picture that shows up to open the album and see the rest of the pictures.  MalaysiaMission

Thank you for your prayers. and encouraging emails!