{"id":95,"date":"2011-03-27T12:57:54","date_gmt":"2011-03-27T16:57:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/pray_for_the_persecuted_church\/?p=95"},"modified":"2011-03-31T17:28:23","modified_gmt":"2011-03-31T21:28:23","slug":"malaysian-activist-asks-for-your-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/pray_for_the_persecuted_church\/2011\/03\/malaysian-activist-asks-for-your-prayer.html","title":{"rendered":"Malaysian Christian activist asks for your prayers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sudhagaran Stanley <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Muslim-dominated government of Malaysia\u00a0may have\u00a0called off a plan to stamp serial numbers on 35,000 impounded Bibles — but the problem is not yet resolved, says a young activist.<\/p>\n

The Christian Federation of Malaysia is praying about whether to accept a compromise offer that\u00a0the Bibles be released if the CFM agrees to stamp them with “For Christians.”<\/p>\n

Young\u00a0Malaysian\u00a0Christian activist\u00a0\u00a0Sudhagaran Stanley has asked Christians worldwide to pray for local leaders to make the right decision.<\/p>\n

“This is not an easy thing,” he said. “Will you pray that we will have wisdom?”<\/p>\n

Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim\u00a0nation of 27 million people in the South China Sea next to Indonesia. Malaysian Christians historically have used the word \u201cAllah\u201d upon occasion to describe our Almighty God \u2013 and did so in the impounded\u00a0Bibles, which are titled simply \u201cal-Kitab\u201d — Malay\u00a0for \u201cThe Book.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alarmed Muslim government officials\u00a0had worried that Muslims might mistake the Bibles for Islamic literature, exactly what Stanley and the evangelistic CFM members hope could happen.<\/p>\n

So, the Bibles\u00a0have been\u00a0impounded while Malaysian Christians\u00a0sought their release in court. The Christians have won several rounds, but still the Bibles\u00a0are in government warehouses.<\/p>\n

The Malaysian home ministry had called for the Bibles to be imprinted \u201cFor Christians only\u201d along with a serial number so the Bibles could be tracked. If a Muslim was found with such a Bible, it could be tracked back to its previous owner — and those Christians would be prosecuted for trying to convert Muslims to Christianity.<\/p>\n

The government offer\u00a0prompted\u00a0a nationwide outcry from Christian leaders \u2014 ranging from Catholic bishops to evangelical laymen. One leader charged that such restrictions only happen under Communist regimes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Stanley organizing Malaysian Christians<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then, young Stanley had a bright idea.<\/p>\n

He and 50 volunteers used the Internet to organize a mass, simultaneous lodging of police reports nationwide to protest against the government\u2019s planned requirement.<\/p>\n

The tactic would have created mountains of paperwork for officials under Malaysian law \u2014 and could have resulted in a wide spectrum of conflicting remedies ordered by local magistrates.<\/p>\n

But the coordinated lodging of police reports was called off after the government offered\u00a0to release the Bibles if they are stamped\u00a0with the words \u201cFor Christianity,\u201d but no other words or serial numbers.<\/p>\n

Stanley says he is humbled at the credit he has received for the government’s backing down after two years.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI was not the only one involved in this issue,\u201d he told Beliefnet.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cThe Christian Federation of Malaysia did a fantatsic job by issuing press statements, having meetings with government ministers and advocating on this issue.<\/p>\n

“They were the main reason for this decision. I only contributed a small part by organizing the reporting and doing some write-up on the issue. There were also more than 50 people who had volunteered to recruit\u00a0others to make the police reports.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso an important point to note is that, we are not so happy yet with the latest offer. The words ” For Christianity” may cause lots of confusion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Malaysia, words like this may be twisted. Twenty years from now the government may say that it was agreed that the Bible is only for Christians.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so, we would not\u00a0 be allowed to share the Bible with other faiths. This is why we need to study this new offer with much prayer and wisdom before celebrating the victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not replied to their offer yet. The Christian Federation of Malaysia will meet this coming Tuesday to discuss this issue and decide how we should make our stand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for praying for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Will you join with this remarkable young man?\u00a0Will you pray with\u00a0Malaysia’s Christians — asking the Father’s will, guidance and wisdom? Will you forward this requesst to other Christians — asking them to lift up Stanley and our Malaysian brothers and sisters?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 The Muslim-dominated government of Malaysia\u00a0may have\u00a0called off a plan to stamp serial numbers on 35,000 impounded Bibles — but the problem is not yet resolved, says a young activist. The Christian Federation of Malaysia is praying about whether to accept a compromise offer that\u00a0the Bibles be released if the CFM agrees to stamp them…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[49,117,44,112],"class_list":["post-95","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bibles","tag-islam","tag-malaysia","tag-persecution"],"yoast_head":"\nMalaysian Christian activist asks for your prayers - Pray for the Persecuted Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/pray_for_the_persecuted_church\/2011\/03\/malaysian-activist-asks-for-your-prayer.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Malaysian Christian activist asks for your prayers - Pray for the Persecuted Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0 The Muslim-dominated government of Malaysia\u00a0may have\u00a0called off a plan to stamp serial numbers on 35,000 impounded Bibles — but the problem is not yet resolved, says a young activist. 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