JUST A LITTLE FAITH

It's been awhile - probably some months ago - since I last walked the streets of KL Chinatown at night with my street- ministry brothers and sisters in Christ. Counting down 2 days to Chinese New Year 2026, the area around Petaling Street was jam- packed with vehicles and people; foreign tourists and locals. The area had been “cleaned up “ considerably. The dinghy back-lane where pimps and prostitutes worked their trade now had a long mural painted along it. But as I was told, they had simply shifted their business to the front.  Eateries were full to over-flowing, some popular ones had queues spilling out onto the road. Lanterns and lights made for very nice photo backdrops. But in the midst of all that, there were shadows lurking in dark corners, on benches at the bus-stops, in open spaces, along side-walks 

       

I have seen them time and again, but I never can get used to the sight of the folks hanging out on the streets. I am sure no one would intentionally want to live that way – homeless, destitute, wandering around with no hope, no meaning. Some have been that way for years.  Behind every face we see is a sad story, a broken life. As we walked on, I was asking God, please send me to someone who needs You.

There were “regulars” gathered at the spot where a certain charitable organization would distribute food-packs. I started talking to a woman who was with her husband and another male friend, who was obviously drunk. They had no time for me, as the group distributing food had arrived.  Further down the road at the bus-station area, there were so many others lounging on the benches. We approached 3 men. 2 were sitting, the other was lying down. They were all Christians.

The one lying down said he had fallen and hurt both legs some time ago. A doctor had confirmed no fracture, and told him to go “urut. I very much doubted that part of his story. But the point is  he was still in pain. I asked him if he believed Jesus could heal. He nodded but added, he had been lying there for many days, unable to move. The brother with me released the Word, praying for everything that was out of alignment in the man’s body be re-aligned properly and healing to come. I remembered the Acts 3 story of the lame beggar at Beautiful Gate. And I was moved to call this man to rise up and walk in the name of Jesus Christ, as I spoke life and strength into his legs. Then we both lifted the man up, one at each side of him. He stood, took 1 step, and another and another. He said  his shoulder hurt. So we prayed again, calling him to lift up his hand. It went up, slowly but surely- higher and higher. His whole countenance changed. I could literally see his faith shine, every trace of doubt gone.   As much as I know we pray in faith, but I am still very much the "ye of little faith" type that Jesus rebuked, since I  rarely get to see instant results when I pray healing for people. So seeing this guy miraculously healed right before my very eyes was such a beautiful moment for me.    

As we walked on, taking the route by the mall, I noticed a woman sitting on the kerb-side. She was eating a late dinner . Her body was “decorated” with tattoos and she had lots of “bling-bling” on her -earrings, rings, bracelets, necklaces. I plopped myself down beside her, saying hello, I want  to rest a bit, can? She smiled. There were several others hanging around the area. Every now and then, the men who passed by would speak to her. She would smile, laugh and answer back in a language I couldn’t quite understand.

I waited for “Ms Bling-bling” to finish her dinner, before I asked if she was a foreigner. She replied father Msian, mom foreigner. She wasn’t at all shy when I enquired about her family. Apparently  she had married and been divorced by 4 men.  At age 39 now, she was already a grandmother, since she first married at age 14. One of her kids had been placed with the Welfare Department (JKM) after her latest divorce. I expressed my surprise, because usually it’s the men who marry multiple times, hers is the other way round. She laughed.

At that moment, I just felt led to say “God sees the pain behind your laughter.”  Immediately I saw her eyes change although she was still smiling. I told her simply everyone in our lives can leave us, but there is One who will never leave nor forsake us. I shared with her the God who feels our pain and Himself suffered pain as He hung on the cross, to set us free from our past. I could see her eyes full of unshed tears. She kept saying I don’t know, when I asked if she wanted a new life, a real life where she doesn’t need to hide behind false/forced smiles and laughter, pretending she is ok. But she wasn’t prepared to commit. I knew there was no point pushing it, so I left her with a simple prayer that God would bless her to know Him.  I had sown the seed. Let someone else harvest it some day.

Or who knows, maybe on some other night, when I get to walking about the streets again, I will bump into her and this time, she will be ready for God to turn her mourning into dancing. After all, it only takes just a little faith. 

Matthew 17:20 ...For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lost, Found and Missing (Again)

She was the only woman sitting with some men at the table. There was an empty seat beside her. I knew it was meant for me. I sat down and said the 1 word that came to my mind then - susah-ke? Immediately she burst into tears and couldn't stop crying as I moved to hug her. It had to be Holy Spirit at work. I had never seen her before in the centre. After awhile she calmed down sufficiently to open up. 

She is a foreigner; having entered Msia  some 6 years ago. She's only 25 years old but had already worked multiple jobs. She had suffered at the hands of some employers. One had such a bad temper he burnt her passport. So she became an illegal immigrant. She had prayed many times she would be caught  and deported back to her home country. But that didn't happen, so with no job and no money, she ended up on the streets of KL. 

This latest (no. 4) boyfriend had walloped her head with a piece of wood, Thankfully there was no bleeding, just a huge bump. That was the reason she covered her head with a knitted cap, as she was ashamed. She had "hooked up" with the guy just recently. He never told her he was married. His wife had come to the field where she was hanging out and humiliated her publicly. So much drama. He had stolen the motorcycle he was using, was on drugs and had kept her hand-phone on the pretext of charging it. She said she was scared he would follow her afterwards. I told her I would accompany her out later after the service concluded. I prayed God send angels to guard her from every harm. 

But as I finished my sermon, I felt I couldn't leave her on the streets. A little voice spoke to my heart "Take her home." But how to get her out as the guy was still hanging around in the centre? In fact he kept looking at her throughout the service, although she had moved to the front to avoid sitting with him. Yet he had followed suit and  shifted upfront as well. 

Thank God for divine intervention. He made sure the man was fully occupied, by Pastor no less , so I could get the woman out of the centre. After dinner, as Pastor talked to the guy, I quickly led her out and straight away drove her back to my place in PJ for the night. 

In the aftermath of things, I realised how God deliberately gets us to be the answer to our own prayers. Sure Christians are supposed to pray about everything, but the problem is we often "leave it up to God" to handle the issue. So many times I would pray God, please help these street people...provide for their needs blah blah blah. That's all well and good, I am sure. But that night when I heard the voice "Take her home", I was ashamed that I didn't even think of it  in the first place. 

 She refused to use the back-room, saying she could just sleep on the floor in the living area. I told her to use the sofa. As we talked, she revealed she is a pastor's daughter. She said she had desired so much to go to church, but she felt so ashamed at how far she had fallen. 

I reminded her of Jesus's parable about the prodigal son, who left the father's house, squandered his money and ended up totally destitute, before he finally decided to return. All the while, the old man was waiting for his lost son to just come home . We both knew she is every inch the prodigal daughter. 

The next morning which "so happened" to be a Sunday, I took her to church, where my Pastor prayed for her. She said she was so overwhelmed. I was supposed to send her off to the MRT station after the service, but at the last minute I felt she should stay on for the session after lunch. Again at Holy spirit urging, I got her to join in prayer to stand for her nation. 

Only after that , I drove her to TBS station to catch the bus out of town because she said she has an adopted Christian sister  in another state  who could take care of her. I gave her money for the journey and thought that was that, thanking God she could begin afresh somewhere else. In hindsight I shouldn't have left her on her own at the station, even though she reassured me she was familiar with the place.

Things didn't turn out well. Apparently she was somehow intercepted by the boyfriend, who took all the cash I had given her. So she didn't manage to leave KL. Instead they both went back to the centre. The Pastor to whom I had already told the whole story wisely separated them, bought a bus ticket online and even got people to escort her all the way to TBS station again. The only hitch was they didn't get to see her actually board the bus, since only passengers holding tickets are allowed into the boarding area. 

That was more than a week ago. She hasn't contacted anyone of us since then. There was nothing we could do anymore, except pray God's hand be upon her to keep her safe and to guide her physical as well as spiritual journey. We may not be able to keep track of her, but we know God goes after every wandering sheep. 

 Jesus the good and great Shepherd will bring them all - the black sheep -  the  hurt, lost,  missing "somewhere out there" -  home to Himself somehow anyhow.... “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?" - Luke 15:4 

UPDATE: A week later, she was back in KL. I met her at the regular Saturday street-feeding I serve in. She said her sister outstation had no place for her, but at the very least, had put her in touch with a relative who got her a job as a cleaner. She kept apologizing to me for all the trouble, the money lost, etc etc. I just reminded her to live as daughter of  God Most High, her Abba Father who has already opened new doors for her, bringing her back to Himself.