Pantai Baptist Church and meeting good friends

Yesterday was another wonderful day here in Malaysia.  

Young Soon, the director of Malaysian Care collected me from my hotel in Sentral KL at just before 8am. We drove the short distance to Pantai Baptist Church where I was kindly given an opportunity to preach in their two morning service.  Pantai Baptist Church (formerly First Baptist Church) is a wonderful, vibrant, socially engaged, Christian community.  The worship was wonderful - I always find being in worship with sisters and brothers across the world as a rich and deep experience of grace.  There is an aspect of worship that makes me feel at home, among family, not matter how far I am from home.

Marvin Wong is the minister of this thriving Church.  As we chatted we discovered that we have many friends and interests in common.  Marvin did his studies in Cambridge and knows Wesley House well.  He also knows Mark Greene from the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity (LICC) and Peter Heslam from Cambridge's Transforming business (Enterprise solutions to poverty) institute.

I had a chance to talk about the importance of integrating faith and every sphere of life (work, politics, economics, community life etc.)  Marvin had asked that I share from my book 'Transform your work life', which was a great joy.  I am passionate about that message.  Of course I also focussed on 'EXPOSED - Shining a light on corruption' and the Unashamedly Ethical campaign.

A few persons asked me to post my powerpoint slides from the sermon online.  So, here they are! The title of the sermon was a question:  Are you a Monday morning atheist?  

Simply stated, an atheist is someone who acts as if they have no faith or belief in God.  Sadly, I have experienced that many Christians live parts of their lives as if they are atheists - sure, we find it easy to be people of faith in 'places of faith' (like a Church building or Church service), but do we live our work life, or social life, our community life with the awareness that God is present there?  Do we ask God to guide, direct and inform our decisions, choices and actions at work, when we are given a chance to cast a vote, to participate in shaping an institution or making ethical decisions?  It is critical that we recapture our responsibility as Christians to be 'salt and light' in the world - working for the transformation and renewal of every aspect of society, to the glory of God and for the blessing of all people and the rest of creation.

Last night was a wonderful time of friendship as I went to dinner with Alvin Tan and one of his leaders Charlie.  Alvin and I have been good friends for a number of years - he is one of the leaders of the Global Day of Prayer and Unashamedly Ethical in Malaysia.  He and Charlie blessed me with a relaxed evening of good conversation and fellowship.  It is wonderful to know such brothers in Christ.

Consultation on Christian Advocacy Poverty and Corruption

Today I have the joy of speaking at the CANOPI gathering here in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. The Consultation on Christian Advocacy Poverty and Corruption is being hosted by Malaysian Care, a Christian aid and advocacy agency in Malaysia - see http://www.malaysiancare.org/

They have a great model of Christian care through development - as I have met with their staff and listened to their programs I am left with a sense that they care about what the Gospel of Christ looks like (and feels like) in society. Jesus own 'mission statement' in Luke 4 comes to mind - feeding the hungry, developing the poor, working for the liberation of the oppressed.

What is equally encouraging is that their work is ecumenical. They are wise enough to know that the solution to many social challenges doesn't lie with only one Church grouping. Rather, the whole of the community needs to be involved in working for God's loving Kingdom to be established.

Please could I encourage you to visit their website and also to pray for and support their wonderful work? If you live or work in Malaysia please join CANOPI. I am pleased to say that they are a partner of our 'EXPOSED - Shining a light on corruption' campaign - see http://www.exposed2013.com

Malaysia and Singapore - Samsung Galaxy Note

On Thursday morning I shall be flying from Cape Town to Kuala Lumpur (via Johannesburg and Singapore) to spend some time with wonderful friends who are doing advocacy work on poverty alleviation and addressing corruption in Malaysia. I am excited to hear how Christians are being mobilized to respond to God's call to be agents of healing and transformation in society.

I will also have the chance to speak at some Churches, some Christian business gatherings (about my book 'Transform your work life: turn your ordinary day into an extraordinary calling', and of course reconnect with many longstanding friends.

Malaysia occupies a very special place in my heart. I have visited this nation more than any other in the last decade. I love the people and the place - God has deposited something special there!

One of the complexities of traveling as much as I need to in order to manage the EXPOSED campaign is that I have to maintain my regular work rhythm while moving across time zones (EXPOSED and Unashamedly Ethical have people in more than 100 countries. I have to stay connected to these individuals and teams vie the phone, Skype and email to keep our work on track). Having the right tools for the job is critical.

I normally travel with my iPhone on these trips. However, this time I will be taking a Samsung Galaxy Note. Since getting this phone as my contract upgrade some months ago I have grown to appreciate how powerful it is. I can go for days without needing to have access to my laptop.

It is such a versatile and powerful tool for communication. I particularly love the S Pen that allows me to make written notes in meetings. The camera is also superb, as is the processor for things such as Skype. It allows me to stay up to date with my family, keep in touch with my office and email, and also capture the experience of the trip while I am away. Android has truly matured and the list of available applications is wonderful. I count on google maps and turn by turn navigation (and the public transport guidelines) to get around.

Above are two screen shots of some of the more common apps that I use from day to day.

Please can I ask you to pray for my family who remain at home while I am away. Please also pray for the people I shall meet, and also for me and the work I shall be doing for 'EXPOSED - Shining a light on corruption' and the 'Unashamedly Ethical' project.

God bless,

Dion

World Prayer Assembly in Jakarta Indonesia

I leave for Jakarta (via Dubai) in a few minutes.

This time I will be at the World Prayer Assembly - a very special global gathering of Christians from across the planet (about 6000 or so). See http://www.wpa2012.org for details

I have the privilege of having 3 speaking slots at the conference (all around poverty and corruption / ethics), and a slot on the Global Day of Prayer studio broadcast on the 17th of May on GodTV.

At this conference I'll representing the work of our 'EXPOSED - Shining a light on corruption' campaign (see http://www.exposed2013.com for more), and the Unashamedly Ethical movement (see http://www.unashamedlyethical.com for details).

Please could I ask for your prayers for this journey and work? My desire is to activate many more Christians and Christian movements for God's work of justice and mercy.

Please also pray for Megie, Courtney and Liam at home. I miss them already!

A last ride in Paradise before heading to the USA!

Yesterday I had an absolutely stunning mountain bike ride on Lourensford with the Cycle Addiction club. We are blessed with amazing riding here!

Tomorrow I head to the United States to participate in a significant Christian business conference (where the 8 Millennium Development Goals will be the central discussion points - so thankful that they have taken this important discussion on board!) The Church must learn to engage business if we are to be God's agents of renewal and transformation in the world.  We can halve global poverty by 2015 if we each just do our bit to witness, advocate and act on behalf of the poor.

In many cases Nation States are no longer the most influential and powerful regional influencers. This quote from Lesley Newbigin made sense in this regard:

[W]e may well be coming to the end of the era of the sovereign nation-state as we have known it for the past three centuries. Economic, financial, and technical forces have created a global system that is far more powerful than most existing states. The secular powers shaping human life are increasingly transnational If the Church is to speak the truth to Caesar, it is these powers that must be more and more in our sights.

— Leslie Newbigin, Truth to Tell: The Gospel as Public Truth p89

After Orlando I head to New York for some meetings regarding EXPOSED (see the EXPOSED2013 tab at the top for more information regarding this corruption and poverty project). I will be at the United Nations meeting some friends in the UNDP and also at the Salvation Army meeting Christine MacMillan, their general in charge of social justice initiatives. I will also be at Redeemer and a few other significant meetings.

Please pray for me (and for my family back home)! I get back on 3 May and then head off to Indonesia on the 12th of May. So it is a little hectic with travel at the moment. Skype is a wonderful blessing to stay in touch with Megie, Courtney and Liam.  But I always miss them so much!!! My goodness, these three people truly do occupy my life!  I am already filled with a little sadness at having to leave.

As for cycling - I will dream of the trails of Cape Town! But, keep an eye on my twitter and facebook feeds. You'll see me doing some running!

Please follow @EXPOSED2013 on twitter.com and on facebook at http://on.fb.me/exposed2013

God bless,

D