Praying for Spiritual Breakthrough | February 2019

Dear friends,

In 2001 the EPC had high hopes for a new project. We sent a team of EPC families led by Greg and Sally Livingstone to live and work among the 17+ million Malays of Malaysia who were without a single church reaching their own people. 13 years later the Pacific Presbytery (now Pacific Northwest) adopted the Malay of Malaysia as their Engage 2025 focus, and began partnership with the reconstituted WO church-planting team led by Jeff and Lynn.

In 2016 we looked back at our fifteen years of costly, difficult work and inventoried the results – we had zero churches, zero Bible studies, and zero conversions! Our global workers in Malaysia were fulfilling their responsibilities – learning language well, sharing their faith, and inviting Malay neighbors to discover God in the Bible — but there was zero response.

So, in the fall of 2016 World Outreach called our brothers and sisters throughout EPC churches to a Year of Prayer for Spiritual Breakthrough Among the Malay. At almost the same time a visionary Chinese Malaysian pastor, Raymond Koh, began to lead a national movement of Malaysian Christians (from Chinese, Indian and Tribal ethnicities) to pray for the same thing. We waited expectantly for the breakthrough ….

On February 13, 2017, Pastor Koh was abducted out of his automobile in broad daylight, in full view of private CCTV cameras. He has not been heard or seen since. Sadly, much of the Malaysian Christian momentum for spiritual breakthrough among the Malay was lost, but at Jeff’s urging “to fill the gap” EPC World Outreach led a denomination-wide recommitment to prayer for the Malay.

Last year short-term teams from the Pacific Northwest and Midwest presbyteries began to arrive in Malaysia to pray on-site. Our EPC global workers recommitted themselves to do the work of evangelists and significantly increased their gospel sharing. They increased their partnerships with Chinese, Indian, and Tribal Christians in Malaysia to pray for and share good news with their Malay neighbors. And through online advertising and social media they’re connecting with thousands of Malay and making the scriptures available. 

We believe our prayers for spiritual breakthrough shook the gates of Hell, and the first result was a violent backlash by demonic forces. We believe millions of Malays in the depths of their spiritual dungeon are hearing the faint din of battle outside. Now is not the time to withdraw. 

Our field team leader, Jeff, urges those of us who can to fast and pray on the First Monday of each month for:

  • The release of Pastor Raymond Koh (and other Christians who disappeared at the same time)
  • First encounters of Malays with Jesus through dreams, visions, and miracles
  • First Malay people of peace (“Lydias” and “Corneliuses”) connecting with our team
  • First discovery bible studies started with Malays in each of the 52 zones of Malaysia
  • First churches of Malay believers
After 18 years of sowing now is the time to cry out to the Lord of the Lord of the Harvest for spiritual breakthrough among the millions of Malay.

Community Life

Pray for the Malay

Visit our website to learn more about our dedication to Extraordinary Prayer for Breakthrough among the Malay People. Sign-up below if you would like to receive weekly updates from Jeff about this initiative and the work being done. In addition, we invite you to browse our Resources page for more information about missionschurch partnerships, and the people we are trying to reach.

Missionary Prayer Network

Sign-up to become a prayer intercessor with the Missionary Prayer Network and make a commitment to pray at least weekly for our workers around the globe. The M.P. N.  is a secure website where our EPC World Outreach global workers post prayer requests. You can then log-on to this website and pray World Outreach and our workers.

World Outreach Prayer Directory

The World Outreach Prayer Directory is a fantastic tool to use when praying for our global workers. It includes a comprehensive list of all WO missionaries and their long-term prayer needs.

Summer Mission Jam

Join the EPC on a one-of-a-kind mission endeavor!

What are you doing this summer? Don’t miss out an a unique mission opportunity for your high school students. Summer Mission Jam is a new, entry mission and outreach equipping conference for students, serving among Lebanese, Bangladeshi, Yemeni, Iraqi, and Pakistani peoples in America’s most diverse neighborhoods of Dearborn and Hamtramck, Michigan. 

Students will learn how to ‘bridge the gap’ with Muslims and be the fragrance of Jesus through supportive and instructive teaching and service outreach opportunities. Summer Jam starts Monday evening, July 8, and wraps up Saturday, July 13. Registration is $450 per student and includes delicious meals, comfortable accommodations, and the best missions training you can receive. 

If you already have plans for this summer, consider bringing a few student leaders to check out Summer Mission Jam for future summers (Fremont, CA in 2020 & Michigan in 2021). 

Summer Mission Jam is an amazing opportunity for churches, big and small, to invest in their students as they learn more about Muslims and how to interact in a way that is loving and beneficial for the Kingdom. This summer, step out and be a part of something new with the EPC denomination. We are positive it will impact your world and give you new ways to be the hands and feet of Jesus in your own communities. 

You can register and learn more about Summer Mission Jam by going to our website: www.epcwo.org/summermissionjam or reading below!

If you know of anyone that might be interested in attending Summer Mission Jam,  we invite you to pass it along and share on social media!

Learn More about Summer Mission Jam

Meet our Speaker: Steve

Watch this video to meet Summer Mission Jam’s teacher and theologian: Steve W. Steve will be working with us and sharing from the scriptures – speaking towards a call to follow Jesus no matter the cost!

Register for Summer Mission Jam

Learn about God’s mission, how the global Church has responded, and what the greatest needs in the world of evangelization are today – and how you can be a part of God’s story as he redeems people from the nations to himself.

Download our Leaders Guide

The Leader’s Guide will give you more information about the types of service and outreach projects we’ll be completing, our lodging for the week, who we’ll be working with, our schedule, and more!

You can download it by clicking the button below.

Have questions? We’d love to hear from you! Shoot us an email here.