By Josh Weidmann on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 2:19 AM

2 hours down...30 and a half to go!

We just landed in Singapore. The flight was short and sweet compaired to the long, mean flight we will board in a few hours.

My dad is still not feeling well, so upon our arrival here we were in a mad search for bananas. That is all he had an appitite for. I was being Mr. Negativity and telling him that there was no way we were going to find fresh bananas in the airport.

Boy was I wrong.

We waltzed right into a 7-11 (yes, there is a 7-11 in the airport) and low and behold: BANANAS! My dad was one happy camper.

Now, to relieve ourselves from the endless streak of rice meals we are going to go have a burger at Burger King. My dad can't wait! I thought he was going to cry at the sight of "Western" food! He was so excited. I know it's not exactly the most healthy meal to devour before a 14 hour flight, but I must say, I am pretty excited for that burger myself :)

Most of you are sound asleep as I write this, but later when you read it, please send up a prayer for our safe travels... Thanks ;)

Will write again in 7 hours from Hong Kong.

Homeward bound,

Josh

By Josh Weidmann on Tuesday, August 29, 2006 1:41 PM

This is the last blog entry I will be making while in Kuching. Tonight we will rest for a few hours to awake and start our 27 hour trek back to the states.

 

Today was a bit laid back, but somewhat draining as we wrapped up our ministry here in Malaysia. First off, it started with my dad not feeling well. I wrote about this earlier, but FYI my dad drank the water here and got pretty sick. He is still not feeling too well. He has had body aches all day long. Please pray for him! I just said good night to him as he was all curled up in bed trying to beat this thing that has him down. I really don’t want him to have to be this miserable on the plane ride home…please pray!

 

In spite of my dad’s aches, I saw God use him in such great ways today. We had a pastor’s lunch and meeting today around noon and my dad shared about his prayer ministry with The National Day of Prayer. You would have never known that my dad was not feeling well (except for the fact that he wouldn’t eat). He was so passionate and still gave these local pastors everything he had to give. I love him so much. He is such a great example for me!

 

Then tonight we arrived at the Crown Tower building and headed straight to the 9^th floor. There we were pleasantly surprised to find hundreds of people preparing for the session that my dad and I were going to teach – 4 Things Every Kid Needs From Their Dad. There were two large rooms packed with people. One room was for English speaking people (obviously that is where my dad was), and another room for Mandarin speaking people. It ended up that I opened the night and introduced the topic and my dad. Then my dad took over and gave an outstanding performance (even though he was not feeling 100%). I was so blessed by his words, as were the two rooms full of people. It was also encouraging to be able to stay after and shake many, many hands of parents who were ready to impact their children’s life for the better.

 

The really interesting part of tonight’s event was that only about half of them were Christians. A lot of people came to the event that did not know Christ but simply wanted to be better parents. There were some Muslims in attendance, and because that is the national religion, my dad was not allowed to quote out of the Bible. It was hard for him, but he did a great job of sharing the truth without offending the Muslim or national law.

 

Okay, well I better go pack. I write mostly tonight to ask you for to please partner with me a little longer and pray for our trip home. Please pray for my dad’s health. Pray that the long hours over the Pacific go fast. Thank you! I’ll write from the airports (as I can) and then when I arrive safely in Chicago!

 

Thank you!

 

For the Greater Glory of God,

 

Josh

By Josh Weidmann on Tuesday, August 29, 2006 1:34 PM

Hey, I gotta share this with you really quick.

The church I spoke at this weekend puts out a booklet for their youth called God SPEAK to me.  It is really nothing more than a journal with formatted pages. It was created by Pastor Cheli to help the young congregation get into the Word of God on a daily basis and truly ingest it.

It is a simple helpful tool for believers to be able to really meditate on God’s Word. He used the word “Speak” as an acronym for a strategy of analyzing the passages one reviews in his or her quite time. It goes like this.

For the main passage your read that day in your quite time, find and journal about a part of that passage that addresses each of the following areas:

A Sin to confess

A Promise to keep

An Error to avoid

An Action to take

A Knowledge of God (or His Word) to retain

This is a great filter to pass our Bible reading through to make sure we are getting the most out of it. We must not let our time with the Bible just be something that we read and walk away from. God’s Word ingested becomes God’s Word in action!

Thanks Pastor Cheli!

By Josh Weidmann on Tuesday, August 29, 2006 1:22 PM

I have always hated goodbyes. From the time I was a little boy, I have hated to wish farewell to those I have grown to love. However, over the last 7 years of my life as I have traveled, I’ve learned that saying “Goodbye” was just one of the hard parts of ministry life. Monday morning was a day I was reminded of this bitter lesson.

 

On Monday we woke up early. I was up until 3 a.m. with 9 of my newfound international friends, laughing the night away and then had to be back up at 7 a.m. My eyelids were heavy and so was my heart. On Monday we would be moving down to Kuching and the international students would go their own way. The goodbyes were tearful. There was the haunting reality standing in the corner of my mind that I may never see these people again until heaven. Even still, with a “holy kiss” we said our goodbye and shared a few hopeful statements of seeing each other once again this side of heaven.

 

After a short bus ride to the city of Kuching we were met by a great guy named Doug. He is the 22-year-old son to our host for the Focus on the Family Malaysia events. We shared a great Chinese lunch with Doug and his dad, Matthew. I was so encouraged by Doug’s passion. He is a student at a theology school in Singapore, but at the same time he is serving as a youth pastor in Kuching. God is faithfully using this young guy to change lives. Please pray for him.

 

My dad and I left Doug and Matthew and walked to a local mall to do a bit of souvenir shopping for my mom and siblings. We then returned to the hotel for a little R ‘n R (rest ‘n relaxation).

 

Later we enjoyed a great Japanese dinner and then were on our way to speak at two different events. My dad went to a church to speak to pastors about family ministry. I went to Bethany to speak to youth leaders and youth about sharing the gospel. This was truly a moving event! I was so encouraged by the receptivity of the 30-or-so people that met in that upper room church. They were all very excited to take the good news to their unsaved friends and fellow students.

 

You see, Malaysia is a Muslim country and so public proclamation of the gospel is not allowed. However, these students can share their faith in private settings. At that meeting I shared the Three Story Evangelism method (sharing your faith by sharing your story), and many of them told me this was very helpful concept for them to use in a mostly-Muslim country.

 

Pray for the young people and youth pastors that were there that night. Pray that they will be bold with their faith and use their own transformation story as a means to leading others to the life-changing power of Christ.

 

The evening ended with a great time out with the lead pastor of Bethany – Pastor Cheli – and a few of the attendees of the session. In an open air Chinese market, we shared sting ray, fermented egg, and some other dishes that I can’t explain or pronounce :)

 

When I returned to the hotel, I had a late night cup of joe with my dad. We reflected on how great the hand of God had moved in our lives over the last several days. It was a special time and one of those father-son moments I will cherish forever.

 

Thank you for all your prayers.

By Josh Weidmann on Tuesday, August 29, 2006 4:13 AM

My nerves were going crazy! It was now Saturday night – the big youth rally where I was expected to share the gospel I was ready. I had prepared. I had practiced. Nonetheless, my heart was pounding with excitement and anxiety. Although I was a bit scared, I would have much rather been that way than cool-calm-and-collected. I have learned it is more terrifying if you are not nervous before your speak – it means that you have grown a bit too confident in yourself and are no longer in a dependant place upon God.

 

I always pray two prayers right before I walk on stage:

1. God, please let my words be your words.

2. Please don’t let me pee my pants.

 

After praying that prayer on Saturday night, I stood on stage and God took over. I had the greatest time doing what I know I was born to do. I preached the gospel as clearly as I could. There were multiple different language groups in the audience and interpreters translating my message through headphones so that they could hear my message. But even with the language differences the message was heard clearly.

 

When I gave the call for salvation and rededication to Christ the main people who responded were the Koreans and the Japanese (both of which had to hear my message through a translator). The nigh was filled with life-change. That night God moved in a mighty way as he called many of His children back to himself.

 

After the late night rally we returned to the hotel, slept for five hours, my Dad and I awoke to go our separate ways. We both spoke at a two different churches in the city of Kutching. I was able to go to a church called “Bethany” which is the only youth church in the whole country of Malaysia. Nearly everyone in this particular body of believers is no older than 25 years old. There is only 4 adult pastoral staff and the rest of the church is comprised of college-aged youth.  I spoke a sermon I like to call “White Cane Christianity.” We looked at two passages of Jesus healing the blind and examined our need for living by faith and not by sight.

 

That morning was great! People’s eyes were opened (no pun intended ;) as the realized how vital it is for us to live by faith, but how easily we can slip into a dependence on just what we can see, touch or experience with our five senses. IT was great reminder for myself as well!

 

So in that 24 hour period I was able to see God move in mighty ways. He is always changing lives. Always!