You Can’t Be A Christian

Her name is Peggy. She’s the wife of the pastor, David, that we worked with while in Malaysia. Malaysian law states that you are required to be Muslim. If you chose otherwise, society will frown upon you and you don’t receive any support from the government.

At first glance Peggy is a strong, Spirit-led woman who isn’t afraid to speak her mind. After sitting down with her and hearing her story I came to realize just how inspirational she is to the women around her.  

 

You can’t be a Christian.

That’s was Peggy’s life from her family and her government. 

Peggy grew up in a small village near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She grew up in a home that honored traditions of the Chinese temples. Her father died when she was just 12 years old. In that same year she became friends with a boy from her neighborhood, David. In high school, one of her close friends invited her to a christian church. She began to befriend and invest in the community that treated her like family. She became involved in the choir and learned what Christianity was all about. 

She had so much resistance from her mother about her affairs with the Church. Her mother would reprimand her for getting involved and for constantly going to Church. By the age of 17, Peggy was ready to give herself fully to Christ and wanted to be baptized. 

It took all the courage she had to tell her mother that she wanted to be baptized. Would her mom kick her out? Would she stop talking to her? Would her family think she’s a disgrace and dishonoring of her ancestors that are worshiped in the Chinese temples? Their relationship had a riff as it was with her just attending church. How much worse would it get if she fully committed to converting to Christianity?

One day she finally mustered the courage to tell her mother. She had prayed for the Lord to soften her mother’s heart. God’s will is always the best of plans. Sometimes He answers our prayers with a yes, but other times He reminds us that although it isn’t what He has in store, His plan is better even if it may seem harder. 

To her dismay her mother’s only response to her decision to get baptized was “fine.”

Although it wasn’t exactly approval, it was far better than the worries and fears she had about her mother’s reaction. 

At this point, she had been dating David for a few years. David was also a non-christian, whose parents followed traditional Chinese worship. When she asked him if he would consider Christianity it was met with complete resistance.

“No way on earth” was he going to become a Christian. At this time, the people in her church were prophesying that she would be a Pastor’s wife. She laughed and shrugged it off.

But the fact that David wasn’t remotely interested in Christianity made her question what her future marriage should be like. She decided to end things with David, desiring her marriage to be one flesh as God intended it. 

She soon after started dating a Christian guy, but wasn’t sure if she saw a future with Him. She ended things and prayed to God that whichever was to be her future husband that he would come to her in a month’s time. 

Exactly a month later, to the day, David reached out to her. He wanted to know the Lord. He wanted to know more about Christianity and wanted to be in her life again.

Fast forward a bit. David gives his life to Christ and the two get married. Peggy is pregnant with her first child. In fact, they’re twins! But she runs into adversity again.

David’s mother, who has taken care of Peggy all throughout her pregnancy, tells Peggy that she will require one of the two kids worships at the Chinese temple. The other can be a Christian but she wanted one to still give to the ancestors and follow the traditions.

Peggy couldn’t bear the thought of her children not growing up knowing the Lord. But she didn’t know how to stand up to her mother-in-law who has done so much for her. 

At birth, Peggy lost one of the twins. To those who know the pain of losing a child, still-born or miscarriage in any term, the ache of loss is indescribable according to Peggy.

As they were raising their kid, David felt God calling him to go into seminary and become a pastor. The prophesy was finally coming true. But this meant that for five years, Peggy had to act as a single parent since David was living hours away in Kuala Lumpur to attend seminary. 

Today, Peggy and David passionately serve the Lord at a church in Kuantan. Peggy’s mother eventually became a devote, passionate Christian with a deep relationship with the Lord.

Peggy’s story touched my heart in such a way. In America, we don’t realize how blessed we are to live in a country that gives us a choice. Peggy, living in Malaysia, receives no government assistance because it is the national law to be Muslim. Christianity is such a minority. She had to fight against society and against her own family to follow Christ. Her cross weighed much heavier. She had so much more to lose. 

Yet through the adversity, Peggy has changed so many lives. Her husband David not only converted to Christianity but now serves as a Pastor, bring many more to know the Lord. Peggy’s mother converted to Chrisitianity. She told me at one point her mother thanked her for her persistance, saying that becoming a Christian was the best thing that had happened to her. 

Rejoice that you get to be a Christian without public ridicule or reprimand. Your relationship with the Lord could bring many others to Christ. These are people’s eternal lives at stake here. It’s heaven or hell. It’s with Christ or without Christ. 

Let Peggy serve as an example to all: follow Christ, stand up for your faith and lead others to Him.