Mission and Evangelism

Missions and Evangelism is the life-blood of the Church. His Eminence Metropilitan Theodosius said, "The experience of nearly two thousand years of Orthodox Christianity has taught us that out-reach, witness, and evangelization are at teh heart of the Church's mission and belong to the very core of the history and vocation of the Orthodox Church through the ages." He went on to say, "Studies reveal that, ultimately, the overwhelming majority of people find and join new churches through other people, through hearing them ad discerning in them something good and desirable. Thus, before all else, Church growth is and remains the inward spiritual growth of each person in the Church. This is the rock upon which The Church rests..." (Church Growth and Evangelism, page 3)

In this section will be found articles, sermons, and other items related to missions, evangelism, and church growth. It is our hope that this will prove helpful in furthering the cause of Christ and the rescuing of many people from the clutches of the enemy.

Legal Implications of Conversion to Islam In Malaysia

Document issued by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Malaysia
 
“The Legal Implications of Conversion to Islam”
 
Dear Bothers and Sisters in the Lord,
If you convert to Islam, there are important changes to your legal status and what you can or cannot do.
Your conversion to Islam will be registered with the Religious Department and the National Registration Department, both of which are computerized so access to this information is available throughout the country.
Under Syariah enactments of most of the 13 States of Malaysia:
Conversion back to your former religion is either (a) not allowed under the law, or (b) a criminal offence which means that you may be fined, whipped, detained or imprisoned under most State Islamic laws.
If you are under 18 years of age, you require your parent’s permission to convert to Islam. Your identity card will record your conversion to Islam.
Therefore, even if you are no longer practicing Islam, you may be fined, whipped, detained, or imprisoned for violation of Syariah laws such as praying in Church, eating in public during fasting month, “Khalwat” etc.
You cannot marry a non-Muslim. If you decide to divorce and attempt to convert out of Islam, you will lose custody of your children because they are Muslims.
Upon death, your non-Muslim relatives will lose their rights to any property, money, etc. that you want to leave to them. The corpse of a convert to Islam will be taken away from his or her non-Muslim family for Islamic rites and burial even if you have not been a practising (sic) Muslim for many years.
In the event that your spouse converts to Islam, you may have no right to either your children or your spouse’s property.
We know that certain Christians who convert to Islam for whatever reasons, are not aware of or do not consider seriously the implications of such conversion. Hence, the need to inform you (sic).
By this, we are neither against Islam nor freedom of religion, which is guaranteed for all Malaysians in Article 11 of our Constitution which give the right to an individual to choose freely his or her religion.
But to choose correctly, you need to know clearly what you choose and the consequences of your choice.
 
This is signed by:
Archbishop Murphy Pakiam, Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur; Bishop Antony Selvanayagam, Bishop of Penang; Bishop Paul Tan, S.J., Bishop of Melaka-Johor