Malaysia: Putting Love into Action

Recently, an Orang Asli university student I knew called me to request for help over an issue plaguing her laptop. For some strange reason, it couldn’t connect to the Internet. As I was not in the vicinity at that point, we had to resort to Google and phone calls to troubleshoot the problem. Unfortunately, things were only solved halfway.

While there was nothing earth-shattering about the incident, I learned one key thing. More often than not, we usually don’t place ourselves in the shoes of others, especially if they are not close to us. In fact, we feel quite detached from them and rarely go out of our way to help them. How often do we give actually give our 100% to help others? In my case, I had told the girl earlier to call me if she ever needed help. When she actually did, I was challenged to make good on my promise. How far would I go to help? Would distance be an excuse or an obstacle to render help?

I wish the encounter above had a better outcome. But I trust this won’t be the only opportunity to serve others. Currently, I’m playing a small part in a book drive to set up mini libraries and encourage literacy among the Orang Asli community. I see this as a chance God has given me to love my neighbor in practical ways.

In Matthew 5:16, Jesus said to “Let your light shine”. I’ve come to learn that letting one’s light shine doesn’t have to be showy or outrageous. In fact, all the light did was to sit on the hill, and be a quiet but constant beacon that lit up the world. My prayer is that we, as young people of Malaysia, will learn to put love into action and go the extra mile. May we look for and grab opportunities to live out the Gospel in our everyday—even if it’s something as simple as a book drive, or helping a friend with her WiFi connection.

CHARMAIN SIM | MALAYSIA

Photo credit: Tianyake via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND