Malaysia
Overview
Malaysia has three major ethnicities: Malay (60 percent), Chinese (30 percent) and native tribes. The Malays are the most powerful group in the country, and being Muslim is considered an important part of their identity. Most Christians are from the tribal and Chinese people groups, and most churches experience relative freedom as long as they do not evangelize the Malays.
Major Religions
56 percent of Malaysians are Sunni Muslims, but there is also a significant Buddhist population. 9 percent are Christians, including 4 percent evangelicals.
Persecutor
The government severely punishes Christian converts and strictly opposes outreach and evangelism among the Malay people.
What it Means to Follow Christ
While Christianity is not illegal, Christians are marginalized by the ruling Muslim ethnic group and have difficulty acquiring building permits for new churches. Many churches work in the languages of Mandarin, Tamil and English, but not in the Malay language. No Malay churches meet openly, and it is illegal for Malays to convert to Christianity. Christian converts who are caught are confined to so-called reeducation camps that use torture and propaganda to force them to return to Islam. Many indigenous people have come to Christ in eastern Malaysia.
Access to Bibles
It is illegal for Malay people to own a Bible, and Malay-language Bibles are largely unavailable outside Christian-majority areas.
VOM Work
VOM supports front-line workers and persecuted Malay Christians.