During my recent visit to Butterworth, Penang, I worshipped at the Methodist Church there. The speaker that
morning, Mr. Andrew Yeoh, spoke on the Holy Spirit and His presence in our lives. He requested us to make room in our hearts for the Holy Spirit. He pointed out that oftentimes when we do not have room for Him this hurts and grieves the Holy Spirit.

In the sermon he spoke about how Joseph and Mary found no room to stay in Bethlehem. There was no room for our Lord! Finally a kind inn-keeper gave room in his stable for the King to be born. 

It was the call for a census by Caesar Augustus that brought so many people to Bethlehem. That town must have been really crowded, with many people coming back to register at the same time. This picture of a crowded city and the need to accommodate so many people brought my mind to another scene that prompted this sharing. 

On 31 August, our country will be celebrating the golden jubilee of our independence. Indeed it will be a great event. Klang Valley will be crowded with patriotic people from different states, and from as far as Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, Singapore and overseas. Visitors will want to come at this time to experience the best of Malaysia. What a crowded city Kuala Lumpur will be. I pity the drivers in the anticipated traffic jams! 

In the midst of this hustle and bustle, let us see yet another picture - the Methodist Church holding its Prayer Convention on 31 August and 1 September and the gathering of thousands of Methodists at the Malawati Stadium, Shah Alam on 2 September.

What a time for the Methodists, so methodical in everything they do, to organize such a colossal event at this time of the year. What detailed planning will be needed! 

When I think of the call for Methodists staying in the Klang Valley to open their homes to accommodate their sisters and brothers from other states, I can only say this: Mary had to be housed in a stable to deliver our King, because there was no room in the inns for our Lord. Now, two thousand years later, history may be repeating itself. Let us not close our doors on our brothers and sisters. 

Should I open our home to members of our church from East and West Malaysia during this event? This was
the question I was asking myself before I heard the sermon in Butterworth. But now I am very clear: the Lord has blessed us with a humble home and I gratefully thank God for this and we will certainly open our home to share this blessing with God’s people. 

This is the time when we will come together, under one roof, to meet our sisters and brothers of different backgrounds. Let us not see the differences, but only the glory of the Lord who has united us. 

N. Thana Ramanadan
Wesley, Kuala Lumpur