Clifford's night in jail!

Below is a copy of the last letter we got from Clifford (currently serving in the Singapore mission) Alarming to say the least!

Dear family

In honor of Taylor's request for a funny story I give you the story of me getting DEPORTED FROM MALAYSIA. Well, it's a really cool story, this past week I had another visa run, so I bussed down to Singapore, I had no problems getting out of Malaysia or Singapore, but when I went to 'KL'( Kuala Lumpur) they wouldn't stamp my passport, so they sent me to see the big boss.

At first I was like I'm just here visiting friends and such,( this is what the missionaries are told to say) but after a little bit I said that I came as a volunteer for my church and was here to help out the members of my church. Well, he's not very Christian friendly, so he said that I needed to have more money on me. I only had 60rm on me,(about $16). I then pulled out my credit card and showed him that, but he said that I needed to have cash not a credit card, so he deported me. He was just trying to prove that he could hold back an American because he was man and Muslim.

So I got to spend the night in the detention cell in the Klia airport. Which was really bad because while they treated me with a lot of respect because I was an American, there were a lot of India's, Neamar's, and Bangladeshies, that were trying to get into Malaysia to work, but their entry visas were wrong, so they got detained.

They were hitting them and verbally abusing them, this made me very angry. Anyway, I got out of Malaysia and into Singapore, but I only got a 14 day visa, so it looks like my next area will be Sri Lanka.

Well all said and done, I'm ok and I learned that God doesn't forget the people who serve him, unlike Satan who just leaves you. When I left 'KL' all was going good there, Shannon came to church again and is really committed to coming back to activity and the Korean family, the Kims, was doing really good and will still be getting baptized on the 24 for sure. Singapore is like a mini America so I'm doing really good here.

Well, out of time, I wish I could write the personal stuff but I can't, ( Clifford always includes some personal stuff to each member of the family at the end of his email, this is what he is referring to here). Don't worry, I'm fine and all will work out for the best. Have a good week and stay close to the Lord.

Love

Clifford

He is fine now. The mission couple wrote us and said this happens occasionally, sometimes you get someone (a worker) who is trying to show off and they hassle people.

To get him released, several people worked on his case including: the Mission President, President Skelton, the U.S. Embassy, Couples in Malaysia and Singapore, and Clifford's Companion. I wonder if it was more nerve wracking on Clifford, who spent the night fasting, or his mother who cries every time she thinks about it. I have NEVER worried about Cliff being gone before. I have only shed a few tears for him since he left because I know I would have him in no other place, doing nothing else but serving the Lord, but this was quite hard on me. We live in troubling times. So many people hate Americans , especially many of the Muslims, and Malaysia is FULL of them. They make missionary work difficult over in Malaysia. Cliff tells of workers from India who come to Malaysia to find work, the Muslims work them 14++ hours a day. Cliff says they are literally like slaves. These workers are not allowed to have the missionaries over for dinner. No contact with Christians at all, or they will be fired. --The Muslims own the apartment that the workers are assigned to live in.-- Please remember to keep all of the missionaries in your prayers, and our service men and women, Thanks!