Living God’s story – Who are we, what are we doing here?

by Shaila Koshy

I have always felt God’s hand over me. I didn’t despair when I was unable to find a job as a property valuer after I graduated. Sure enough, God gave me a job teaching bumiputra scholarship students hoping to further their studies overseas. It was an amazing opportunity. Jesus tells us to be good citizens. So, during their English lessons, we discussed governance and social issues by looking at local/overseas examples of accountability, standing up for what was right regardless of one’s race/religion/gender, registering to vote, and questioning everyone (including me). It gave me an insight into the psyche of young Malay youths and I learnt that not every Malay knew about the racial quota in the Malaysian education system that favoured them over the other races. It was 1986-1987; there was no Internet for them to have learnt otherwise. They assumed that I studied overseas because my parents were wealthy. They were amazed that government school teachers were able to save up for their children’s education.

After some time, God gave me the opportunity to be a writer. I was not allowed to study journalism because my paternal uncle was then the Foreign Editor of the newspaper that employed me eventually, and we hardly saw him because of his work schedule. So I selected a course that sounded most like news reporting. It took five years, but the lessons I learnt along the way prepared me for a calling that would last 29 years.

Should I tell a lie to get at the truth? Does the end justify the means? Unschooled in journalism principles, I based my work ethics on Jesus. Serving the public and God are not mutually exclusive. I reported on the civil/Syariah legal systems, and social and political issues. Because the readership was multi-racial and multi-religious, I did not state my Christian beliefs when writing. But in commentaries on inter-religious harmony and unilateral child conversions I made my faith known. Sometime in the early 2010s, God told me that my purpose was to be a peacemaker. So I had to think harder. Would my report get the public enraged at corruption and injustice, or pit sides against each other, or was I seeking a solution as well?

Since then, my role has changed. Downsizing, my newspaper “encouraged” me to leave after the general election in May 2018. I received several job offers, but my mother’s poor health has kept me at her side. I am learning about patience and kindness as God refines me for the next race for the Kingdom of God. I want to prepare the way for Jesus, as John said, so we can see God’s transforming work in Malaysia.

A note from Micah Malaysia:
Shaila writes how her faith has guided her life, from her early days as a teacher, to a full-time journalist, to a caretaker of her aging mother. Wherever she was, she listened for God's voice - What did God want her to do, and how should she live? What about ourselves? What can we do where we are?

 

 

Bio: Shaila Koshy is a member of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church. Her parents were migrants from Kerala, India.  She loves learning, so asking questions comes naturally. That was a handy skill while she worked as a journalist for 29 years, especially in uncovering instances of social injustice and inequality.

 

 

 

 

 

This article is part of a series written by various authors after a Christian Writing for Advocacy Workshop organised by Micah Global, Malaysian CARE, and CTI in mid-2019.