I was born to a big family. I am the youngest in my family of 8 brothers and sisters. I have no memories of my father because he died when I was 3 years old. I was told he had a tumor on his head. My late father was a Christian. My mother also became a Christian after she married my father. But after my father’s death, she did not attend church. She passed away 16 years ago. Thank God before she died, she rededicated her life to Jesus and is now in heaven with my father!
When my mother was alive, she gave her children the freedom to choose their faith. In Singapore, many Chinese are Buddhists and Taoists.
I was a very shy person. I like to be alone most of the time. I do not share my problems with anyone… not even my family members or close friends. I tried to solve my own problems. As an adult, I enjoyed working because there is nothing for me except work!! Life was just work and earn money. It was boring and meaningless.
In 1987, my ex-coworker told me of her experience in church. She said that the minute she steps into the church, her tears were rolling down her cheeks although the congregation was singing a joyful song. Later, she realised that God was healing her broken heart due to marital problems.
I was curious about her experience. I decided to follow her to church. I went to church with my co-worker and we sat on the first 3 rows. It was the usual practice for the Pastor to invite all newcomers to stand so that the congregation could welcome them. I stood up immediately, turned my face towards the congregation and smiled at them. After I sat down, I was very surprised by my own action.
I went home and reflected over the incident. That’s strange… I did not feel shy or fearful facing the few hundreds of people in the congregation. Neither did my co-worker nudge me to stand up. Instead, there was a sense of peace. I then realised it was God’s Presence that brought the immediate change in me.
Another interesting thing was, the invited speaker on that Sunday was an ex- homosexual. His name was Sy. He shared how he was about to go for a sex-change. When he found out that the hospital had discontinued sex change surgery, he turned to God. God’s love brought healing to Sy’s sexuality struggles. Later, he met a woman he loved and got married and they had a daughter.
After hearing the testimony, I was amazed with God! He gave hope to someone who had no hope. I decided to learn more about Jesus. I went to church regularly to attend lessons. Through the lessons, I learnt that God is love. He sent His One and Only Son, Jesus to die on the Cross for my sin (telling lies, cheating, anger, jealousy, wrong thoughts).
I learnt that God desires a relationship with me because He is my Heavenly Father. He wants to give me new life!
In 1988, I became a Christian and was baptized. Jesus slowly changed my life. I learnt how to pray and talk to Jesus, I can pray to him whenever I have problems. When I am happy, I can talk to Him. When I’m sad, He’s always there for me. He also gave me Christian friends to listen to my problems and to pray with me. Jesus helped me when I faced some work challenges.
In the Bible – 2 Corinthians 5:17
Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone, a new life has begun.
I thank God for my new life. My life is no longer meaningless. There is a God who loves me unconditionally and is always there for me.
I know I am not perfect yet… I do make mistakes every now and then. God is changing me and teaching me His ways through the bible. I can find hope and joy in Jesus when I choose to surrender my life to Him every day.