Hokkien testimony #8

Testimony #8

Today is the eighth testimony in our Hokkien Harvest series. This is a special testimony as Pastor James Lim interviews a couple, Lim A-Chhun and Woo Koan-Leng who share their story in Hokkien. They actually begin their testimony with a song, Following Jesus For Life. This beautiful song has touched the hearts of people and encouraged many to follow Christ for the rest of their life. Below is an English summary of their testimony.

Lim A-Chhun and Woo Koan-Leng’s testimony

Pastor Lim begins the interview saying that Mr. Lim is 76 years old, is handsome and is dressed very colorfully. Just to look at him now lets you know that when he was younger, he definitely was a very handsome man. So let’s listen to what Mr. and Mrs. Lim have to share with us.

Well, when I was young I really didn’t believe in much of anything, I only believed in myself. Speaking of local gods that were worshipped, I really had no real understanding of any of them. Early in my life someone did share the Gospel with me, and I really do appreciate that. If someone doesn’t share with us, how will be know and understand.  I have to say that when I did eventually believe in Christ, he completely changed my life.

Throughout my life there were a number of times that I almost died. Now, as I look back, I know that Jesus saved me. When I was seven years old I fell in the sea and my lungs were full of water, but the water was forced out of me and I recovered. When I was nine years old I was hit by a car. At first I couldn’t talk, but then I recovered and everything was normal again. Also during the Japanese occupation, I was injured in a bomb explosion and lost my leg. So as you can see, from my past I really experienced a lot of pain. Also, when I was six, my mother died. My father worked on a ship and was gone so much that it was as though I didn’t have a father either.  I had a rough childhood.

No one really knew what was going on with me. I didn’t share my hurt, fear or anything. Since I had experienced so many bad things when I was younger, I just didn’t want to put my trust in anything but me. I didn’t have parental supervision, so I got into trouble and was involved with the criminal underworld and became a gangster.  I very quickly would show up for any fight. I also got involved in a lot of bad habits like gambling. For forty years there wasn’t much change in what I did. I also was quick tempered.  I was totally living this kind of bad lifestyle.

Finally, my wife and daughter asked me to go to church with them. My daughter had been in church since she was young. My wife encouraged me go to with them to church and told me that Jesus could change me. I pushed back and told her to stop it. I could actually divorce her and get a younger wife. However, I believe the Holy Spirit really touched my heart and softly spoke to me. My wife responded with tears, and I just told her she didn’t need to cry. I had lived this kind of raucous life for years now, and it was all I knew. However, when I did come to Christ I began to change. It was like being transformed from a bull into a lamb. There was a huge change in my life.

Pastor Lim asked Mr. Lim what changed his mind and led him to go to church with his family.

You know, my wife quietly asked me to go with them but she asked with tears in her eyes. I was touched and decided to go with them to their Hokkien worship service, and it was very encouraging. Other relatives also encouraged me to accept Christ, and told me how good it was. Early in my life if someone had invited me to accept Jesus, I would have struck back and just criticized them.

The very first time I went to church, the speaker invited anyone who wanted to accept Christ to stand up, and I did. I went before the Lord and asked Him to forgive my sins. And that’s how I accepted Jesus as my Savior. I had so much sin in my life that I couldn’t count it all. People didn’t know, but God knew everything and was willing to forgive me. Originally I was a person who NEVER cried over anything. However, when the Holy Spirit touched my life, I cried over the sin that I had committed. I heard the song, Softly Listen, a Hokkien song, and I just kept crying. I knew the Holy Spirit was in my life.

After I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, I was a changed person in every way. Previously I did not even know how to love my wife, daughter and grandchildren, but God changed me. In the past I was so critical and unkind, but now I did not want Father God to hear me act that way. I was a different man.

A word from Pastor Lim:

Dear friends, thank you for listening to Eng Ia-Chhun and Woo Koan-Leng’s story. No matter how good we live out our lives, we are limited in what we can do. Through Jesus, just like Mr. Lim, you too can experience a complete life change. You may have done a lot of bad things in the past, but in Christ you can change and become a new person. If you would like to experience this kind of change in your life, then follow me in prayer. I do believe that Jesus will change you just like he changed Mr. Lim. In the past you too may have done a lot of horrible things, but Christ is willing to forgive you.  

Follow me sentence by sentence as I lead you in prayer.

Lord Jesus, I thank you because you are my Savior. I ask you to forgive my sin. I may have gambled or done many bad things; however, I know that at this time you are willing to forgive my sin. You will come into my heart and be my Savior. I believe in you. You will change me greatly, and give me a more meaningful life. I am so grateful to you Lord. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

Hokkien testimony #7

Testimony #7

Today is the seventh testimony in our Hokkien Harvest series. Pastor James Lim interviews Mr. Wu Chhin Hoe as he shares his story with us in Hokkien. Below is an English summary of Wu Chhin Hoe’s testimony.

Wu Chhin Hoe’s testimony

Pastor Lim begins the interview asking Wu Chhin Hoe to share the testimony of his illness, and how he received the Lord’s healing in his life as well as when he first accepted Christ.

I accepted Christ as my Savior when I was a student. However, after I served in the military I stepped away from my faith. I allowed the things of this world to draw me away from Christ. As a young adult I was drawn to things like money and girls that captured my attention. So as time passed I had a wife, children, a good job, money . . . you might say that I thought that I had everything that I needed.

However, I had no idea that at the time when I had made so much progress and had so much, that I would encounter something I could not handle. I began having problems with my nose, so I went to see a doctor. The doctor told me that the news was not good, I had nose cancer. When I received that news, my mood was very dark and I felt extremely confused. I thought of my wife and children. How would I break the news to them? When I shared it with my wife and thought of our three children, we just howled. They were small kindergarten age.

There are many things in life that if lost can be replaced or friends can help us recover or pay back; however, we can’t just replace our nose. This was serious and I was like a raging sea. All I could do was cry, because I had no other place to turn. I found that I couldn’t do anything, and would spend the entire night in tears. I saw no hope. I was still very young, only 38 years old. However, amazingly enough I once again thought of Jesus. As Pastor Lim reminded me, when things are going well, we tend to rely on ourselves and may not be drawn to Jesus. However, when we face unbelievable odds, we once again turn to Him.

For the first time in 10 years, my wife and I kneeled down together and prayed to the Lord. I ask the Lord to forgive all of my sin and to be my Lord.   I acknowledged that I wanted to be His child. That was my simple prayer. After ending my prayer, there was a peace that came over me. It was amazing to see this peace come into my life.

I didn’t ask the Lord to heal me, but I did ask him to forgive me of my sins and be my Lord. And the Lord’s peace filled my heart. It was as if we had no worries, and within 15 minutes my wife was asleep. It was amazing, because when we awakened the next morning it was as though we had never encountered the news of this cancer. This was a special kind of peace.

Of course I still had to face cancer treatment for my stage 3 cancer. The doctors said I had a 50/50 chance of survival. There were people who wanted me to use Buddhist methods or other treatments, but I refused to do any of that and I had peace about it. It was also suggested that I pursue a well-known doctor to take my case, but I did not feel that was necessary. The doctor arranged 40 cancer treatments for me. By the fourth week I was in unbelievable pain. The inside of my nose broke open and was wasting away. I began to vomit up blood. It was all torn up inside and couldn’t eat anything. I began drinking nutrition drinks for my health, but no matter what I did I was in terrible pain. By this fourth week I cried out before the Lord and begged for his help.

After several days I told my wife that I wanted to change to a different morphine, but she didn’t want me to. And you know what, after praying to the Lord things suddenly changed. I could eat and there was no pain. Just days before this I couldn’t hold any food down, and now all of a sudden I was able to eat things that I couldn’t digest before. Little by little I was able to return to foods that I normally ate. So as I began to trust in the Lord, and not rely on my pain medication and treatment, the Lord healed me. That is the Lord’s special grace to me.

After my treatment I returned to see the doctor, and my cancer was gone. Even after all this time, I am still cancer free. This is the Lord’s healing. In closing I just want to say to any of you who have illnesses that you are dealing with, place your trust in the Lord.

A word from Pastor Lim:

Dear friends, thank you for listening to Wu Chhin Hoe’s story. Just as he received healing and forgiveness, you too can come in faith before the Lord with your needs. However, before you ask for healing, come before Jesus and  ask him to forgive your sin and be the Lord and Savior of your life. We want to give you that opportunity to trust in Jesus. Jesus can give you healing and peace.

If you would like to invite you to receive Christ as your Savior and Lord, pray with me this simple prayer and allow Jesus Christ to change you

Follow me sentence by sentence as I lead you in prayer.

Lord Jesus, thank you for shedding your precious blood and dying on the cross for me. Because of your sacrifice I can be healed and have peace. Please come into my heart and be my Savior, so that I can follow you for the rest of my life. I also believe that through this prayer I can receive you as my Savior and Lord.  I know that you will heal me and give me peace. Thank you Lord. And it is in Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Hokkien testimony #6

Testimony #6

Today is the sixth testimony in our Hokkien Harvest series. Pastor James Lim interviews Kio Liang Chu Jin as she shares her story with us in Hokkien. Below is an English summary of Kio Liang Chu Jin’s story.

Kio Liang Chu Jin’s testimony

Pastor Lim begins the interview asking Kio Liang Chu Jin to share her testimony of what happened years after she was married.

When I first married I really was so happy and joyful. However, after our children were grown, I had a conversation with a friend who was involved in investing in the stock market. After learning about this opportunity, I didn’t really have much interest in continuing my business anymore, so I just turned my attention to the market. Monday was the only day of the week that I didn’t make trades. Friday and Saturday was my time to sell. So no matter weather I made or lost money. I was all in and it got to the point that whether I won or lost, it didn’t matter. I never quit. It was an addiction. And no matter what happened I never had peace. I did what I had to do and kept going, and it never brought me peace.

Even though I was not an educated person, here I was involved in these kinds of financial dealings. It got so bad that I owed a huge amount of money and was very miserable. No matter whether I won or lost, I was troubled. I was deeply involved with unbelievable amounts of money. I am so grateful that during this time our three children were no problem and were well behaved. Actually at this time, our older son was married and begged me to quit smoking. If not, then they did not want me around their children. So did I stop? Of course I tried to give it up.

Pastor Lim asked Kio Liang Chu Jin to share the story of how she received help when she got into serious trouble.

I got to the place that I was so miserable that I had no idea what I was going to do and was really worried. It was at this time that a good friend of mine, Sister Kho, who is a Christian, came to visit me. She knew something was wrong and asked me to share with her. I started howling and finally shared with her what was going on in my life. She told me that I just needed to put this aside, and she was going to help me. I told her that if she got involved she would get hurt, and I needed to handle this myself. She said that 5 years ago I had helped her, and now she wanted to help me. And if something happened to me then my children ­could help pay off this very large sum of money.

I told her at this point in my life I would be better off dead. She wanted me to know Jesus, and I opened my heart and asked Him into my life. I just cried and cried and felt a burden had been taken off of me. After this experience I went to church every week. I was surrounded by people who trusted in God, and this was God’s grace in my life. In my business, things were getting better and better. I told my children that we must have the habit of giving thanks to God in all things. During this time, there was a big change in my life. God greatly blessed my business. But I really just had one large request before the Lord, and that was that my children and their families would come to Christ (my two sons and daughter). However, when I first started going to church I had one foot in the church but still continued to hold on to my gambling habits. In fact I had led my son to also to follow in my footsteps. When I realized what influence I had on my son, I was very embarrassed.

So I gave my life completely to Christ, and I felt like it was a new world, and I had a new hope. It was as though everything in my life completely changed. I made the commitment that Jesus is number one and I did not want to have the desires that I had struggled with before.

Pastor Lim also asked Kio Liang Chu Jin to share her desire and journey to see her husband come to Christ.

Well, for over 3 months I, along with my two sons, daughter and their spouses, prayed for my husband. We all thought it was impossible for him to come to Christ. He worshiped idols and didn’t want to have anything to do with Christianity. Our children were also afraid that he would scold them if they even mentioned it. One day I approached him and suggested that he go to church with us and open his heart to receive Jesus. He challenged me and said that if I would give up smoking then he would do it. Three days later with the help of the Holy Spirit I had no cigarettes. My husband saw the change in me and he too went with me to church. So our entire family received Jesus to be our Lord and Savior.

Dear friends, thank you for listening to Kio Liang Chu Jin’s story. Jesus indeed is a real and living Lord. Today you too, like Kio Liang Chu Jin, through Christ can change your addictions and bad habits. You can know that Jesus loves you and wants you to receive him as your Savior and Lord. He can completely change your life. 

If you would like to receive Christ as your Savior and Lord, pray with me this simple prayer and allow Jesus Christ to change you

Follow me sentence by sentence as I lead you in prayer.

Lord Jesus, I thank you because I know that I am a sinner. I have many bad habits in my life that I cannot change, but you can save me and cleanse me with your precious blood. You can use your great strength to pull me out of this sinful life. I believe that you have already saved me and have come into my heart and given me new life. From today forward, I am a new person, a new creation. In you I have eternal hope. Thank you Lord. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Hokkien testimony #5

Testimony #5

Today is the fifth testimony in our Hokkien Harvest series. Pastor James Lim interviews Chen An-Ni as she shares her story with us in Hokkien. Below is an English summary of Chen An-Ni’s story.

Chen An-Ni’s testimony

Pastor Lim begins the interview asking Chen An-Ni about her name because years ago, people seldom gave a western name to their children. Chen An-Ni shares her story.

My father was a Baba person. (The Baba people from the 15^th and 17^th centuries were Chinese people who migrated to Malaysia and Singapore and consequently mixed cultural practices with local customs, raising up a unique culture with different traditions as well as special foods.) So my father gave me this foreign sounding name, Anny, which was very common among his people.

Thinking back to my childhood these are some things that I often remember. My father named me, and this was a time when Japan ruled, so I didn’t have the opportunity to go to school. When I thought about my name, I was sad, I was different. Why did I have a name like this? And sometimes I would also complain to my parents that I didn’t have the opportunity to go to school.

Pastor Lim reminded Chen An-Ni that she married a wonderful man.

I was only 18 years old when I was married. My husband’s family had a store that sold gold paper to be used in worshiping idols. We actually worshiped a lot of different gods. We were involved in this business until my in-laws were older and retired. My husband had helped with the business since his teen years. His younger brother had no interest in the store, and wanted to do something else, so when retirement came for his parents, my husband took over the business. However, the longer he was doing this, the less peace he had.

We originally lived with his parents, but when his parents retired, we moved into our own house. However, this house was not clean, by that I mean it was spiritually unclean and haunted. At night when I tried to sleep, something would pull my hair or blow on me and I couldn’t sleep. I thought I was going to go crazy dealing with this. Also in the past my husband had a habit of snoring, but I would just give him a little push to roll over and he was fine. However, with this ghost haunting us, whenever I tried to keep my husband from snoring, his eyes turned red and he just stared at me. I was so afraid that I wouldn’t dare look at him and couldn’t even move. So from the time that we moved into this house I was afraid.

I went to see a doctor, but he said that I was not sick. So my husband also sought for answers and people told him to ask for help from a Shaman who would be connected to the spirit world. Some people also told him to drink a potion with temple ashes and place them at the head of our bed — and that would solve this issue. We asked at temples and did what they told us, but that did not solve our problem.

On one occasion at about 6 or 7 o’clock I heard a sound and thought that our daughter had returned from work, but I wondered why she was taking so long to come into the house. I opened the door, but saw no one. On one occasion I went back into the house and sat down, and a very white shadow walked in front of me. There were also times when I went to retrieve water for the bathroom toilet, and heard a noise that really frightened me.

Earlier when I told my husband about these happenings, he wouldn’t believe me. However, as time passed it became even more serious. One day, I received a phone call from a relative inviting us to an evangelistic meeting at their church. She said that we would really regret it if we didn’t take advantage of this opportunity because this would be the last such event for this year. So I talked to my husband and since they had given us a special invitation, we knew we would be embarrassed if we didn’t attend.

When we arrived at the church building and entered, we had such a joyful and peaceful feeling.  They sang songs and shared, and at the end the pastor invited anyone who had a problem and wanted prayer to come to the front. So we followed others and moved forward. We observed that people were standing there with their eyes closed. The pastor asked if we wanted to receive the Lord, and we said yes.  Tears just kept running down my face. I didn’t care what people thought, I just kept crying. I realized that this was the Holy Spirit filling me. The Lord Jesus wanted to be my Savior. The Holy Spirit gave me this opportunity to know Jesus. I continued to cry. That night when we returned home we did have a little more peace.

We also decided that we must move, and we did. Our relatives encouraged us to continue going to their church. So we agreed and also attended their morning prayer meeting as well. As we continued to attend worship, our fears dissipated and were replaced by peace. However, we were also nervous and felt that we must quickly be baptized to solidify and acknowledge our commitment to follow Christ. I also told my husband that we should close our business and not be involved with that kind of work anymore. I told him that we needed to pray and trust the Lord to open a way for us.

We told the Lord that we wanted to follow him and asked him to help us solve our business problem. We also said that as he helped us, we would also lead our sons and daughters-in-law to accept Christ. Praise to the Lord. Every time I prayed, God answered my prayer. We closed our business and led our elder son, daughter-in-law and grandchild to accept Christ and be baptized, our younger son and his family did the same. Our whole family came to Christ. I am so grateful to the Lord Jesus for saving my family.

Pastor Lim pointed out that God indeed has answered Chen An-Ni’s prayers and asked her to share one very special prayer about her granddaughter.

I am very thankful for my salvation and especially for the difference it has made in our granddaughter’s life. One day our granddaughter had a fever and her neck was swollen. She was taken to the doctor, but she did not get better. So consequently, she was taken to the local medical center. After a few days she was still no better, and couldn’t even swallow anything. She was running fever but her hands and feet were cold. She was getting worse. I drew her up and began to pray. I told the Lord that this child was a gift from God, and I asked God to heal her. All of a sudden I felt a warmth come over my body from head to toe. Formerly my foot had a problem, but in just a moment of time my foot was completely healed.

The next morning we were so concerned over this little baby and planned for surgery. Paper work had to be completed for this 2 ½ hour surgery, such a long time. So I began to fervently pray for this 15 month old baby to be healed and come home to us. The surgery lasted 1 ½ hours and the doctor said there was only a 50/50 chance for survival. I asked the Lord to answer my prayer and he did. I am so grateful to the Lord. He saved my family, and he saved our grandchild. Without Christ I would not have this grandchild. This is a grandchild that I begged God for. Originally, the parents were not able to have a child, and the pastor prayed for them and they gave birth to a son. So I went before the Lord and asked for a second child and he answered my prayer. He also healed this little baby and today she is a smart adorable child.

It doesn’t matter what our situation, we must place a strong emphasis on prayer. It is so important. At the time of this illness when we were in the hospital, a nurse spoke with me. She said that she noticed my calmness and love for this child; however, she also noticed that the other grandparents were crying out of control . . . such a difference. So I shared my faith with her. I want all the praise to go to the Lord.

A Word From Pastor Lim

Dear friends, after listening to Chen An-Ni’s story, we see that God has the power to heal our sicknesses and meet our needs. Jesus is there to tackle any situation or problem that we may face. We hope that you are willing to accept Christ, receive his peace and experience an abundant life. He invites everyone.

If you would like to receive Christ as your Savior and Lord, pray with me. Follow me sentence by sentence as I lead you in prayer.

Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me and saving me. Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. Forgive my sin and use your precious blood to cleanse my sin. Please come into my heart and be my Savior and my master. Please do not leave me. Give me eternal hope, heal any illness that I have and allow my spirit to be set free. Thank you, Jesus. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Our God is Unstoppable

The Covid pandemic is a worldwide challenge, but in the middle of this crisis we are so encouraged to see our Hokkien partners making changes, turning corners, and finding new avenues to take the Gospel to more unreached Hokkien. SE Asia once again has experienced another surge in the virus. As a result, in order to meet government demands, our partners are not allowed to travel to two of our fishing island churches, PK and KS, for at least two weeks. They must wait until there are no new reported cases of the virus.

I think it would be easy for any of us to just stop, sit down and wait until things calm down a bit. However, we were excited to see the response of our co-workers.

I don’t know if you have seen some of the new remote controlled toys or not, but one of them is the Air Hog, Zero Gravity Laser Remote controlled car. It is fascinating to watch. Here’s the ad:

DRIVE ON THE WALL, CEILING AND GROUND: With patented Wall Climber Technology, Air Hogs Zero Gravity Laser can drive on any smooth surface. Race up walls, across ceilings and on the ground. It gives you the power to defy gravity!

This car WILL NOT take no for an answer . . . when it runs into a barrier, it just keeps going. So this reminded me of our partners. So they temporarily are unable to take teams into these newer work areas . . . no problem. They just turn their attention to this new Hokkien ministry area, town “J”.

“J” is a town located SE of one of our man ministry areas. Around 95% of the 30,000 residents are Hokkien Chinese, and Hokkien is the main language used locally. The majority of the Hokkien population trace their roots to the Fujianese counties of Yongchun, Anxi, Nan’an and Dehua.

Does this sound far fetched? Just check out Acts 16:6-10 when Paul and his team met a barrier and the Holy Spirit redirected them to go to Macedonia.

♥ Pray for the C Baptist Church in SE Asia as they partner with our team.

♥ Pray for Pastor JA, A and team members as they move into this new area.

♥ Pray for open hearts.

♥ Pray for our HH team to discern where God is at work and join him there.

♥ Pray for more workers in the harvest.

♥ Pray also for needed resources to be provided.