Hokkien Testimony #29
Today we welcome you to the 29th testimony in our Hokkien Harvest series. Today Pastor James Lim interviews Mr. Bun Ka Sheng and his wife, Sister Tan Su’e. Let’s listen now to their Hokkien testimonies. An English summary is also provided below.
Mr. Bun Ka Sheng and his wife, Sister Tan Su’e’s testimony:
As Pastor Lim introduced me, Bun Ka Sheng, he mentioned that I am not Hokkien, but Cantonese. However, Pastor Lim also mentioned that my Hokkien accent is that of a Hokkien person, so today I am sharing in Hokkien. Pastor Lim shared that we often talk about things that are in our past; however, today we want to talk about how real God is in our family, finances and life. That is our main point.
We have been married for 27 years with two children in their twenties. Actually our older son was the first person to become a Christian in our family. My wife’s sister took him to church with her. Formerly he was a kid who liked to play a lot, and not so serious about his life. After going to church with his aunt, we noticed that he began to change in good ways. This was the first evidence that God loved us as he spoke through our child to speak into our lives. He began to pray for us. After our son, I, Ka Sheng, was the first to accept Christ. My wife was not happy about that. However, when people are first introduced to something new like this requires us to first understand.
As Pastor Lim shares, sometimes when people first accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they may be very zealous and passionate about their new found faith and attend just about every meeting there is at the church. For me, Ka Sheng, that was also true. I was there on Sunday for worship, Tuesday night for the prayer meeting and Friday night for my small group. My wife was very frustrated as she was trying to juggle all the responsibilities that she had at home, but I was spending a lot of time at church. So this resulted in some misunderstandings and unhappiness in our family. However, I continued to go to church.
Originally I participated in the English ministry of our church; however, not long after I started attending, the church began a Chinese ministry section. My wife received her education in Chinese, so when ministry began in Chinese then she was willing to go.
I, Sister Tan Su’e, did change. I formerly was unhappy with all of this, but when the Chinese ministry began I started going and I too changed. I realized that I couldn’t do things on my own. I began to study and better understand and was also baptized. After I made the decision to follow Jesus and was baptized, I really did begin to change. I also studied my Bible to better understand. God began to work in our family to draw closer together. As Pastor Lim said God spoke into my husband’s life and he realized that he needed to be a better father and husband.
As we began to serve the Lord, it seemed like we began to face a lot of challenges. I had grown in the Lord and was serving as a small group leader. However, the first thing that happened to us concerned my son. He had a serious fall, broke his arm and they put it in a cast. At that time we also sought other opportunities to serve; however, at this time our younger son also had a fall, injured his foot and was also put in a cast. And that’s not all. Later, while it was raining my wife had a fall and also injured her foot.
So people who are not yet Christians looked at this and said these are bad things happening to you and that is the result of the fact that you are following Jesus. It’s bad luck. However, we listened to our Christian brothers and sisters who encouraged us to have faith and not follow after non-Christian traditions. We were not afraid. In life we certainly have times of testing and these are deep life lessons for us.
I, Jia Sheng, think that the greatest lesson that I learned during these times was how to trust in God. Just like in our situation, the people of this world viewed things as bad luck; however, in the Lord we know that God has meaning in what is happening in our lives and we can trust him. For instance, when my wife hurt her foot, we thought about it. She was working way too much and really did need to take a break and rest. So as we look at opinions in this world, they often do not coincide with the Bible’s teachings. So through our journey I learned that no matter what we face in life, the Lord will direct our steps and lead us.
Our finances are another example of how God has helped us. Whenever I was involved in business and things did not go well, even losing money, I found that it was important to not give up but to have hope and keep going. The truth is that during the times that I had financial problems I would change my work and do something different. To my amazement, things ended up more successful and making more money than before. It is important to not just look at the current situation but also keep my eyes on the future as to what the business can become. So when I met with difficulty, I would have to work through that and found that I came out better with God’s blessings than I ever imagined. As Pastor Lim said, sometimes what looks like the end of the road may actually be the beginning with God’s blessings. So we as a family have definitely experienced God’s blessings.
Today I, Jia Seng, oversee the Cantonese ministry in our church. I now look at my life much like I viewed myself when I served in the military. When in the military my time 24/7 was for my country. Well, now, I feel that my life is for the Lord and 24/7 my purpose is to serve him whether at work or in church ministry — no matter where I am. So whenever our brothers and sisters in Christ have needs I am there to serve. No matter what we face in life we can come before the Lord in prayer and bring it to Him.
As Jia Seng’s wife, I also want to partner with him in ministry. I trust the Lord to lead me as I go to seminary and receive more training. I currently am studying and preparing myself. And you know what is amazing is that when I, Jia Seng, have questions regarding my Bible study, I can ask my wife and she is able to help me as I prepare. Her memory is really good.
A word from Pastor Lim:
So from their testimony today we are able to see things from a different perspective regarding business, finance, service in ministry and family. We see how God blesses us and leads us. We can put our trust in the Lord. As we journey through life no matter what we face we can know that God is real and never abandons us. Through the storms in our lives God walks with us and gives us strength and the grace that we need. So as this family continued to follow the Lord, they were even more filled with joy. In every situation God used different ways to lead and bless them. The same is true for you. You too can experience God leading you and blessing you in your life. Let’s pray together.
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you because you give us the opportunity to know you as our Savior and Lord, the true God. You also afford us the privilege of coming before you to serve you no matter what we experience in our finances, family, ministry or work, etc. In every area of our lives you want to be our Lord. In every area of our lives you want to help us, so that in every area of our lives we can glorify your name. So Heavenly Father we ask you to help our friends who are listening to this program to also experience you and know about this colorful and wonderful life that you offer us. Knowing Christ gives us a more meaningful and fulfilled life. Lord, thank you for hearing our prayer. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Lord bless you.