Hokkien Testimony #42

Hokkien Testimony #42

Today we welcome you to the 42nd testimony in our Hokkien Harvest series. Each week we have different people from different churches share their stories with us. Today Pastor James Lim interviews Sisters Kho Kim Hoe and Lim Na Hui, mother and daughter. Let’s listen now to their Hokkien stories. An English summary is also provided below.  

Sisters Kho Kim Hoe and Lim Na Hui’s testimonies:

We are so happy to welcome these two, mother and daughter, to come and share their testimonies with us today. They originally lived in a faraway place, but are now citizens of Singapore. To begin our program let me joke with you a bit. Your name, Kho, can also mean bitter. Has your life been bitter? Actually, I am teasing, because all of us have experienced difficult times in our lives, right?!

Well, Pastor Lim introduced us. From the time that I was very young, I had to work hard and take care of my family. My life was definitely difficult. We had two sons and four daughters. Pastor Lim asked me how I taught my children because they were so well behaved. Well, the truth is that I didn’t have time to really teach them. They were good kids, but I was so busy trying to provide for them that I had very little time for anything. However, whenever they would get loud or out of hand, I definitely would reprimand them. I was on to them all the time.

The children were responsible for taking care of household chores. Early on, our third daughter and our youngest son accepted Jesus Christ. I didn’t really approve of this. Our family worshiped idols and we sacrificed food to the idols, but Christians are not to eat these things. So I thought it would be a lot of trouble for me. I voiced my disapproval, but they didn’t answer me. However, I did notice that after they accepted Jesus that they were even more filial and well behaved than before. They were taught to love Jesus and to honor their parents.

Actually at this time I was afraid that the pastor would come to our house and want to talk with me. I had some wrong thoughts about Christianity. I felt, as some say, that if you are a Christian and don’t worship ancestors then when I died I would be a wandering ghost and no one would worship or honor me. Now I know that to believe in Jesus is a great thing, but I really didn’t know about Christianity at that time. I actually attended church quite a few times, but when I had heart surgery I asked Jesus to come into my life. I accepted Christ in ’91. After accepting Jesus, one of my greatest blessings was the physical healing that I received. People told me that I would be in a lot of pain, but miraculously I had no pain.

I, Lim Na Hui, had a heavy heart and spent a lot of time in prayer praying for my mother. But God indeed healed my mother very quickly. Actually, early on I opposed my mother accepted Christ and told her that she shouldn’t do it. As Chinese people, we place a lot of emphasis on honoring our parents and ancestors. However, as Pastor Lim said, honoring our ancestors is not locked into a shrine, but is an attitude that we carry in our hearts.

I, Sister Kho, also have another unique story. One day I had prepared some curry that had duck meat in it. As I took a bite, I realized that I had swallowed a duck bone. No matter what I did, I couldn’t cough it up. So I quickly went to a doctor that was conveniently located downstairs. The doctor immediately said…..”Oh no, I can’t see it.” When the doctor realized that it hadn’t been long since I had heart surgery he was careful in what he did to resolve the problem. The bone wouldn’t come out and wouldn’t go down, and I was in a lot of pain.  I was a new Christian and I really didn’t know how to pray, but my daughter prayed for me. The doctor X-rayed me so that they could see the bone. I was taken to a room and waited for a long time. I had a neighbor in the room with me and it was getting late. The doctor asked me if it still hurt. I told them that it didn’t. Then they had me drink some water, and it still didn’t hurt at all. The doctor couldn’t believe it, so they X-rayed a couple of more times, and they couldn’t find the bone. It was gone. There were a lot of people praying for me. The truth is that if they had to make an incision and take the bone out, it could have been life threatening for me. Jesus is indeed our Savior.

In my life I have had three surgeries. They had to remove my gallbladder because I had stones. Pastor Lim teased me because the word for gallbladder and the sound for courage are the same. So when a person has their gallbladder removed, people often tell them that they now have no courage or “guts.” However, Pastor Lim said that I, Sister Kho, definitely reflect a person with courage. I even prayed for God to help me today as I share my testimony. I pray about everything. Even though my daughter opposed me accepted Jesus, I believed that one day she too would trust Christ.

As Pastor Lim commented, we actually were not fervent in our worship of idols. We ran to them to beg for help in times of trouble, so that was the kind of religion that we followed before accepting Jesus. The reason that I did go to church was because my sister encouraged me to attend. Early on I had heard of Jesus, but I had never gone to a church. For me, the daughter, a co-worker shared with me about Jesus. I really loved to go to church because I loved the songs. They are beautiful. I continued to attend and the pastor encouraged us to make a decision. I raised my hand but really didn’t understand what it was all about. The pastor encouraged us to attend a class that really helped me to understand more clearly what it meant to accept Jesus.

I, the daughter, am a rather shy person; however, after I accepted Christ I began to open up more. So after a person accepts Jesus, he definitely will help us in whatever needs we have in our life. Jesus indeed transforms our life.

I, Sister Kho, also experienced something else that was unique. I was asked if I could help at the church with some cleaning. As I was cleaning, all of a sudden, my foot began to hurt and there was swelling. I had a stroke. The pastor immediately took me to the hospital. They took scans to see what was happening, but I was determined not to have surgery. The reason I didn’t want them to operate was because of my heart situation. I continually take aspirin and any surgery would be dangerous since my blood would not clot. Following a stroke there may be physical changes in our appearance, but that is okay with me. For me to be healthy and be a peace is enough. As Pastor Lim said, that no matter how we appear, in our hearts we have joy and a smile on our face. I am also grateful because I by nature am an impatient person. I could lose my temper and get angry very quickly. God has helped me to make progress in this area of my life. I ask for his forgiveness and he helps me control my temper.  I appreciate Pastor Lim’s suggestion that when a person is angry, they can pray and also listen to Christian music. It’s amazing how that can take away our anger. If we allow anger to remain in our hearts, it is very detrimental to us. God can take that away. The Bible tells us that a joyful heart is good medicine for the soul. Sadness and anger can break a person down.

Pastor Lim shares:

If we find ourselves angry because someone is late coming home or for any reason, we can pray and praise God when they arrive home safely. We are so glad to have Sister Kho and her daughter share with us today. Praise the Lord, everyone in their family has accepted Christ as their Savior, and one of her children is now a missionary. At first to have a child go out of the country to another place was somewhat difficult for her to accept. However, now she has peace and is happy about it.

Today our program has once again come to an end. We see that God has blessed this family in unique ways as they have faced problems. He has given them strength and enabled them to resolve these challenges in their lives. Their family was just an ordinary family, but God has cared for them in special ways. So the same can be true for you. Through trusting in Jesus, peace, joy, blessing and salvation can also be yours. So at this time we would also like to give each of you the opportunity to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. If you have the heart and desire to accept Jesus, you can follow me as I pray  asking Jesus to come into your life and give you peace, joy and salvation. Pray with me.

Lord Jesus, I thank you. You are my Savior. Please forgive my sin. Please use your precious blood to wash away my sin. Lord Jesus, I invite you into my heart to be my Lord and Savior and direct the steps in my life in the future. From today forward I ask you to bless me and my family and give us peace. I pray for you to give me and my family eternal blessings. Thank you, Jesus. In Jesus name I pray, amen.

May God bless you.

Hokkien Testimony #41

Hokkien Testimony #41

Today we welcome you to the 41^st testimony in our Hokkien Harvest series. Each week we have different people from different churches share their stories with us. Today Pastor James Lim interviews Sister Wei Liao Ping.  Let’s listen now to her Hokkien story. An English summary is also provided below.  

Sister Wei Liao Ping’s testimony:

As Pastor Lim shares, looking at Wei Liao Ping’s life, you would say that it seems much like anyone else’s life. She is married and she and her husband had two very cute children. However, embedded in the lives of her children are some exciting testimonies that she wants to share with us. A Chinese proverb tells us a parent has a special love for their children.

As a mother I feel that I genuinely love my children but didn’t spoil them. We have daughters just as Pastor Lim has daughters as well. I allowed our oldest daughter to go to church so that she would have the opportunity to learn English and be able to speak it well. So she attended an English church and they were very kind. So because we allowed her to attend this English Church ministry, we also had contact with the church. Consequently, our oldest daughter also accepted Jesus.

I also allowed our second daughter to go to church as well. She began when she was very young and grew up in the church. So her English was very good, and she was also a good student. In fact, she received a scholarship to continue her studies. I was very proud. However, I remember how I felt when she was to go to England to continue her studies. It was far away and even though I was proud, I also had my own fears since she would be overseas. However, she kept in touch by phone and would let us know how to pray for her.

I also hoped that she would be able to find a church there in England and the Lord indeed answered my simple prayers. Our daughter even said that she admired the simple prayers that I prayed for her. She felt that God always answered my prayers. So she too prayed as I prayed — very simple requests. In time, she also had a boyfriend. I didn’t object, because I felt that God would also provide a mate for her. This young man was also a Christian, but he didn’t go to church. Our daughter definitely had feelings for him, but at this time her boyfriend was not connected to church so they separated. My daughter was very distraught and I tried to comfort her. She was really hurting and daily I would find her crying in her room. I told her that we needed to pray.

Pastor Lim commented that when a girl loves a boy that she gives him her entire heart; however, the boy only gives half of his heart to her and the other half he pours into his work. The truth is that men and women are different for sure. Our daughter also had to return to England for her finals so that was not easy. For a woman this was a very emotional and difficult time; however, for a man, it was not as emotional for him. At this time my husband was also very supportive. He knew that we would need to trust God and pray about this. We would hold hands and pray together with our daughter.

When it was time for our daughter to return to England, I accompanied her. I noticed that she would often stay in her room because she was afraid that if she went out she might run into her former boyfriend. She really was so distraught that she didn’t have any real spirit or energy. She was very disturbed by all of this. While she was still in Singapore and had not yet returned to England, she even contemplated suicide. My husband held her to himself and told her that she didn’t need to be afraid because we had the Lord with us. It was imperative that she return to England because this was her third year and the final test was very important. So before we left Singapore her older sister, father and I all prayed with her. Without a doubt, we saw how the Lord Jesus helped us through this difficult time.

I stayed with her in England until she completed her tests. I tried to cook and take care of her during this time. Praise the Lord, because without Jesus we could not have made it through this difficult time. Our daughter also had a Christian friend who encouraged her. Good friends are precious and a real help to us in times of trouble. Without the Lord I don’t know what we would have done. She tested well and also was given a scholarship and the opportunity to go to America to work on a Master’s Degree. I returned to Singapore, and our daughter also met another young man who became her boyfriend. As Pastor Lim said, sometimes we feel that we run into roadblocks and as in this case, her relationship with the first young man was not successful. However, the Lord had someone in mind that was even better for her. As we look back on our journey, we see how the Lord has led us into something that is more of a blessing for us.

God not only blessed our daughter, he has also done a special work in our marriage as well. When we married we were not Christians. We actually had not experienced genuine love. As Pastor Lim shared, many wives really didn’t know how to express their emotions and love for their husband. So there was a time in our marriage when I asked my husband about our marriage and he expressed his feelings. He wasn’t very satisfied with me. So I thought that I must change, but I had no idea how to do that. So I went to church. I thought that if I trusted in Jesus that I would change. You know what, I did begin to change and my husband noticed it as well.

After I accepted Christ he also made a decision to believe in Jesus. But you know what, after I accepted Jesus my mother-in-law opposed my decision. I am the oldest daughter-in-law and in Chinese tradition should be helping prepare the things to worship idols and our ancestors. I talked with my mother-in-law to help her understand that I still loved and revered her. It was amazing. After a period of time she told me that she had observed me and that my God was the real God. So she is supportive of us. Now one of my greatest hopes and prayers is that my mother-in-law will come to Christ.

I appreciate Pastor Lim’s encouragement that he believes God will make a way for her to come to Christ someday. Our daughters are grown now, but we are not yet grandparents. As Pastor Lim shared, we believe that God will continue to bless our family and lead us. God’s promises will continue to come true to bless our family. The Bible tells us that if we believe in Jesus our entire family can be saved.

Pastor Lim shares:

Today we are so grateful to have Sister Wei Liao Ping share her testimony with us. Today you too can experience Jesus in the same way as Sister Wei and her family.  You can see that after accepting Jesus in their lives they have encouraged and supported their family through prayer. Because Sister Wei used very simple prayers, she and her family were able to face and survive many family challenges and storms in their lives. We see how their daughter during a deep emotional loss was able to continue with her studies and test well in spite of the difficult times.  We too can experience this. It is as though we are in a boat, but Jesus is the captain and he is directing and taking care of us through the storms in our lives and gives us peace. Are you willing to believe in Jesus? If you are willing, please follow me in prayer with your heart and soul.

Lord Jesus, I thank you because you are Savior and Lord. When we are faced with storms in our lives you are our peaceful harbor, so we want to depend and trust in you.  First of all we ask you to forgive us of our past sins because we did not know that you were the true God, so we did not worship you. Please forgive us. At this time we ask you to forgive all of our wrongs and all of our mistakes, and wash them clean with your precious blood. We ask you to come into our heart and be our Lord and Savior. Lord Jesus, at this time I beseech you to fill us with your peace and joy. Allow us to continue on life’s road and not only experience your presence but also hope and a meaningful life. Thank you, Jesus. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

Brothers and sisters, if today you prayed with me to ask Jesus into your heart, then I congratulate you. I encourage you to find a church nearby so that you can grow in your faith and better understand about Jesus who loves you very much. God bless you.

Hokkien Testimony #40

Hokkien Testimony #40

Today we welcome you to the 40th testimony in our Hokkien Harvest series. Each week we have different people from different churches share their stories with us. Today Pastor James Lim interviews Sister Lim Sui Giok.  Let’s listen now to her Hokkien story. An English summary is also provided below.  

Sister Lim Sui Giok’s testimony:

Even from childhood I often thought of death. I wondered what happens to people after they die. I often wondered and worried about my elderly grandmother and would even cry about it. What would happen to her after she died? At that time I wasn’t thinking about myself. I was worried about those around me. We naturally think that those who are older will die first, and then those who are younger will die at a later time. However, we know that life doesn’t always work out that way.

My family was very much involved in worshiping local idols. Our house was filled with them. We even had Japanese idols as well. Most of these were worshiped by my mother. About 17 years ago I looked to the God of Heaven and asked for an answer to my question. With all these gods and different beliefs, what should I believe? I wanted to know which one was the true God.

As a child, I followed my mother in the traditional practices. I really didn’t know what it was all about, I just followed her and did what she did. However, later I thought that surely there should be just one true God and not all of this confusion. So that’s the reason why I prayed to the God of Heaven for an answer. About two days after I prayed that prayer, a Christian came to our house and told me that if I was going to worship, then I should worship the true God. Wow! I could hardly believe it. Just after I prayed that prayer, then this Christian appears at my house. I was so excited that I went with them to church on Sunday.

That very first time I went to church I was so thrilled and full of joy. I made the decision to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. One of the ladies in the church took me to buy a Bible. In fact, I bought two Bibles, one large one and one small. However, it wasn’t all that long before I quit going to church. I once again joined my family and worshiped local gods. I wore black clothing and would recite chants with my family. Otherwise, outside of the chanting rituals I would wear white clothing.

At this time I also married and had challenges. My husband drank and had bad habits that often come along with alcohol use. He just was out having a good time. For me, life was not easy, and things were not going very smoothly. I knew I was in a bad marriage and made the decision to focus on chanting to find peace. It didn’t give me peace. One day I took the Bible out and began to read it. And you know what, the Bible spoke to me. So what do I mean that the Bible spoke to me? As I read the Bible, I read truths that directly related to my problems and the questions I had asked for years. After this experience I kneeled down and told Jesus that I was a sinner.  

Just a couple of nights after that in the middle of the night I got up and began reading the Bible again. The truth that spoke to me was God telling me that Jesus came not because I am good, but because of his grace toward me. I didn’t know much, but I began to look things up and write them down. In a 14 day period God continued to speak into my life. This is so precious. God really speaks into my life through the Bible passages that I read. He told me that He was going to take me out of Egypt. As I shared with Pastor Lim, the last half of a verse in Isaiah really means a lot to me.

Isaiah 50:4b

He wakens me morning by morning,  wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.

This verse really is my testimony. As Pastor Lim reminded me, the Lord speaks into my life each day. However, this is not just to tell me things that I have done wrong or speak of my past, he also helps me better understand the Lord and how to live life. As I experienced this, one morning I was so thrilled that I couldn’t wait and extremely early in the morning I went to my older sister. She actually accepted Christ before I did. Even though it was very early in the morning, she knew that God had spoken to me and she was very happy to see this. So from this point, I accompanied my sister to church.  It was like the angels in Heaven were rejoicing. As Pastor Lim said, God really does love me.

My mother knew I was going to church but she didn’t know that I had made the decision to be baptized. And I followed through with that and followed Christ in baptism. After my father died, my mother told me that she would go to church with me but assumed I had not yet been baptized. I couldn’t lie.  I told her that I already had received baptism, and she just howled. However, she continued eating and settled down. She also told me that she didn’t want to accept Jesus. She would follow her way, and I could go my way. I have given this to God and believe that one day my mother will also trust Christ. Even though my mother has not yet accepted Jesus, many of my family members have come to Christ.

Pastor Lim shares:

Today as we come to a close, we can see how God has changed Lim Sui Giok’s thinking and her life as she wrestled with questions about life and the hereafter. We also see how God transformed her life and in a 14 day period of time spoke into her life through the Bible, God’s Word. Today she is a passionate Christian who loves the Lord. We can clearly see that God can use all kinds of methods to speak into our lives and reveal to us that he is the true and living God.

In Acts 4:12 the Bible tells us that “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

We are so thrilled to know that Sui Giok’s father and other family members now also joined with her and accepted the Lord as their Savior. You too can receive this same kind of blessing and eternal life. Without a doubt, when you leave this world you can be sure that you will go to Heaven where Jesus has prepared a wonderful place for you. If you desire this, you can follow me as I lead us in prayer.

Lord Jesus, I thank you because you love me. You came into this world to save me, and one day when I leave this world I will be with you in Heaven. Please come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior. Because I believe in you, my heart has peace, joy and hope. Thank you Lord. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

May the Lord bless you.

Hokkien Testimony #39

Hokkien Testimony #39

Today we welcome you to the 39th testimony in our Hokkien Harvest series. Each week we have different people from different churches share their stories with us. Today Pastor James Lim interviews Sister Hong Sheng Quan.  Let’s listen now to her Hokkien story. An English summary is also provided below.  

Sister Hong Sheng Quan’s testimony:

My name is actually a boy’s name; however, as Pastor Lim commented, when I was born my parents gave me this name in hopes that they would have sons. Actually, I did not have an easy childhood. My father died when I was very young. Since I was the oldest girl in the family I was expected to help run things around the house and consequently I did not have a chance to get an education. My mother made sure my younger brothers went to school, but I did not have that opportunity.

My mother had to do all the work to take care of us three children. When I was 21 I got married. At that time many people thought that you should be married by the time you were 21, or otherwise you were considered much like an old maid. However, my marriage really disappointed me. Yet, I worked hard to care for my children as they grew up. Without a doubt God has taken care of me, and I remarried and God blessed me with a different situation.

When my daughter was in middle school she started going to church. When she was 21 years old she told me that she wanted to be baptized. She explained that she was already 21 and old enough to make her own decisions. So she would go her way, and I could continue to believe in my religion. This was her birthday and she requested that I attend her baptismal service. However, I didn’t want to attend and told her that this was her decision but I would not attend. So after the baptismal service she came home and shared with me but I didn’t have much to say. I firmly believe that from this time forward, my daughter was praying for my salvation.

I did begin to go to church, and I also wanted my husband to go to church with me. I actually invited him for about two years to join me, but at that time he wasn’t willing to do that. He continually refused because he said that Christians were not allowed to worship their ancestors, so he didn’t want to go with me. As many Chinese people share, he said that if he became a Christian there would be no one to worship his ancestors. So he didn’t dare go. However, he did listen to the stories of Jesus, but refused to believe. As many Chinese people believe, he felt that if he accepted Jesus, his parents and ancestors would be hungry ghosts in the afterlife. There would be no person to feed and care for them. When I encouraged my husband to go to church with me, I had not yet been baptized. At this time there were a lot of church friends who were praying for him.

Pastor Lim asked how we resolved this ancestor worship issue. My husband felt that if he became a Christian it would be like throwing his parents in the trash, abandoning them. But our pastor directly talked with us about that, and assured us that this was not the case. Amazingly enough, after two years my husband said that he would trust Jesus, but he didn’t need to go to church. I told him that this was okay with me. However, in 2003 at the end of the year something happened. He didn’t feel well, and I told him to go see a doctor. The doctor examined him and told him that he immediately needed to go to the hospital. There they told him that he had a perforation and the next day they needed to do surgery. Without surgery it could be life threatening. The doctor shared the danger that he was in. My husband also knew that he had a hole in his heart and shouldn’t have any operation. However, the doctor explained that if he started to run a fever he could die. So it was urgent that they do this surgery. It was a bit humorous that he told me if he didn’t make it through this operation, that I could not remarry.  I told him that he shouldn’t be talking about things like that at such a time as this. So the time was scheduled for him to have surgery the next day at 11 am. So I contacted our pastor and church friends and asked them to pray for us.

They followed through with the surgery, but the doctor told us that we needed to prepare our hearts. He might not make it. At about 8 pm they told me that in one hour if things had not improved, he probably wouldn’t make it. I was just in tears. I began to pray and asked God for my husband not to leave this earth so early. He had already prayed to receive Jesus. I asked God to heal him so that we could continue to be partners for many years. Suddenly the doctor came out and told me that everything was “GOOD.”

However, the next day he was badly swollen and unable to urinate.  I once again was in tears and contacted our pastor and friends to pray with us. Well, the next day he was able to urinate and we were so thankful. The swelling went down and his body returned to its normal size. But once again we had complications. My husband couldn’t move and the doctor said that he had a stroke. He couldn’t move or talk and we didn’t know if this had badly affected his brain. So they did a scan. He seemingly could not move, talk or hear because he was unresponsive. We continued to pray. The doctors said that his situation was very dangerous. There seemed to be nothing they could do, but we continued to pray.

The next day he still was unable to speak and they did a tracheotomy. This enabled him to breathe better. During the next week the devil began to attack him. He couldn’t speak, but he kept staring at me so I knew something was happening. I didn’t know what to do, so I called my pastor and church friends. The pastor suggested that we pray for him and ask God to help us understand his needs. My husband was able to let me know that a demon was bothering him. So I immediately called the pastor to let him know. The pastor then came to the hospital and for three days he prayed for the demon to be removed.

Following this, my husband was unable to walk, and once again our pastor and friends prayed with us for several months. Finally, the doctor told us that he was unable to walk and would have to depend on a wheelchair for mobility. He told us to prepare our house so that my husband would be able to move around using a wheelchair. I really didn’t know what to do. How would we survive with him in a wheelchair? How could I do this?

So we went home. The pastor suggested that I bring him to church with me. I couldn’t believe this. How could I do this? However, the pastor said, just give me your address and I will have friends go and bring him to the church. So that afternoon I told him what would happen, prepared food for us and rested a bit. All of a sudden my husband was able to get out of the wheelchair and came to my bedside and woke me. I couldn’t believe it. He didn’t sit back down in the wheelchair. He was walking around. I just started crying and thanking the Lord. That evening we went to church and the pastor had him sit toward the front. He asked him if he had trusted in Jesus, and he acknowledged that he believed in Jesus. Then he walked toward the pastor. He pushed his wheelchair to the side forever. From that time until now, he has continued to stand on his feet and walk. God healed him.

As Pastor Lim said, in 2003, my husband, mother and I all came to Christ.

Pastor Lim shares:

Thank you, Sister Hong Sheng Quan, for sharing your story with us today. Through her story we can see that Jesus is real and alive. He desires to be with us and protect us. You too can experience this journey if you are willing to open your heart to Jesus and allow him to be your Lord and Savior. Follow me as I pray.

Lord Jesus, I thank you. You came into this world to save us, and at this time we beseech you to forgive our sin, and live inside of us so that we can overcome evil. We want you to be our Lord and Savior forever. Beginning today we want to experience your love and the miracles that you perform. Thank you Lord. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. The Lord bless you.