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.
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