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.
hokkienharvest.wordpress.com 