Hokkien Testimony #73

Hokkien 福建见证集 | 一支草，一点露 (73)

Hokkien Testimony #73

Today we welcome you to the 73rd testimony in our Hokkien Harvest series. Each week we have different people from different churches share their stories with us. Everyone has their own special story of how God has changed their life. Today Pastor James Lim interviews Brother Dan Ong who will be sharing about God’s work in his life. Let’s listen to Dan Ong (O Cho. Tian) share his personal story. An English summary is also provided below.

Brother Dan Ong’s Testimony:

Pastor Lim asked why I was given this Chinese name. Well, it came from my grandfather. It has a good meaning and was considered a good omen and meaningful name for a child. Humorously the meaning of the words can suggest that after your ancestors have lived that you can continue the family success and development. Previously I was in Sweden and have a lot of testimonies from there to share with people. I was actually the first from Singapore to go there and work in this field and I was really blessed. Actually things went so well that it opened the door for other Singaporeans to also go there.

As I worked there I asked myself how a Singaporean would end up there working in a foreign place like that. It required a lot of knowledge and creativity and that was something that I could not just depend on myself to do. I had to depend on God. As I trusted on God to lead me, the time passed so quickly. It was amazing to see the things that were developed. I worked there more than two years. My biological family consists of my parents and an older sister, and I was the first in my family to accept Christ.

In about 2004 my sister passed away in Thailand in the tsunami.  It was the day after Christmas and we had taken a train to go north. It was a long trip requiring about 12 hours to arrive there. We arrived there at about 6 o’clock and went to the hotel to check in. I noticed that the news reported a tsunami. I knew that my sister was planning to lead a group of her co-workers to go out and look around the place. The first thing I did was to try and call my sister on the phone. However, there was no answer. So I checked with my mother and she hadn’t heard anything about a tsunami either. Then I called my father, and he told me that my sister was dead.

Of course I was so sad, and I began to pray. We had no idea where she was at this time, and there was no news. My mother said that she had just spoken with her the day before. We just kept waiting. My heart was really heavy. My sister also had her two year old son with her, and the thought of losing both of them really was hard for me to imagine. I was very sad. The second day when I woke up I called again, but there was no answer. However, there were several amazing things that happened that day. First of all I needed to get plane tickets to return home for me, my wife and our two children. When I checked, there were no tickets available. However, a pastor contacted me and asked if everything was okay. I told him that I needed to get tickets, and he introduced me to a travel agent. Praise the Lord, I was able to get 4 tickets for us to travel.

The second amazing thing was that we received word that my nephew was found and he was okay. He was on the second floor, and someone was able to bring him out and an American doctor helped to remove the water from his lungs and he would be okay. Of course we still had no idea about my sister. I thought about what it would mean for a body to be there for two days. However, on the second day I continued to pray. At this time her body was found. Many people could not find their family members, so we were very grateful.

At this time we returned to Singapore. I was so grateful because my parents had already accepted Christ and it made a difference in their lives. They had a peace that enabled them to deal with this situation. My sister had also accepted Christ, so all in my immediate family were Christians. However, my brother-in-law was not a believer. Of course he was grieving, but he was not a Christian. I looked at this situation and as my mother said, life is very short. This made me so aware of how important our decisions are in life as we move forward. I thought more about what the words “eternal life” really meant. Before I received Christ I had no idea what would happen after death. However, after losing my sister I realized what this peace in my heart meant. When she passed away she went to be with the Lord Jesus. That means that one day we will see each other again.

So because of this promise of eternal life, this peace means that we are not overcome with the loss of a loved one. We can overcome this kind of hurt and loss in our life. This was definitely difficult for my parents to lose a child. We are often able to accept the natural things that happen in our lives, but this was a disaster that was totally unexpected and it makes it so difficult to accept. When we encounter these unexpected tragedies in life, it can be very challenging for us to come to grips and live with it. But thank God that he gives us the strength and faith to face these issues.

My sister’s son was just a little over two years old when my sister died. The doctors said that it was an absolute miracle for him to survive the tsunami. God saved him, and the American doctor who took care of him said this was a very special child. Today he is in school and goes to the Catholic Church. I really hope that he is able to understand all of this.  

This incident definitely impacted my life. After this I went to seminary to study and felt that this was what God wanted me to do. I felt that going to seminary would indeed help me to grow in my understanding of God and in my relationship with him. I also want to be able to more effectively share the gospel with those around me. This would in turn enable more people to experience God’s peace.

Pastor Lim asked me what my heart’s desire is today. Well I have to say that I really hope I have the opportunity to share Christ with more and more people so they can experience the peace that I have.

Pastor Lim:

I am sure that God will continue to use Dan Ong in many ways to bless others. Brothers and sisters this is the end of our program today. We have heard a very touching testimony. When people are in difficult circumstances, God is there to help us. Of course there are loses in our life, but God can also provide blessings during this time as well. God can also be your strength and help in times of difficulty and in dark days. What you need to do to receive Jesus is to follow me as I pray and ask God to come into your heart. Let’s pray together.

Dear Lord Jesus, I thank you because you love us. You are our helper. At this time I ask you to help me, forgive me of my sin and remove all of the bad, dirty and wrong things in my life and cleanse me with your precious blood. I also ask you to come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior and live inside of me.  Let me know that I am your child. From today forward I will have hope, peace and joy. I will have an abundant life. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

May God bless you.

Hokkien Testimony #72

Hokkien 福建见证集 | 一支草，一点露 (72)

Hokkien Testimony #72

Today we welcome you to the 72nd testimony in our Hokkien Harvest series. Each week we have different people from different churches share their stories with us. Everyone has their own special story of how God has changed their life. Today Pastor James Lim interviews Brother Ng Hok Chhia  who will be sharing about God’s work in his life. Let’s listen to Ng Hok Chhia share his personal story. An English summary is also provided below.

Brother Ng Hok Chhia’s Testimony:

I am actually a Teochew person, not Hokkien, but I do speak the Hokkien language. The truth is that many of us in this culture speak multiple languages. When I was born I was actually given a girl’s name. Before my birth my parents had four daughters, and because of superstition and fear, my family gave me a girl’s name so that evil spirits would leave me alone and not harm me. According to tradition the evil spirits only wanted to harm male children. Some people would even give animal names to their sons for the same reason. Tradition says that these evil beings will just pass over if they see a female or animal name. So I grew up in this kind of family and was also superstitious and definitely worshiped idols.

My father was not in good health and couldn’t really work, so it was not easy for our family. The family had to help earn money, and that wasn’t much. And this also impacted schooling as well. I, myself, started working at the age of 13, and made money pretty easily. However, I was quickly introduced to gambling and drinking, and was just looking to have a good time. After drinking a bit, it was also easy to get into fights as well. People noticed that I wasn’t afraid and so I was encouraged to get more involved on a larger scale. The more I fought the more fierce and courageous I became and making a name for myself.

After knocking out two people, some suggested that I might even travel to Thailand because there are a lot of opportunities there to fight and the government or police would not interfere as easily. So I continued to grow in my strength and passion for fighting. However, in 1973 I was arrested and sent to prison. But you know, even in prison fighting continues. There are always people who want to be the boss or leader and control things. With this kind of environment I became even more angry and would lose my temper. I was in one facility for two years and then transferred to another one also in Singapore, the Changi facility. It was here at this prison that I met Pastor Khu. The people inside of the prison all respected Pastor Khu. I observed him and felt that he definitely was a man who cared and showed love to others. He often encouraged people in the prison to attend the worship service. Through the way he treated those of us in the prison, you could tell that God’s love was great.

I asked if Pastor Khu was making money through all of this or what. He said that if he didn’t come to the prison and check on us, then he wouldn’t be able to sleep. He treated us like his sons. At this time I began to spend time with Christians in the prison and study the Bible together with them. Over time my behavior began to change. Pastor Khu told us that if we accepted Christ, the Holy Spirit would fill us and bring about a change in the way we live our lives. The people around us could see the changes in our lives. I accepted Christ in 1977. I was released from prison in 1982. I thought that this would definitely be an opportunity for me to serve God. At this point in my life I didn’t know how to treat other people or love the people in my own family. I needed to do my best to live right and serve God. And of course getting out of prison I also needed to find work and make a living.

I failed to mention that before I was imprisoned I was married and had a child.  So when I left prison my child was like a young teenager. When we first saw each other it was definitely awkward since we really didn’t know each other. As far as the relationship with my wife was concerned, I was working and would return home once a week on Saturday, but I was not the same person that I was when we married. Now I wanted to love my family and especially care for my parents. Previously since I never would go back home, I didn’t know if my parents were dead or alive. I had no idea how to love and care for others.

After trusting in Jesus, I had God’s love with which I could love my family. This was the greatest difference in my life, now I had a heart to love and care for others. Because of the change in my life, little by little my wife began to accept me. We had been a part over ten years, and it certainly wasn’t easy to re-establish a relationship. When I got out of prison I also began attending church. I made it a priority to be in worship each week. As Christians if we seldom go to church and worship, we will slowly walk away from God. I was asking myself what I could do to serve God. It was a big question for me.

In 2003 I suddenly ran into a huge problem for me. I lost my eyesight and required surgery. After surgery I still couldn’t really see, and Christian friends came and prayed for me. I told God that if he really wanted to use me I was willing and asked him to restore my sight. Through a six month journey, little by little my sight came back. I felt that God allowed me to continue living on this earth so that I could be a testimony for him. Originally I told God that I had no time, I was so busy. However, suddenly I had a lot of time and God healed me. So no matter what, I always make sure that I am at church each week to worship God and also attend other church activities as well.

As I connected with the church, God also blessed me with so many friends who have helped and encouraged me. The pastor encourages us and lets us know even if we have fallen down and moved away from God, he is merciful and is waiting for us. I must say that there are also a lot of other people who have been in prison and after they were released they also are in church. In fact, we as Christians who have been in prison now often connect and spend time together.

As Pastor Lim said, in our world we have a lot of temptations that try to lure us away from God, like gambling, drinking, etc. So spending time together with other believers strengthens and encourages us. So today if I see others gambling, I am not tempted. As a Christian I don’t want to covet money and allow it to control me. If we are invested and addicted to gambling, then God is not at the center of our lives. If we obey and follow God, he will bless us in our work and smooth out our journey in life.

We all know that some people stumble after they are released from prison and return to the life they lived before. My suggestion is that people may want to live in a church or environment like that in order to avoid returning to their former way of life. Some people just want to depend on themselves instead of asking God to lead them. If we follow in God’s steps, we will experience change and protection in our lives.

Some people ask me about the ways that God has blessed me. However, I first ask them if they are in Christ. If not, then they have no idea what I’m talking about. What I do, I do for Christ and he blesses me. For those people who are in prison or are to be released, I want to encourage them. Jesus is the true God and will help you. I hope that you will come to God and serve him.

Pastor Lim:

Thank you, Brother Ng, for sharing with us today. Through his testimony we can see that the most important things in our life are not what we eat, drink or party around just to have a good time in life. The most important thing for us is to have Jesus in our life. Jesus will bless us in so many ways. So at this time I want to give each of you an opportunity to receive Jesus Christ. If you really desire to ask Christ into your life, then simply follow me as I pray, sentence by sentence.

Lord Jesus, I thank you. You are my Lord and Savior. Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that in the past I have done many wrong things. Please forgive me of my sin. At this time, please come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior, change my life and give me a future that is bright and hopeful, and set me on a road of peace. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

May God bless you.

Hokkien Testimony #71

Hokkien 福建见证集 | 一支草，一点露 (71)

Hokkien Testimony #71

Today we welcome you to the 71st testimony in our Hokkien Harvest series. Each week we have different people from different churches share their stories with us. Everyone has their own special story of how God has changed their life. Today Pastor James Lim interviews Brother Tan Po Oan who will be sharing about God’s work in his life. Let’s listen to Tan Po Oan share his personal Hokkien story. An English summary is also provided below.

Brother Tan Po Oan’s Testimony:

Our testimony today is from Tan Po Oan, a taxi driver, who has been abundantly blessed in his life and has many stories of how he has impacted the lives of others. Brother Tan share with us your story.

I was just in my twenties when I had a very frightening experience. Well, I was interested in becoming a spiritual medium in my local temple. As part of a religious tradition I saw a demonic being. I myself never served as a medium, but on this occasion I did see a demonic spirit appear. Originally I thought that if I learned how to allow a spirit like this to possess my body and speak through me, then this would be a great thing and I would really benefit from it. However, I was very disappointed to see that this was not true at all. I wanted to be a medium, but I found that it held nothing for me. It was all empty and offered me nothing that would bring blessing and peace into my life. This was definitely not a good thing. Indeed it was a bad thing.

At this time in my life I was also surrounded by gambling. It was everywhere. Even my mother gambled, so I grew up with this. It was definitely not a good healthy environment. After I married my wife also knew that I gambled. At this time she was not yet a Christian, and she really didn’t have any reaction to my gambling habit. However, I also realized that now I had a family and needed to have a steady job to care for them. It was also at this time that I started to think about religion.

My wife was the first to become a Christian. She is from China and she loves to learn new things. So she jumped at the opportunity to learn English. So a local church had an English class that she wanted to attend. She had the opportunity to meet these teachers and they shared the Gospel with her. She had a very good impression of the church and the people whom she met. She felt that they were loving people who want to help others. As far as I was concerned, she had the freedom to pursue this if she wanted to do that. I already felt that my experience with the local religion was not good, and I felt that she should have the freedom to find out about this other faith. Well one day she came and told me that she had accepted Christ. I told her that this was fine, no problem. Her teacher also encouraged me to come to church and learn more about this.

I have to say that I really wasn’t interested, didn’t think I needed that. However, eventually I did attend and the pastor and two of the elders were praying for me. I had trouble sleeping and was wrestling with all of this. At the time, I knew nothing about the Bible or Christianity. Eventually I did go to the church and was amazed to hear the songs and the message. I was very touched. The songs just spoke into your heart. There were several songs that really caught my attention. Later there was an evangelistic meeting and I was invited to attend. At the close the pastor gave an invitation and said that if your heart is beating fast then God is speaking to you, and he encouraged anyone like that to come forward. With tears in my eyes I made the decision to follow Jesus.

Now looking at my life I would have to say that my life has definitely changed. I had a bad temper and could be mean, but now I am different. I also quit gambling. God also changed that greedy spirit in me. Little by little God removed the bad habits in my life, like drinking and smoking. Overcoming a gambling habit is probably the biggest thing for me.

Since my wife accepted Christ first, I saw the changes in her life. She was more joyful and loving and had a love for the Lord. She thought of other people and wanted to help them.

Later I also had an accident and amazingly enough the other person involved was also a Christian and neither one of us was harmed. I am grateful for the Lord’s protection.

Pastor Lim:

Today we are grateful for the testimony of Chen Po Oan who has shared with us how God has changed his life, the life of his family and protected them. Through all of this journey, we can see how God has watched over and directed their steps. You too can experience this same kind of blessing and peace and ask Jesus to be your personal Lord and Savior. All you have to do is to follow me sentence by sentence as I pray.  

Lord Jesus, I thank you. You are the true God and desire to help me. At this time I ask you to forgive my sin, come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior. Help me to know that because I believe in you that you will change me.  I believe, and my heart is full of peace, blessing and joy. Thank you for hearing my prayer. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

God bless you.

Hokkien Testimony #70

Hokkien 福建见证集 | 一支草，一点露 (70)

Hokkien Testimony #70

Today we welcome you to the 70th testimony in our Hokkien Harvest series. Each week we have different people from different churches share their stories with us. Everyone has their own special story of how God has changed their life. Today Pastor James Lim interviews Sister Tan Bi Khin who will be sharing about God’s work in her life. Let’s listen to Tan Bi Khin share her personal Hokkien story. An English summary is also provided below .

Sister Tan Bi Khin’s Testimony:

I’ll first share a bit about my childhood. When I was young I often saw and heard strange things. My family was pretty much a traditional Chinese family; however when I was about five or six years old I began to see and hear unusual things. Since I was so young I wasn’t afraid, because I didn’t know anything about this. If I told anyone in the family they just told me not to tell anyone. I really did see things. I would often see someone on the stairs laughing. I never saw any horrible thing like a headless or footless person, they were not like that. They were just common people, and would call me to come to them but I would run away. What I saw was not always the same. Sometimes there would also be noise. Earlier I lived with my maternal grandmother and have memories from that time. But I asked to stay with my older brother so that I could go to school. Then I heard that my grandmother passed away, and I couldn’t sleep so my brother rubbed some medicine on my head and was trying to console me. Then we heard a sound like something hitting on the roof of our house. At first I wanted to go see what was causing it. It went on for about five minutes and became louder and louder. I thought it sounded like the wind on the roof. Now, when that happened I was afraid and decided to not go see what was happening.

At this time I was not a Christian and didn’t understand things like this. However, after I accepted Jesus then I understood that this was demonic. This particular time I heard the sounds, but didn’t see anything. After I accepted Christ, I never saw or heard anything like this again. It was all gone. After this experience I didn’t have a lot of occasions to hear or see things any more. I didn’t want to encounter anything like this again, because I was afraid. I know that Pastor Lim said some people have these encounters more frequently during “Ghost Month” which is the 7^th Lunar month on the calendar. However, for me that was not true. I experienced these things during the day and at night as well. As Pastor Lim reminded us, spirits like this are real, not a figment of someone’s imagination.

This kind of spirit never affected my everyday life or my schooling. When I was about eighteen or nineteen years old I was introduced to Christianity. At this point in my life I was struggling with some problems and really was troubled. Life was tough and I needed help. I also thought about death, not that I was afraid. I just wondered what happened to a person following death. Listening to people who worshiped local gods I heard a girl tell me that people who did bad things went to hell, so I needed to do good deeds and avoid that. At this time in my life I was very passionate about worshiping local gods, a lot of them. So whenever I encountered a problem I would run to the gods for help. I especially asked for peace in my family and for us to be blessed financially.  

During one Christmas season I was struggling, and my sister invited me to go with her to a church Christmas celebration. It was in English with foreigners there, so I didn’t really understand a lot, but a lady came over to me and shared the Gospel with me. She told me that Jesus came into the world 2,000 years ago and she told me his story. I thought it sounded pretty simple, but also genuine. I felt it was good and Jesus was real. However, I also hoped that she would hurry up and finish talking. But then she asked me if I wanted to accept Jesus as my Savior, and I was afraid. I worshiped a lot of gods, but not Jesus. I was afraid to pray and felt that if I did something like this, then the gods might not like it and something bad could happen.

However, I also thought well I could try it, so I followed her in prayer. It was amazing, after praying that prayer I went home and I had a genuine peace. I had never experienced anything like this. It was the first time in my life to have this kind of peace. This was the first time in my life when I personally made a decision. In the past my parents had always made decisions for me. This was in 1992.

My mother often told people that I really wasn’t any good. However, after I accepted Christ, my mother and others saw the change in my life. If I was running late on Sunday, my mother would encourage me to hurry along because people were waiting for me. When I lived with my brother and family I wasn’t happy. I didn’t want to live the rest of my life with what I saw there. So Jesus has changed so much in my life. As I said, I used to have a bad temper and after Christ I have felt that my life has had more meaning, and has been more normal and healthy. As I have read the Bible, I have felt that God’s word is clean and a good way to live my life. The Lord has given me the strength I need to live life. It is amazing that before I accepted Christ, my older brother first made a decision to accept Jesus. He attended a Bible study group, accepted Christ, and it really transformed his life. He also began to share his faith with others. At the time I didn’t know it, but one of my sisters had also accepted Christ, and when I had problems in my life she shared with me that she had accepted Jesus.

At first my faith was not very strong, and I was kind of half in and half out. However, I began to grow and when I ran into problems I called out to Jesus. I realized that he is real, and I wanted to follow him. Today, my heart’s desire is to stay in the Bible, follow Jesus and share my faith with others. I also have a sister, four brothers and an uncle who are not yet Christians, and I want them to believe as well. As Pastor Lim said, we also hope that people listening today will take this opportunity to trust Jesus as well. If we have Jesus then we are greatly blessed.

Pastor Lim:

With Jesus we are blessed and have peace, joy and are filled with such great contentment. When we have Jesus, evil flees from us. The devil doesn’t dare come after us. With Jesus we have his protection and peace. Dear friends do you desire to have this kind of life. If you do, then follow me in prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you. You have given us Jesus to be our Lord and Savior in order for us to overcome death and Satan’s evil ways. At this time I ask you to forgive my sins and all that I have done wrong in my life. In the past, I didn’t worship you because I didn’t know about you. Please forgive me of my sin. At this time I ask you to come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior, so that I can follow you for the rest of my life. Allow me to experience a transformed life and your hope. Jesus, thank you. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

The Lord bless you.