Powerful Testimony - Ex HK Mafia Teddy Hung Encounters Jesus!

This is a testimony of an ex-HK gang leader, Teddy Hung, who encountered Jesus and turned over a new leaf.



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BookPastor >> "A Heart for Freedom" (Chai Ling)

With the ongoing democracy protest movement going on in Hong Kong, perhaps we can learn a bit more about the Tiananmen square. Perhaps, that could help avert undesirable consequences. This review was first published on 16th September 2014 at Panorama of a Book Saint.

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TITLE: A Heart for Freedom: The Remarkable Journey of a Young Dissident, Her Daring Escape, and Her Quest to Free China's Daughters
AUTHOR: Chai Ling
PUBLISHER: Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale Publishers, 2011, (370 pages).

Mention Tiananmen Square and what comes to mind for most people? Yes. Despite the famous history and the memorable monuments there, Tiananmen Square will always be remembered infamously for the student protest movement in 1989. On June 4th of 1989, the world reeled in shock as they watched the mighty Chinese Red army tanks steamroll the entire student movement, crushing the bodies as well as hopes of many of protesters. In one day, the movement for greater democracy was dismantled. It is one thing for us to watch the pictures on TV and to listen to news reporters giving their observations. It is yet another to hear from someone who was at the heart of the movement, the heat of the crisis, and the head of the student organization leading the protests.  With high ideals and hopes for a better country, Ling and her associates are Chinese patriots who loved the people of China. They stood for Chinese ideals and share the vision of a greater and better China for all. This book gives us a bigger picture and a deeper understanding of the contexts leading to the uprising, the massacres, and the aftermaths of the whole movement. While it is a personal autobiography of Ling, it is also a lens in which outsiders can see the workings and complexities of a growing economic force.

Testimony of Frances Yip

There has been a spate of testimonies from Hong Kong based, or previously connected to the Hong Kong entertainment circles. This is a recent one, recorded on September 8th, 2013, at the Calvary Convention Center in Kuala Lumpur. It comes with a touching testimony of how in Christ, she took time off to care for her wheel-chair bound husband, how a baby grandchild was miraculously healed, and what Christ had meant to her. Tracing her early beginnings as a school girl in a convent, and ending with a rousing rendition of a popular song written by a Hong Kong Pastor, the testimony is nearly 30 minutes long but is worth watching.

 


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Touching Testimony on Christian Love

What is Christian hospitality? It is simply sharing the love of God with people who come among us. It is receiving them as a fellow brother or a sister who may be visiting. It is caring for a fellow human being, just like Jesus cares for strangers. This video begins with some shocking video footage of how some Muslims were taught to infiltrate and to overthrow the anti-Muslim regimes, especially the US. He was sent to the US to do "cultural Jihad" to try to change America from inside. Moving to the Bible Belt in the US, he considers himself the "sword of Islam" and to raise a group of cultural jihadists to change the US from the inside. Instead, God touches Kamal Saleem with an unexpected source: Christian love. He came to Christ.

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Testimony of Dr Richard Teo (1972-2012)

This is a powerful testimony of Dr Richard Teo, who passed away in Singapore on October 18th, 2012. It has gone viral as it has spoken to many who identified with a society that basically chases after material riches. Some unknowingly, many knowingly.

In his last months, he has taken upon the task of letting his own life inform others, to put the more important things in life, FIRST! This particular talk is one of them. It was first given to a group of people at the Dental Christian Fellowship back in November 24th, 2011.

There are three options for you to choose.

1) Read the full transcript below. I've done some minor editing for ease of reading without change of contents.

2) Read the condensed version here.

3) Listen to the Youtube link here.


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Original Link: Memorial Page.

[Note that the contents below are credited to the transcript of the talk given by Dr Richard Teo, and is provided here in the event the link above does not work. Credit goes to the transcript writer, Eric Tham.]

TESTIMONY OF DR RICHARD TEO (1972-2012)

Date of Speech: Nov 24th, 2011

Below is the transcript of the talk of Dr. Richard Teo, who was a 40-year-old millionaire and cosmetic surgeon with a stage-4 lung cancer, sharing at a Dental Christian Fellowship Meeting. He would have liked to share this with you too.

1) HIS BACKGROUND

Dr Richard Teo (1972-2012)

Hi good morning to all of you. My voice is a bit hoarse from the chemotherapy, so please bear with me. I thought I'll just introduce myself. My name is Richard, I’m a friend of Danny’s, who invited me here.

I’d just begin to say that I’m a typical product of today’s society. Before this, I was talking about how the media influences us etc. So I’m a typical product of what the media portrays. From young, I’ve always been under the influence and impression that to be happy, is to be successful. And to be successful, is to be wealthy. So I led my life according to this motto.

Coming from a poor average family, back in those days, I was highly competitive, whether in sports, studies, leadership. I wanted it all. I’ve been there, done that. But at the end of the day, it’s still about money.

So in my recent last years, I was a trainee in ophthalmology, but I was getting impatient, cos I had friends of mine who were going out into private practise, making tonnes of money. And there I was, stuck in a traineeship. So I said, ‘Enough, it’s getting too long.’ At that time, there was a surge in protégés of aesthetic medicine. I’m sure you’re aware, aesthetic medicine had peaked over the last few years, and I saw good money in there. So much so that I said, ‘Forget about ophthalmology, I’m gonna do aesthetic medicine.’ So that’s what I did.

The truth is, nobody makes heroes out of the average GP in the neighbourhood. They don't. They make heroes out of rich celebrities, politicians, rich and famous people. So I wanted to be one of these. I dived straight into aesthetic medicine. People were not willing to pay when I was doing locum back in those days. Anything more than $30, they would complain that “Wah, this lo kun (doctor) jing qwee (very expensive)”. They made noise and they were not happy. But the same people were willing to pay $10 000 for a liposuction. So I said, ‘Well, let’s stop healing the sick, I’m gonna become a beautician; a medically-trained beautician.’

And that was what I did – liposuction, breast augmentation, eyelid surgeries, you name it, we do it. It was very good money. My clinic, when we started off, waiting time was 1 week; 1 month; became 2 months; became 3 months. There was so much demand that people were literally queuing up to have aesthetic work done on them. Vain women – easy life!

So the clinic grew. I was so overwhelmed, from 1 doctor, I employed 2, then 3, then 4 doctors, and carried on. Nothing is ever enough. I wanted more and more and more. So much so that we set up shop in Indonesia to lure all the Indonesian tai tai’s. We set up shop, set up a team of people there, to get more Indonesian patients to come in.

So, things were doing well. I’m there, my time has arrived. 

Around some time in February last year, I said, ‘OK, I have so much spare cash, it’s time to get my first Ferrari. So there I was, getting ready for the deposit. ‘OK! There comes my first Ferrari!’ I was looking for land, to share with some of my friends. I have a banker friend who makes $5 million a year. So I thought, ‘Come, let’s come together. Let’s buy some land and build our houses.’

I was at my prime, getting ready to enjoy. At the same time, my friend Danny had a revival. They were going back to church, some of my close friends. They told me, ‘Richard, come, join us, come back to church.’

I have been a Christian for 20 years; I was baptised 20 years ago, but it was because it was fashionable to be a Christian then. All my friends were becoming Christians then. It was fashionable! I wanted to be baptised, so that when I filled in a form, I could put there “Christian” – feels good. In truth, I had never had a bible; I don’t know what the bible is all about.

I went to church for a while, after some time, I got tired. I said it’s time to go to NUS, stop going to church. I had a lot more things to pursue in NUS – girls, studies, sports etc. After all, I had achieved all these things without God today, so who needs God? I myself can achieve anything I want.

In my arrogance, I told them, “You know what? You go tell your pastor to change your sermon to 2pm. I will consider coming to church.” Such arrogance! And I said 1 statement in addition to that – till date, I don’t know I’ve regretted saying that – I told Danny and my friends, “If God really wanted me to come back to church, He will give me a sign.”. Lo and behold, 3 weeks later, I was back at church.

2) THE DIAGNOSIS

In March 2011, out of the blues – I was still running around, ‘cause I’m a gym freak and I always go to the gym training, running, swimming 6 days a week. I had some backache, and that’s all I had, but it was persistent. And so I went for an MRI to exclude prolapsed disc. And the day before I had my scan, I was still in the gym, lifting heavy weights, doing my squats. And the next day, they found that half my spine had bone marrow replacement. I said, “Woah, sorry, what’s that?” 

We had a PET scan the next day, and they diagnosed that I had terminal lung cancer, stage 4B. It had spread to the brain, half the spine, whole of my lungs were filled with tumour, liver, adrenals…

I said, “Can’t be, I was just at the gym last night, what’s going on?” I’m sure you know how it feels – though I’m not sure if you know how it feels. One moment I was there at the peak, the next day, this news came and I was totally devastated. My whole world just turned upside down. 

I couldn’t accept it. I have a hundred relatives on both sides, my mom and my dad. 100 of them. And not a single one has cancer. To me, in my mind, I have good genes, I’m not supposed to be having this! Some of my relatives are heavy chain smokers. Why am I having lung cancer? I was in denial.

3) HIS ENCOUNTER WITH GOD

So the next day, I was still in a state of denial, still unable to accept what was going on. There I was lying in an operating theatre in a hospital, for a needle biopsy (for histology). There I was, just completed the biopsy, and lying in the operating theatre. The nurses and doctors had left; told me I had to wait for 15 minutes to do a check X-ray to make sure there’s no pneumothorax (a complication).

And there I was, lying on the operating table, staring blankly at the ceiling in a cold, quiet operating theatre. Suddenly I just heard an inner voice; it was not like coming from outside. It was inside. This small inner voice that I had never felt before. And it said very specifically, it said, “This has to happen to you, at your prime, because it’s the only way you can understand.”

I said, “Woah, why did that come from?” You know, when you speak to yourself, you’d say, “OK, what time should I leave this place? Where shall I have dinner after this?” You’d speak from a first person point of view. You don’t say, “Where should YOU go after this?” Whereas the voice that came spoke as a third party. It said, “This has to happen to YOU, at YOUR prime, because this is the only way YOU can understand.” At that time, my emotions just overflowed and I broke down and cried, alone there. And I knew then, subsequently, what it means to understand that why this is the only way.

Because I had been so proud of myself, my whole life, I needed nobody else. I was gifted with things that I could do, why do I need anybody else? I was just so full of myself that there was no other way I could have turned back to God.

In fact, if I were diagnosed with stage 1 or 2, I would have been looking around busily for the best cardiothoracic surgeon, remove a section of the lobe (do a lobectomy), do preventive chemotherapy…The chances of it being cured is extremely high. Who needs God? But I had stage 4B. No man can help, only God can.

A series of events happened after that. I wasn’t sold after that, because of the inner voice, I became believing, prayers, all that. No I wasn’t. To me, it was just ‘maybe there was a voice; or maybe that was just me talking to myself.’ I didn’t buy the story.

What happened next was that I was being prepared for chemotherapy. I started off with a whole brain radiation therapy first; takes about 2 -3 weeks. In the meantime they prepared me for chemotherapy, supplements etc. One of the things they used for chemo was a thing called Zometa. Zometa - they use it to strengthen the bones; once the bone marrow (replacement) is cured of cancer cells, it becomes hollow, so we need Zometa to strengthen the bone to prevent compression fractures. 

One of the side effects of Zometa is that it can cause osteonecrosis (bone death) of the jaw, and I had to have my wisdom teeth removed. Years ago, I had my upper wisdom teeth removed, cos it was giving me trouble. The lower ones didn’t give me trouble so I said, “Forget it, just leave it.” So of cause, Danny volunteered to remove it for me.

So there I was, lying there in a dental chair, asking myself, suffering all the side effects of radiotherapy, and now I have to go through wisdom tooth surgery. As if I’ve not had enough to suffer! So I asked Danny, “Eh, bro, is there any other way? Can I not go though this?” He said, “Yes, you can pray.” 

I said, “What’s there to lose? Ok lah, pray lah!” And so we prayed. And we did an X-ray after that. Everything was all there, all the appliances and everything. And lo and behold, the Xray showed that there was no wisdom teeth in the lower jaw. I know most people have 4 wisdom teeth, maybe some have none, but to be missing one or 2, as I understand – I’m not too sure, as I understand – is not that common.

Still I was, “Nah, I don’t care about that.” To me, as long as I didn’t have to take out the tooth, I was happy. At that point, I still wasn’t sold on prayers. Maybe it was just a coincidence – for whatever it’s worth.

I continued meeting my oncologist, asking him, “How long do I have?” I asked him. He said, not more than 6 months. I said, “Even with chemotherapy?” About 3 – 4 months, he said. 

I couldn’t grasp that. It was difficult to come to terms. And even as I went through radiotherapy, I was struggling everyday, especially when I wake up, hoping that it’s just a nightmare; when I wake up, it’s all over.

As I was struggling, day after day, I went into depression, which is the typical denial, depression blah blah blah that you go through. But for 1 reason, I don’t know why, there was this specific day that I was supposed to meet my oncologist. At about 2pm, I felt this sudden surge of peace, comfort, and in fact, a little happiness. It was just overflowing. For no rhyme or reason, it just came about 2pm, as I was getting ready, dressing up to meet my oncologist. So much so that I whats-apped all my friends that, “Bros, I just feel so good suddenly! I don’t know why, it just came!”

And it was only days, or was it weeks after, that Danny revealed to me that he had fasted for 2 days for me, and he was bargaining with God, and fasted for 2 dyas, and he ended his fast at that exact same point, about 2pm thereabouts, that this surge of sensation came to me for no rhyme or reason. And I didn’t know that he was fasting for me. And when he ended the fast, I felt that sensation!

Whoa, things were getting a bit too coincidental. I was starting to buy a bit of the story, but still I wasn’t sold. As days passed by, I completed my radiotherapy, about 2 weeks plus. Getting ready for chemo, so they let me rest for a few days.

See, the mortality rate of lung cancer : Lung cancer has the highest mortality rate. If you add up breast, colorectal (colon) cancer, and prostate cancer (the top few cancers in Singapore for men and women), if you add up the mortality rate of these 3, it still doesn’t add up to lung cancer. Simply because, you understand, you can remove the prostate, the colon, the breast, but you cannot remove your lungs.

But there’s about 10% of lung cancer patients who do pretty well for some reasons, because they have this specific mutation; we call it the EGFR mutation. And it happens, only 90% of the time, in Asian ladies who never smoked in their lives. Me, first of all, I’m male. 2ndly, I’m a social smoker. I take one a day after dinner; weekends, when my friends offer me, I take it as well. I’m a light smoker, not a social smoker. But still, my oncologist was still not hopeful for me to have this mutation. 

The chances of it happening for me was maybe 3-4% for me to get it. That’s why I was being primed to go for chemo. But through all the intense prayers, friends like Danny, people that I don’t even know, it turned out that, during my waiting for chemo, the results came back that I was EGFR positive. I was like, “Woah, good news!” Cos now I don’t have to undergo chemo at that time, because there’s this oral tablet that you can use to control this disease.

Just to share with you some idea – this is a CT scan – thorax – of my lungs, before treatment. 

(Clipped from Youtube)

4) AFTER BEFORE 

Every single dot there is a tumour. You can see all the mets (metastasis) there. This is just one single plane. Literally I had it in both lungs, and I had literally tens of thousands of tumour. That’s why the oncologist told me, even with chemo, at most 3-4 months.

But because of this mutation, they have this oral medication. This is what happened after 2 months of treatment. As you can see over here; this is what God can do. And that’s why I’m still here having this opportunity to share with you. As you can see over here, the difference between before and after treatment.

At that point, I said, “Well, it’s to be expected, isn’t it? The medicine is good.” I’m still not buying the story. Well, the guys prayed for me and the tumour markers started to come down. 90% of the tumours were wiped out, and the tumour markers came down to more than 90% over the next few months.

But still, you know, once you have the clinical knowledge, you know the statistics. One year survival, two year survival; having all this knowledge is not a good thing. Cos you live with the knowledge that even with all this, the cancer cells are so unstable, they keep mutating. They will overcome and become resistant to the drugs, and eventually you’re gonna run out of medication.

So living with this knowledge is a huge mental struggle, a huge mental torture. Cancer is not just about a physical struggle, it’s a huge mental torture. How do you live with no hope? How do you live with not being able to plan for the next few years? The oncologist tells you to bear with it for the next 1 – 2 months. So it’s a lot of struggles as I went through: March, then April. April was my lowest point, in deep depression, struggling even as I was recovering.

5) HIS ACCEPTANCE & PEACE

And one of those days, I was there in bed, struggling in the afternoon, asking God, “Why? Why do I have to go through this suffering? Why do I have to endure this hardship, this struggle? Why me?” 

As I fell asleep, in my dreamy state, a vision just came, that says Hebrews 12:7-8.

Now mind you, at this time, I had not read the bible. I have no clue what’s Hebrews, I don’t even know how many chapters there are. Totally clueless.

But it says Hebrews 12:7-8, very specifically.

I didn’t think too much of it. I just continued sleeping. Then I woke up, and I said, “What’s there to lose? I’d just check it out lah!” Danny had bought me a bible; it’s still quite new. I said, “It’s ok, just try.” So I flipped to the Old Testament. Hebrews to me sounds like something ancient, so it should be in the Old Testament right? So I flipped through the Old Testament. No Hebrews there. I was so disappointed.

Then I said, “Maybe New Testament, let’s have a look!”. WOW – New Testament, there’s Hebrew’s!! It says Hebrews 12:7-8. It says, “Endure hardship as discipline as God is treating you as His children.”

I said, “WAH!! Where did that come from?” I was getting goose pimples all over my body. I said, “This can’t be, right?” I mean, what’s the chance of somebody, who has never read the bible, to have a vision of a chapter of a specific verse, that answers my question directly?

I think God called to me directly as I was there sleeping, struggling with it, asking God, “Why do I have to suffer? Why do I have to suffer this?” And God says “Endure hardship as discipline as God is treating you as His child.”

At this point, the chance of that happening is even lesser than my EGFR being positive. There’s just no way; there’s so many millions of thousands of verses in the bible, how can I just conjure up something like that?

So at that point, I was sold I said, “YOU WIN! YOU WIN!!”

Ok , I was convinced. And so from that day onwards, I started believing in my God. And the last time I heard that inner voice was the end of April. And that inner voice, same thing, in the afternoon, as I was sleeping (this time I wasn’t struggling, just going to sleep). In a dreamy state I just heard Him say, “Help others in hardship.”

It was more like a command, rather than a statement. And that’s when I embarked on this journey, helping others in hardship. And I realised that hardship is not just about being poor. In fact, I think a lot of poor people are probably happier than a lot of us here. They are so easily contented with whatever they have, they’re probably pretty happy.

Hardship can happen to rich people; it can be physical hardship, mental hardship, social, etc. And also over the last few months, I started to understand what this true joy is about. In the past, I substituted true joy with the pursuing of wealth. I thought true joy is about pursuing wealth. Why? Cos let me put it to you this way, in my death bed, I found no joy whatsoever in whatever objects I had – my Ferrari, thinking of the land I was going to buy to build my bungalow etc, having a successful business.

It brought me ZERO comfort, ZERO joy, nothing at all. Do you think I can hold onto this piece of metal and it’s going to give true joy? Nah, it’s not going to happen. 

True joy comes from interaction with other people. And at a lot of times, it is a short term pride, the past. When you pursue your wealth, Chinese New Year is the best time to do it. Drive my Ferrari, show off to my relatives, show off to my friends, do my rounds, and then you thought that was true joy? You really think that those guys who sold you your Ferrari, they share their joy with you? And your relatives, wow, they share this joy with you? In truth, what you have done is just to illicit envy, jealousy, and even hatred. They are not sharing the joy with you, and what I have is that short-term pride that wow, I have something you don’t have! And I thought that was joy!

So what we have is basically a short-term pride at the expense of somebody else. And that wasn’t true joy. And I found no joy at all on my deathbed, thinking of my Ferrari – to hold on to it, sayang it?!?

True joy I discovered comes from interaction. Over the last few months I was so down. Interaction with my loved ones, my friends, my brothers in Christ, my sisters in Christ, and only then was I able to be motivated, able to be uplifted. To share your sorrow, to share your happiness – that’s true joy.

And you know what makes you smile? True joy comes from helping others in hardship, and because I’ve gone through this, I know what hardship entails. In fact, there’re some cancer patients who tell me a lot of times, people come up to them and tell them, “Stay positive. Stay positive.” Yah, right. You come in my shoes and you try to stay positive! You don’t know what you’re talking about!

But I have the licence. So I’ve been going out to meet other fellow cancer patients, to share with them, encourage them. And I know, because I’ve been through it, and it’s easier for me to talk to them.

And most importantly, I think true joy comes from knowing God. Not knowing about God – I mean, you can read the bible and know about God – but knowing God personally; getting a relationship with God. I think that’s the most important. That’s what I’ve learnt.

So if I were to sum it up, I’d say that the earlier we sort out the priorities in our lives, the better it is. Don’t be like me – I had no other way. I had to learn it through the hard way. I had to come back to God to thank Him for this opportunity because I’ve had 3 major accidents in my past – car accidents. You know, these sports car accidents – I was always speeding , but somehow I always came out alive, even with the car almost being overturned. And I wouldn’t have had a chance. Who knows, I don’t know where else I’d be going to! Even though I was baptised it was just a show, but the fact that this has happened, it gave me a chance to come back to God.

6) LESSONS LEARNED

Few things I’d learnt though:

1. Trust in the Lord your God with all your heart – this is so important.

2. Is to love and serve others, not just ourselves.

There is nothing wrong with being rich or wealthy. I think it’s absolutely alright, cos God has blessed. So many people are blessed with good wealth, but the trouble is I think a lot of us can’t handle it. The more we have, the more we want. I’ve gone through it, the deeper the hole we dig, the more we get sucked into it, so much so that we worship wealth and lose focus. Instead of worshipping God, we worship wealth. It’s just a human instinct. It’s just so difficult to get out of it.

We are all professionals, and when we go into private practise, we start to build up our wealth – inevitably. So my thought are, when you start to build up wealth and when the opportunity comes, do remember that all these things don’t belong to us. We don’t really own it nor have rights to this wealth. It’s actually God’s gift to us. Remember that it’s more important to further His Kingdom rather than to further ourselves.

Anyway I think that I’ve gone through it, and I know that wealth without God is empty. It is more important that you fill up the wealth, as you build it up subsequently, as professionals and all, you need to fill it up with the wealth of God.

Quote from "Tuesdays with Morrie."

I think that’s about it. It’s good to share. Thanks.

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Testimony of a Hindu

This is a touching testimony on how God works.  The writer is anonymous.

Article Credit: Challenger, Jul-Sep 2010. CCMUSA.

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The Ways of God in My Hindu Family

One of Eight Siblings

 

For generations my Indian family had followed the Hindu religion. Our home in Singapore had a special room adorned with statues of Hindu gods. I never really wondered why there were so many; I just accepted that there were. My family would go to the holy room twice a day to pray, and on Fridays we would go for prayers at the temples. On Fridays and Tuesdays, we’d eat no meat, only lentils and beans. And on Hindu holidays, we’d celebrate.

Besides being Indian and Hindu, our family was also typically Asian. The thinking was: Do well in school— and the money will come in. Study hard and you’ll become a doctor, an engineer, a teacher. During exam times in school, we’d go to the temple more frequently. Instead of studying more, we’d seek the favor of the gods more. Dad brought the money in for our family of eight children—six boys and two girls. Mom ran the home. If I had to buy a book, I’d go to Mom. If I needed to make a decision, I wouldn’t go to Dad, I’d go to Mom.

A Secret Shared

One day Raj, my elder brother who is two years older than I, told me a secret he had kept for two years—he believed in Jesus Christ. This upset me and I threatened to tell Mom. Then Raj asked if he might tell me about Christ. Curious, and admiring my older brother, I listened. Raj told me things like, there’s a God out there that loves me, that he died for me, and that he has the best interest in his heart for me. And…if I’d believe in Christ, I’d go to heaven. He said something about “sin,” too. These were ideas I had never heard of. But there was something attractive about them—something tantalizing about the whole thing.

From the time I heard these words from Raj, my life was set on a different path. There was Hinduism (which I continued to practice for several years) but now there was this other guy—Jesus. I wanted to check him out. In Hinduism it would be easy to add one more god.

Mom threatened to break my leg if I went to church, and at age 13 that was something I didn’t want to happen. Raj gave me a Living Bible, a translation that was just right for me—easy to read. At home, I would have my regular history book, and then I’d have my Bible hidden inside. I read all the easy-to-follow stories in the Bible. Anything that was difficult to understand I just skipped and kept going. During this time there was nobody monitoring me. It was just me, God, and the Bible…and Hinduism was over there.

Unstoppable Faith

By the time I was 16 or 17, I was leaning more toward Christ. The Bible was appealing. I liked what I was reading. It made sense. About this same time the Navigators (Navs), a Christian organization that emphasizes Bible study and scripture memory, came to Singapore. Raj connected with the Navs, and the Navs offered Bible studies any day of the week, not just on Sunday. For Mom, church was something that happened on Sunday—at a church building. So it was no big deal for her that Raj and I went out on Thursday evenings. She had no idea we were going to a Bible study.

In Singapore, after high school, young men have to do two years of military training. While living in the camp, doing Bible studies in the evenings, I came to know Christ more fully. John 14:6 was the verse that became the turning point for me. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” I realized I needed only Jesus…not Hindu gods and Jesus.

By this time Mom knew that I had come to know Christ, and that several of my other brothers had also prayed to receive Jesus and put their faith in God—mainly a result of Raj. He lived out his faith before those of us who were younger. Mom leaned on him, and he was the one who helped the rest of us achieve good grades in school. A plus point for him was that he was the most brilliant child in the family. Along with brilliance came the feeling my parents had that he was going to make it big and would bring in lots of money. That meant he sort of got a pass when it came to being allowed to go to church. But for the rest of us, Mom was determined to keep us in the Hindu fold. She feared what she saw happening to her children. She went to the Hindu and Buddhist priests to ask their help to get her children back. In desperation she visited a Bomoh—a person who connects with spirits—and pleaded for his help in getting her children back from what she considered the white man’s god. Nothing worked.

The Witness of Serving

After all of us finished our military training, as adults, Mom could not tell us we couldn’t go to church. Slowly, one by one, Mom’s children, who had always been a source of pride, did not go to the temple with her any more. People asked, “Where’s your family?” Her identity as a Hindu with her Indian culture was being threatened. It was like she felt all alone. At this time , God also began to get our attention.

In our home, the custom on Sundays was that Mom and our two sisters would wash the whole house and cook a huge meal for the entire family. Mom was a perfectionist and a great cook, so much so that other Indian women came to her to learn how to make special dishes. She and my sisters worked very hard to put the tastiest food on the table. And we guys, the six of us, would eat first, then sleep in the nice afternoon sun, get up at about 4:00 o’clock for tea time—which again was prepared by Mom and my sisters—before going out to play soccer.

God began to speak to us about how we as His followers were to serve, especially our own family. So we agreed the right thing to do was not to go to church, but instead to help Mom and my sisters with the Sunday meal. We got on our knees and scrubbed the floor, insisted that Mom and my sisters sit and eat with us… and then we did the dishes. Mom was impressed. She said, “Oh, I like this. Who is teaching you all this?”

About once a month Mom would have 30 or 40 people in our home for a Hindu prayer meeting. Mom was working so hard serving 40 meals, preparing the banana leaves, cooking the curry and rice, setting up the tables, cleaning up the whole place. Again God showed us that we could serve. He didn’t ask us to worship the Hindu gods—just to serve. Mom liked what she saw. She really fell in love with the changed lives she saw in all of us.

When my older sister turned 30 and had received no proposals for marriage, Mom thought my sister had absolutely no future. Suitors would come, but when they found out that half the family were believers and the other half were Hindu, they would come back later and say they didn’t want the arrangement. Mom was angry about this and cried a lot about her daughters’ future. Then my sister became a believer, and God brought into our lives a wonderful young man who was just one year older than my sister, who had become a believer from a Hindu background, and was an elder in a church. We brought him to Mom and Dad and they approved my sister’s marriage. At her wedding, she received both Mom and Dad’s blessing.

Ways of Honor

One aspect of witnessing to our parents was just our life. The other one, for Mom, was every once in a while, she would say in a very coarse way, “So, you say Jesus is the way, is that what you’re saying?” We knew she was asking for a conversation. Of course she was using the power and authority as a mother, and we were older at that time and we were able to deal with that kind of approach. We’d say, “Yes, Mom,” and then we’d talk about it. In just natural conversation we dropped information about Jesus.

Once we faced an issue that was critical for our testimony before our parents. Mom had made a vow to carry a Hindu statue in a particular festival for seven years—and my youngest brother was to carry it. The first three years my brother wasn’t a believer, but during the fourth year, he came to know Christ. So what was he to do? Mom was very concerned because she was going to lose face. So we all talked about it and decided my brother should carry the statue as my Mom had promised. We knew the Bible teaches to honor your father and mother, and we acknowledged these festivals were part of our Indian culture. We had Indian Hindu parents, and God had put us in this Indian family. It was a sovereign thing. We were Indian. We enjoyed Indian food. We ate with our hands. It was cultural. So, we honored our Mom, and our brother completed the seven years.

Working Out Her Salvation

Dad actually came to know Christ first, and then it was Mom. For her it was a journey. And it was a beautiful journey. She liked what she saw every time in her children who followed Christ. So the natural thing was belief. A turning point for her was the year she spent in the U.S. living with my youngest brother. It was a hard year for her, but one she really needed. In Singapore she had a big network of friends. Being a warm, friendly person who loved to cook and invite people over, she was known by lots of people. The year in the States gave her time to ponder all she had witnessed and heard and experienced. She spent the year reading her Tamil Bible and seeking God in prayer. She had to figure out how to deal with being a believer in Christ when she got back to Singapore. It was a window of time that she needed.

Her first step of faith was wrapping up her Hindu statues and putting them in the cupboard—out of sight, she said. Then four years later, she asked us to help her throw them away. Before she died a stroke in 2006, I had the joy of visiting her in Singapore. One day as I took Mom out in her wheelchair for a stroll in the park, two Indian ladies began waving at us from a distance. So we went over, and one lady looked at me and said, “You must be a son.” Then she said something I will always cherish, “Your mother always encourages us to study the scriptures. Every time we have Bible study, your mom is the one to call everyone and say we need to come.” How happy I was to know that as a follower of Jesus, Mom had developed a community among believers that she could identify with—a community within her Indian culture that was like her, that she could be comfortable with.

The Journey

God places us in families, not just physical families but also in families of faith. All my brothers except one and both my sisters are in this family of faith. The brother who is not yet a Christian says a lot of good things about Jesus, but he is still on the journey. For all of us, the ways of God put us on a journey. And the journey is always beautiful.

(The author is a grateful member of the family of faith who spreads the love and light of Jesus everywhere he goes. Though his name has been omitted to preserve his privacy, the accuracy of the details of his story has been maintained.)

From: http://ccmusa.org/read/read.aspx?id=CHG20100301

Testimony of Afshin Javid (pastor of Vancouver Christian Fellowship)

** UPDATE: 6 Jan 2012 **
Due to a recent turn of events surrounding Afshin Javid's personal life last year, readers are advised that Afshin is no longer a pastor at VCF. You can follow the details at the comments column down below. This particular blog posting may possibly be removed at a future date depending on the availability of further information.


YAPDATES

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This is another powerful testimony of a man who came to Jesus. It was first published in CanadianChristianity.com and all credits go there. Afshin Javid is currently a pastor of Vancouver Christian Fellowship in North Vancouver.

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An Iranian Muslim encounters the living Word
By Afshin Javid

Afshin Javid in Iran, age 14

I WAS BORN into a Shiite Muslim family in Iran. At age 12, I began to fulfill my duties toward Allah: praying, fasting and reading his book every day, doing all I could to make him happy. In my teens, I joined the Hezbollah militant group; three years later, I had to leave Iran.
At age 17, I was in Malaysia; I was arrested for possession of 30 illegal passports, and imprisoned. My Sunni Muslim captors asked me to teach the Koran, and to lead the mosque in the prison.


Jinns
In the Koran, it is believed that there are good and bad jinns, or genies ­ and that it is not taboo to use their powers. I had gained powers from these spiritual forces; and one day, while I was reading the Koran in my jail cell, a dark spirit appeared that was more powerful than I could handle. I tried sending it away or fighting it, but I had no strength.


I read the scriptures and called the Shahada, the statement of faith, but nothing helped. I cried out: "God, would you help me?" ­ and I heard a voice saying, "Bring the name of Jesus." I felt like I was drowning; without thinking, I said "Jesus, if you are true, help me!" Before I finished, everything was back to normal.


That was not the point of my conversion ­ rather, the point of my confusion. I wondered: why would Jesus Christ help me, when I believed in Muhammad? That question ate at me, until I couldn't stand it anymore.


I knew the problem could not lay with me, because I believed Islam so deeply that I was willing to kill for it. I prayed and fasted for two weeks, and asked the same question again and again. I said to God: "I want to know if there is one way to you, or many different ways. I want to know the way you have called me to."


After two weeks without an answer, I was upset and decided God didn't exist ­ and if he did, he couldn't hold me responsible at the Day of Judgment, because I had asked about him and he didn't respond. I told him that, from then on, I would follow my own desires. It felt as if I'd drawn a line for God on the ground.


Forgiveness
It was then that the cell was filled with his presence. Simultaneously, I felt all the weight of my sins ­ and how I deserved to die. I cried out: "Forgive me!" I repeated that again and again, until I felt a touch on my shoulder ­ and a voice said, "I forgive you." At that very moment I felt forgiven; and the burden of my sins was lifted off my shoulders.


In Islam, we are never sure of our forgiveness in the present; we must wait until the Day of Judgment to know if we have been forgiven. I asked: "Who are you, that you forgive me ­ and I feel forgiven at this very moment?" He said, "I am the way, the truth and the life."


I asked, "What does that mean? What is your name?" He said, "I am Jesus Christ, the living God"; and the moment he spoke those words, I fell on the floor as though I had no bones in my body. Tears flew from my eyes. All my emotions ran through me at once ­ I had lost total control.


I was sad and happy; I was angry, yet joyful. Sad because I had been away from the house I belonged to; joyful to know where I belonged ­ to have the knowledge of truth. I was angry that they had lied to me, and I had wasted so many years trying to please a god you can never be sure of.


I cried at his feet. Two hours passed, until he said "Afshin, look up." I saw images of people from all over the world; I could see their sins, and was overwhelmed. I said, "Lord, I live amongst all these sinners." And he said, "Afshin, how easily did I forgive you?" I said "Very easy, Lord." He replied, "I can forgive them as easily ­ but who is going to tell them?"


Go tell them


I said, "Me, Lord ­ I will go, I will tell them." He said, "Go, tell them; I'll be with you." I ran from the cell, while the Lord stood there.


I told some of the other prisoners how I had become a Christian. But it didn't go as I'd hoped; Malaysia was still a Muslim country. Some accused me of having gone mad; some called me an infidel. But the Lord's presence protected me.


I told people stories of how Jesus had done many miracles; but after awhile, I asked myself: "How do you know these stories are true?" I decided that, if I told stories for the glory of God, it didn't matter if they weren't true.


But then I felt rebuked. I felt him say, "I am the God of all truth; I don't need lies to be glorified." I said, "I don't know where these stories come from, I just tell them as they come to mind. Would you send me a Bible? I will read that, and I will tell it according to the stories that are written."


The next day, a fellow prisoner approached me, looking at me in a strange way. I knew he was a convicted murderer ­ and I stood ready to fight, filled with anger. He looked me straight in the eyes, and said: "This is for you, this is what you asked for," and handed me a book. Nothing was written on the cover, but I knew what it was.


The wrong Bible


I snatched the Bible from his hand, ran to my cell and held it close. I cried, kissed the book and said, "Thank you God, you're so great. I prayed, and you gave me what I prayed for." I thought, "This God is so almighty, he's so prompt to answer the prayers of his people."
When I opened the book, I realized that God had made a mistake ­ he had sent me the wrong Bible! It was written in a language I couldn't read. I said "God, thank you for sending me this Bible, but I cannot read this." I felt him say, "Read it." I said, "You know I cannot."


I was prompted in my heart: "Read." And I said, "I cannot. I'll wait, and tomorrow you'll have someone send me a Farsi one." He said, "Read this book now."


I knew I had to show God I couldn't read it, to get him to provide me with the Farsi Bible. So I ran my eyes over the words, expecting God to notice that I understood none of them; but then I found myself actually reading ­ and understanding every word!


I found someone who could read and understand the words, and told him what I thought it said. He asked how I understood English. I replied, "Is that the language that I understand?" So, now I could read and understand English; yet when I tried to read an English newspaper, I couldn't. I picked up the Bible again ­ and I could read and understand.


How was that possible? The Lord said to me: "You asked to read the Bible, not the newspaper." I was amazed; for when I read the Bible, every story I had told about Jesus Christ was there ­ in the exact same details.


The living Word


As written in the Revelation, the whole world will pass away ­ but not one word of this Book will perish. Muslims were told that the Bible had been altered, and I'd never considered how foolish it is to believe a human could change the words of the living God. The Lord had proven to me that was his living Word.


People say how great it is that I have seen the Lord; but I respond with Jesus' words: "Blessed are you who have not seen, and yet believe." I am a man of little faith. God in his mercy and grace chose me according to his will, to show himself to me for his purposes. I am the least of all, the chief of all sinners ­ and for that reason, God has chosen me to bear one message: that he is able to forgive all sinners as he has forgiven me. As Christians, we must realize the weight of responsibility of this message that is upon our shoulders.


The Lord Jesus said: "You are the light of the world, you are the salt of the earth." I ask myself always: "If I am the light and people are not coming from out of darkness to the light, how bright is my light? If I am the salt of the earth and the whole earth is rotting away, how salty am I? Am I good to be trampled upon, or preserved?


I ask the Lord for help and say, "No more am I satisfied with a mediocre Christian life. I want to see your kingdom come, your will be done. I want to see your name be hallowed in the life of many, and to witness for you according to your purposes."


May God's grace, mercy and love guard your heart. May his word burn like fire within your bones, so that you would not be able to keep quiet. May today be the day that you make a new covenant with the Lord, and say: "Have me all, have me all."


Afshin Javid is a pastor at Vancouver Christian Fellowship.

Testimony: Malaysia's Francis Yeoh

This testimony is published earlier in the Asian Beacon.  Thanks to a friend who shared this with me. It can also be read here. While I am not exactly keen on Christians trying to muscle their way into high profile commercial presence, I believe that God does at times use His people to influence the world according to their gifts and talents. Read this testimony and be encouraged.

conrade

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Compelled by God’s Love

Asian Beacon, Feb-Mar 2010 Starhill Gallery in Kuala Lumpur prides itself as the centre of luxury retailing-home to prestigious (and pricey) brands such as Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Jaeger La-Coultre, Armani and Van Cleef & Arpels, just to name a few. So it may surprise you, as you browse through the exclusive offerings in this posh mall, to come across a Christian bookstore. Glad Sounds Bookstore opened its 12th outlet on the Explore Floor of Starhill Gallery last December, selling its books, Bibles, CDs and DVDs on very prime real estate. This sounds unusual because we're so used to Christian bookstores tucked away in obscure comers of shopping centres. Such was the experience of one Malaysian businessman, who decided to do something about that. "When I want to go to a bookshop in Singapore, I go to Suntec City," says Tan Sri Francis Yeoh. "The Christian bookshop there is very popular. But it's next to a toilet, and it always puzzles me how the Christians are always relegated to spaces right at the wrong ends-the smelly ends. Can't they afford a prime space in any shopping centre?" He lamented the price of progress. When, several years ago, a church had to move from Wall Street, the newspaper headlines screamed, "Even God cannot afford Wall Street." This burdened Yeoh, 56, so much that he earmarked valuable retail space in his shopping mall for the express purpose of opening a Christian bookstore and searched for the right people to run it. After two months of meetings and prayer, Starhill Gallery welcomed Glad Sounds as its newest tenant. "It's truly a miracle in God's wonderful plan," Yeoh tells Asian Beacon in an exclusive interview. "This is a mighty big event. Glad Sounds is now in Starhill with all the Louis Vuittons of this earth. And why not?" The Morning Star and Calvary's Hill Why not? Well, one might ask, "Why would something as seemingly trivial as a Christian bookstore be high on the priority list for a tycoon who heads a RM33 billion business empire?" It doesn't make much business sense, but then again, Tan Sri Francis Yeoh is not your typical businessman. Besides his tremendous corporate success and passion for arts, culture and the finer things in life, the other much-touted fact about Yeoh- one that probably sets him apart-is his unapologetic, unwavering faith in God. It's hard not to find him mentioning God when he is being interviewed, be it by The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal. Recently, Yeoh unabashedly declared in The Star, "Without my Lord, I am nothing!" and "My personal goal is always to walk in the footsteps of God." Yeoh is renowned for his contrarian investment approach, embarking on buying sprees while others are shying away. In the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis, he swooped down on 98 acres of Bukit Bintang prime real estate, including Starhill, Lot 10 and JW Marriott, for a song, and transformed it into a luxury and lifestyle destination. Unknown to many, Yeoh had dedicated the entire stretch to God when he took stewardship of those properties a decade ago. "People often forget the meaning behind Starhill," he says. "Jesus is the Morning Star, and the hill is the Hill of Calvary." Thus, it seems very apt for a Christian bookstore, promoting God's word, to be sited in Starhill Gallery. Yeoh had also allocated space on the same floor for Shalom Cafe, which complements the bookstore and allows book lovers to lounge in. Yeoh, an avid reader, opines that many Christians are not well read and that reading is a way of loving the Lord with our mind. He is frustrated that the devil seems to know more Scripture than most Christians. Through Glad Sounds' literature ministry, believers can arm themselves with the sword, God's Word. "God's love is not quacky," says Yeoh, who recommends books by CS Lewis and Lee Strobel. The latter wrote The Case for a Creator. “A well-read Christian would be able to intelligently defend the truth. It's a big mistake for Christians to cop-out!" The Turning Point The YTL Group bears the initials of Yeoh's father, Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay, who had set up a small construction company in 1955. Big brother Yeoh and his six siblings grew up at construction sites and started supervising projects in their teenage years. The family business was badly hit during the 1970s oil crisis. Yeoh, then 16, wanted to drop out of school to help his father but the offer was declined. Much burdened, Yeoh wandered around Kuala Lumpur and stumbled into the Kuala Lumpur Baptist Church, located along Cangkat Bukit Bintang. "On that Friday, I vowed that I would dedicate my life to the God who could help me, whichever that was," says Yeoh. The pastor, to whom he had poured out his woes, comforted him by telling him that his problem would be gone by Monday. "True enough, my problem miraculously vanished on Monday! I believe Jesus directed me towards Him and found me worthy to be His servant." Yeoh went on to study engineering in the UK and returned to take the helm of the company at age 24, growing it into the conglomerate it is today. Jesus Will Pay the Bill The YTL Group grabbed international attention in 2002 when it beat a consortium of major contenders in the bid for the UK utility company, Wessex Water. To celebrate the company's first major foray into the international energy industry, Yeoh decided to throw a free concert in 2003 in Bath, England. He invited his good friend Luciano Pavarotti to sing. The tenor's only available date was August 7; unfortunately, August was also the wettest month, and there were concerns that the open-air concert would be a wash-out. Yeoh, however, believed that the Lord would not rain on His own parade; he decided to up the ante by getting Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras to team up as "The Three Tenors" at a cost of 1 million pounds per singer. The Yeoh 'Cabinet', comprising Yeoh's father and siblings, baulked at the expense and the need for three tenors. Finally, Yeoh said, "Don't worry, Jesus will pay the bill." As it turned out, August 2003 was the hottest and driest month in Bath's history! The concert was a success. On top of that, the heat drove residents to use extra water, and Wessex's profits shot up by 3 million pounds-the exact cost of the concert! "My faith was proven right. Jesus did pay the bill," Yeoh recounts. From Royalty to Fishermen Yeoh, who has rubbed shoulders with prime ministers, royalty and other high-profile VIPs, doesn't hesitate to share his faith with them. "Jesus Christ is the coolest God; we need to articulate God's love to everyone!" he says. He doesn't delve into theology as he believes the key to reach hard hearts is to share God's love. "Melt the stone with God's love." Yeoh recalls his burden, many years ago, for the fishermen in Pangkor Island. His staff had shared the Good News with them but with little success. Subsequently, God told Yeoh to speak to them directly. In obedience, he befriended the fishermen, speaking in his own Hokkien dialect; soon they were won over by his love for them. "There were also wonderful testimonies from Ah Longs and gangsters," Yeoh adds. "The Methodist Church in Pangkor started 20 years ago with only 5 "persons" – the pastor and his wife, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit," Yeoh quips. "But today, it has a 300-strong congregation. God's business is to multiply!" Having fulfilled his desire to open a Christian bookstore, what other plans does Yeoh have up his sleeves? " I don't want to talk about my future plans," says Yeoh. "I'm just a 'midwife'." Well, it'll definitely be interesting to see what more God can do through such a willing instrument. Glad Sounds Bookstore and Shalom Cafe are located at Lot F25 6- F42, Explore Floor, Starhill Gallery, 181 Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur.

Amazing Feet

This is another amazing video of how a person overcomes her handicap state by doubling up her available limbs. Watch this video and like me, be humbled.



Let those with hands, be faithful with them. Let those without, be faithful with whatever they have.

ks

Miracle of Sarah (short film)

This well-made short film (made by Skylight Productions) brings to life the powerful testimony of the Lyn family from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Malaysia. It occurred on 26th August 2002 where the family confronted tragedy directly in the face. The parents, Andrew and Nancy Lyn then were about to lose their daughter, Sarah. . . until a miracle happens. In a day or two, it will be the 7th year since the turbulent days in 2002. Yet, the declaration of the Lord's faithfulness continues to grow and shine. What should we make of miracles like this? I shall do some reflections later in the week. Until then, enjoy the video below, and be warmed at how the story is told from a perspective of a grateful heart.

Part 1 of 2 (link)


Part 2 of 2 (link)

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LINKS

• Youtube video Part 1; Part 2.
  
• Read their testimony here.
• You can also download it here.
  

Blessed be the Name of the LORD.

ks