By Sally Ooi

I am very grateful to God for His grace and mercy upon my life.
I gave my life to Jesus in 1997 and ever since then, I had been praying for the salvation of my family members. Praise God that my son accepted Christ in the year 2001.
The latest answer to my prayer is for my daughter and her family. It had never been easy sharing the gospel with her. Firstly, her in-laws are idol worshippers and her husband being a filial son followed the family tradition of ancestral worship. Secondly, my daughter stays in Singapore - so distance also hampered my efforts. But whenever I sense a need, I will ask her if I can pray for her and most of the time, she obliges.

Deep within my heart, I know that God loves her and her family and will surely open a way for them to come to Him. True enough, God finally allowed something to happen in her family which provided me the opportunity to share with them about God’s love, about the enemy who has come to steal, kill and destroy individuals, families and all of God’s creation and finally, I went straight to the point and told them that Jesus is the only way to overcome many of our problems. Not too long after that, through our phone conversations, I found out that she has started taking her kids with her to church on Sundays. Apparently, one of her close friends is a believer and had consistently encouraged her to go to church. Her husband initially was quite reluctant to attend church with them but lately, he has started to accompany them whenever he is not working.

Recently, the family came to visit and I was overwhelmed with what God has been doing in their lives. I saw how the spirit of unity knitted the family together as they washed and polished the cars, both theirs and mine. And the thing that touched my heart most was the kids volunteering to say grace at meal times! Most times, I noticed that children are shy to pray, even adults but I truly thank God for what He has done in my daughter’s family. Now, I am praying that her in-laws too will know God through them.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY! 

 By Philip Chew  (December 2009)

Sometime early this year, I was going through a period of exceptional low life. There was no joy and not much direction nor purpose. Day became dreadful and night brings no relief and peace. I began to feel emptiness. Work wasn't good and problems of all kinds aplenty. Finances were just manageable at best. On top of all these, I was experiencing so much health problems and I used to have fear thinking and worrying. Week after week, I was drifting and becoming desperate, going through very trying times. Most days, I would just be alone and couldn't tolerate being with others.

Soon it was getting more uncomfortable by the day. I have never attended church nor have I read the Bible. I didn't know who Jesus is and what the Christian faith was all about. I was unhappy and have a feeling of something missing, like a void. Previously I have imagined about church and church going, on a few occasions and it frightened me. It has always been a big 'no-no'. I didn't know the 'how to', 'where to' and had seemingly endless discomforting thoughts. However, I do confess that I have once cried out 'blindly' to the Lord for mercy while in the emergency room at the hospital. It was two years ago. I was discharged in good health and promptly and conveniently forgotten all that I have said to this God whom I didn't even know at that time.

One day, while sitting in the car and quite directionless, I began suddenly to talk to God about a few things specifically. It wasn't planned and words just flowed. I began by saying 'Lord, teach me how to come to you'. I went on to say, I wish to be healthy and be able to solve some problems and that I want to be good and to do good. That was all I said. I had a yearning for something, someone to help me but just couldn't figure out who and how to. I was a little emotional as I talked to this invisible God. It was kind of 'just try' and 'nothing to lose'. No guarantee but also no charge!

BANG!...Merely days later, I received a sms from my sister in law, Ms Lorna, inviting me to come over to the church for an evening with an invited speaker. When I got her message, I know it was the work of God. It was an answered prayer. I just went. I felt I was led there all the way by powerful, unseen hand. I felt good, joy even.

Perhaps to ease my journey to be with the Lord, the speaker that night turned out to be someone I have met close to ten years ago. When he finished, he invited all those who are willing to receive Jesus to come to the front, I was the first there! I felt so at ease, so good, without any fear or uncertainties whatsoever. It was truly enjoyable and happy. I also felt calm and peace. I was lightened, relieved, safe and secure. I began to attend Sunday church service hereon and regularly too. Weeks later, I also started attending cell meetings, Bible class, prayer meetings and helping out at the street ministry. I also began to yearn for anything that I can learn and also to help out in whatever ways and means that I am able to. I began to pray daily too.

My life began to change from this point. I was able to overcome drastically my problems of anger, 'short fuse' and rebellion. Whatever I still couldn't manage, I have now learned to know how to walk away and not pick a fight. Finances improved by leaps and bounds. Work poured in, profits made. The desire to reach out to help became very strong. My health improved so much. I became very positive and much more patient. My yearning for God strengthened and increased. I was baptised on 16th August 2009 - three months from that night at the church.

I have been suffering from gallstones for three years. During a routine check up this September, the doctor surprised me by telling me that I have no more stones! Praise the Lord. My prayers for loved ones were answered too! Amazing Lord!

Even as a young Christian, the mighty Lord has taken care of me unfailingly and lovingly. I feel His guidance, His care and in many other areas. I feel His presence, constantly helping me to improve myself and to encourage me. Difficulties that I cannot overcome in more than twenty years can suddenly come true almost effortlessly. I only needed to pray and to have faith in Him. I only needed to be true and have trust in Him. I also needed only to yearn and desire to be good and He will embrace me.

If I am His hard won trophy, He is truly my mighty Lord, my God!

by Pastor Reuben 18 October 2009 

I thank God and praise Him for this day. For this is the day when 20 Myanmar brothers and sisters went through the waters of baptism. Indeed it is truly a wonderful day for me and my family, the Myanmar community as well as RLS. I consider it a day of triple blessings for me. It was the first time for me to baptize the Burmese people and it was a first for me to also perform a baptism by immersion. As a pastor of a Presbyterian church in Myanmar, baptism was done by sprinkling only. Third blessing - I prayed that God will give me 10 Burmese new believers in 2009 but He gave me 14 people! What a wonderful God we serve!

As we sang the song “O Happy Day”, the Lord touched me and my tears just flowed out of control for almost half an hour. God is GOOD. He is faithful and He has done wonderful things in our lives. Hallelujah! 

 By Aw Siok Kim (Sept 2009)

Things began to move very fast since early this year after I have prayed to God to teach me and guide me to Him. This is something which I have promised I will do (coming to God) during a time of sickness and suffering when I have asked God’s mercy. 

By Michelle Low (Sept 2009) 

I also want to praise God for healing me of gastric pains which I suffered from for the past few years ……Praise the Lord!   

 From  Nepalese Ministry (June 2009) 

 My name is Som Pariyar.  I have been working in Malaysia for 7 years in a garment factory in Kepong.  I came from a Hindu family.  My wife, 2 sons and a daughter are in Nepal. When I came to Malaysia, I was very sick, fearful and insecured in my life.  Sometimes when I sleep I would get an attack from demons in the middle of the night.  Then I would wake up my room-mate who is also my friend.  His advice was not to worry so much, just enjoy drinking and forget about everybody i.e. my family.  I foolishly listened to him and drank quite often, wasting my money on alcohol. 

One day, I got to know someone living next room who is a Christian.  I joined him one day for a Christian fellowship in River of Life Sanctuary and for the first time I heard about Jesus.  I wanted desperately to be set free from this attack and wondered who this God is.  I was curious about Jesus so I asked a lot of questions.  I did not understand the way they praise and worship God.  But 2 weeks later I received a touch from God after the message and I received Jesus into my life. 

Shortly after this I no longer needed to drink alcohol. I begin to attend the Nepalese church service regularly in RLS and learn more of His Word. I was finally set free from demonic attacks at night.  I was then baptized on 23rd November 2008.  My room-mate also accepted and was baptized the same time as me.

All glory and praise to our God!

 By Chan Wai Cheng (Nov 2008)

Acts 16:31 says "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."

This scripture has been our prayer for a long time, ever since we accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. It is never easy to witness and share the Good News with family members. Sharing with our parents is the hardest of all, especially if they are steeped in ancestral worship. They also feel that they know more than you and of course there were many other outside influences. It has been like that with my mother-in-law. Though she did not object to Raymond and I becoming Christians, she stuck to ancestral worship and other idols. We could do nothing but only persisted in prayers.

The breakthrough came 5 years ago when mother-in-law was 89 years old. She agreed to come and stay with us permanently without her altars. We had specifically told her that no altars can be set up in our home. This is a miracle in itself as she could have chosen to stay with her other sons.

I thank God that I have always had a good relationship with my mother-in-law. We are able to communicate and I shared the Gospel with her many times even using object lessons from children's ministry! Soon she was comfortable enough to sit through our care group meetings even though she doesn't understand English. She especially loves the worship.

One day, she told me that she dreamt of Jesus. I was excited and asked her if Jesus spoke to her in the dream. She said that Jesus did not say anything . He stood at her bedside and smiled at her. She described Him as having shoulder length hair and wearing a long white robe. When I asked her how did she know that it was Jesus since he did not speak? She insisted that she knows it in her heart and that she felt great peace. In Joel 2:28b, it does say that old man shall dream dreams.. I asked her then if she would accept Jesus and she agreed. I then lead her through the sinner's prayer.
Shortly after that, she had a fall and fractured 5 ribs. She was hospitalized for 8 days. During this time, she publicly acknowledged Jesus as her Lord and Saviour in the presence of six other family members. Praise be to God.

Baptism is a commandment of God. Therefore, we constantly reminded her to make the commitment to obey God. To our greatest joy, my mother-in-law was baptized on 11th October 2008. She is 94 years old.

Let me close with this scripture from Galatians 6:9 . And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Our God is faithful to all His promises. In His time, all things are made beautiful.  

 By Doreen Lim (September 2008)

In May, I invited my mother-in-law to the combined Church Camp in Port Dickson. She was not a Christian and had been praying to idols for many decades. My family and I had hoped that the camp will "open" her heart to the Lord's Word as we prayed for her salvation.

On Thursday, (first day of camp), Pastor Rajan spoke about "Praying & Fasting". I had been praying for my mother-in-law's salvation BUT I had never tried fasting. I felt the Holy Spirit prompted me that I should fast and so I decided to fast by giving up two breakfasts (on Friday and Saturday) at the camp. On the very same day, my mother-in-law's room-mate, sis. Mary Kok told me that she had a long chat with her and said her heart was open to the Lord but she was afraid to commit her heart to Jesus. She gave excuses that she must first ask and discuss with her husband about it. That night before I went to bed, I sms my husband to pray and also to ask his father whether he objected to his wife becoming a Christian.

The following morning I woke up and was thinking of eating the buffet breakfast at the hotel. I reached out for the envelope containing the breakfast coupons. I knew I should have six coupons but when I poured out the contents of the envelope, only five coupons fell out. Thinking that one coupon was probably stuck inside the envelope I peeped inside but it was empty! At first, I was puzzled but suddenly I realized that it was a confirmation sign that I must obey God and "honour" my promise to fast. At that moment I knew I will abide in God's will and have faith that my mother-in-law will accept Jesus at the Camp. Later when I took out the coupons from the envelope for my daughter, there were six coupons! (There is no explanation why there were six coupons except for the conviction that God reminded me I must have faith through fasting). Praise God!!

That morning I also received an sms from my husband saying that my father-in-law had no objection to his wife becoming a Christian.

God is so good - my mother-in-law experienced "healing" at the Camp. She suffered from pain in her legs. On the last day of Camp when Pastor Rajan extended an altar call to all those who had received healing or wanted deliverance, sis. Mary accompanied my mother-in-law to the front. Pastor Rajan asked everyone who came forward to share about their healing but when he came to my mother-in-law, he asked her "Have you received Jesus?" Her reply was "No". He then asked if she wanted to accept Jesus and she answered "yes". Hallelujah! Praise God! She was then led through the salvation prayer.

I was truly overwhelmed and tears of joy flowed down my cheeks. Yes, when we abide in God's will He answers prayer. My trust and faith in the Lord God was deepened as God shows that He is indeed a faithful God! He keeps His promise that when one member of the family is saved, the whole family will ultimately be saved too.

Nepalese Ministry ( 2008) 
Ps. Phurka met a Brahmin priest and shared the gospel with him. He was touched by the Lord and immediately asked for a Bible. He then started to search the Bible and attended church regularly. Now he has given his life to Jesus and all glory to God for this precious soul.  

Ladies' Fellowship (LAMPS)
  Sis. Wai Cheng and sis. Tanny Tee related how, because they obeyed God to witness to their brother in law and uncle respectively, both accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour before passing away. God is indeed a loving, merciful and compassionate God. He sustained our loved ones till they come into the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ! All glory and honour to Him!  

By Lorna Chew (March 2008) 

This is a testimony of how God miraculously touched my mother-in-law's heart to accept our Lord Jesus recently. My mother-in-law, Lucy Aw, is 77 years old and lives in Ipoh with her youngest son, Ah Choong. She is very devoted to her Kuan Yin and had been worshiping the idol since she was 16. In the past, I have shared the Gospel with her a few times but she always claimed that all gods were the same and that she had been worshiping Kuan Yin so long it was impossible for her to abandon it. Anyway I told her to test my God and reminded her to call out the name of Jesus when she was in any difficulty. My mother-in-law usually had nightmares during the "hungry ghosts" festival. Several years ago one night, she dreamt she was being strangled by a demon. She told me that when she shouted for Jesus, demon fled. She awoke in cold sweat full of fear. Despite this, she was still very adamant not to accept Jesus.
Some time in mid-December 2007, my husband (Robin) received a call that my mother-in-law was in great pain. Later on she described the pain as so intense that she wanted to stab herself with a knife. I sms-ed a few church members to uphold her in prayer. Some tests and a biopsy were done on her. Two weeks later we were informed that she has cancer in her rectum and that the cancer has spread to her lymph nodes and kidney. As at the date of the writing of this testimony, my mother-in-law is still not aware that she has stage 4 cancer and has 6 to 12 months to live. She was only told she has cancer. My mother-in-law has always been fearful of death and has many fears. 

On January 9, 2008 she underwent a surgery to remove the cancerous tumor in her rectum. After about a week in hospital, she was discharged and is now recuperating at home. A small incision was made on her abdomen to temporary discharge her faece to allow her rectum to heal properly. Since her surgery, Robin and I have been visiting her each Saturday. Each week we see her growing thinner and thinner. There was an urgency to share the Gospel as we did not want her to perish in hell. RLS was regularly praying for her salvation. Helen, my sister-in-law, a Christian, has also been praying and spending time with her. 

During our visit on January 26 this year, Robin and I went with readiness to share the Gospel. RLS was upholding us in prayer. Shared we did but it was futile. She emphasized it was impossible for her to leave her Kuan Yin. We decided not to press further lest we upset her and would no longer be welcome.  

Two weeks later (February 9), it was the third day of Chinese New Year. We went to celebrate with her without any intention of sharing the Gospel in case we would spoil her Chinese New Year. However, in the midst of our chat, Robin began to tell her that some of us would still be seeing each other again in heaven as we are in the Lord, etc and etc. This time my mother-in-law was strangely open compared to her negative attitude two weeks earlier. I sensed the Holy Spirit was stirring her heart. I took advantage of this opportunity to share as much as I could. I shared the love and faithfulness of our God.

During the chat that afternoon, she reminded us of the dream she had when she awoke from surgery. She was in a place full of gemstones. She saw herself delightfully scooping and playing with them and she heard children laughing. Then did she learn from us that the hospital she was in was a Catholic-run private hospital and that perhaps Jesus gave her a glimpse of heaven. I described how beautiful heaven is as testified by those who have been there; houses, roads and flowers made of gold, silver and precious stones of many colors. I believe she was surprised and touched that God would give her such a dream because she later on said, "I believe Jesus will accept me." I replied, "Jesus has already accepted you. The question is whether you are ready and willing to accept Him." With that, she asked to be given time.  

Few days later (February 12), she called Robin saying she will (send her Kuan Yin back) after her incision is surgically closed which would be done at a later date. My husband then explained that Christians do not simply throw away idols but have proper procedures done with prayers to remove altars and nullify all vows she has made to Kuan Yin and severe ties with it and she would be protected under her new relationship with Jesus. This relieved her fears of being haunted by Kuan Yin. She was then willing to accept Jesus and eager to have her altar removed. 

Next evening (February 13), she related to Robin what happened to her minutes earlier. For years, my mother-in-law has been sleeping with her bedroom light on. The light in the hall would also be on. She was sleeping and awoke at 7.45 pm to find herself in darkness. She got up, gripped with fear. Then she remembered what we have told her - there is power in the name and blood of Jesus and how Christians exercise their authority to drive out unclean spirits. So she simply spoke in faith that she is a child of God and declared the blood of Jesus over her and commanded the spirits to go and stop disturbing her. Immediately fear left her and she was amazed that she was no longer fearful! Praise the Lord! 

The following Saturday (February 16) she told us that she had stopped worshiping Kuan Yin for the past week. She was very convicted to receive Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior. She quickly agreed to water baptism after we explained the significance of it to her. She even asked us what she ought to do with the "fu" (talismans) and occultic items in her possession. She said she would not hesitate to give them up to be destroyed. I have never mentioned these things to her before as I thought I would only do so gradually. I was also stunned when I learned that she actually asked Helen to buy her a Bible as she would like to begin reading. This is the amazing work of the Holy Spirit! 

On February 23, David Ten (RLS Chinese Church) led her through the sinner's prayer in Cantonese. The moment David spoke, she was touched and could not hold her tears. David's family, Elsie Chow, Helen, Ah Chung (not yet a believer), Mala (home nurse, non-believer), Robin and I witnessed this awesome day of my mother-in-law's salvation, water baptism and house-cleansing. Finally David conducted the Holy Communion after spending a short time explaining to her.

My mother-in-law's desire now is for the rest of her children to come to the Lord. All glory and honour to God because only He can give her a new heart and put a new spirit within her. Only He is able to take the heart of stone out of her and give her a heart of flesh (Eze 36:26). I want to thank everyone for helping to pray for God's intervention.

 P.S. My husband was saved last year and my mother-in-law this year. Both their names are on the Salvation Wall in the RLS Main Sanctuary. 

 My Late Father's Salvation by Chan Wai Cheng (2007)   

I came back to Malaysia because of my family. They were all non-believers. I felt that God wanted Raymond and I to come back here to hear witness to our unbelieving families. So I have share the gospel of Jesus Christ with my parents for the last 11 years. Yet my father never really said that he accepts Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He only always tells me that he knows Jesus is good.

On 29th Aug 2007, my father had a stroke and became paralysed and was semi-conscious. When I saw his condition, I knew in my spirit that we were going to lose him. I spent much time beside him at the hospital and felt so compelled to again tell him to receive Jesus and hold on to the hand of Jesus. Sometimes he seemed to acknowledge me and sometimes not. One and a half days later, he suffered another stroke that put him in a complete coma. The doctors told us that his system was shutting down and we are to be prepared. Still, I continued to talk to him and told him to receive Jesus. I told him to go with Jesus and not to worry about mum or us. He passed away on 2nd Sept without gaining consciousness. My heart was so sad and even more so when well meaning friends started to sms me and asked me if dad accepted Jesus. I could not answer them.

We made preparations to bring the body home for the funeral. My only brother wanted Taoist funeral rites as that was his way of showing his filial love for our dad. I did not object as both my sisters are also non-believers.

That afternoon, both Ray and I were sitting in the hall. As Ray looked into my parent's bedroom, the pillows caught his eye. He asked me how come my parents have those pillowcases. Though I had been sleeping in y father's bed the night before, I did not notice anything about them. On each of the pillowcase, there is a big single heart. Inside the heart was a cross and inside the cross were the words "Jesus Loves Me". Below the heart were the words "God Bless You". The peace of God just flooded my heart when I reflected on those words. It was God's confirmation to me that dad is now with the Lord in heaven. My mother made those pillowcases for him a few months back from scrap materials given to her 5 years ago. By the way, she doesn't know the English language. I am restored as I know my labour is not in vain.

May this testimony spur us all to continue to witness to our loved ones however difficult the situation may be. With God, all things are possible.

Let me take this opportunity to thank all of you beloved brothers and sisters in Christ praying with me, supporting and encouraging me during the time of bereavement. God bless you all.

 Print Friendly