SALVATION TESTIMONIES

God Has His Plan for Me

I grew up in a Taoist family and since young, followed my parents to pray at temples to many idols. Although I went to a Methodist school, I didn’t believe much of what was said about Jesus during the morning devotions and always used logic or scientific explanations to justify my unbelief. However, in all truth, I guess I always knew there was God. I just refused to believe in Him, and wanted to be the master of my own life. My sinful ways only got worse, especially in army where I was drinking and partying a lot. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life were then controlling my every action, but somehow, even with all the action going on in my life, I wasn’t a happy person and was always feeling unsatisfied, always wanting more. However, my life began to change when I was in London, doing my university degree. I woke up one morning at 4.30 am to almost 30 missed calls from my father. My mom was sent to the hospital due to an acute pancreatitis attack. I rushed to book the first flight home. By the grace of God, after a month at the hospital, she was discharged and after an operation to remove the gall bladder and gall stones (the cause of the pancreatitis) is now much better. But, throughout that month, I somehow did something I hadn’t done in years. I prayed.

When I returned to London, I followed my friend to church and as I listened to the sermons, my previous feelings of suspicion and scepticism were gone and replaced with guilt from every rebuke. Back in Singapore, as I continued attending church, I felt as though there was still something holding me back. I felt unworthy to be called a Christian, mainly due to me recognising all of my sin. This was until one evening where I was very very stressed from work, the late nights and the disappointment in failing to impress my superiors. I decided to stop to take a breather, hence I went down to the underpass at Raffles Place to buy some food. As I walked down, I decided to walk into this Christian bookshop which I had always passed by when going and coming back from office every day, but never walked into. The first thing I saw was a large poster and written on it was the Lord’s Prayer which I said every Sunday.

I used to think all the stories of how people broke down and believed in the Lord were all exaggerations, but never was I more wrong. Right in the middle of Singapore’s CBD, I started breaking down. Tears rolled down my eyes as I read that prayer, and it wasn’t long before my eyes became swollen. I walked out of the underpass to get some fresh air and started praying. I prayed for the Lord to guide me, I prayed for deliverance, prayed for Him to come save me from sin as I could not do it on my own. I prayed for Him to let me into His kingdom and I prayed for the Holy Ghost to indwell me and direct my every action. From that day onwards, everything started making sense, and I truly started believing.

I believe that Jesus came down to earth to live a perfect life, died on the cross and was resurrected on the 3^rd day to grant us salvation through His sacrifice. I believe that salvation is by grace through faith alone, and not by works. And I believe that the Bible is God’s Word and perfectly preserved for us without a single flaw or error.

It was a long and arduous journey but God has His plan for me. Looking back, I know He was with me every step of the way especially when I prayed for His helping hand when I told my parents I wanted to be a Christian and would no longer go with them to temples. They looked unhappy but by the grace of God accepted it. I told my friends from school as well. As most of them were already Christians, they were all happy for me and I’ve been trying to figure out how to bring them to True Life BPC instead of them staying at a Methodist church and struggling with their salvation. I want them to know and be certain of their salvation, and not be like what I was before, always feeling unworthy because our works can never save us from sin. But I know God has His plan and will use me in His ways. All I need to do now is to heed His Word. I thank God every day for sustaining me and I feel at ease knowing He is beside me, strengthening me and using me for His purposes. Harold Choong

Finally Understood God’s Wisdom

I was born on the 18^th of February 1994 to non-Christian parents. My dad was and still is a general manager in an electrical company based in Spain and manages clients in the Asia region. My mom was working as a clerk but quit her job to be a full-time housewife when my sister and I were born. My dad had to travel overseas a lot, but he and my mom always made sure that they spent a lot of time as a family and made sure that both my sister and I had a happy childhood growing up.

I was always the happy-go-lucky kid, always going where the wind took me and as a result did not plan too far ahead into the future. I was contented with what I had and did not think it was important to have a goal in life. Sure, my parents did nag at me time and time again to do something with my life, but I just brushed it aside, even though I knew their intentions were always good.

The first time I ever encountered the verses of the Bible was when I was in National Service in the Police Academy. My bunkmate was a Christian, and he would always have his quiet prayer time before lights out. One night I asked if I could take a look at his Bible. I randomly flipped to a page to read and I came across the verse in Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” I never thought about it much then but little did I know that two years later when I was on my way to school I saw the same exact verse plastered on the front porch of a Primary School. That verse caught my attention in an instant. Surely it was not just a coincidence. That was when I felt more and more intrigued and wanted to know more.

I told my close friend in school about this curiosity and me wanting to know more about the faith. Hence she invited me to YPF the following Saturday. To be honest I did not know what to expect there and I was a little nervous to be there. I went there with an open mind and when I was there I had the privilege of meeting a group of youths who enjoyed reading and understanding God’s Word and how we could apply what we learnt from it in our daily lives. They were like one big family and they welcomed me with open arms, and I thank God for that. As a result I attended YPF regularly as I felt happy and always looked forward to gaining more knowledge and understanding the true meaning of God’s Word. But after a few weeks of attending YPF, I still felt that there was a void in me that had yet to be filled.

The day I truly believed was on Christmas Day 2016. I had already been attending church service for a few Sundays but seeing how pastor preached about the true meaning of Christmas and how Jesus died on the cross to bring us salvation truly struck me and made me realise what the void really was. I knew that in order to truly fill that void and have a healthy relationship with God, and to truly understand the Scriptures and apply what I have learnt in my daily life I had to surrender wholeheartedly to the Lord and recognise that He is my Saviour and I have to let Him into my heart.

I confided in my parents about me wanting to be a Christian. I wanted to know how they felt about it. Thank God that not only did they not try to talk me out of it, they even gave me their blessing and told me that I was old enough to make decisions on my own and that they would support my decisions as long as I knew I had made right ones.

Since the day I believed, I have repented of my sins and have truly accepted the Lord into my life. I have seen major improvements and changes in the way I live my life now and have geared myself to try and live a life for Christ. My parents respect my quiet time I set aside with the Lord and I truly thank God for that. I have also taken up night classes in FEBC and it has really opened my eyes to the truth in God’s Word and feeding my hunger to learn more and improving my relationship with God. I feel now that the Lord has given me more strength to carry on throughout the days when school assignments and long lectures can sometimes take a toll on us all. I feel that there is a lot more to learn about God’s Word and it brings me great comfort to know that He has been guiding me all this time, first in making me see the light, and now guiding me towards living a righteous and holy Christian life. I finally understood what Proverbs 1:7 meant. One should humble himself before God in repentance; never ever doubt Him and He would bestow the knowledge of truth upon him. But while doing that, one should not shy away from the Lord’s wisdom and instructions that come from this knowledge, and that one would be a fool to do so.

I end by quoting Deuteronomy 31:6, “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” I truly believe that God will not forsake us, but instead He will provide for us. Mark Ho

When God Is Big, Your Problems Are Small

I am Janna Aw, 14 years old. I was brought up in a Christian home with God-fearing parents who faithfully taught me God’s Word. I was very blessed to be able to attend church since I was born. However, in Primary Two, I did not understand much about the true power of the Lord. I just knew God as a form of knowledge and someone who is a rather insignificant part in my life. At one point in December 2011, I kind of doubted God’s existence. My parents were concerned. So, I prayed to God, and after three days I thank God that my mindset changed 180 degrees due to the Lord’s grace and I said the sinner’s prayer.

My life was rather stress-free before. However, at Primary Three and Four, school work became much harder and it made me rather stressed. That was when I felt the urge to start reading God’s Word and listening to Sunday School and Junior Worship and applying the lessons and memory verses to my life. I had not done this before. Reading God’s Word, I felt refreshed and encouraged to study. I also prayed to God for His help. My grades improved. Praise the Lord!

In Primary Five and Six, the work became extremely difficult. I felt very stressed as I could not do or concentrate on my work and I turned to computer and television. However, that was not the way and it reduced my stress by a slight margin. I decided to read my devotions and encouraging verses from the Bible. I fervently prayed to God. I felt encouraged and had much joy and hope that God would see me through my difficult studies. Indeed, God helped me! I had better concentration and my grades improved by leaps and bounds as compared to my previous grades. Thank the Lord!

Transiting into Secondary School, life has been a trying and tiring challenge. However, I truly thank God for His guidance in seeing to my emotional and social well-being as well as providing such encouraging parents!

Finally, I feel God’s power working actively in me. When your God is big, your problems are small. I thank the Lord for mercifully making me, the chief of sinners, His child. All praise to God! Janna Aw