MEMBERSHIP TESTIMONIES
God Has Set Me Apart
Wilson Chan
My name is Wilson Chan. I was born in a Christian family in the year 1984. I remember when I was a small boy (3-5 years old), my mother brought us children to a church in Sembawang. My relatives and cousins also attended that church. My mother told me that my uncle was the one who brought my family and also my relatives to Christ in the early 1980s.
My uncle was a former drug addict during the 1970s – the hippies period. Thank God our gracious Father, my uncle repented, and committed his life to serve Christ subsequently. God restored my uncle and did a great work in my uncle’s life. Through the blessing of our Lord, my uncle began to help other drug addicts to repent and teach them to know our Saviour Jesus. God also helped my uncle to build a halfway house (The Helping Hand) in 1980s. I am very grateful for the wonderful work that God had done in my uncle’s life to help others and also my family. He had supported my studies and cared for my family when I was young.
I stopped attending church in my early age. During my primary and secondary school days, I became quite rebellious and picked up bad behaviour like smoking, fighting and speaking vulgarities. My understanding and knowledge of Christianity was also very vague and little. I only knew there is a God in heaven above and His name is Jesus. Although I was a rebellious youngster and did not know too much about God, whenever I encountered problems, the first thing I did was to pray to Jesus. In times of trouble, Jesus always came to my mind. Even though I did not know Jesus well, I knew that if I prayed to Jesus, He would help me! As simple as that! I prayed for my PSLE, ‘O’ levels, and other matters. God always heard my prayers and led me.
Life was quite a mess for me when I was around 15 years old. I became more rebellious and hated my studies totally. I was always in one of the last positions in academic results. I did not show interest, failed most of my tests and scored even zero marks for some. My teachers and principal complained to my parents, but it did not bother me at all. During that time of my teenage life, hanging out with friends and having fun was the only thing that I cared for. One of my teachers hated me so much and told me that I was useless, a failure who would not go far in life.
Miraculously in Secondary 4, I encountered a sudden change of mind and realised that I could not allow my life to continue straying like this. I felt I must do something to change and bring myself back on the right track. I did not want my future to be in darkness! I began to pray to God to help me and to rescue me from the pit. Our Lord had indeed worked in my life! Trusting in Him, I began to work double/trebly hard with determination to catch up with the rest of my classmates in academic results. Almost every day, I would stay up late into the night or any time I could find for self-revision and learning from classmates who were good in their studies. Sometimes, I could even study for 4 to 6 hours non-stop! My homework was also submitted on time. Praise the Lord! Within months, I not only managed to catch up in my academic work, God blessed me so much that I did better than others. From one of the last positions in class, my results improved so much that I became top 10 in class! God had taught me to pray and trust in Him. And together with hard work and perseverance, He helped me!
God had set me apart from the world with His wisdom and His way. I used to have around me many rebellious friends who ended up with bad outcomes in their life. Some took drugs, joined gangs, had tattoos, got into gang fights and did illegal things. Some were also sentenced to imprisonment.
I am thankful to God that He was always there protecting me and setting me apart from this world. Even with strong bad influence, I knew taking drugs was wrong and never had the urge to take drugs. And whenever I was about to give in to sinful acts, my heart would feel heavy and guilty. I always asked myself: “Why am I feeling guilty and pain in doing these sinful things while my friends don’t?” The only non-spiritual answer that I had in my mind was because I was more mature and had a kinder heart than my friends.
However, as I grew more and got to know and understand our God, my answer to this question has changed. I began to look at my life since I was young and I could see that God was always protecting me. And the Holy Spirit in me convicts me when I am about to commit sinful things. Yes, I was different from my rebellious friends! But it is not because of what I am by my human nature, but because I belong to God. And He has set me apart from this world. Hallelujah!
I started attending church regularly since Year 2013. It was a charismatic church. I began to understand more about Christianity, how and why Jesus died on the cross for me. The church was a very good learning resource for me to know more about God. However, as I grew spiritually, I was confused with some of the topics being taught and decided to look for another church to attend which is less charismatic. Thank God, I joined a new workplace in July 2015. One of my colleagues, Sok Sin, is a Christian. She shared and discussed with me a lot on our God and I requested her to bring me to True Life Bible-Presbyterian Church. Since then, I have been attending the church.
As I grew up and stepped into adult world, I faced many problems. I am a pessimistic person and always envy others who are leading a better, wonderful life than me. There is also pride within me to always want to fight for myself rather than trusting in our God’s ways and perfect timing. I give in to worries and fear easily by not trusting in Him. I know all about my weakness, but I also know I have a great and wonderful God who is greater than my weakness! My hope is in our God. I know He loves me and have a purpose for everything He does. He is delighted that I continue to pray to Him and believe and trust in His promise. Things sometimes may not go well, suffering and pain will come. As a father disciplines and builds up his son’s character, God our Father is also chastising me in my life. I will remember that God’s way is always higher than our way. His wisdom is always higher than ours and this world’s. I pray for myself, and for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering from hardship and temptation in this world. May we focus on God’s Word and remain faithful to Him and trust in Him for His perfect timing and wisdom. He will make a way when there seems to be no way. Amen!
Thank God for His Mercy
Teo Joo Kiat
I came from a non-Christian family and I was baptised on 13 November 1994 at New Life Bible-Presbyterian Church. It was God’s grace and His guidance that led my family and me to attend True Life Bible-Presbyterian Church in December 2013. Currently, my wife and my daughter are attending catechism class while I am doing an FEBC online course on the Westminster Confession of Faith in preparation for our membership transfer to True Life Bible-Presbyterian Church on 27 March 2016.
I also want to thank God for his mercy during periods of difficulties and trials that I had encountered. Psalm 136:1 says, “O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” In December 2010, I was struck with a sudden extreme pain in my abdomen when I was having my lunch at home alone preparing for my afternoon shift duty. I had not experienced such enormous pain before that totally brought me down lying on the floor and perspiring. Initially, I thought it was my gastric attack again as I had a history of gastric attacks but the pain was worse than gastric attacks. Immediately, I prayed to God for mercy to relieve my unbearable pain at that moment. As I prayed for His mercy, the pain gradually reduced but slowly. Feeling pale and having a yellowish appearance, I called my wife who was running an errand outside. I told her to pray for me and also not to worry for me as I was able to report for work because my pain had subsided but I was feeling weak. I managed to dress up and went to work not knowing that I was having a gall bladder problem. I managed to complete my afternoon shift duty and returned home after that. But I had a second attack just before midnight. I prayed to God for mercy again and thank God nothing life threatening happened to me. I took a taxi with my wife to the hospital. At the hospital I was told by the doctor that the pain in my abdomen was caused by stones in my gall bladder. I was discharged the following day after my pain was completely gone. According to the doctor it was a case of a “stones over”. Since then till now, I did not have any relapse but the doctor told me that there was still a possibility of a relapse.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” I am very grateful to God as my Saviour because “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable, in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.”
By God’s Grace and Mercy
Lee Meng
I came from a non-Christian family. Since young, I always had the chance to listen to the gospel in a Baptist church near my house. I can still remember the many Bible stories and the lessons contained therein. When I was in Secondary School, due to little faith in me and my mother who was strongly against Christianity, I stopped going to church and drifted away from God.
By God’s grace and mercy towards me, I came to know my Christian boss and his wife in the place I was working. They invited me to New Life B-P Church in Woodlands. It was from thence that I got to know and learn more about God and His Word. I thank God for opening my eyes and calling me out of the darkness into His marvelous light. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 6:23).
I accepted the Lord Jesus as my personal Lord and Saviour and was baptised in 1988 at New Life B-P Church. Over the years, God’s Word has been my source of comfort and encouragement during challenging and difficult trials. I thank God for He is indeed wonderful and His promise is always true. In Him alone we are saved, not through good works but by His grace and mercy towards us.
I thank God for True Life B-P Church for the teaching of sound doctrine and for upholding the words of God. “Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.” (Tit 1:9). All praise and glory be unto God. Amen.
