Even at the tender age of six, I had already learnt to use the Name of the Lord in vain. I did not know who Jesus was but I simply followed the adults in using His Holy Name without respect or honour. Thankfully God did not cut me off then because in His eternal plan He had chosen me for a purpose so that at the appointed time He would call me, justify me and I would receive Him as my personal Saviour.

I am the only son among my parents’ six children; undoubtedly they had high expectations of me. In my childhood days, none of us in the family knew the Lord because our parents were ancestral and idol worshippers. To them, the son of the family is expected to carry on with the tradition of worshipping the ancestors.

Throughout my youth, God had patiently opened His Word to me through the few Christian friends I had. I believe His redemptive work in my life did not depend on human influence but on His will and the power of the Holy Spirit in convicting sins and converting the soul. From my university years to my working life, God always placed His people in my path to preach the Gospel to me. My housemate in the university hostel was a Christian; in my first job, I had a Christian colleague sharing the desk with me; even in my present job the colleague sitting next to me is a Christian. How I thank God for His providence in sending all those people into my life to bring the Gospel to me. Before my conversion I treated Christianity just like any other religion and I was not convinced that Jesus is the only Way to God.

As I grew older, my quest for the meaning and origin of life became stronger but I did not know where to begin. The world is not short of theories and religions attempting to explain the meaning of life as well as the origin of this universe and mankind: the Big Bang theory, scientology, re-incarnation cycles, etc. As I examined some of them closely, none of them could satisfy my quest for the meaning of life; in fact they made me more confused. How could a perfectly synchronised universe come about by accident? Being an engineer, I am trained to think logically and analytically as I try to make things work according to my design. Hence, I was convinced that there must be a great Engineer who is responsible for creating this wonderful world we live in and yet I had no idea who He is!

As I continued with my quest, God worked slowly but surely in my heart. He opened my spiritual eyes through His Word to convince me that all these wonderful creations came by Him and Him alone. He showed me His wonderful works, from the rising of the sun to the air I breathe in; everything about life is a miracle in itself. How could anyone ask Him for more miracles before he would willingly surrender his life to Him? As Jesus lamented, “O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?” (Matt 17:17).

In 1997 I finally received Jesus Christ into my life through a Christian colleague who prayed with me. After that day I put my trust in Him without any doubts about His existence and His work. The Holy Spirit was given to me when I received Jesus as my Saviour and He guides me each day of my life to do what is right in the sight of God. Though I often fail Him, yet with His light shining on my path, I am able to see my sins clearer so that I confess them and ask for His forgiveness whenever I sin against God.

Being the first in the family to become a Christian, I encountered many difficulties as a young convert. The greatest trial came when my grandfather passed away. Since I am the only son in our family I was expected to perform all the traditional funeral rites but I stood firm on my faith and gently refused to hold any incense or participate in the Chinese funeral rituals. I encountered unpleasant looks and words behind my back. Nevertheless, I fearfully stood by my faith and prayed that my stand would glorify God in the presence of my unbelieving family and relatives. The Christian walk is not easy but with God’s strength and love, we can definitely rely on Him to complete the walk on earth to glorify His Name.

I had been church-hopping for some years, thinking that I could walk alone as a Christian, but I was wrong. By the grace of God a colleague of mine invited my family and me to attend the annual September Evangelistic Meetings organised by his church, the ‘Fisherman of Christ’ Fellowship and we attended it for two consecutive years. Finally in 2007 I decided to settle down in this church when I began to understand the importance of being a part of the body of Christ. As it is written in the Bible, “In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit” (Eph 2:21-22).

Slowly I began to appreciate the importance of fellowship with brothers- and sisters-in-Christ and as the Servant Song says:

           “We are pilgrims on a journey
             We are brothers on the road,
             We are here to help each other
             Walk the mile and bear the load.”

With the support and love from brothers and sisters in church, my mother, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2005, came to know Christ and received Him as her only Saviour in 2008. She had once stubbornly objected to my faith and it was beyond my wildest dream to see her coming to the Lord (I had been praying for the salvation of my family members since I was born again). It just comes to show how small my faith in God is and how earnestly I must seek His will in the salvation of my loved ones, for nothing is impossible for Him.

With the prayers and encouragement from brothers and sisters, I signed up for the baptismal class. Through the lessons in this class I learnt many basic doctrines of the Christian faith which I was not clear about before and I realised how little I knew about God’s revelation in the Bible. I always struggled to read God’s Word in order to seek answers to my problems but now I know that I should first seek to know God Himself and many things will be made clear to me. Towards the end of my baptismal class I began to invite my family and relatives to my baptismal service. When my mother came to know about it she was very happy for me and wanted to be there to witness my baptism but due to her sickness she was hospitalised during that time and was not able to attend my baptism. I was very touched by her desire to come to share the joy with me and I knew that even if she could not be there for me physically she was with me in spirit. On 15 November 2009, I publicly testified of the Lord’s salvation in my life through water baptism and I thank God that many of my family members came to witness the event.

My mother had suffered from colon cancer for four years but she managed to put up a good fight towards the end. Everyday she would find peace listening to comforting hymns and spiritual songs recorded in a CD given to her by a sister from the church. Many times when her pain and suffering was so unbearable, she wanted to end it immediately. I felt her pain and shared her grief, only the Word of God upheld us, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Cor 10:13). 

Whenever she thought of the burdens she had laid upon her family, she would fall into depression; she worried about the high medical cost of her treatment; the care for her wheelchair bound husband; the future of her unwed aging daughter and much more. All I could do was to comfort her with the Word of God, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear… Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matt 6:25, 34). Whenever she felt weak I had to remind her of the Saviour she believed and to assure her of her salvation.

I praise God for His mercy shown to my mother in calling her home on 22 November 2009. I thank Him also that I was able to rush to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning to hold her hand and to speak to her the last time before her peaceful departure to her promised heavenly place. Her peaceful departure was a great testimony of her salvation to my unbelieving sisters. My family members who were puzzled yet grateful to see so many brothers and sisters of FCF who come forward to help and support us during this difficult period of our lives. Once again, it demonstrated how important it is for brothers- and sisters-in-Christ to take care of each other so that the Name of the Lord is glorified even among the non-believers, just as the Bible says, “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matt 5:16).

I was the first convert in my family ten years ago. By God’s grace, we now have eight in the family who are saved in Him. I will continue to pray for those in my family who have yet to know Jesus Christ as their Saviour and “I will put my trust in Him” (Heb 2:13) to answer my prayers according to His will.

 

Lye Puay Foon
- Puay Foon is a member of the ‘Fisherman of Christ’ Fellowship.