Easter Testimonies II
I Experienced Joy Beyond Compare
I came to Singapore to work as a domestic helper in the mid-eighties. Initially I found it very difficult to adjust to the way of life here. I thought I would never be able to finish the first two-year contract with my employer but somehow I managed to do so. Looking back I know it has been God’s will for me to stay on because He has a wonderful plan for me.
Being away from home for the first time was not an easy experience for me. I felt very lonely and often thought of the happy times with my family members and friends whom I had left behind in the Philippines. I thought if I could make some new friends in Singapore I would be less homesick and would be able to continue to work hard and earn some money to send home to my loved ones. But soon I found out that my employer was more demanding than I had expected. No matter how hard I tried I was unable to please the members of the family and they humiliated me openly. Loneliness compounded with heartaches and humiliation made my life here very unbearable.
The only comfort I had was through attending a Catholic church on Sunday and meeting my friends there. I enjoyed singing in the choir tremendously though I knew little about the God I worshipped. Deep inside me I believed that He would help me to go through all my sufferings and somehow a bright tomorrow awaited me.
After completing my first contract, I managed to find a second employer. Since they were Christians, they were more understanding towards me and allowed me to go out every Sunday. I continued to attend the Catholic church and enjoyed the company of other Filipinos once a week.
Though my new employer and his family are Christians they never tried to share their faith with me or tell me anything about salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. They assumed that I was alright spiritually as long as I had a religion. I was very thankful to have been employed by such a kind and caring family and I did all I could to make them happy. However it is my prayer today that all Christian employers would share their faith in Christ with their domestic helpers.
Throughout the first three years I have come to treasure all the friends I have made in Singapore. Without them I do not think I could have stayed here for so long. One day I received news that Florida, one of my friends from the Philippines, was coming to Singapore to work and I longed to meet her. It meant a lot to be able to see a familiar face from one’s hometown. I knew that Florida was a very devout Catholic when she was in the Philippines and I wanted to take her to my church to meet all my catholic friends. Not long after her arrival in Singapore she invited me to the Christian church she was attending and also told me she was born again. I was very upset and at the same time angry with her for betraying her Catholic faith, although I never told her or persuaded her to give up this new religion that she had adopted. She told me that the best place to meet her was at her church which was in Geylang area.
One Sunday afternoon my girl friend and I went to her church at 2pm and waited for almost an hour for her. As soon as she arrived she told me to join her in her Sunday School class and worship service but I refused and said that I would rather wait outside for her until she was ready to leave. The desire to talk her out of her newfound faith was so strong that my friend and I were willing to wait for her until 5.30pm. A few members of the church extended their invitation to us to join them but we rejected.
Later that evening, Florida told us that she had the assurance of eternal life by believing in and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ and persuaded us to give ourselves a chance to listen to the gospel. However, we were not convinced and still tried our best to draw her back to the Catholic faith.
The following weeks we waited for her outside the church as usual and then went out together for dinner during which we discussed religious matters. But when I found that I was unable to persuade her to change her mind I decided to attend the church myself to find out the reason for her change in faith.
The first time I joined the Sunday School I told the teacher, Mrs Dixie Chua, bluntly, “Before you begin, let me tell you frankly, I am a Roman Catholic and do not try to persuade me to change my religion.” She smiled and said, “I am not here to change your religion, I am going to introduce you to the way to Heaven.”
I felt relieved and listened to her attentively because no one had ever told me how I could get to heaven. Mrs Chua explained the Gospel of Salvation to me carefully and clearly and at the end of the lesson, it dawned on me that I too could have the assurance of eternal life if I surrendered my life to the Lord Jesus Christ there and then. I did not have to work for my salvation because Jesus has done all that was necessary by dying on the cross for my sins. It was indeed good news for me because all my life I had been taught to do good works and to keep the traditions of the Catholic church so that I could earn eternal life in heaven. But when the teacher opened the Bible with me to John 3:16 that afternoon, I accepted the Lord Jesus as my personal Saviour and I experienced joy beyond compare because I know that all my past sins have been forgiven and I was no longer burdened by the guilt in my heart. I thank God for my friend’s persistence in extending her invitation to me to go to her church, without which I would not have experienced the joy I am having now.
Becoming a Christian did not come without a price. For me the price I paid was to lose all the friends I had made in the Catholic church and to miss the choir practice which I had enjoyed so much. But in its place God has given me a desire to read the Bible which is His Word and to have Christian fellowship with brothers and sisters in the church. I am praying for my friends who are still in darkness that they would have the opportunity to listen to the Gospel and receive Jesus as their personal Saviour. Now I understand that God had planned for me to remain in Singapore after my first contract so that I could come to know Him and be changed by Him. Now I have new life in Christ and am born again. I pray that God will give me the courage to follow Him in my Christian walk and to study His Word diligently.
Elvira Cuaresma Hernando
God Has Taken Care of Me and My Family
I was brought up in a Buddhist family in Tanjung Pinang. I started to learn about Jesus when I was in Primary School, Sion, in Tanjung Pinang, where Dr Timothy Tow used to visit. I did not have faith but I know Jesus is the Saviour.
During my studies in Singapore, I attended Life BPC Chinese service regularly for sometime, and once in a while the Indonesian Service. I was then led to True Life BPC after Mr and Mrs Tan’s visit, telling me about the incident.
I have been blessed all these years. I knew, but I was just reluctant to do what a believer should do. Thank God for His patience with me. He has been leading me to the path where I should go. He has been taking care of me and my family. Thank God my husband is willing to accompany me to True Life BPC every week except when he visits his parents in JB, though he is still persistent with his free thinker religion. As time permits, we also bring our kids to SGBF in Calvary Pandan.
I will keep praying for him, his family and my family for there is only one way to heaven; Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe; sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. Oei Lay See Desy
I Would Rather Obey God and Defend His Word
I was born into a family which practises the Taoist religion. My childhood was not a happy one. My mum left me when I was 3 years old. My older brother and I were placed in Children’s Aid Society as my grandfather was in hospital and there was no one to look after us as my dad had to work.
During the days in Children’s Aid Society, I was introduced to Christianity and was given an NIV Bible. But still my knowledge of God and His Word was so little. When I was in Secondary 3 in Boon Lay Secondary School, one of my teachers, a Christian, witnessed and gave a Picture Bible to me. Then on 4 August 1996, I went to Galilee B-P Church for my first worship service. It was on the same day that I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Saviour. I was not allowed to get baptised till age of 21 as my father objected to it.
I left Galilee in 2000 as I was not happy with some of the things like the songs etc. Then, I was introduced by my former boss to Sharon B-P Church. I got baptised in 2002. In 2003, I began to wonder whether there was any church which had its services in the morning as Sharon B-P’s was in the afternoon. One of my friends, Jonathan, invited me to Maranatha B-P Church and its YF which was on Sunday itself. After attending Maranatha for some time, I decided to transfer my membership and started serving in Maranatha in the YF Ex-co, choir and missions, e.g. Chiang Mai and Bangalore.
Then in 2004, I got to know about True Life B-P Church from Clement and Herbert. True Life at RELC is just a bus ride from my home in Bukit Panjang. In 2008 I started to attend regularly True Life B-P Church. Because of the VPP (Verbal Plenary Preservation) debate, I was advised not to go to True Life so often lest I be “brainwashed”. But after listening to the sermons by Dr Tow, Rev Quek and Dr Khoo, I realised that the doctrine of VPP is as important as VPI (Verbal Plenary Inspiration) because if the Bible has mistakes then whatever I have believed and learnt would be wasted.
On 24 December 2008, I decided to transfer my membership from Maranatha to True Life. It was a very painful decision but I would rather obey God and defend His Word (Jude 3). I want to thank God for Aunty Jenny, Clement, Herbert, Joycelyn, Jacelyn and YPFers who were there to give me advice. May I be faithful to God and His Word. All Glory to God Almighty. Chew Chu Huey Esther
