SALVATION TESTIMONIES
Thank God for Second Chance
I was born into a “semi” Christian home. My father and all my relatives on his side were, and still are, idol worshippers. My mum, however, was baptised when she was a student, and followed my aunt, her elder sister to Life Bible-Presbyterian Church. My aunt would always encourage us to read the Bible, to pray and also to go to church.
Although I was baptised in 2001 in Life BPC, I was never born again until late 2008. Darkness surrounded me. I lost everything. I gave up my job, my best friend left me. In a short period of time, everything and everyone was against me. I suffered from severe clinical depression. I was suicidal. The devil kept whispering, “Just end it, you have nothing to live for anyway. You are but a disgrace.” But, God’s grace came just in time.
I was walking through a dark dark tunnel, with both my hands and ankles bound with chains of sin. Every step was extremely heavy, towards my doom. Then I heard God calling faintly, “Turn back. There’s still hope for you. If you end it all now, there will be no hope.” God gave me an ounce of strength to turn my head back, and with that turn, I saw a slight glimpse of light.
Step by step, God led the way. I am eternally grateful to Him for revealing to me my sins. I came to realise, with extreme disgust, that all that happened to me were a result of my own sins. God permitted them to take place all for His glory. Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” And Hebrews 12:5-7, “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the LORD, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him: for whom the LORD loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”
Somebody once said, “I may not be what I hoped or wanted to be, but I thank God, I am not what I used to be.” 1 Corinthians 15:10 says, “But by the grace of God I am what I am.” Truly indeed, on hindsight, in retrospect, God had everything planned out perfectly. Nothing thwarts God’s plan. His sovereignty is to be praised, His power and might is to be feared; His Name is to be highly exalted and magnified.
I thank God for a second chance. I thank Him also for continuous trials and testings He puts in my path to shape and mould me. I thank God for His mercies and grace which I do not deserve; He freely gives. I thank God for Jesus Christ who died and shed His precious blood on Calvary’s cross to pay for the penalty of my sins. I thank God for my own cross to bear. I thank God for faithful pastors and preachers who expound His Word. I thank God for the Ladies’ Fellowship once a month, where the Word of God is carefully and prayerfully studied and taught. I thank God for a Christian sister and friend in Jenny Kan. I thank God for Deborah Mae, whose singing encouraged me through tough and trying times. I thank God for Bible Witness Web Radio, which brought to me, when I was in a northern and isolated town in Canada, sound doctrines, sermons, and a feeling of being close to home. I thank God for FEBC, for preserving this College thus far, for giving me an opportunity to study His Word. All glory be to His Name. Katherine Go
No Peace until I Believed
I was born into a Taoist/Buddhist family. I still remember vividly a Taoist temple near my kindergarten. My grandmother would always bring me to the temple. I learnt about the different Chinese gods and was taught to do good to mankind and society. Subsequently, I was sent to a Buddhist primary school and I learned more about Buddhism. As both Taoism and Buddhism teach one to be good, I have never once doubted that Buddha and the Chinese gods that I prayed to daily were not gods. I often knelt down to the huge Buddha statue in my primary school hall; and I would go to the temple near my kindergarten to pray to the Chinese gods before each major school examination.
When I went to the junior college, two of my good friends who are strong Christians preached the Gospel to me and urged me to learn more about Christianity. At the same time, another good friend of mine who was a strong Buddhist also invited me to attend Buddhism class with her every Sunday. I decided to attend the Buddhism class to learn more about Buddha and his teachings. However, deep inside my heart, I was struggling to want to know more about Jesus whenever my friends spoke to me about their faith. It was a period of struggle for me as to accept Christ was to acknowledge that whatever I had believed since young was nothing but a lie. Praying to the Chinese gods and Buddha had already become a part of my life. It was really difficult for me to change my belief.
I read a few books on the difference between Christianity and Buddhism and decided that I should remain a Buddhist. However, there was no peace in me even after making the decision. I learned to pray to Jesus and asked Him to move my heart if He indeed was the Lord. And by God’s grace, I continued to search for the truth by reading books about the origins of the Bible. I was truly amazed by the various documents I read about how the Bible came about and the various attestations and evidences that it is indeed God’s Word. On the other hand, there is lack of documentary proof that the Chinese gods were real gods. I was also stunned by Buddha’s own saying that he is not God, only a teacher, and people should not worship him! When my Christian friends brought me to a Gospel Rally after my A levels, the Holy Spirit moved my heart so much during the Rally that I decided to walk up and accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. I truly thank God for reaching out to me and so graciously granting me His salvation. Ivy Chiu
Blessed by Pilgrimage
I came to know the Lord Jesus when I was 12 years old through my math tuition teacher. She would tell us (my cousin and me) Bible stories after tuition and we loved to hear them. She brought us to her church but the worship service was on Saturdays. We were baptised after some months. There were no catechism classes. Due to compulsory extra-curricular activities in Secondary school held mostly on Saturdays, we could not attend church. Slowly we drifted away and stopped attending church completely. It was only years later that we learned that this church was a cult (Seventh day Adventist).
When I was about 20 years old, I started working and my first full-time job was with HDB, I joined the lunch time fellowship meeting organised by the Christian staff. I believe this was the Lord’s way of bringing me back to His fold. One of my colleagues introduced me to her church—Sharon Bible- Presbyterian Church—worshipping in Toa Payoh at that time. My attendance was irregular. Subsequently a neighbour brought me to her church—St. Andrew’s Cathedral. The church service timing suits me, but they spoke in tongues. I was a Christian in name only.
I had always wanted to go to Israel. The opportunity came in 2009 when my friend from Sharon Church informed me that True Life Bible-Presbyterian Church was organising a pilgrimage to Israel and Jordan. I signed up for this trip. I was truly blessed to get to know committed and Bible-loving sisters and brothers in Christ during this trip. From then onwards, I made a commitment to attend church regularly and began to have my Quiet Time daily with God. I experience the nearness of God in my daily walk with Him, and learn a lot from the sermons in Church and the Bible courses at FEBC. I am experiencing the joy and the great love of our Almighty God just like the time I heard the gospel for the first time when I was young.
I am now a born again Christian and God is very faithful and merciful to a prodigal daughter like me. I put all my trust in my Almighty God for His mercy endures forever. Agnes Beh
My Lord Guided Me
I was baptised in 2005 but had struggled to feed daily on God’s Word. I backslided in my daily walk with God and sought worldly pleasures in my travels and self-indulgence on everything that I thought I needed. I thank the Lord for guiding me back to His path and His ways and I thank my Lord and Saviour for His wonderful and multifold blessings upon me. Ever since I was baptised, He has guided me each step of the way, through all my trials and tribulations in this life, He is always there for me.
He has also guided me to study His Word at His College—FEBC. By God’s grace, I learned more and more of God’s Word and how to apply them to my life through the FEBC night classes. I was also able to meet and fellowship with likeminded brethren.
I thank God for opening my eyes to the nonsensical happenings in the world and teaching me to look to my Lord Jesus Christ always and never on man or the world. Through the Scriptures, He warns me of the false prophets and their works of deception, their tongue-speaking and the rise of Charismatic churches to lure gullible and sinful people like me.
I am glad the Lord walks with me. Every day with my Lord is a good day. I try to live each day for His glory. Shirley Ho
PASTOR’S THANKSGIVING
On Tuesday April 2, 2013, Jemima went for a hysterectomy to remove fibroids in her womb. The surgery was done by Dr Quek Swee Peng of Tow Yung Clinic. She was in safe hands. The operation was over within a couple of hours. She was discharged from the hospital on Thursday. We thank you all for your prayers and kind deeds. Most of all, we thank our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for He is good indeed. “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Ps 103:2). JK
