A Singaporean Testimony

By Choon Hua "Andes" Poh

I was born in a Taoist-Buddhist family where we worshipped our late ancestors and other kinds of idols such as the kitchen gods, the wealth gods, monkey gods, goddess of mercy etc. We used to have a huge table full of all kinds of Chinese gods. My family was very superstitious and observed many Chinese religious festivals such as birthday of certain deities. It was a norm to have slaughtered chickens and ducks offerings to appease all these gods lest we offend them if we failed to do so. Ever so often I would give the gods a good wash to make them look clean and nice. I was adopted as the god-daughter of the goddess of mercy without knowing when I was a child. There would always be some kind of seal on our clothing to show that we had worshiped the gods and are “blessed”.

My family was very poor and my father was often in debts because he lost his business as a coffee shop owner. He was being accused by relatives for having failed in the business. He worked very hard and tried to pay off the debts but the accusations from the relatives put a lot of stress on him he ended up having heart disease and diabetes. He was wounded in many ways and worst off is our relatives began to stay away from us because we were poor. I remembered we used to have only green beans soup for our lunch and only had new sewn clothing on Chinese New Year day.

I have seven siblings and I am the second daughter in the family. We were very independent and most of the time we were left to fend for ourselves as both of our parents was busy trying to make ends meet. I was a very playful child and dislike going to school as my form teacher was very unkind and biased towards students who were poor in their studies. Obviously I did not do well. I remembered when I was seeking for my PSLE examination at the age of 12, I stood outside my corridor and prayed to the heavenly god whom I don’t even know about that I would pass this major examination as I did not want to disappoint my parents especially my father. In an amazing way I did quite well in the examination and went on to high school. Looking back I know the one who I prayed to was the God who created the heavens and the earth.

I was blessed with good classmates and I had a good friend who was a catholic and used to tell me that she went to church and worshiped Mary. Even though I was not a Christian then, somehow something inside me told me that if I should be a Christian I should worship Jesus and not Mary because I learnt vaguely from the school that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. But I never got to discuss Christianity with my friends because I always thought it was a western religion and I am Chinese and therefore I should worship the Chinese gods.

It was during the first year of my nursing training that one of my nursing friends invited me to church. I decided to explore and visit the church and I told myself there is no harm in getting to know more about what people do in the church. The speaker in the church spoke about the love of God from John 3:16 and invited us to receive His love. For the first time in my life I experienced the purity and holiness of such love which was not found in my Taoist Buddhist background, as I sat there listening to the word. I found myself wanting to receive this love and so I moved forward to be prayed for. At that time I do not know what it all meant to me. After that, my friends began to follow up and teach me about the bible. I experienced their love and care for me as their new friend. I accepted the Lord Jesus as my personal Lord and Saviour after I had studied with them for a while. I saw changes in my life. I became more caring and helpful in my family. The Lord granted me success in my nursing training and I had an opportunity to go to Scotland for my midwifery training after my graduation as a registered nurse in Singapore General Hospital.  

This was the highlight of our family and my father was very proud that he had a daughter who did well in her career to go overseas. At that time there were very few people who could afford to go overseas and I was the first among our relatives. This has also brought about healing to my father in some ways. He became more open to Christianity and later became a Christian before he passed away.

In 1989 I was able to use my midwifery skills to serve the Lord in Niger for three years in a mission hospital. I am very thankful to our Lord Jesus because I saw that not only is He working in my life but also in the lives of my family, changing each one of us for better use in His Kingdom. We became more united and forgiving, more accepting towards one another because we had experienced the power of His love.

“So may all your enemies perish O Lord! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.” Judges 5:31.

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Saved by His Grace

By Carmen Rodriguez

My name is Carmen Rodriguez and I am from Trujillo-Peru and I have lived there most of my life. I come from a big family. Our family is very close. I have 4 brothers and seven sisters. When we all get together we have a house full of fun.

In 1998 my brother was very sick. We took him to clinics and hospitals and to see many doctors. They did many tests and examinations but could not find what was wrong. The doctors thought he had a physiological problem. After one week of tests and examinations the doctors said they couldn’t do anything for him. He was a very sick man. My brother thought he was going to die. At this time I realized this was a spiritual battle. I remembered my uncle telling me about the Bible and God but we were involved in occultic worship and always ignored him. With my brother being so sick I felt we needed to call him.

So we called my uncle who was a pastor and asked his advice. He immediately called a friend of his to help him with my brother. They arrived bringing a power much greater than anything we had ever seen; GOD’S POWER. As they began to pray God began to work. My brother was delivered from demon possession.

That night, all 14 people in my family accepted Jesus as our Savior. We began to go to a church and grow in our understanding of the Bible.

In Isaiah 54:17 the Bible says no weapon formed against you will prevail and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and is their vindication from me, declares the Lord. This verse was the verse our family lived by.

For a month we fought demonic activity in our home and we stood on 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 which says “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strong holds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” We covered my brother in prayers and scriptures day and night during this time. God is more powerful than the demons in hell.

A year later in 1999 God showed himself to me in a very profound way. I had been to see the doctor and he scheduled a surgery to remove my gall bladder. I was to have surgery in two weeks. At this time there was an evangelist from Brazil preaching through out South America. God was using him in a mighty way. He had a ministry of healing and prophecy. I went hoping to receive a healing.

What I received was so much more. At the end of the service during the altar call this pastor called me forward. He told me all about my sickness and then he prayed for me. I was healed instantly from my problem with my gall bladder and also from back pain that I had been suffering with. I didn’t need any surgery anymore. The Bible says in Isaiah 53:5, “But the servant was pierced because we had sinned. He was crushed because we had done what was evil. He was punished to make us whole again. His wounds have healed us.” At the same time he prophesied that I would serve the Lord different countries and God would use me. Acts 1:8 became real for me at this time.

I started studying at the Bible School in Trujillo-Peru. God had placed a passion in my heart from the day that the pastor prophesied over me, to share my testimony, and pray for people to be healed and for deliverance.

I began ministering in my church and the Lord gave me the opportunity to go to Brazil to share my testimony there.

After I finished my studies at the Bible school, I started to share my testimony here in Peru. Since the year 2004 I was speaking in many places in the highland, in the coast and in the year 2006 the Lord gave me the opportunity to go to San Jose de Costa Rica, to study English there and also I had the opportunity to speak in many places and countries.

In the year 2007, the Lord gave me the opportunity to go to the U.S.A. to speak in some Spanish and American congregations in New York State. This year, 2008, I had the opportunity to visit Israel, I was in Tel Aviv and I had the opportunity to visit many places in Jerusalem, Galilee, Nazareth and other places.

Just this past month, November 2008 together with an intercessor from Singapore (Andes Poh), and a missionary from America (K. Joy Sandiford), we went to Arequipa and Cusco Peru to share the word of God and to share our testimonies in many places in my country. That was a God time. I believe next year the Lord will open even more doors of opportunity to speak of Him and share my testimony.

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Ronald The Drunk!

By Ronald Bussey

          Ronald the drunk started to drink at the age of seven years. His dad and mom were drunks and he came to drinking not by his choosing. Ronald the drunk parents would drink up all the money they had and would not buy food for him to eat. Some of the time he would go several days without food

          It was one hot summer day that his parents didn't pay the  water bill and his parents went out and got drunk and brought some beer home and put it in the ice box. Ronald got very thirsty and opened up a beer to quench his thirst. Ronald liked the taste of the beer and he got drunk at the age of seven. From that time until he got to be fourteen he slipped out beer from the ice box to get drunk.

          Then he met a friend whose parents owned two liquor stores and he was asked to spend a weekend with his friend. This is when Ronald started drinking the hard stuff and became a drunk. Ronald the drunk drank the hard stuff for thirty-three years and then got locked up in prison. About eight months in prison, Ronald the drunk started going to church when some one asked him to go. About three months later Ronald the drunk gave his life to God through His Son Jesus Christ. Now Ronald the drunk is a child of God. Ronald loves to read from his Bible and write down what the Holy Spirit shares with him. I am not Ronald the drunk anymore, I am a true child of God.

          Here is something about the "word". Word: Logos - a transmission of thought, communication, a word of explanation, an utterance, a discourse, divine revelation, talk, statement, instruction, an oracle, divine promise, divine doctrine, divine declaration. Jesus is the living logos (John 1:1). The Bible is the written logos (Hebrews 4:12), and the Holy Spirit utters the spoken logos (I Corinthians 2:13). In the book of acts when the people of God moved forward in praise, worship, prayer, and the power of the Holy Spirit, God's word or the communication of the gospel spread like wildfire among the people. The power of the Holy Spirit released through a worshipping church that teaches God's word is unstoppable.

Here is something about the gift of God. Gift: Charisma - The word charisma is related to other words derived from the root char which is joy, cheerfulness, and delight. Charis is grace, goodwill, and undeserved favor. Charisma is a gift of grace, a free gift, divine gratuity, spiritual endowment, and miraculous faculty. It is especially used to designate the gifts of the Spirit (I Corinthians 12:4-10). In modern usage, a charismatic signifies one who either has one or more of these gifts functioning in his life or believes these gifts are for today's church. A charismatic is one who operates in the gifts of the Holy Spirit because of God's grace or undeserved favor. Spiritual gifts are not a sign of some higher degree of spiritual maturity. They are simply gifts. A mature Christian who operates in the gifts of the Holy Spirit is going to be more effective than an immature or carnal Christian who had the gifts.

(Although incarcerated, Ronald has found Christ and is developing an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. He is sharing the word, studying the word and living the world. He is reaching out from behind prison walls to share with us. Certainly we can reach out from where we are to share with others.)

Ronald Bussey is an inmate in our prison system. This is his testimony given with his permission. Although he is incarcerated, Ronald is reaching out to the lost in prison and outside of prison. It is his desire to share his testimony so that others maybe saved. He is taking the power the enemy uses against him by using the word of his testimony to speak life and hope into others.

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