Troubled but Not Distressed – Brother Liew Wei Bing

I was not a Christian from young. I attended Children Sunday School because my mother’s colleague repeatedly invited my sister and me. As I grew older, I also faced the realities of life. One incident which is still very vivid in my mind was this. My female classmate wrongly accused me of hitting her chest. She complained this to a relief teacher. This teacher immediately concluded that I was sex-pervert who had molested a female classmate. He wanted to take me to the headmistress and file a police report as he thought I had committed a criminal offence. I remembered I cried along the way. The whole school was shocked at what happened. By God’s grace, however, one of my mother’s colleagues saw what happened and told my mother of the incident. My mother brought me back to my classroom and told the “teacher” that it was not right to reach a conclusion without first ascertaining and being sure of what happened. The relief teacher got so annoyed, and I still remember what he told me: “DO NOT THINK THAT YOU ARE NOW SAFE JUST BECAUSE YOUR MOTHER COULD PROTECT YOU. I FORESEE THAT YOU WILL END UP IN JAIL.”

The incident made me realise how helpless a human being was when he faced life’s situations and how manipulative or deceptive people could become to achieve their aims. This caused me to shun away from people as I thought people could not be trusted. I also thought they would always be trying to prove themselves worthy of something. I remembered there a pastor saying that Jesus is the only way. I thought about it and realised if the pastor were right, all the other religions would not be genuine. However, I simply dismissed the thought.

During my secondary school education, I attended a mission school that focused a lot on Christianity. I attended chapel, however, for the sake of attendance. Moreover, with increasing competition and overwhelming schoolwork, I did not really think much of God. A miracle happened one day. The husband of my mother’s colleague met a serious accident when he was riding a motorcycle. He was sending his daughter for tuition when a car knocked into him. They then fell unconscious and was admitted to the hospital. The doctor’s prognosis was that he would either remain unconscious forever or if he regains consciousness, there would be a loss of memory. The news brought pain to her family. Throughout this misfortune, I saw her faithfulness in depending on her God as she surrendered her husband to her God. Also, with the love of the church’s brothers and sisters, she was filled with comfort. They visited her, helped her, and sang Christian worship songs. I was greatly touched by the love in these people. I realised that God could do the impossible.

Later, the husband woke up and gradually started to remember things. He started walking, although with the help of a clutch (until today). I sincerely believed, however, that it was a miracle: I saw that the weakness of man could be made perfect in God. We were convinced that Christianity is real. After attending catechism class, we also understood better the Christian faith. Eventually, my family and I were baptised in 2018 because of this event.

After becoming a Christian and baptism, I understand that the Christian journey is a long one. Walking with God was not a short dash. Life is still not a bed of roses for me. On the contrary, challenges of life have increased in the course of growing up, getting along with people, studies and now work. I resonate with Paul in 2 Cor 4: 8-9, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.” I learned that when things turn bad, people betray you and forget your kindness, God will remember. He has forgiven our sins, including intentional or unintentional sin that could condemn us.

I have also learned to forgive the people who hurt me and not to walk life alone and carry self-imposed burdens. I believe that Christ loves us, and we can love other by Christ’s help. This love is possible because “Christ [is] in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27).

God’s Provision and Unfailing Love – Brother Rueben Goh

I was born into a Christian family and attended a church with my family. At that time, I was in kindergarten and I was never serious about learning God’s Word. Even if we missed church because we woke up late or didn’t feel like going to church, I thought that it was alright as I did not see the immediate consequences of missing church on a regular Sunday morning.

In 2012, I started attending Tree of Life Christian Church. It was not, however, because I was concerned about my spiritual growth. Rather, it was because my relatives were all there, and I only looked forward to playing with them each time I attended church. I never paid attention during worship service and often daydreamed during Sunday School. I was either uninterested or I was restless.

My life took a turn when I started attending Young People’s Fellowship (YPF) in 2015. My teachers were Uncle Randolph, Auntie Baoli and Auntie Veron and Elder Kerh Li. They taught me through the study of the Bible and gave us quizzes to ascertain our learning. As I attended YPF more, my mindset about church and spiritual growth changed for the better. One major change was that I made sure that I attended church every Sunday. I must not miss even one day. I also started taking down notes of Sunday sermons and during Sunday school, as my auntie encouraged me. I started to think twice before taking any action as I would always remind myself that God is watching us. I also started feeling uncomfortable when I sinned against God such as saying profanities or vulgarities. With the help of my family, relatives and friends in church, I also started taking my quiet time seriously. I stopped reading just one random verse, as I used to do before attending the spiritual activities of this church. I started reading the entire chapter and tried my best to understand the purpose of each chapter by clarifying with the adults in church. I also started praying for a variety of things and for different people, instead of praying just for myself and my own well-being. I thanked God every day for giving me the gift of eternal life and sending his one and only Son to die on the cross for me to save me from my sins.

At the start of this year 2023, I cultivated two habits which I thought would benefit my spiritual growth. First, I started reading books by different Christian missionaries or pastors such as John Macarthur and Andrew Murray. Second, I emulated my role model who was my older brother. I also started doing memory verses consistently on the way to school.

I thank God for giving me loving family members, relatives and friends who are concerned for spiritual growth. They are always guiding me in the right path. I thank God for giving me a place where I can worship God every Sunday with a group of believers who have the same attitude as me regarding serving and worshipping him. I also thank God for allowing me to grow in spirit and truth throughout these years.

From Indifference to Commitment – Brother Jeremiah Teo

I was born into a Christian family with two loving parents who walked closely with God and siblings who regularly attend church. Throughout my life, I have felt God’s presence in my life. Whether it be protecting my family through crises, or seeing myself through difficulties in life, God has always watched over me. When I was younger, in my kindergarten days, my father took me through the sinners’ prayer. At that point, like any other child, I had no clue what that meant for my life and faith. I knew that I was a sinner and needed Jesus as my Saviour. I was a Christian, while at the same time not knowing what it encapsulated. Despite having little to no idea what being a Christian meant, I continued to attend church regularly and deepen my knowledge on Christianity.

For the most part of my earlier life in Church, I learnt the most basic of ideas — God loves every one of us, the different accounts and parables that were narrated in the Bible as well as some basic qualities of a Christian. It was only until I entered the teenage Sunday School Class that I started to delve deeper into Christianity. I had a new teacher and started to attend fellowship. Teacher Julie and Uncle Bryan were my Sunday school teachers and Aunty Bao Li, Aunty Veronica, Uncle Randolph and Elder Kerh Li were my mentors in Young People Fellowship (YPF). At that point, I was introduced to various teachings of Christianity. With the Fruits of The Spirit, Apologetics and snippets of the Westminster Confession of Faith being a few examples. With this new knowledge, I started to take my faith more seriously. That’s when I started to pray and do my quiet time with greater intention. I started to understand and internalise the contents of the Bible. It was also then when my eyes were open to the very subtle wrongdoings of the world and there was a need to differentiate myself from non-believers.

As a Christian, I knew that I had to emulate the qualities of one. I also acknowledged, however, that I still lacked in many areas. I had always struggled with being lazy and irresponsible. It was until I entered Junior College that I decided to do something about it. I wanted to be a better testimony for God. While working on it in my own time, God also provided me a platform that forced me into being more disciplined and more accountable. I started to take more control of my life. I decided that I needed to be the one steering it with the help of God. At that point, with everything starting to pile up around me and stepping way out of my comfort zone, I was feeling overwhelmed and was even starting to get a bit anxious that I was not going to make it out of Junior College. God, however, did not leave me as he continually sent people to reassure me and to support me. He gave me peace even in times when I felt inadequate. He also gave me the mental capacity to juggle between all the different responsibilities that I had. God has really worked wonders in my life. He changed me from the time when I felt indifferent towards everything around me to a time where I would take greater responsibility for my commitments. Although I still have a long way to go and am not exactly the most responsible person, God has provided me resilience to improve and to continue improving.