Testimonies

How I Came to the True Church By Ivy Yong Hallelujah, in the holy name of Jesus I bear testimony: I ORIGINATED from a Buddhist family. In the past, neither had I ever heard of Jesus nor read the bible. I knew that there was a God. So, whenever I met any difficulties and had any requests I would light a joss stick and pray to the Chinese deities. At every religious festival my family would prepare a lot of food and joss papers to offer to the idols in request for peace. So, I had the concept that eating food already offered to idols would bring me peace. In reality, that is not the case. When I was ten, my family visited my grandmother in Perak, Malaysia, during the school holidays. It was then that we were introduced to a Chinese Taoist Sect and persuaded by our grandmother to believe in it. Contact with the True ChurchIt all started after I graduated from high school and began to study English in a college. I met a certain Bro Yong from the True Jesus Church. At that time, his own faith was no good; he smoked, used swear words, was ill-tempered and did not attend church at all. He did not tell me that he was a Christian. On one occasion, on discovering my religion he remarked that the god I worshipped was false. In March 1993, both of us enrolled for a university twinning program in Sabah, to embark on our university education. In college, we met Bro Louis Liau who was our classmate. During one of the lunch breaks, we sat at the same table and during our conversation, we discovered that Yong and Louis were both from the True Jesus Church. From then onwards, Louis encouraged us to attend church services. I remembered the first time I went to the church in Likas, KK, Sabah. During the prayer the tongues-speaking frightened me off and I felt the impulse to run. However, out of respect for others, I stayed on. From then on, every time I attended any service I always hoped that the service would end quickly because I did not understand the truth, and I was becoming increasingly bored. Every time when Louis tried to explain the truth to me, I would ask many difficult questions to challenge him and put him off. I held the concept that all of us were worshipping God, albeit in different ways. I would not slander or discriminate other religions. The Motivation of the Holy SpiritPrior to my conversion to Christianity, I was a religious teacher at the Taoist Sect. On one Sunday, I was teaching the children at the temple as usual. After the classes, Yong came to fetch me home and told me that he had to send his aunt to the church for the spiritual convocation. We had to make a trip to the church first. We attended the service. During the prayer Yong encouraged me to go forward to ask for the Holy Spirit. I asked the Lord to forgive my sins, save me and grant me salvation and eternal life. Miraculously, not long after, I began to vibrate unconsciously and tears streamed down my cheeks uncontrollably. I felt very curious and tried to stop which I did. Later, some believers told me that I had been moved by the Holy Spirit. I told my mother about my experience, but she could not explain the phenomenon to me. Since then, I kept this experience to myself. When I resumed praying, I encountered the same experience. Whenever I felt so lonely, empty and helpless, there was always a source of strength like a warm current filling, comforting and soothing me. The emotions I felt at the time were beyond description. On one occasion, something strange happened to me. I was told in the back of my mind, "What are you doing? Are you trying to renounce your faith?! Go back to your original faith." Suddenly, the warm current disappeared. This same experience did not recur until I went to London to further my study. At that time, my family could not afford to send me overseas to complete my final year but, with the Lord's help, the impossible became possible: The principal of my college knew of my plight and encouraged me to apply for loans from the banks. All my initial applications were turned down. Though I continued trying, I was not very hopeful of my study abroad. Three weeks before I was due to start my final year in London, one of the banks informed me that my loan had been approved. I was overjoyed. Praise the Lord! The loan was only enough to pay for the tuition fees, and I had to find an alternative means to pay for my living expenses. I told my mother that I needed 32,000 Ringit (Malaysian dollar) but she prepared 45,000 Ringit for me. At that time, the value of the Ringit took a plunge and what she prepared was just sufficient to cover my expenses. From this, I learnt that "God's grace is sufficient for me", as the scriptures tell us that we should "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and the rest will be added unto us". Under the guidance of the Lord, I successfully completed my bachelor's degree. A few DreamsIn December 1997, London church held its first Evangelistic Training Camp. One week before that, I put up in church on the Sabbath day as usual. On that night, I dreamt that I came to a temple and in it was an idol. The whole atmosphere was engulfed in smoke. A giant mosquito flew to the idol's ear, seemingly bringing a complaint against me. At once, the countenance of the idol changed and it grew bigger and flew towards me. I clasped my hands together and said "Hallelujah, in the name of Jesus I pray..." Before I could finish, I woke up. I was in deep fear and immediately prayed in silence. I could not understand the significance of the dream then. One week later, several sisters and I were sleeping in the sister's dormitory. At night I had another dream, I saw a huge wall and a black shadow came forth from the wall. It wore a black robe and had a long beard. It said to me "I am god!" I said to myself, "God? Is this what God looks like?" I always thought He was holy and white. At the time, I wanted to pray, but as I was in the dream I could not. I struggled to wake up from my sleep. Suddenly, I heard a loud "boom" sound like in a car accident, which woke me up. I was very frightened and again I prayed. The next day, I asked the sisters in the same room whether they heard anything at night but none of them did. I told Yong about my dream and on questioning me, he found out that I still had a talisman in my handbag. I immediately approached a deacon, who removed the talisman in the name of Jesus. On the first day of the spiritual convocation, I was greatly moved by the Holy Spirit during the prayer. On the second day, Bro Yong received the Holy Spirit. At night, before I went to bed, I asked the Lord to grant me the Holy Spirit as the next day was the final day of the convocation, and if I still had not received His Spirit, I would feel weak during prayers. During the prayer session on the last day, I prayed earnestly, asking God to forgive my sins. Suddenly, I recalled my unrefined attitude towards my father and I became very remorseful. If I could not even respect my father, how could I worship the heavenly Father? I continued to beg for forgiveness. I then felt a power coming from above. The Holy Spirit filled me and I started to speak in tongues. I was at a loss for words to describe the joy I was experiencing. Baptism and Returning to the TruthSince I had received the Holy Spirit, baptism should have followed naturally but I was hesitant, wondering whether to let my family know about it. The brethren encouraged me to pray and ask God to open a way. Thank God, my family did not oppose my decision. On the contrary, my father, who was the most stubborn one in my family, even instructed my mother not to mention my baptism to our relatives. On 8 February 1998, 10 of us set off to the baptismal site. I was the only baptismal candidate. The weather was very gloomy and it was windy that morning. I felt very cold and asked the preacher, who baptised me later on, whether I could postpone the baptism. He turned down my request. All I could do then was to ask the Lord for courage. After the prayer, as everyone was preparing to sing hymns, the clouds parted and the sun shone right on us. It gave me the hope of becoming a new person. Everyone was deeply moved by the scene. I am only a very ordinary person and yet God allowed me to receive such a great blessing. I thank Him from the bottom of my heart for His mercy. God loves me and I deeply believe that He also loves my family. My mother had an operation and because of the prayers offered by the brethren, she experienced a speedy recovery. Although I have only believed in Jesus for such a short time, the little things in my life have allowed me to feel His abiding presence, guidance and protection. My greatest wish is for my family and friends to believe in Jesus and receive eternal life. I thank God for guiding and choosing me and allowing me to experience Him - the only most high, true and living God. I thank Him also for allowing me to finally see the truth that there is only one ark and only one way to salvation. I hope that all of us will serve the Lord with all our hearts, minds and strength so that the church can prosper. May all glory be ascribed to the Lord. Amen!