Updated : 07/02/2002 

Old Life Is Gone. New Life Has Begun!
By Paul M

I came to know Jesus as my personal Saviour when I was a young teenager but my walk with the Lord was nominal. As a young Christian, I remember being prophesied over to the effect that in ten years' time I would be serving the Lord. I took it with a pinch of salt as I had no inclination towards serving God.

After finishing secondary school I found a job doing document delivery in an air-courier company. Through hard work and perseverance, I was slowly promoted and given an opportunity to do customer services and sales.

In my line of business, Kuala Lumpur's 'Golden Triangle' is a lucrative area. My company's market share in this area was small however and I was given the task of increasing it. An awesome task! Nevertheless, I didn't let what I cannot do hinder what I can do.

One day during lunch time, I was servicing customers in Wisma Goldhill, one of the major office buildings in the vicinity. I heard beautiful voices glorifying God with songs of worship. At first I was unsure as I did not expect to hear praise and worship songs in a commercial building. But being a Christian, I was familiar with the songs. I followed my ear to rind the source of these voices and it led me to a group of well-dressed Christian men and ladies having their FGB fellowship meeting. Men with ties were lifting up their hands to worship God. Joy filled my heart at what I saw and I joined them in their fellowship meeting. Since then, I have made it a point to be at the Wisma Goldhill meeting when I serve my customers in that area.

My job prospered and my company's market share improved tremendously. I was blessed with good salary increments and bonuses. The company promoted me to an executive and posted me to the Jalan Ampang/KLCC area.

Being posted away from Wisma Goldhill, did not deprive me of Christian fellowship meetings. One never 'finds' time for anything. The time must be 'made'. My Christian walk improved and I began to be transformed as the Lord drew me closer to Him. I began attending Sunday worship services regularly.

The Lord continued to prosper my work. Towards the end of 1997, a huge company at KLCC called for a tender for air-courier services. My company participated but was not hopeful of the tender. I committed this matter to the Lord and left it as it was. When we work, we work. When we pray, God works. Out of the blue, on 24th Dec 1997, I received a call from that company, "You've got the contract!" Indeed, it was the best Christmas gift I ever had.

By this time, people in the industry started to hear about me. They heard about how the Lord had blessed me physically and spiritually. In my line of work, it is taboo to talk to competitors, especially in public. It was much to my surprise that one day, a fellow Tamil-speaking Indian from a competitor firm stopped me for a chit-chat over a 'teh-tarik'. He shared his problems and asked me to help him get back to the Lord. I was taken aback as I was expecting him to talk about business matters. He had once known the Lord but had backslided and didn't know Jesus personally anymore. I told him that in order to get into heaven, it's whom you know that counts. No one is so good that he can save himself and one is so bad that God cannot save him. We prayed and I led him back to the Lord.

Later I was invited to his house in Setapak and there, one by one, each member of his household gave their lives to the Lord. When I left, I started to feel a heavy burden for my fellow Indian Tamils who did not know Jesus. Indeed, God does not comfort us that we may be comfortable but that we may be comforters to others.

Despite my busy working schedule, I desired to study the Word of God and have a stronger biblical foundation and so I enrolled myself into a local Bible school. After two years of part-time classes, I graduated. I was not satisfied and started to inquire about enrollment into the Bible College of Malaysia.

The college principal interviewed me but instead of accepting me as a student, he challenged me to plant a Tamil-speaking church in Setapak. At that precise moment, I remembered the lo-year old prophesy about serving the Lord and burst into tears. After much prayer and seeking the Lord, I finally accepted the challenge and started to make the necessary preparations. The family I had witnessed to earlier and had newly come to know the Lord agreed to labour together with me in this work.

While doing our rounds in Setapak to survey for premises, I saw a beautiful unoccupied bungalow. It was an appropriate place for a church and we started to claim it for the Lord. After much prayer, we approached the owner who happens to be a Christian. We shared with him our burden and he asked us what rental we could pay. We said, "Not much but much prayer possibly RM 600 per month." The bungalow could have easily fetched a monthly rental of RM 1,200. The owner is a wealthy man and has been blessed by the Lord. He wanted to bless the Lord back and accepted our RM 600 offer. I was surprised and my faith level jumped. He could have given it to us for free but he wanted us to seek the Lord monthly for the RM 600. We might have otherwise not prayed for it anymore. [The church has now been planted under the auspices of the AOG's Home Mission]

As I look back, how true His Words ring, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him." I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow.

In December 1990, a miracle happened. It was a very unusual experience and a wonderful gift from our Living God.

I have worked as a manager in several freight forwarding companies in Malaysia. Life was very glamorous, exciting and enjoyable especially mixing with people in high society and travelling abroad frequently for business cum pleasure. I was so fully occupied with worldly pleasures that I could never foresee a sudden tumble in my career. When this happened about 15 years ago, it led to many unforgettable sufferings, both financially and emotionally.

During this period, I become a victim of diabetes, a disease with a high level of sugar in the blood. This disease is well known as a slow killer and a very high dosage of medicine is required to keep you alive. I suffered a great deal and my body began to shrink due to low intake of sugar.

A week before the celebration of Deepavali (a Hindu festival) in November 1990, a small boil grew on my left ankle which soon become a big sore. Any diabetic person will know that a wound on his body will not heal or takes a long time to heal.

I did not go to the hospital for treatment for fear that I would be detained for a long period which I could not afford as the sole bread winner in my family. At the same time, I was well aware that if the wound was not taken care of, my leg could be amputated or it would lead to other complications in the body. With much pain I began to limp.

By this time, my wife had informed many friends and relatives of my condition. Some of our Christians friends would call me by telephone and enquire whether they could pray for me. I would deliberately turn them down, partly due to pride coupled with unbelief.

My wife then was a nominal Christian but after we got married, she backslided and embraced my religious beliefs. She was always afraid of me but on the quiet, she had asked many Christian friends to pray for me. Not only that, she also prayed herself without my knowledge.

During this time, distant family friends who have never come to our house before visited us. They came to know of my condition and sympathised with me. After the lady friend had spoken to my wife in the kitchen, she approached me timidly to ask whether she could pray for me. Since there were many people around me, I was not able to reject her kind gesture.

She came and squatted on the floor and carried up my leg and prayed. The other friends sitting around me also came closer and started to pray in a strange language. While this was going on, I was laughing to myself. After praying, they left.

I will be healed

The next day, another Christian lady whom God has been using mightily in the healing ministry, called me on the phone and asked whether she could pray for me. Before I could resist, she prayed and then apologised that she was unable to visit us due to her tight working schedule. Before she hung up the phone, she 'prophesied' that I will be healed by Jesus.

Instead of being healed, the pain in my leg became unbearable and I could hardly put my foot on the ground. I consulted my wife whether I should go to the hospital the following day since the wound has become serious. Strangely, my wife consoled me and requested for one more prayer session the next day before making a decision.

The pain was gone

One afternoon in early December, a Christian family came and with much perseverance, prayed for me. At that moment, I felt something like a fire coming upon me and I began to sweat and then fainted on the chair I was sitting on. I did not know what happened but minutes later; I woke up with great astonishment. The pain in my leg was gone and I could feel a great sensation and relief overwhelming me. Most of all, there was tremendous joy and happiness in my heart. The Christian family explained to me later about Jesus's peculiar ways of healing people and saving them from this sinful world. Until then, I was unable to conceive the idea of healing except by and through my own religious ways. A week later, the wound on my leg became smaller and then disappeared altogether. Praise Lord Jesus for his healing!

My leg becomes normal and without realising, I began to worship Him. Soon after, my faith in Jesus began to grow and my life was completely changed. I saw that I have more strength and confidence in myself, which I never had before. There is also joy and happiness in my family.

Shortly after the incident, I went to the hospital for a routine check-up for the sugar level in my blood. When the test results were out, the doctor was surprised and in disbelief to see that the sugar level had dropped drastically from the previous level. Subsequently, they confirmed that I was healed completely of diabetics. That day, I came home a very happy man.

On 31st December 1990, my whole family went to church together for the first time to attend an evening service. When the service started, my family rejoiced with the church congregation in songs and worship. At the end of the service, the church pastor led the congregation in prayer. I closed my eyes and a little later, I had a vision of a golden cross on a heart size pillow. It illuminated golden lights like many sparkling stars falling down from the cross. This vision appeared to me for a length of time. I thanked the Lord for giving me this vision, which I have shared with my friends and family. The following month, my whole family accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. The thrills of being born-again Christians are beyond explanation. As the Lord said in the Gospel of John 3:3 " Truly, truly I say to you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God ". We have experienced what Jesus has said we should experience. We now attend church services weekly and rejoice very much in our new-found faith.

Through reading and studying of God's word, we discovered that the miraculous healing of my diabetics was only the beginning of more miracles to come. As young Christians, our faith in God grew with new experiences, new understanding and many, if not all, answered prayers.

Praise the Lord.