Updated : 24/09/2009

Set Free from Bondages!
By Yee Cang Ling

I would not consider myself to be a bad fellow before I became a Christian. I was just your average professional trying to make a success of my life. My father had taught me very many good Chinese values. Values like honesty, hard work, respect for elders, thrift and integrity. But he also taught me some so-called Chinese business norms.

For example it may be necessary in business entertainment to engage the services of paid ladies. Smoking, drinking and social gambling are all part of the Chinese business culture and indeed should be practised if you want to get ahead in the business world. I did practise some of these values and had achieved a measure of professional success at a relatively young age. By the time I was thirty I thought I had arrived; travelling round the world in first class, dining on top of the World Trade Centre in New York which I now destroyed in 9/11. But somehow as I got to experience the so-called high life I was not so certain that this was all the success I was looking for. All the flying, drinking, smoking, entertaining and late nights was not doing my health any good. When I had to struggle though a bad hangover I would vow that I would not drink again. But by evening that vow would b forgotten. When I find myself short of breath with a little exertion I would determine to stop smoking. But to no avail.

But God is good. He provided me with a friend and mentor who after a couple years of searching became a Christian. Soon after that he began to try to convince me to follow him and become a Christian. He persisted for two years. Finally one day when he was sending me off at the Singapore airport he told me he knew my problem. According to him my reluctance to accept Jesus as my personal savior was because I was an accountant. As an accountant I was trying to figure out if there is any advantage or profit in following after Jesus. I was working out the pro-forma profit and loss account just as I would with any investment proposition.

He asked me three questions. Do you believe that there is a God? That was easy as I had been looking for God for quite sometime. In fact I had been aware of a higher power since my secondary school days. I used to ear a Buddha around my neck and I practised transcendental meditation for two years. Then he asked what kind of God I had in mind; a fearsome God who would be a real kill joy always watching to catch me out on some sins or a God who loves and cares for you, who is always wanting the best for me? After some serious pondering I answered that I could accept that God would be benevolent, loving and caring towards me. Finally he asked if my God is all powerful able to do all things, all knowing and can be everywhere at the same time. I replied that God must be like that or he would not be God.

He then assured me that since I had the desire to find God I would most certainly find him. But that I had to take the first step to meet God. And God would take two steps to meet me. It could happen that I may not like what I find. But if I did not like what I find I could just return it without any loss. I would have lost nothing, simply back at square one. To me that amounts to a risk free investment. On that basis when I got to Jakarta I knelt down by the hotel bed and accepted Jesus into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior. I started to read the Bible by myself and managed to join some fellowship meeting although I had no one to guide or nurture me in my new found spiritual walk.

Then I began to experience God working in my life, quite unobtrusively most gently but very positively. The day I was baptised in the Holy Spirit I was immediately delivered from my smoking habit of 20 years without even a conscious thought from me. My first stick of cigarette was at 12 years old. At nineteen I was a regular smoker. But the time I became a Christian I was smoking all sorts of tobacco, keretek, cigars, pipes besides regular cigarette. I had tried numerous times to give up but the addiction was simply too strong. So I gave up giving up smoking. One Sunday about four months after my conversion I attended a charismatic fellowship meeting in a Kuala Lumpur hotel. When the invitation was made for the baptism the Holy Spirit I went forward without knowing too much about it. I received the baptism and started praying in an unknown language. I got home and resumed my smoking the pipe. Took two puffs, put down the pipe and since then had never smoked again, for the last 27 years. There was no struggle, no striving not even the thought that I should give up smoking. It just happened. An addiction of 20 years was broken by the power of God without any effort on my part.

Then there was healing. My two year old boy developed some viral growth on his right chest, those pieces of extra flesh that sometime appear behind the neck or the ear. Being young Christians my wife and I prayed over him when he was asleep. Over a couple of weeks all the pieces dropped off. Today there is not even a scar.

I also experienced His goodness in the provision of jobs and opportunities. Slowly but surely I saw the hand of God upon my life. My life as a Christian was not a bed of roses. I still had my share of trails and tribulations as any human being would from time to time. The big difference was that I now have Jesus to hold my hand and guide my feet as I walk through my troubles. I am no longer alone. As I walk with Jesus day by day my friendship with Him grow stronger and I know He will never leave me or forsake me.

Some of my friends who had known me for years were waiting for me to give Jesus up as I had with my previous experimentation with other religious practices and beliefs. It has now been 27 years. What started off as a risk-free investment has become the most important decision in my life, the best investment I ever made. I found my Savior as He had purposed that I would. My only regret is that it took me 35 years to know Him. I wished I had known Him earlier.

Dr Wong Hong Meng is the National Director for Leadership Development & Training, FGBMF. He and his wife, Irene worship at Calvary Church Kuala Lumpur.

Coming from a Chinese family I have been practicing my faith passed down by my ancestors. Since childhood, I practiced ancestral worship and all other kinds of idol worship including even the worship of Thai and Hindu idols at one stage, because my parents practiced it and instructed me to do the same. I was quite rebellious at that time and kept on questioning my faith and trying to find reasons to stay away from all those kind activities. At one stage, I even thought that there was no God at all and that God was just a figment of human imagination. Thus I would rather believe in the evolution theory rather than theology.

I acted that way because my parents once told me that by worshipping the idols a person would receive blessings and protection. I thought that belief was rather ridiculous. There was no peace at all in my family, neither was there any protection for my family. My parents often argued and there was always tension in the home. The fact that my mom is the over-sensitive type and my dad, the aggressive type didn’t help; rather, it worsened the family conflicts. As a result of one such conflict, the car we were travelling crashed into a drain leaving the vehicle damaged. This happened even though we were playing Buddhist chants very loudly in the car.

I also questioned the practice of praying to ancestors. Why pray to them after their death? Can they really bless and protect us? If so, why did accidents and conflicts still happen? All these incidents caused me to be skeptical about religion and reject it totally. I could not accept that God is real. Why should we continue to perform various rituals without obtaining anything in return? My behavior was not acceptable to my parents and I was branded as unfaithful and proud. Thus I found it hard to respect them and our relationship became strained.

Then one day, my dad was invited him to the church service by one of his friends. My dad, being a worshipper of nearly every kind of god, accepted the invitation readily. He was looking for financial breakthrough so he thought he could do with more blessings from one more God – this time, the Christian God. Moreover, he was attracted to Christianity, so took the whole family to the church one day. I accompanied him although very reluctantly. I thought that this was just another foolish and futile religious pursuit. I decided that I would have no part in any of this religion because there is no God worthy of my worship. What I experienced in that church on that day, however, caused me to rethink my stand on Christianity. I was amazed at the way they worshipped their God. There was no incense or sacrifices offered in the church. All they did was just worshipping God with their heart.

Later, other members of my family believed in and accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord and became Christian. My dad tried to encourage me to accept Jesus too but I declined again and again. I remember that during Christmas season in 2005, I was given the opportunity to say the sinner’s prayer and I complied but I was not serious about it. Although I didn’t feel any different then, I believe something happened to me spiritually. A month later, my dad decided to get rid of the idols in my house because he wanted to worship Jesus alone. I personally felt relieved because there would be no more incense smoke in my house. Although I was still not a believer of Christ at that moment, I felt contempt for the idols and gladly participated in the destruction of the idols. We destroyed and burned every idol in the house that day. I was happy because I did not have to listen to all the monotonous chanting in my house again.

Strange things began to happen after that, which I didn’t understand. During Chinese New Year, when I was having reunion dinner with my relatives in a vegetarian restaurant, I felt a weird sensation in my body and my limbs started to shake. To my horror, my nails turned purple which was a shock to my relatives. I was rushed to the nearby clinic because there was no hospital nearby. I thought I was dying. The doctor who was present suspected severe food poisoning and gave me a thorough examination but found nothing wrong with my body. I couldn’t stop shaking and the doctor suggested that I be admitted to the hospital immediately. My dad refused to have me admitted although the doctor had issued a letter of admission. He believed in the healing power of Christ and he prayed for me in faith. In desperation, I cried out to the Lord Jesus for help and I felt relieved. Some how I felt that something had come out from my body. I understood then that I had experienced what was known as a “spiritual attack”. The demons were trying to take revenge because of my participation in the spiritual cleansing of my house. Tears flowed non-stop and I knew from that moment on that I had been set free by a supernatural power that was infinitely greater than the demonic power. I realized that Jesus was that superior power and that He was real and He had set me free! I repented and asked for forgiveness from Him. That was the point of my real acceptance of Jesus as my Lord and Saviour.

God is so merciful and faithful to me. He keeps waiting for me although I refused to believe in Him at first. I believe I finally came to the Lord because of my parents’ prayers on my behalf. He is always there for me no matter what state I am in . I thank God for this chance of salvation and His never-ending love for me. I praise Him for what I am today.

The admission letter to the hospital still remained unopened to this day. Besides my own experiences of God’s grace, God has also been faithful to my own father. He is a well known businessman in our area. He has been involved in some huge projects and although he is currently in a financial crisis, God still sends a few of His servants to encourage him. This is the reason why he is still firm in his faith in God and he continues to believe in His promise and trust Him for the successful completion of his projects.

Great change has came over our family. There is now a peaceful and harmony atmosphere in the home as our family members know how to love one another and God loves them. To God be the glory.

Yee Cang Ling is the eldest son of Bro Barnabas Yee Chee Keat, Vice-President of the Alor Setar Chinese Chapter. They worship at the Full Gospel Church, Alor Setar, Kedah.