Over the past 10 years, my elder sister, Wha, and I had been inviting dad to church. While he was very open to Christianity, there were 2 issues that he could not reconcile with.  Firstly, he had not found a neutral person who could give an unbiased proposition of which religion is the truth. Any preacher will surely say that his religion is true, but his view is biased.  Secondly, he was not able to find a satisfactory link between Christianity and Chinese history and heritage.  From late 2013, dad went on a personal quest for the truth - he surfed the internet (he was then 85 years old) to watch videos of different religious speakers. Then one Sunday morning in early 2014, when I visited him at home, he suddenly told me that he was ready for baptism. I was surprised and asked – what happened, what did you find?  He then showed me a YouTube testimony video of Zhao Xiao (赵晓) - an atheist researcher who was sent by the Chinese government to the US to study their economic development. At the end of his research, he submitted a report to the Chinese government entitled “Economic Revolution with the Cross” as a believer.

In his testimony, Zhao Xiao shared about how major global economic development over many centuries were tied to the spread of the Gospel. He also linked Christianity with Chinese heritage and shared why he converted to Christianity.  This video resolved the 2 issues that previously hindered Dad from becoming a Christian.  On 1 June 2014, Dad and Mom were baptised at a Teochew church.

Dad Warded – Nov 2020

Dad was admitted to hospital on 26 Nov 2020 due to breathing difficulty and high blood pressure. Kidney failure led to fluid in his lungs. Dad didn’t want dialysis treatment, the family concurred because of his old age. With medication, the fluid in his lungs soon cleared and he was able to breathe comfortably. However, he was suffering in pain and discomfort due to toxins building up in his body caused by the kidney failure.

One Sunday when I visited dad at the ward, he was crying and asking why God was not taking him home sooner to relieve his suffering. Was it because he did not serve God enough after becoming a Christian while he had served over 40 years in the Chinese temple?  Dad’s cry prompted me to share with him the story and photos of a mission trip to a mountain village in Dec 2017. In the village visit, I shared Dad’s story to an old man who later became a Christian. Dad was elated to hear that he played a role in the old man’s conversion. Read on to find out what happened during the trip.

He exclaimed that this neatly arranged purple flowering trees were exactly what he saw in his vision during the morning’s Hearing God session when we asked God to show us signs of places or people, we were to visit that day.  I could testify to this vision as I was in the same praying group as Nick and the vision was recorded by Amanda. Nick also received another vision of a box of honey (yes, honey in a box not in a bottle nor a jar). As we reached the village home, Gao ye-ye came to receive us and showed us the temple he had just built next to his home. He explained that after retiring from a government job, he leased the plot of mountain land and built this temple to continue serving the community although he did not worship these deities. He also showed us his Chinese calligraphy which was inscribed on the temple walls.

He then invited us to his home where we sat down to fellowship with him and his son. His son attended a local church and had been eagerly inviting mission teams to reach out to his dad.

I told Gao ye-ye that his background was just like Dad. Both Dad and Gao ye-ye were about the same age and were intellectuals who liked Chinese calligraphy.  Just like Dad, Gao ye-ye was a handy-man, who built his own sheds in the mountains.  They both served in a Chinese temple although they did not believe in the Chinese religion. I went on to tell Dad’s conversion story and showed Gao ye-ye the photos of Dad and his baptism.  We invited Gao ye-ye to come to the Sunday service at the local church. He agreed!

We then took a group photo outside the house.  As I was taking the photo, I saw a brown box in the background. On closer investigation, low and behold, the box was a beehive! – the “box of honey” that Nick saw in his vision before the visit. Surely, God’s favour was with Gao ye-ye that visit!

On Sunday at the local church, we were delighted to see Gao ye-ye sitting at the front pew next to the church elder.  Susan, another mission trip member, shared the Gospel with Gao ye-ye and led him to say the sinner’s prayer. We were told that Gao ye-ye was baptised on Easter Sunday the following year, PTL!

Dad’s Last Holy Communion – 6 Dec 2020

On Sunday 6 Dec 2020 morning, Dad was very alert and could read the newspaper. He joined us for the online service on my tablet and received Holy Communion. That would be his last Holy Communion. Praise God for online services.

Dad Called Home – 14 Dec 2020.

The following week, with palliative care treatment, Dad was comfortable but in deep sleep most of the time. Dad passed away peacefully with the entire immediate family by his bedside at noon Monday 14 Dec 2020.  

Three days after Dad’s departure, my cousin relayed a condolence message from Kevin, her friend in Taipei whom she had introduced to me years ago.  She said Kevin had been praying for Dad while he was in the hospital. On 4 Dec (the day when Ps Vincent visited dad), Kevin prayed that dad would experience the presence of Jesus in those moments. In his message to my cousin, Kevin said “I saw your uncle smiling in his hospital bed as he was in this extremely bright light, it was Jesus all around and inside of him. He was filled with great warmth in his soul. It was a flow as he realized he was in Jesus and Jesus was in him. but I kept seeing your uncle's face, warm smiling, and brilliant light all around. His eyes are closed as if so satisfied, and not showing teeth kind of smile, if you know what I mean.”  When I asked at what time Kevin prayed for Dad and had the vision, the reply - 16:13 hr.  I checked the video, that was the exact time Dad was “preaching” to Ps Vincent. He was not wearing his dentures and was chatting with his eyes closed now and then! When Kevin saw the video that I forwarded, he exclaimed: “WHOA, he's wearing what I saw! THIS IS GETTING REAL!” 

“You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13