Chen Tat:

I came from a family where I was strictly taught to follow the teachings of my parent’s religion. As a kid, though I didn’t believe in my parent’s faith, I still adhered out of respect for
them. Growing up, I couldn’t feel the love of my parents and constantly tried new things to satisfy myself and find an identity. But my search came up fruitless, as friendships, hobbies, pastimes couldn’t satisfy and I quickly lost interest in them. There was always this hole in my heart that couldn’t be filled, this meaninglessness of life.

One day my classmate Joseph shared the gospel with me when I was 15. It was eye opening and I can still remember what he said to me. He asked me how much good works must I do to get to heaven and if it offsets my bad deeds. I was taken aback and was at a loss to reply. He then shared with me about the gospel and in the Bible, it says that faith comes from hearing of the word and for me, that was the case. Though I thought that the idea of a saviour was ridiculous at that time, the more crazy thing was that in my heart I genuinely wanted to believe and place my faith in this God. I felt peace and joy in hearing the gospel that I never experienced anywhere else. The same day I approached my mother and when I asked her she flatly rejected me. I started being estranged from family, I would regularly be ignored and reprimanded for my faith or experience the heartache of being treated like an outsider. Despite being put down, I could not let this go, I could not lay aside this joy and peace that I felt from the gospel and I resolved to pray and continue pursuing my faith.

The journey to where I am now has been marked by mistakes like having lied to come to church. But I know that through this God is moulding me into the person He wants me to be. In time, God has been gracious and I was allowed to go to church. As of now, I’m serving the Lord in ministry and praying for the salvation of my family.