When my husband started to attend the Sunday service in this church 3 years ago, I did not come with him. I would just fetch him to and from the church. This went on for a couple of months.

One Sunday morning, I asked my husband if I could attend the service with him so that I could save the trouble of having to return 2 hours later to pick him. His answer was obviously “yes”. That was how I first came to Bethesda Cathedral and continued attending the services for around 2.5 years. However, during these 2.5 years, I was ‘on guard’ and was not willing to mix around for fear that people would start preaching to me. I managed to keep myself off the radar screen of the church workers.

As for my husband, he was patient enough and did not pressurize me at all. (Pressure would not have worked on me.) He simply continued to pray to God for my salvation.

God’s words that were spoken at every Service slowly took root in my heart and I stopped going to the temple or praying to the idol at my mum’s house. But I was adamant that I would not become a Christian unless my mum became one first.

Strangely, I took an interest in attending the Basic Christian Living classes that was commencing in July that year. After the 2nd week of the course, Kwong Yew very eagerly introduced me and my husband to some other members of the church and even invited us to join their Oikos. I was then thinking to myself, “Oh no! What have I gotten myself into?”

I attended my first Oikos on 14th July. I was told beforehand that it was a big group. I remember telling my husband that if I sensed any pressure at the meeting, it would be the last time I attended any Oikos. My husband understood what I meant because he knows my character. But God knows me better. To my surprise, there was no pressure and I felt very comfortable and encouraged by the sharing. Praise the Lord!

The next morning, while lying in bed - awake but with eyes closed - I had a vision for the 1st time. I saw a pair of eyes - my husband’s – that was filled with joy. Behind those eyes were many dove-like objects -- all flying in an upward direction. The vision disappeared after around 15 seconds. I could not understand what I had seen and did not mention it to my husband. However, there was this peace in my heart that I had never felt before. Throughout that day, the tune of the song “Amazing Grace” kept playing in my mind.

I then remembered there was a Gospel Rally that evening and the speaker was a Rev. Daniel Ee. My husband and I tried to invite our siblings to the Rally but were not successful. There were also some unpleasant distractions but none of these seems to be able to shake the peace that was present in me. My heart seemed set on attending the Gospel Rally. Previously, my mood would have been adversely affected and I would not even be interested in attending the Gospel Rally…. There was no reason to attend since we were not bringing anyone. That evening, I responded to the altar call and invited Jesus Christ into my heart as my Lord & Saviour.

My husband’s prayer for my salvation had been answered. PTL! Has this got anything to do with the vision I had that morning? I leave it to your interpretation.

I thank God for his love and mercy towards me in that I did not have to go through great tribulations before realizing my foolishness of rejecting His gift of salvation. I felt the love of God and it was really God’s love and peace that had drawn me to Him.

I am now praying for the salvation of my mum, siblings and others.

I would like to encourage all who are praying for the salvation of their loved ones. Do not give up on your prayer! Do share the gospel with them and leave the rest to God.

We think we know what our loved ones want but God knows them better. We want them to be saved because we love them but God loves them even more. Our ways are not God’s ways and our timing is not God’s timing. God’s way is perfect and God’s timing is perfect. When the time is right and God allows it to happen, no works of Satan can stop it.

God’s love is powerful. One day, the people we pray for will know how great our God is. Thanks be to God!