Testimony sharing during Sunday service

Currently listening: Don Harris - For You alone (sung at CHC)

Good morning brothers and sisters. My name is Gary, and I graduated from Monash University, currently working as a doctor in Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Johor Bahru. I am currently joining the U3A student lifegroup. Today I would like to share with you my testimony on how I experienced God in my decision making process, and the precious lessons He taught me along the way.

First let me introduce a little bit of background of how I first came to know Hope JB. I came to know God while I was in my 1st year of my studies in Hope Melbourne, Australia, and have been joining Hope family of churches ever since. When I 1st came to Hope JB, it turned out to be a challenge for me. Why? The travelling distance was quite far from where I live, and I would end up taking public transport when nobody was coming along with me. In addition, I struggled a lot because I hardly knew how to converse in Mandarin.

Nevertheless, I overcame those struggles, and in my 3rd year God taught me a valuable principle, which has become the mainstay of what I do – Choose to honour God, and He will honour you. That is why I never compromised, be it in taking shortcuts in my academics or missing church activities, no matter how busy or tired I was. I saw how God blessed me in many areas as I made the decision to do so.

When I entered my final year, I was challenged to take that principle to another level. On one hand, I desire to see a lifegroup of strong and biblical medical students and doctors rise up and commit their lives to make a difference on campus and within the hospital. However, deep inside my heart, I also have my own dream, to become a successful specialist. When I went to Melbourne in my 1st year, I literally fell in love with the place, the working environment and pay in Australia was definitely better. It was very tempting, what more since I managed to get 2 provisional offers from Australia thanks to references from 2 prominent professors in my final year. But as I spent some time praying to seek God, and after consultation with leaders, I came to the conclusion that apart from my own personal reasons and preferences, I have no concrete reason to work there in terms of God’s plan.

At the same time, I faced challenges from my family, who were understandably upset and objected strongly to my decision to turn down my Australian offer as well as the option of working in their hometown. It was a very difficult situation for me, as I did not know what to do, apart from spending time praying. I was bothered with many doubts and questioned myself whether am I doing the right thing, since 3 years of putting in effort and I have yet to see much fruits from my ongoing labour. At one point I told God, if I am just wasting time down here, why bother? I might as well pack my bags and go pursue my own interests. I also have people telling me all sort of things out of good intention. One would say, “Don’t stay to see the seed grow, because sometimes you are one sowing it, only God can make it grow.”, whereas another would comment, “Don’t you have other churches in Australia / Malaysia to serve in? Why must it be Hope JB?” Nevertheless, this church is committed to fulfilling the great commission, and I told Him, “I may not fully understand your vision yet, but I want to stay back to learn, to be equipped and experience you more, as I have seen how lives can be changed as we offer ourselves to your plans and purposes.”

One day, I received an unexpected phone call from my dad, requesting for my personal particulars. I asked why. He wanted to pass it to his contact to see whether anything can be done about my hospital placement. Although I disagreed with the method, I appreciated it. From a situation where he was determined to prevent me from getting JB at all costs, God turned the situation around, where he was now going all out to help ensure I would get JB. I was moved to tears, and literally did not know how to respond. So did my shepherd, Ethan, when I shared this with him, he also did not know what to say apart from “God actually loves you very much”. In this process, I experienced how my parents still loved me and were willing to respect my decision, despite various disagreements.

My top 3 hospitals were all in Johor, 2 in JB, 1 in Batu Pahat. To some, this may be seen as risky gamble, putting all your choices in a single state, rather than varying it to stand a better chance of success. Furthermore, I did not know what to put as my reason for those 3 hospitals. Eventually I decided to do something crazy, by mentioning, “Commitment to my local church” as the reason.

God is good. I was offered Hospital Sultan Ismail as my placement (my 2nd choice). I was quite happy, it was a fully air-conditioned and computerized hospital, workload is more manageable and you get to do more stuff, but there is 1 problem: I don’t know any doctors / students there who have yet to come in – what am I about to do in terms of ministry?

At this time, my shepherd challenged me again, since it will not affect your initial outcome, why not you submit an appeal and ask for HSA? I was a bit reluctant to relinquish my offer, because I felt that I would be giving up something good for a worse working environment. However, I chose to believe that as we put God’s interests 1st, He will definitely look after our interests. Since I have limited time to appeal, I was at a loss again how to justify my reasons. Having ran out of ideas, I decided to submit another crazy yet not-so-concrete reason: Housing and transport convenience, and once again, church commitment. I was not holding any high hopes, since if you get your top 3 options, they are unlikely to entertain you. However, on the last day, God miraculously opened up a way, as they announced that my appeal was successful.

At the same time,I received encouraging news on my sheep who is currently in Hope Melbourne on final year exchange, where his humility to serve and help out in the student ministry, despite not having any title attached to him touched the hearts of several people. Having gotten a half-day off hospital work, he chose to take initiative and use the time to help out in campus ministry duties. It is indeed good news to hear how he is currently becoming a blessing to others, as he responded during altar call to have more passion in serving God despite his present struggles.

In conclusion, it has not been an easy process along the way, but I believe that I have been continuously reminded that as we make the best decision for God, He will for surely honour that decision. I might be very busy and stuck with various challenges at the moment, but I want to believe and be excited that where God has put me, He has His wonderful plan and purpose. All glory and honour to Him.

Psalm 126:5-6 - Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.

*Note: some parts have been modified for completeness