God has no grandchildren

By Chen Yoke May

When our son Simon was a child, he suffered from a severe sinus problem. We I took him to ENT specialists, but the problem persisted. Once he had to be hospitalized because of a severe attack. When he was 12 years old, the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship was very active in Melaka. They often had evangelistic and inspirational meetings. Sometimes the speakers invited the sick to go forward for healing. At one of these meetings in 1986, I took Simon forward for healing. The speaker from Singapore, laid hands on him and simply prayed that he be healed in Jesus’ name. From that time onwards, there were no more sinus attacks. That night, Simon experienced the God who heals. When Simon was 25, he joined Operation Mobilization and served on the ship “Doulos” for seven years. Later he went to Morling Theological College in Sydney to do his master’s in divinity. He is now ministering in a Baptist church in New South Wales, Australia. 

 

As Christian parents, we may bring our children to Sunday school, do devotions with them every night, encourage them to read the bible, etc. All this is good, but they must encounter the living God for themselves.Our children must have a life-changing encounter with the Lord Almighty if they are to withstand the anti-Christian onslaught of the mass media in a post-Christian world. Their faith needs to be strong enough to withstand atheistic teachings on evolution and undesirable peer pressures that are so prevalent nowadays.

Miracle

My daughter Eunice also encountered the God of miracles. As a teenager she often volunteered to be a camp officer for Scripture Union children’s camps. At one camp  the children were disappointed because it was raining so they couldn’t run up and down the beach. One little boy – Samuel Vincent –asked God to stop the rain – and it stopped!  For half an hour the rain stopped for the children to play happily.  That day Eunice saw the simple faith of a little child! After Eunice graduated from university, she taught at a kindergarten. She helped to train the children for their annual concert. On the very evening of the concert, disaster struck!

“Mum,” she whispered hoarsely, “I’ve lost my voice! How can I direct the children? I need to tell them what to do!”

I thought to myself: when Jesus gave the Great Commission, he said those who believe “will be able to place their hands on the sick and heal them.”  Mark 16:18. I also remembered Jesus saying, ‘’ whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours’’.  Mark 11:2. My children had attended Sunday school from when they were two years old. They had heard about Jesus’ miracles. And I had read bible stories to them about Jesus’ miracles. What better time than at that critical moment to take Jesus at his word?

I sat Eunice down. “I’ll pray for Jesus to heal you,” I prayed with some trepidation. What if nothing happened? But to our utter amazement and joy, she got her voice back! She proceeded to direct the children at their concert.

We Christian parents must use every opportunity to impress upon our children that our God is a miracle-working God. We can evoke awe from them when we gaze at the brilliant stars at night, breathtaking sunsets and other beautiful scenes of nature but we can also use trials and tribulations that God allows to befall us. Eunice did a post-graduate course at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia. She now teaches Year 4 at Tatachilla Lutheran College in South Australia where chapel services are conducted on a regular basis. May she have the opportunity to teach the children there about our miracle-working God!

Impossible

Our youngest child Jonathan also encountered the God who answers prayer –  even the most out of the ordinary request!   He was a violinist in the Kuala Lumpur Symphony Orchestra. After their Christmas concert in 1997, the members of the KLSO were going to celebrate in the Marriot Hotel in KL. However, we were living in Kajang then, and we took the train and taxi to rehearsals and performances in KL. How would we get back home to Kajang after midnight when no more trains ran? I tried to dissuade Jon from attending the post-concert party but he was adamant.

“Well, let us pray,” I said, recalling John 15:7 where Jesus said, “if you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted.” We prayed that God would provide us transport back to Kajang. We happened to get a lift to the Marriot Hotel from Joost Flach, a Dutch oboist in the KLSO. He overheard us arguing in the car.  ”I’ll drive you back to Kajang after the party”  he offered.  He had recently arrived in Malaysia so he didn’t know where is where yet.

“Where do you stay Joost?” I asked.

“Selayang,” he answered.

“Do you know how far Kajang is from Selayang?”

“The distance doesn’t matter,” replied Joost. “My car is due for a check-up after doing 5000 kilometres. I haven’t had the chance to do 5000 kilometres, so I want to drive it long distance.”

Again, I rejoiced at God’s gracious providence and the chance to show Jon that God answers even the most unusual prayer! 

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