The Fan Family
Kwai Sang is 53 years old and an engineer by profession. He is one of the 14 founding members of BFC and a serving deacon. He is also involved in the community outreach programme and visitation ministry, and teaches in the Sunday Bible class.
His wife, Joy, is 51 years old, and is working part-time as a nurse. Like Kwai Sang, Joy is also a founding member of BFC. She is involved in the Ladies Fellowship Committee, the community outreach programme, as well as Sunday Bible class teaching.
They have 2 daughters, Lydia, who is 24 years old, and a behaviour therapist, and Lena, who is a 20-year old undergraduate. Lydia has been attending BFC since birth, and serves as pianist, is involved in the community outreach programme, as well as teaches in the Sunday Bible class. Lena also has been attending BFC since young, and when she is back in Singapore, is involved in the community outreach programme and is a Youth helper.
The Fan Family
Hi friendThis is Joy ….am so glad and excited to be given this opportunity to share about the goodness , greatness and mercies of God who found and blessed my husband and me, and our children till this day! I have a lot to tell you…..
To start with, like the majority of Singaporean Chinese, we were Taoists by birth, born after World War II, after the Japanese Occupation era. Our poverty stricken parents worked very hard. They had to fight for survival. As uneducated folks, they thrived with their hands and strength. As described by the famous Chinese idiom, “shou ting, kou ting�?, if they did not use their hands, they would have nothing to eat. Needless to say, staying healthy was of utmost importance because they were paid per diem. Money never came easy, so we learnt from a very tender age what it was to be “thrifty�?. For most of us, porridge (or rice) mixed with lard and soya sauce was our staple food. “Big fish, big meat�? were served only during festivals like the 7th month and lunar new year! Typically, all of us had one pair of shoes and one set of new clothing per year. I often went to school with “airy and holely�? canvas school shoes and improvised handkerchief “hat�? with my two 10 cents coins tied at the corners to reduce beating heat of the sun as we couldn’t afford many umbrellas. I used to hate rainy days for obvious reasons.
Together with my parents, I would pray to all gods, ancestors and spirits, adhered to lots of traditions and superstitions; and would even religiously display the “fu�? sign every single Lunar New Year for health, wealth, peace, longevity and happiness to be bestowed on our home. They never came. On the contrary, I witnessed constant fighting, monetary disputes, discontentment, fear, anxieties and worries. At the age of 13, I already experienced loneliness, dissatisfaction with life and resentment to be placed in a broken home. Boredom, some degree of depression and failure complex set in. I attempted to drown the unpleasantness; I would go partying and even tried some “smuggled�? alcohol, just for thrills! Instead, each time I left the party, I would go home dreading the loneliness I knew was waiting for me.
Mum’s discontentment was contagious. She impressed upon me that I must study hard, find an intelligent and rich husband to break out of the vicious cycle of poverty. I started to dream dreams and proceeded with determination to make them come true. Praise God who, from beginning of time, knew and loved me…led me to pilgrimage with him before I ruined my life.
A wonderful friend invited me to a school Christian Fellowship. Initially, I went because I loved the music and the warm friendship. It took a while for me to see God’s love in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.�?
Suddenly, I understood that it was because of sin that man was separated from God, and I could never have purpose and happiness in life other than through Him. The elderly preacher who was giving the message said, however, that God still loved man and had sent His own Son, Jesus, to die and pay the penalty for man’s sin, so that man could again be reunited with God. He shared John 1:12: “To as many as received Him (Jesus), He gave the power to become sons of God.�? That night, I had recurrent episodes of that unrest, only in greater intensity. In a state of desperation, I decided to try Christ. I knelt and prayed “ O God, I know I am a sinner. Lord Jesus, you loved me and died on the cross for my sin. Please forgive me my sins and come into my heart and be my Savior. Thank you Lord. Amen.�?
After my prayer, nothing spectacular seemed to happen. There were no bolts of lightning, peals of thunder, nor shining angels appearing to welcome me! I just felt somehow “comforted�?. It was several weeks later that I realized something was indeed different. I had a sense of peace and purpose and meaning as I read my Bible, discovering that God indeed had a wonderful plan for my life, and that Christ was alive and real and leading me into that plan – day by day. Joy came, quiet and tranquil. I realized “fu�? is blessedness when one has God. I could resoundingly exclaim amen to Jeremiah 17:7,8: “Blessed is the man that trust in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spread out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.�?
Later, God led me to marry my husband, Kwai Sang – not rich and mighty, not famous nor highly intellectual, but we had best of life together. God has never left us in want. In fact, we have more than enough to share. We were blessed with two lovely daughters and I can honestly say that I would never trade one hour of my new life in Christ with worldly fame or treasure. He has truly met all the needs of our hearts and lives. I must add that we still problems and troubles but Christ helped us with every single one of them. Owing to the lack of space, let me share briefly one incidence of God’s goodness. Lydia was hurt by a jack knife, which pierced right through her dirty sandal into her left sole to the metatarsus. There was an extremely high possibility of infections, with tendon, ligament, muscles and nerve involvement, as well as fractures and permanent damage. God answered our prayers and granted her full recovery. Praise God indeed!
Our parents also trusted Christ in their golden years. Their only regret was that they could not know God earlier. As it was inevitable to be afflicted with physical illnesses in old age due to degeneration of the physical body, we saw God carry them through. They were blessed with easy exits and we look forward to the great reunion in Christ.
In conclusion, may this verse speak to you. “O taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trust Him�? - Psalm 34:8.