Tong Sin Sang, his wife Poh Teen and their children, Mingxiu and Yechuan.
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by Tong Sin Sang |
It is hard to believe that Mingxiu, my three year old daughter is so happy celebrating her third birthday. Singing praise hymns and songs she learned from Sunday nursery school. She is a healthy, cheerful, and adorable toddler.
She was a tiny, skinny, very much underweight, feeble and demonised baby two and a half years ago. What an amazing change!
My wife is now working part time as a bank officer, looking after our two children and attending to the household chores. She is capable and competent in the sight of many career women.
But she was miserable, moaning and groaning in despair just two years ago. What an amazing contrast!
The healthy, cheerful and happy family life we enjoy today comes from the grace of God. It is He who turned the power of darkness into the light of life. It is He who heals the sick, forgives our sins and gives us salvation and eternal life. It is He, who is our hope.
We could not understand why the baby behaved in that manner. We consulted and sought many many paediatricians for advice.
The doctors taught us ways to feed the baby and prescribed many types of so called appetizers. But these did not work.
This matter dragged on a for a few months and her situation did not improve. The doctors could not understand why the baby behaved like that.
We hopped from one doctor to another hoping to find one who could diagnose her. Due to the seriousness of her condition; Mingxiu was referred to a renowned paediatrician who warded her in the National University Hospital (NUH) for observation.
The consultant suspected that Mingxiu might have suffered from lack of growth hormones in her body causing her to refuse feed.
We agreed for blood tests to be carried out on her. The test required the baby to be starved for 18 hrs.
A needle with a few valves were used to take samples for blood analysis. Every time a blood sample was taken, Mingxiu would scream with all her breath. It was really painful for us to see the innocent baby suffering. At the end of the tests which was more than 24 hours since her last feed, Mingxiu still refused to take the milk.
A few days later we received the test result which was negative. Nevertheless the consultant asked us to consider injecting growth hormone into her body which may help to stimulate her appetite, but cautioned that it might have some side effects.
We did not know what to do and were really worried for her physical and mental development.
All this put a lot of mental and physical stress on my wife who was about 7 months pregnant then. Her health was very bad during that time.
Out of desperation, we started to consult mediums. We went from one medium to another hoping to find the cure for her illness. We brought back all sorts of "yellow papers" to burn and flowers for her to bathe in.
One of the mediums warned us that this child did not belong to us and advised us to find an adopted parent for her. She cannot address us as father and mother. She cannot put on red clothing or eat nuts or bananas or cross bridges. I remember bringing her to MacRitchie Reservoir one evening. When my wife who was carrying her approached the bridge, she suddenly struggled and screamed hysterically. Then we remembered what the medium had warned us of earlier.
One of the mediums we consulted seems to be effective. Whenever she poked our daughter's gum with a big needle till blood flowed out, her appetite would improve. But it did not last long. We were then convinced that Mingxiu's problem was spiritual, we hope to get one "powerful god" who could drive out the evil spirit in her.
In order to get well, her parents and my parents started to consult various mediums representing different gods all over Singapore. One medium said that because we had shifted our bed during her pregnancy we had offended the "bedding god", and the punishment was her inability to sleep.
I remember visiting a medium in Tampines with my mother . She predicted that either my wife or the baby she was carrying would die. There was no chance that both would live as we came to her too late.
The only hope rested with the accumulated virtues that our ancestors had done for us. After hearing this I was scared and dared not tell my wife what the medium told me.
As an interim measure, the medium asked me to prepare a bowl of water, some green leaves with an egg inside together with a pair of chopsticks to put beneath the bed to pray to the "seventh heavenly lady". I did as instructed and hoped for the best. However my wife's sickness did not improve and we lived in fear as the delivery date drew near.
In June 1990 my wife gave birth to a baby boy, Yechuan. The baby was fine, but my wite's health was getting worse. She suffered from serious migraine as if the whole head was going to burst. She could not sleep at night. Whenever she dozed off, she would feel something disturbing her. Her whole body was aching like being pricked by a needle.
She consulted her gynaecologist who could not find any thing wrong with her. The gynaecologist then referred her to other specialists. One specialist even referred her to a psychiatrist for mental treatment. A lot of tranquilizers and sleeping pills were prescribed to help her relax and to sleep but it did not work. The medicine even made her feel worse. As a husband I knew something was very wrong with her physically and spiritually.
Out of desperation, we even invited the mediums to our house to "cleanse" our house. But things did not improve.
Very often in the night when she could not sleep, she would cry to me telling me that she was about to leave me and asked me to take good care of the two children. Her agony reminded me of the curse that the medium had put on her. Life had been tormenting and miserable for her and the whole family.
The next evening, when I came home from work I saw a group of Christians at our house praying for her. I was very sceptical. I did not know any thing about prayer and Christian faith. I just stood aside and watched. When the friends laid hands on her while praying in tongues, she screamed, laughing and crying hystericaliy, totally losing control of her usual self. Foam came out of her mouth and she fell on the floor. I could not understand what was taking place.
Our neighbour must have wondered what was happening after hearing the screaming. After the prayer she felt so much better. I was however still quite sceptical, but I was very thankful and touched by the kindness and the concern shown by the Christians who helped her.
I accompanied my wife to church where she continued to be ministered by a deliverance team. Her condition kept improving after each prayer.
In September there was a "Jesus Heal" rally in Church. The pastor had a word of knowledge that the Lord wanted to heal someone present who had a bleeding problem. Without hesitation my wife went forward to receive healing. A week later her bleeding stopped completely. Praise the Lord!
She recovered rapidly and soon after her baptism she was completely healed and was set free from all the curses and bondages of satan.
After my wife's healing, we brought Mingxiu to church every Sunday. A healing team would pray for her, after each prayer her appetite improved. Over a 4 months period her weight increased from a mere 5.5 kg to 8 kg. She no longer rejected milk or food. She is also no more allergic to cow milk.
Our whole family was overwhelmed with joy. We rejoiced in the Lord. We are no longer living in fear or anxiety for we know that our God is with us, protecting us all the time.
God has filled our hearts with joy and happiness. I want to thank Him, to give him all the honour and glory. Praise the Lord.
| Tong Sin Sang is owner manager of an instrumentation and control company in Singapore. He and his wife Poh Teen and their children Mingxiu and Yechuan worship at the Church of Our Saviour. Sin Sang is a member of the FGBMFI (Singapore) Bukit Timah/West Coast chapter. |
Tong Sin Sang, his wife Poh Teen and their children, Mingxiu and Yechuan. |
Article taken from Asian Voice with permission from Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship.