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Volume. XIX, No. 9 Privilege to ServeDear Hopefuls, ”With Warmest Greetings in the Name of our sweet Lord, Jesus Christ." When Pastor Ki approached me to write this article about two weeks ago, I have been thinking and reflecting on what I should put down in pen and paper. After much praying and under God’s guidance, here is my humble story........... To proceed, I would like to share some brief insights about my background. I was born and raised in a little town called Kanowit in Sarawak (East Malaysia). This was the town where I received my kindergarten, primary and secondary education. Majority of this population were Buddhists and my parents were amongst them. Thus, from a little boy through to my teenage years, I had followed my parents with their so called traditional worshiping of "their" Gods.......the many idols. Sadly, the real and true God was not in my life then. In 1965, after finishing my secondary school, my parents decided to send me over to Adelaide to further my studies. The city of Churches was chosen because one of our relatives was already studying here. My mother felt a sense of peace knowing that someone she knew could keep an eye on her naïve and spoiled son. Studying in Adelaide gave me the wonderful opportunity to learn to be independent. In Malaysia, I was very spoiled by my whole family. Everything was handed to me on a silver plate. But now on my own, I was compelled to do everything for myself. I began to learn how to cook, how to do the washings, how to do the ironing. etc. In fact, anything to do with domestic work, I had learned. If you ask my wife Julie, she will proudly say that I was a very good cook (better than her). Now with her doing most of the cooking, my “passion” of cooking has diminished. After high school, I was accepted into the university to do a course in Building Technology. Some of you might like to know what is Building Technology. Briefly, the scope of this course included the methods of building construction, the scheduling of the construction programme, the calculations of materials required for the construction, the estimation of costs associated with the construction (i.e. houses, office buildings, shopping centres). With God’s blessings, I was able to graduate with a Degree in Building Technology. Since then, I had worked as a Quantity Surveyor with a Quantity Surveying firm. For the past 13 years I have been working as a Contract Administrator with the Australian Submarine Corporation. Reflecting on my good old university days, I could not remember any of my friends or classmates ever asking or inviting me to attend any church services. During the week days my time was spent either with my studies or watching TV with friends at their homes or mine. I was not a partying type of person but keen in sports. So my weekends were spent in the university gym playing basketball or volleyball. At this stage of my life, I still did not know about the true God. Being a keen sport person, my friend then introduced me to the game of golf. From my first game of golf, I have been hooked on it ever since. If you ask Julie about golf, she will say “if Chiew loves me as much as his golf, I will have no complaints whatsoever."Definitely, I was a “fanatic” golfer, but the situation has now changed (duty before God over any other priorities). Whether the weather was hail or shine I was out there on that golf course. Being a six-day member of a golf club (i.e. only allowed to play on Monday to Friday and Sunday), Sunday became the only day for my game of golf. Throughout our married life, Julie has invited and encouraged me to attend church services. Despite her’s, my mother’s-in-law and sisters’- in-law praying and perseverance, these "callings" had fallen onto deaf ears. Only on certain occasions would I accompany them to church services, but the message of salvation still did not sink into my heart. On Julie’s 50th birthday I had the great pleasure of meeting Pastor Ki, Mrs Ki, Daniel and Samuel. I was invited to attend the next Lord ’s Day worship service. Pastor Ki's sermon on that Lord's Day touched my heart. Indeed, God works in most mysterious ways and at His perfect timing. From then on, I joined Julie to attend Hope BPC's services regularly. Eager to learn about the Word of God, I enrolled in the BBK classes for two sessions. On 10th December 2000, I was baptized by Pastor Ki. Finally, I went down on my knees to confess all my sins and received our Jesus as my personal Lord and Saviour. I give praise and thanks to our Heavenly Father for His faithfulness in answering Julie, my relatives and close family friends' relentless prayings over the many many years. Looking back, I regretted my "stubbornness" in putting the importance of my golf and other things before God. However, I'm encouraged in knowing that it was better late than never. Here, Heavenly Father, I am at your tender mercy. Following my baptism, I soon got actively involved in many church activities and felt the zeal in me to serve and glorify our Lord. It was early this year that Deacon Edwin approached and asked me whether I would consider becoming a Deacon. This thought has been in my mind and I had been praying about it ever since. Many a time in my prayers I had doubts as to whether I would have the ability to fulfill the role as a Deacon in Hope BPC. I remembered Mathew 7:7 which says “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you”. I kept on asking and seeking for God’s direction and kept on knocking on His door. My prayers to serve our Lord more fervently were answered when you elected me to be one of your Deacons. I am deeply humbled by your trust and faith in me. Thanks immensely for blessing me with this great honor and privilege. As I undertake my I look forward with great anticipation and excitement to serve our Lord further under the outstanding leadership, wisdom and guidance of our Pastor Ki, Elder Michael Lee and Deacons Ngie Joo Gong, Tony Law, Edwin D'Mello and David Yeo. I give thanks and praises to our Lord for His patience with me and for blessing me today with the great privilege to serve Him through Hope BP Church. God bless, Deacon Chiew Tan |
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