Sent by Joey Wong • Sep 3, 2023
My name is Joey Wong Lai Yi. I am from PJ North 2. I invited Jesus into my heart in 2018. In June the same year, a long-time family friend Grace Wang invited me to join her cell group and DUMC. I began coming to church and Cell Group occasionally. I was encouraged to get baptised and so I went through the various Equip classes and made all the necessary preparations for my baptism which was scheduled for July 2022. I was looking forward to it very much. To my great disappointment I caught Covid on the Friday before my scheduled baptismal Sunday. I was totally devastated by this rude interruption to my plan. During the time when I was in isolation, I spiraled into depression and started entertaining thoughts of hopelessness and that life was meaningless. I was angry that God did not want me to be baptised. I even began to think that perhaps I should give up on being a Christian altogether since God did not allow me to be baptised.
Miraculously, God led me to a book, The Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer. At the same time, God put in my hands a testimony which I came across on a Cantonese Youtube channel called CBNHK. From reading the book, I began to understand the battle that was taking place in my mind and, with some advice suggested in the book, I began to overcome some of the oppressive thoughts I was having. I was also very encouraged by the testimony on the CBNHK Youtube channel, telling me the real-life story of how a lady overcame a very devastating family tragedy when she embraced Christ. In addition to that, I was also doing the New Believers material Discipleship 1 with Jennice. We spent time praying, talking and even crying together. At that time, God also ministered to me with a Cantonese song which told me that the Father’s love for me was much bigger than anything in this life. It amazes me that God would use so many ways to reach me, whether it was through people, books, video testimonies or songs.
Through this episode of depression, God taught me about the spiritual warfare that happened in my mind through the thoughts that I entertained. I also learned to get rid of some occultic items like talismans and other objects I received when I consulted fortune tellers. I had kept many of these items because I wanted blessings and protection.
Then God showed me my heart – the reason behind why I wanted baptism. I wanted to be baptised quickly so that I could get this whole process of becoming a Christian out of the way and get on with my life. When I realised this, I came repenting before God. Now I am learning to be a follower of Jesus Christ and want Him to be my Saviour and my Heavenly Father. I no longer want the false blessings that come from other spiritual sources. Going to church and Cell Group which was a chore previously is now a lifestyle discipline I accept more gladly in order to grow as a child of God.
I was eventually baptised in November 2022. My Christian walk is still full of challenges but through it all God has been with me. I am discovering how to live this Christian life, how to live in a community of Christian believers and how to teach God’s ways to my children. My life is changed but it has certainly been for the better!