Sent by Michael Cheong • Jan 21, 2023
I accepted Christ at 15 but did not belong to any church or cell group. I was more of an occasional Sunday church guy. As I moved on with typical chapters of life – education, career, marriage, I allowed these matters to take priority. God was just on the side lines, a refuge in times of trouble.
A season of depression spanning 2013 – 2016, (diagnosed as anxiety depression in 2014), which psychotherapy and medication did not help, threw me into dark spaces, resulting in altered behaviour that impacted colleagues and loved ones. I was compelled to cry out to God for help, even though He seemed so distant then. Looking back, the Holy Spirit must have been at work for if He hadn’t, what / who would have driven me to call upon Him? Our ever merciful and loving God provided me the much-needed peace and comfort through His Word in the Bible and various publications from RBC Ministries. But I struggled with this challenge daily until my wife, Cheng Cheng, a non-believer said “I think you should leave this detrimental career, spend more time with and get closer to God, let Him heal you.” God speaks to us in many ways, and He used Cheng Cheng to get this message across to me before I could self-destruct.
Praise God! After resigning in May 2016, the state of my mind improved day by day as I sought Him slowly but surely. My mind mended in places, with new priorities on caring for my ageing parents, hobbies and spending more time with my wife. However, I was handling my faith journey and life on selfie mode again. Was there a church and a family of Christ? Once again God took second priority.
I faced extreme caregiving challenges with my parents’ worsening mobility plus other ageing-related health issues, which took a severe toll on my physical, mental and spiritual health. Their refusal to engage external help made things worse.
The second depression episode struck in mid-2019. Thank God, this time I could recognise the symptoms earlier and sought His help daily through prayer and devotion. This time, I reached out to a Christian brother Ronnie Oh who emphasised that my faith was on shaky ground, and I lacked a church community.
“The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit. O Lord my God.” (Jonah 2:5,6 ESV)
Many rounds of unpleasant discussions and arguments took place with my parents. Very reluctantly, they agreed that my dad be placed temporarily in a nursing home, Elderlove in Puchong, and my Mum move in with us commencing October 2019. She gave Cheng Cheng and myself a very hard time in our home. During this struggle, little did I know that Elderlove was adjacent to DUMC@Puchong. God was working His plan.
On 16th November 2019, Jackie Ong, a DUMC member who regularly visited the nursing home, invited my dad for dinner and fellowship at Happy CG, a small group gathering of DUMC Chinese. I merely accompanied him as a chaperone, fulfilling the duty with a burdened soul. Moreover the communication medium was Mandarin, what was there for me to understand? But when we walked in, I realised this place WAS indeed a church, not just a building, but a warm, family of Christ. I got to know more people, John Yu and Alan Ng. God knew my heart and guided me to attend a few Sunday DUMC Celebrations (Services) thereafter.
14th December 2019 was pivotal when dad and I were invited to a Christmas fellowship at DUMC@Puchong. This would be the last fellowship he would attend as he had been taken very ill after the first fellowship, later to be diagnosed as terminal stomach cancer. On the other hand, I was blessed with this CG (small group) called Sosalt, Pastor Benny Liew and all of its wonderful members.
There were several platforms on which God worked His amazing plan:-
• His salvation of my dad who went home to God on 16 January 2020. We were blessed with a funeral service by Pr Benny, Alan and Alan’s wife Wai Keat.
• His answer to my long search for a church and a cell group community.
• His ongoing healing of my depressive state.
• His renewal of my faith journey and the blessings of many more spiritual milestones till today.
I will forever be in awe of and be thankful to God for His divine plan. God found me and I found God, through DUMC, the body of Christ and its family with one common love, God. Praise God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered. so will I seek out my sheep, and will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.” (Ezekiel 34:11,12 ESV)