As Chinese New Year season draws to a close and Valentine's Day comes round, let us remember the love that God has shown us and His command to love one another as God has loved us. Here is a story of love in the family expressed through intense faithful prayer, humility to ask for forgiveness and encouragement along the way. We hope this testimony will encourage us to pray for our loved ones that they may find deliverance from fear and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.

A desperate prayer to God was all that Chin Yew could offer his father, Mr Chuah, as he laid on the hospital bed looking deathly pale, frail and helpless. Chin Yew had rushed from his campus to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with his mother when they received the news that Mr Chuah had a heart attack.

Chin Yew was shocked to witness Mr Chuah, who was merely in his fifties, reduced to a shadow of his strong and sturdy self. Chin Yew mentally prepared himself for his father’s last moments.

Fearfully, Mr Chuah started to recount to Chin Yew recurring nightmares of a horse-face beast demanding his life. Though Chin Yew’s mind was in a blank, he felt compelled to take his father’s hand into his own and asked if he could pray for him.

Chin Yew could not fathom how he could do this as the father-son relationship was never one of warmth and physical touch. But he sensed his father’s anxiety and summoned the courage to pray for deliverance for him. 

Chin Yew’s confidence in the power of God started from a young age when he would experience occasional “ghost-pressing” upon his body during sleep. His brother, a new believer then, encouraged him to pray to Jesus. A young Chin Yew did not know how. Thus, he memorised the Lord’s Prayer and recited it during those petrifying encounters. Chin Yew knew it was God Who delivered him from this dark supernatural stronghold and trusted in God to do the same for Mr Chuah.

The following morning, after Chin Yew’s prayer for deliverance, Mr Chuah told Chin Yew jubilantly that he had never experienced sleep as peaceful as the previous night.

Chin Yew was overjoyed! Mr Chuah then requested Chin Yew to pray for him. Chin Yew complied. His heart was filled with gratitude to God for answering his prayers, as well as the prayers of his siblings, for his father to know the One True God.

Reflecting on the legacy left behind by his 87-year-old father, who went home to God on 6th January 2022, Chin Yew could only echo the words of Jesus: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Luke 18.27

Mr Chuah lived through the Second World War as a firstborn son. At a young age, he had to shoulder heavy responsibilities after his own father passed on. Mr Chuah was deeply-rooted in ancestral worship. He performed the ritual sacrifices at his parent’s grave site and was tasked to ensure that ancestral worship continued to the next generation. For an added sense of security, Mr Chuah also devoutly worshipped many other gods.

Mr Chuah was a responsible provider for his family. But his quick outbursts would escalate into countless conflicts between him and his wife. Harsh words and a heavy hand would traumatise his wife and young children.

Soon after Mr Chuah’s discharge from hospital, he made a declaration that he wanted to be a Christian. Then Mr Chuah proceeded to clear all the ancestral worship shrines from his home. Chin Yew had prayed, and hoped, for a deliverance from Mr Chuah’s nightmares but God performed a miracle far more exceedingly than he could ever imagine!

God performed a miracle far more exceedingly than he could ever imagine!

Mr Chuah’s conversion to the Christian faith and subsequent baptism were considered sheer acts of audacity to his extended family members who were steep in ancestral worship. But Chin Yew was able to see that it was God reaching deeply into Mr Chuah’s heart to draw him to Him.

Chin Yew was able to witness Mr Chuah’s slow but sure transformation. During Mr Chuah’s twilight years, his quick temper mellowed significantly. Instead of giving rein to his quick outbursts, he was careful to avoid conflicts.

After Mr Chuah was promoted to be a grandfather, he expressed openly deep regrets for his harsh treatments on his wife and children. Chin Yew shared in his eulogy, “There was an occasion after a family meal when I was left alone with Dad. He turned to me and spoke in a soft voice, ‘I want to let you know that I regretted being hard on your Mum and you children in my younger hot-tempered years. I caused hurt to my loved ones. Please express love to your family whenever the chance arises.”

Also, post-conversion, Mr Chuah demonstrated boldness in telling of the hand of God in his life, to his friends and relatives. He even shared the gospel with his tenants and initiated prayer sessions with them.

After Mr Chuah was widowed in 2014, he simply entrusted his health into God’s hands. He decided against staying in another country with his children as he treasured his independence and proximity to his relatives and friends in his homeland.

When Covid-19 pandemic brought about closure of border, Mr Chuah’s tenants, who provided a watchful eye over him, left. Mr Chuah had to live all by himself again. However, God was gracious. He granted Mr Chuah robust health until the last months of his life and he went home to God peacefully.

Chin Yew made the arduous journey from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, during the escalated pandemic period under “Emergency Travel” and was granted three hours at his father’s funeral. He had to be quarantined for seven days in Malaysia and then again Singapore.

Despite the many challenges, God paved the way for Chin Yew to bid farewell to his father and deliver a fitting eulogy. Chin Yew was able to give thanks to God who made what seems impossible in the eyes of man a reality. Delivered from nightmares, Mr Chuah went safely home to the One True God.