Jesus delivers us from all our fears.
Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.9
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Glory of the Lord
Can the glory of the Lord ever depart from a church?
Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.9
Our help and our shield
Jesus. An ever-present help in times of need.
Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.9
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Resting in Christ
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
- Matthew 11:28 (ESV)
Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.9
Ching Cheong on his faith
Singapore Writers' Festival - Ching Cheong - My Thousand Day Ordeal - A Spiritual Journey
Coming from an earlier one-hour Mandarin session, Ching Cheong looked understandably tired. He spoke for about 15 minutes before he opened the floor for questions. I was actually expecting him to talk only about his prison ordeal and his observations about China. He had just recently published a book on his 1,000-day ordeal in a Chinese prison. However, I was gobsmacked when his answers to questions from the audience, combined, became a testimony about how he came to believe in Christ when he was in prison. And what a powerful testimony it was.
He shared about how he was so dispirited that he contemplated suicide when he was in prison, and how the Bible was a source of spiritual strength that helped him through his darkest moments. Initially, he was reading Buddhist and Taoist books. Buddhism, he said, taught emptiness. If one can empty himself mentally and physically, then no one can hurt him. Taoist doctrines talked about how misfortunes and fortunes were inter-related. He emphasised that both Buddhist and Taoist teachings were good, but they did not help him with his deep-rooted hatred and thoughts of revenge.
The Bible, he said, helped him deal with hatred and revenge because it talked about love and forgiveness. By reading the Bible, he came to realise that if he did not embrace love and forgiveness, his mind would still be imprisoned even if he walked out of prison a free man. When he read the Bible, it moved him to tears. He did not understand why he cried but his tears came very naturally. This was something that he had not felt or experienced when he was reading the Buddhist and Taoist teachings. He was also moved to say his first prayer to God, in which he prayed that God would give him the strength to continue as a patriot and to fight for the best interests of China. The Book of Psalms, in particular, ministered to him tremendously because he could identify with a lot of what was in the book.
He spoke of how the Bible empowered him and nourished him spiritually in an environment, where the basic principle was dehumanisation. For example, prisoners had to squat before they were allowed to speak to the wardens. They also had to squat for roll call seven times a day. At meal time, they had to squat in a circle in the open with two containers of food in the centre. Everyone had to snatch and fight to get his portion from the two containers. He asked the audience: “Doesn't this remind you of how dogs are treated?”
Every aspect of the prison life generated negative emotions in him. Faced with such things day in day out, he suffered a downward spiral of his spirit and wanted to commit suicide. After he started reading the Bible, he prayed to God to grant him a joyous heart so he can face the day with a smile and the contempt around him with humility, as well as to nourish his spiritual power so he could survive his time in prison. And God did.
Q: How did he get access to the Bible?
A: He was in what was considered a national “civilised” jail and accorded preferential treatment because the Hong Kong people took up his cause, and his case attracted the attention of the West. So he was given books when he asked for them. Interestingly, when the prison authorities gave him the Bible, he had to agree to read the Bible on his own and not attempt to spread the gospel or tell other inmates about the Bible. Which he did. He also mentioned that if the conditions were so dehumanising in a “civilised” prison, he could scarcely imagine how much worse they would be in a normal prison. While in prison, he could not say anything to anyone about Christ. But he is now free to testify of God's grace and love. Amen.
Q: Why did he want to write the book?
A: He wanted to write the book to thank the Hong Kong people. When he got out of prison, he asked his wife for a list of the people who have helped him gain his freedom. His wife said that he would not be able to thank them all even if he were to spend his lifetime on that. He also wanted to write the book as an encouragement to people in a similar situation, people who were in the depths of despair, or people who were dispirited.
PS: Before he started his session, he thanked his employer (The Straits Times) and the editor during that time (Leslie Fong) for their tremendous help and support to him and his family when he was in prison.
PPS: Along with two other colleagues, I queued up to get his signature on the English and Chinese versions of his book. He signed the English book using his Engish name, and signed the Chinese book using his Chinese name. I told him that his testimony encouraged me a lot. He smiled.
Background on Ching Cheong: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ching_Cheong
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)