By Not Known
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” (Rom 8:15)
No Earthly Father
The word, ‘Father’ was never used or called out by me for the first twenty five years of my life. I was adopted at birth by the Chew family to succeed the lineage of the third grandson who had passed on in his youth due to illness. I grew up without parents in a big family under the care of my grandparents. I lived with two uncles, two aunties and six cousins under the same roof. In times of troubles, I had no father to call out for help. When I got into mischiefs, I had no father or mother to discipline or guide me. I didn’t experience what it is like to have parental love, care or nurture.
My grandfather doted on me. He was very lax and did not discipline me. Whenever my aunties tried to discipline and punish me, my grandfather acted as my “saviour”. Consequently, as a youth, I lacked discipline and interest to study and adopted a ‘happy go lucky’ attitude. My heart was wild and I frequently hung out with the friends I made on the streets. Thankfully, I did not go astray although I suffered poor grades in school.
My Heavenly Father
My spirtual birthday is the most memorable day of my life. On 16 Nov 1980, God showed me that His Son is the Prince of Peace after experiencing a major broken relationship. When I put my trust in the loving God and Heavenly Father, His peace filled me through and through. It was not just a feeling but also the knowledge that I have peace with God as well as with man and all my sins are forgiven. Since then, I call God as my Heavenly Father and I have brothers and sisters in Christ in my Church family. The grace of my Heavenly Father is unthinkable and unimaginable!
I became fervent in studying God’s word and serving Him in the church. Soon, God blessed me with a lovely Christian girlfriend, Evelyn. She became my faithful and supportive help-mate throughout the years I serve in church ministry. God multiplied our joy and added two sons into our family, Gideon and Titus who grew up as close brothers.
My Father Calls And Leads Me
How did God demonstrate His great love to me? He called me into His service – I left Caltex Asia to serve in Singapore Youth for Christ. “Trust and Obey” was my first and foundational lesson, depending on and trusting in our Heavenly Father for daily bread through the monthly financial pledge of those who love God. I was trained to place His Word close to my heart and to live by faith. Years later, God opened doors for seminary training at Sydney Missionary Bible College and Singapore Bible College to equip me as a pastor.
Trust and obey is still at work and in progress in my life. I pray that God will continue to use me in ORPC and to serve Him with humility, faithfulness and diligence.
John Chew