Testimony By Cheong Ho Yen

Shalom and good morning, everyone. Thank you LORD Jesus for the opportunity to stand here and to testify to Your faithfulness. I praise God for the many wonderful works that He has done in my life, and the lives of my loved ones. Today, I have chosen this testimony because it is a testimony of my personal encounter of how God demonstrated His own love towards me, in that while I was still sinner, Christ died for me. 

I got married in 1997 and settled down in Kuching since then. • In 1999, I got pregnant. When we found out it was a boy, my husband, Vincent, named him Joshua, meaning – the LORD is my salvation. I was not a Christian / Catholic but I loved the name. • I had great appetite and had no morning sickness. We looked forward to every visit to the gynecologist because we would be able to see him through the scan. 

In the 32-weeks of my pregnancy, during the checkup, the Dr informed us that Joshua was not growing according to the gestational age. That means he had not grown according to the rightful size of week 32. One of the possibility, that we were told, was that the baby could have some deformity which caused the stunt in his growth. As the baby was in distress, we needed to make a decision to take the baby out through caesarean section. The gynecologist arranged an appointment for us to meet the pediatrician in that hospital immediately, so that she could explain to us what to expect with a premature baby. We were informed that if baby Joshua had no deformity, we could bring him home within 2 days. We were also asked to make decision as to where we want to have baby Joshua delivered, in that private hospital or in General Hospital.

That time, we were immature, and thought private hospital was better than the General Hospital in terms of its medical team and equipment. As the gynecologist was in that private hospital too, so we made the decision to have Joshua born in that private hospital. Arrangements were made immediately and Joshua was born on 26 February 2000. 

Praise the LORD, Joshua was born healthy and not deformed. But he was too small, only 720 gram. Unlike what we were told, he could not be discharged because there were complications, his lung was not fully developed. Joshua was admitted to ICU.  

His condition grew worse in the ICU, and the pediatrician was not optimistic and had advised us to give up as we were still young and could have babies next time. 

We were very upset by the attitude of the doctor for wanting to give up on Joshua. So Vincent insisted that the private hospital transfer Joshua to the General Hospital. Again, praise the LORD, we managed to obtain the General Hospital’s ambulance to transfer Joshua, because the incubator in the private hospital ambulance was battery operated and with the traffic, they did not know how long the incubator can sustained Joshua with the oxygen he needed until he reached the General Hospital. 

Upon reaching the General Hospital, we could see the stark contrast in the team of nurses and specialist. They were very professional and dedicated to save Joshua. 

Praise the LORD, there, we met Nurse Lee and she worked in the neonatal ICU that Joshua was in. I witnessed the first time, a Christian, who walked her faith, outside the spheres of the church in working place. 

In the ICU, Nurse Lee would play Christian songs for the babies in their incubator during her night shifts. She would also pray for them, including Joshua. 

As premature baby, Joshua’s health conditions varied every day because his organs were not fully developed and were subject to infections. 

 When Joshua’s condition took a turning for the worse because of the infection in his intestine, Vincent asked a priest to come and he prayed over Joshua with anointing oil. Joshua’s bloated stomach subsided substantially after that.

Early morning of 18 March, 2000 (at day 22), we received call from the hospital to informed that Joshua passed away. My immediate thought was Joshua was now in heaven with God. I knew then, that being a Christian, those who receive Jesus as LORD and Savior, everyone is guaranteed to go to heaven. So that time, I made up my mind to be a Christian because that was a guarantee for me to meet Joshua one day. 

 Little would I know the impact of my choice. That what I am today, was the decision that day. Indeed, Joshua, meaning the LORD is my salvation.  

Praise the LORD, for His mercy and grace. • I thank God for giving me the closure that I needed. We went to the hospital and I carried Joshua in my bosom first time and brought him with us to the burial ground. He was in the paper wrap which we could opened, see his face and kissed him. Praise the LORD, that God had people around to help us, an elderly couple from the church helped us to get the burial ground. 

So, I attended Catechism classes after that and was baptized in the Catholic church. • After Joshua, it took few years and we had 3 IUI (intrauterine insemination) but all without success. Then, sometime in 2004, I remembered reading the portion of the Bible about God remembering Rachel, and opened her womb. I felt that that verse was meant for me. Not long after that, I was pregnant. When we knew that it was a baby girl, I named her Evangeline, after the name of a little girl in my favourite book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, who is a girl who loved Jesus very much. Evangeline also means bringer of good news.

Throughout my pregnancy, we were particularly careful and this time we went to General Hospital. I had a condition of placenta previa, where the placenta was implanted at the bottom of my uterus. 

Evangeline’s growth was monitored closely, and she grew according to the gestational age. I started to bleed at week 27, and was admitted to the General Hospital. The doctor tried to prolong my pregnancy, but finally at week 28, as the bleeding continues, 5th day of Chinese New Year, I gave birth to Evangeline. Evangeline was born 850 gram. She was admitted directly to the pediatric ward ICU. 

There was the fear of not being able to bring Evangeline home, just like what happened to Joshua. I asked God, why again. But praise the LORD. God is good and He cares. My colleague and his wife came and visit me, Wilfred and Jenny. Before she left, Jenny told me, “Trust in God”. That spoken word, gave me such depth, and renewed strength for me to have hope and have faith to believe for the impossible.

Praise the LORD, I witnessed the faithfulness of God. Nurse Lee, who took care of Joshua, was there. As she knew who we were (because we thanked her for her dedication to Joshua), she took time to check on Evangeline and prayed for her everyday. The nurses there even called her my kakak angkat. 

Praise the LORD. Throughout Evangeline’s stay in the ICU and the pediatric ward before her discharge from the hospital, I witnessed the hands of the LORD with her, His presence and faithfulness. It was miraculous. Evangeline was a happy baby in the incubator. She smiles frequently despite the tubes and needles in her hands and feet. The doctors also expressed surprise that she did not cry whenever they need to take samples of her blood for testing.

Oh, praise the LORD, for He is good. I pray that I continue to see the LORD’s wonderful works in Evangeline. There were, there are and there will still be many wonderful things that I can testify to the faithfulness of God because Jesus is alive in my life, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. In Jesus name, Amen.