Frog in the well

Frog in the well

This Friday, at FGB Jaya One, we were privileged to hear the sharing of brother Goh, a missionary to Hong Kong and China who had a very powerful testimony.

In starting of his sharing, brother Goh pointed our attention to 3 main lessons that was in his heart at the start of this new year of 2011.

The first lesson is in regard to 2011 itself. Looking at the two 1’s next to each other, it is like looking at two perfectly straight lines. God is the first 1, upright, steadfast, perfect in all His ways. We are the second 1, destined to be upright, steadfast and perfect like God, if we walk in His ways. However, quite often, we may think we are straight when we are not. Brother Goh was reminded of his classmate who tried to draw a straight line using her second finger. It may look straight, but then it is not, and one definitely can’t draw a straight line along a finger. Sometimes, we too may be like that, thinking we are straight on our own. However, compared to our perfect and Holy God, we really fall short. If we think too highly of ourselves and our nose is high in the air thinking we are good enough on our own, we are crooked. At the same time, if we think so poorly of ourselves and give up hope because of our imperfections, always looking down, we also cannot be straight. However if we stand up straight and look intently into the face of our Lord Jesus, we become more and more holy and perfect and upright, like Him.

The second lesson is the frog in the well. It is safe in the well, comfortable and secure, and the frog still can see the sky. However, its vision of the sky is small. It can only see as much as the size of the well’s opening. On the other hand, if the frog comes out of the well, it is much more dangerous but wow, it can now see the whole wide beautiful sky. How big is the God that we see? If we stay in our own little world, we can only see a small portion of God, but if we step out, we will see the glory of God. A promising new Asian graduate of a Bible School was quickly offered a post at several churches in America, with guaranteed income, housing, education for his children, and a car and he asked the advise of a matured Pastor. The Pastor advised him “If you stay here, you will be well cared for and comfortable but if you go back to Asia, you will see the glory of God.

The third lesson is that God is interested in yeast, in things that are small. Many of us are not big, but small, like yeast. Our faith may be small, our Bible Knowledge may be weak, but we just need to give what we have to God, and like yeast worked with dough, He can cause to us really grow and multiply incredibly, much more than we could ever hope for or imagine. Jesus also used the metaphor of the corn of wheat. Unless the corn falls to the ground and dies, it is alone, but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. God doesn’t want us to remain small. His desire is for us to increase, to multiply and bear much fruit. The graveyard is said to be the saddest place in all the earth because in it lies so many people who have died without fulfilling their potential in life. However, if we die to our fears, and die to our selfishness, but surrender our lives to the Lord as living sacrifices, there is no telling how much we will grow and see God’s glory in our lives magnified.

Brother Goh then shared his story. Growing up as a farmer boy, he lived as a temple where his parents were mediums and there was a distinct lack of love in the family. A kind teacher shared Jesus’ love with him, and drew his heart. Brother Goh became a Christian to much objection from his parents, but from then on he always had a desire to share Jesus with others, and especially a heart for China. As a young boy he read about how Christians were persecuted in China and how pastors had left Hong Kong and he often prayed for China.

After furthering his studies and working, there was a period of time when brother Goh started to feel the call again to China. A company in Hong Kong offered him a job about that time, further confirming his call towards China. In particular, there was a mission conference that greatly impacted him. The speaker was Hudson Taylor’s great grandson and his main theme was “Yellow skinned people, where are you?” As white men, Hudson Taylor’s family had for generations poured out their lives for China, even dying for them. His call was for Chinese to go back to their forefathers and preach the gospel that would save them. “Your forefathers need you” he said. Chinese are well known for their selfishness but when we receive the Lord, that has to change. Love is about giving rather than getting. Love has to be given out.

Following his calling, brother Goh left for Hong Kong and did not know where to start, but God led him to be an interpreter for an elderly missionary couple. Now, this old missionary’s father had once served in a village where there was a cruel practice of blinding baby girls and abandoning them somewhere so they would never be ever to return home as only boys were wanted. One day, this missionary found a blind baby girl at his doorstep, and he took her in and cared for her. Sure enough, they started finding many blind baby girls at their doorstep, and soon they were running an orphanage. At the place now, brother Goh was amazed to see that these young girls had now become old blind women who were nevertheless filled with joy and thankfulness to the missionary’s family and they could read the Braille Bible and some could sing. Working as an interpreter, brother Goh was touched to really saw how much this elderly White couple loved the Chinese. One seed had indeed touched so many lives. Brother Goh was also amazed at the simple food, and humble living conditions of this old missionary couple. They even ate beetles and snakes.

Jesus continues to call “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Pray for God to send forth more laborers” The work of a laborer is not easy, and that’s why there are few. In the harvest field, the most important thing is feeling or compassion for others. We need feelings. The most difficult offering is said to be compassion, to really feel love for the Chinese, for the beggar, for the sick. Jesus saw others with compassion, and we too must learn to see with the eyes of Jesus.

There was a particular lady in brother Goh’s church which was a simply amazing witness. She could not read the Bible, but single-handedly through  prayer brought her whole family to church. In fact, one third of the church is made up of her family. Her husband, a very angry man used to beat her and desiring for him to be saved, she prayed for him to have a toothache that couldn’t be cured. In despair after all doctors and dentists he went to couldn’t help him, he finally agreed to let his wife take him to church to seek help. In church, he was completely healed, became a Christian, and the change in him was an astonishing testimony to his other family members and led to a revival in his family where most came to the Lord and are now going to the church.

In another testimony, brother Goh shared about how an angry young man who could not go to university because of lack of funds, came to see at the door of one of his meetings. A sister was given a vision of a bowl of noodles, and quickly preparing that brother Goh fed him. He had not eaten for 3 days, and nourished, he accepted the Lord. Soon, brother Goh was led to set up a booth for him providing phone call services and internet connection and from that booth, they brought others to Christ and started a church right there.

In conclusion, brother Goh exhorted us to be like him, a frog in the well who came out and saw the glory of God, a little yeast who surrendered himself to God and saw miracles happen.

May the Lord bless the ministry of brother Goh exceedingly with much fruit and purpose, and may we too, though we are small as yeast, allow God to work in our lives and bring us to bear much fruit for His glory. In Jesus name, Amen.