God of the Chinese, and Answered Prayer

God of the Chinese, and Answered Prayer

This Friday, we were privileged at FGB to have Datuk Tee share with us. Now Datuk Tee came to the Lord about 5 years ago and is very happy to be a Christian.  He was married to a Christian wife for many years and has two boys. These days, he finds he has more time to have a balanced life, going to church, the FGB Chapter in Klang and participating in FGB prayer writing.

First, he shared with us some of his extensive knowledge about the Chinese, which he was very passionate about. Looking at Chinese history, religious scholars have identified 3 main reasons why the Chinese were so far away from god for thousands of years. Firstly was because of the feudalistic society and the Emperor. Secondly, the Chinese have always been very energized to search for economic wealth. Somehow, there has always been an inverse relationship between material wealth and spiritualism. Thirdly, the Chinese pride themselves in their very fine culture. They are so proud of their civilization that everything foreign is difficult to accept. Thousands of years ago, the kingship was passed down through election. Once, an official very good at solving flood problems was elected Emperor. Perhaps democracy actually originated from China! Only later did China become feudalistic.

5,000 years ago, people prayed to the God of Heaven. Whenever there was a war, natural disaster or problem, the Emperor would go to the highest mountain to pray to the God of Heaven to seek wisdom. The Emperor was seen as having authority from Heaven. They only allowed themselves to be called children of God. The oracles of old, Chinese writings engraved on turtle shells confirm this. After praying to Heaven, the time and guidance would be written down as very obvious evidence. Because the Emperor only allowed themselves to be called a child of God, other religions came in to influence the people.

Then Communism came, with China emulating Russia. In the 1940s-50s, communism spread like wildfire. One of its main doctrines was repression of entertainment and religion. However, in the last 200 years, many Chinese went overseas and Christianity was suddenly available to Chinese people. There was a burst of missionary work and many overseas Chinese Christians went back, leading to exponential growth of Christians in China. The President of Taiwan today is a Christian as is the president of Korea. It is incredible, that many Chinese Christian stock are in very high positions in the prime of their time. The “pen” in the Chinese word for Japan has 2 crosses. The “Han” in the Chinese word for Korea has 4 crosses. The word for boat in Chinese “chuan”, has the letter 8 referring to the eight saved in Noah’s day. The Chinese word for righteousness has “lamb” and “me” in it, indicating that Jesus Christ as the sacrificial lamb bringing righteousness. The Chinese word for the Chinese people “Hua Ren” has 1 cross now in it abbreviated form but originally, it actually had 7 crosses. Therefore, in a way, each Chinese has actually seven crosses ingrained in our identity.

Now moving on to Datuk Tee’s testimony, he shared that he was in politics almost his whole career after graduating from the UM. It was not his intention but his kampung folk forced him into politics from young. Starting out as a branch secretariat, he became busy both with political and corporate work, and also the accompanying social requirements. In the mean time, his family, his wife and two boys prayed that he might know Christ. Looking back, Datuk Tee felt he had walked a dangerous path, flirting with Satan and sin. In his corporate life, his accountant once came to complain to him that someone had poured curry on his car. Datuk Tee, seeking to comfort him, suggested that he buy the 4D number of his car number plate. Amazingly, the number came out as first prize, and Datuk Tee asked him to buy the number of his wife’s car. Again, the number came out as first prize. Around that time, Datuk Tee had a Honda Accord which met a lot of accidents somehow. One day, when he ran completely out of engine oil, he wanted to buy big into his 4D number. However, his schedule was such that he did not have time to buy, and he was shocked when his number really came out as first prize. People he knew thought he had hit a big jackpot but he actually had not gone in. It was like God was protecting him from entering a sinful road.

Other times, when he danced with an entertainer on stage, or when a lady tried to get to close to him, people warned him to remember he was a public figure. He knew that his wife prayed for him a lot, and God saved him from a lot of trouble. In spite of how smart you think you are, be grateful to God for opening the eyes of people around you, especially your wife or husband.

In younger days, when Datuk Tee followed his grandfather, a Christian, to the farm, he was told how it was almost impossible to worship Jesus in China. Christians could only do it in secret, at night.

Then one day, he saw his father burst out laughing because of a lady, a medium who stayed near their house. It was said that those whom she blessed were really blessed. Not an educated man, his father exclaimed that if she was as good as she claimed, she would not be living in her current circumstances. Indirectly, Datuk Tee felt his father was telling him to forget about that kind of belief.

Some time later, Datuk Tee met an old classmate whom he considered very unlikely to ever become a Christian. Trained as an engineer, his classmate was now a Senior Pastor of a major church in PJ. He trusted his good friend and came to see him in Glad Tidings to have chats. After 1-2 years, Datuk Tee said the sinner’s prayer and began attending the church. Looking back, he regrets his past life as being highly imbalanced and wished he came to know God much earlier. His son had given a mini-bible to him but he only opened it when his son was 25.

In becoming a Christian, he sort of dragged his feet, not because of doubt but because of his busy schedule. He always told people he was in the process of going to God’s house. Datuk Tee thanks God that he did not accept Christ JIT-Just in Time i.e. just before he passed away, and also that he did not accept Christ as a contingency plan, when there was no where else for him to turn.

Answered prayer always was part of his life because of his mighty praying life. His wife placed a picture of 2 boys next to a cross in the home, and he indeed had 2 boys. Once, after studying an MBA, and his company was taken over, he decided to quit and invest in cocoa land, which seemed like a good idea at that time. However, the cocoa prices tanked, even below cost of production, and he was financially in trouble. His wife asked him to call his friend who always consulted him. When he finally decided to, it just so happened that his friend was also looking for him, and asked him to be his consultant for a listing. Soon, Datuk Tee was on his payroll and he had a stable income again.

Now his children intended to pursue medical degrees but because of the failed investments, he did not have enough money. However, as his wife prayed, he had the opportunity to solve a major property problem for an army man. The man was so grateful that he gave him a fifth share of the property which was amazing. On another occasion, there was an old Chinese man who placed a company with him for 15 years but only spent him on cheap meals. One day, someone bid a couple of million for it, and he was given a sizeable share. He was then able to send his children overseas. God had answered his wife’s prayer using his hands.

Another time, while planning to move, he bought a new house before selling his old one. There was trouble selling his old house, and he and his wife really prayed. A buyer suddenly emerged and bought the place and even wanted to move in urgently. Very quickly, all his financial problems were sorted out.

Basically, Datuk Tee impressed upon us that God is a God who answers prayer. Therefore it is for us to cry out to Him.