A God of possibilities ~ by Sis Joan Lim

This is a testimony of my past until when I was baptized last week.I only have the courage to tell now,as I know that God would want everyone to know what amazing things He had done in my life..

My dad ran away since I was very young,therefore I followed my mum's surname.I stayed with a guardian in Singapore since the age of 3 because my mum had to work,so she had no time to take care of me.As a child,I felt abandoned and depressed.

But thank God I went to an Adventist school when I was 7,that's when I first knew God.I was very close to Him,until when I was around 11/12 years old,when my pastor drowned at Tioman during a school trip there.At that age,I couldn't understand that death is part of life,I was very sad and disappointed.Probably that's when I started to drift further and further from God..

When I got to Secondary One,I was very rebellious.I chose to walk away from God and mixed with bad company,doing things I shouldn't have done.. I felt so ashamed and had no face to face God,so eventually I stopped praying and totally lived in denial..

All these while,my relationship with my mum was horrible.We only saw each other a few times a year.When I was around 13 or 14(I can't remember exactly when),she got married to an Indonesian guy(which is my step-dad now).My relationship with my mum got worse after that.Even though she took care of my financial needs,I still felt betrayed and very angry at her.I was left all alone to suffer in misery while she was happily married to someone else so far away.My dad abandoned me when I was very young,and now my mum.... Can you imagine how heart-breaking and abandoned I felt?

In 1998/1999 my step-dad went bankrupt.. Thank God my mum and step-dad turned to Christianity a few years later,and moved back to Malacca to stay.They changed a lot after that,but my relationship with my mum never got better as I still had hatred towards her.I thought that I could never forgive her..

Many years later,I happened to see a signboard (that's GEPC!),and decided to go and ''check it out"... My life has changed ever since then.. God took my hatred away,and deliver me from my miserable,painful,heart-breaking memories.He not only take those sad memories away and heal them,but use them for good as well.So that I can share my experience with others who are suffering from past memories,that God's power of deliverance,restoration and healing is there for them too.He took my miserable past and make it to be my greatest blessings now.I'm closer to my parents than ever before. =) I thank God for setting me free from my past,and to be able to forgive and love my parents again.I thank God for giving me back a loving family and a caring dad,something that I always thought impossible.Without God,all these wouldn't have happened...

Joan Lim (1st from the right)