When I was young, my father often took me to Tamkang Junior High to play tennis in Taiwan. Since we played tennis there, my father would attend the church services at that school.
(Tamkang/Tamsui Junior High School was established in 1925 by a Canadian missionary, Rev. George Leslie Mackay).

I remember that my father's favorite Bible verse was Matthew 7:7  "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Sometimes he would also recite this verse in Japanese. And whenever he is in high spirits, he will also sing his favorite hymn, "What a Friend we have in Jesus" in Taiwanese.

Although my father came in contact with Christianity early in life, it was mainly for socializing purpose. Later on, he became averse to church services when he was banned from playing tennis during service times. From then on, he only played tennis on Sunday afternoons, when there was no services and therefore, he never joined church services thereafter.

On the other hand, my mother was thirsting for the Truth and found the Truth at True Jesus Church and was subsequently baptized on November 14^th, 1954. Since then, my family experience a great upheaval in our beliefs. My mother suffered peer pressure from my relatives. They accused her of disowning her family and ancestral roots. My mother had to endure a great deal of persecution to preserve her faith. It is especially difficult during the Chinese New Year, when all the relatives will gather to celebrate the holiday at my grandparents house in Jhongli. My mother not only had to look out for her children who would be exposed to foods offered to idols, she also had to hide the fact that she is a Christian from her relatives. It was indeed a difficult time. Thank God for her never ending prayers and teachings. As children, all of us learned to keep ourselves pure by avoiding any the foods offered to the idols. Therefore, we became accustomed to simply eating only roasted yams at these Chinese New Year feasts.

Later on when all the relatives learned that my mother and the children have all believed in Jesus, they started to persecute, attack, and slander us. Every time when my family returned from Jhongli, my father would start lashing out at us because he had to face numerous insults from his relatives. My mother would often bear the brunt of those attacks. Nevertheless, my mother prayed unceasingly before God and dedicated her time to teach her children to shine for God and to walk in His path. After a long time of persecution and the passing of time, things began to change. My relatives began to praise her after noticing how much love she showed to others around her and how well she took care of her children.

Although my father disliked us for believing in Christ, he was not able to stop us. Because God's grace was often around us, we experienced many of His miracles. For example, one time my mother was found with three tumors in her stomach. This was after she had already believed in the Lord for ten years. Through many prayers and supplications, my mother was healed without taking any medications.

Another time was when my father had wounded his chest from a fall from a bike. He suffered great pain in his chest and his sleep was interrupted by chronic coughing. My mother then prayed for him, and my father was able to sleep through the night.

Another miracle was when my youngest daughter, Kelly, who accidentally pierced her pharynx/epiglottis with TV wires. When we took her to the hospital, the hospital refused to treat her.  The entire family prayed for the entire night and Kelly was miraculously healed (this is another testimony written elsewhere). After experiencing God’s miracles, my father came to understand that God does in fact exist and that God is all powerful. However, due to family pressure, he dared not to accept the love of God.

I have four sisters who love God very much also and abide in God’s love. When it came time for their marriages, they were resolute in marrying within the Lord (i.e. in the True Jesus Church). Even though many non-Christian marriage prospects had “better” marriage credentials, my sisters refused to be match-made with any of them. This incident displeased my father, but he still respected the matchmaking made by True Jesus church instead. In this way, all seven of us children ended up marrying within the Lord. The only exception was one of my brother-in-law who became converted and baptized after he married.  All these weddings were held at church so my father became very familiar with many brothers and sisters, as well as the deacons and pastors.

My father was fond of hosting students, especially college students. At that time, the True Jesus Church in Dansui, Taiwan, were frequented by many college students from afar. These became another bridge for my father to get acquainted with church members. These students would often witness God’s testimonies to him and he in turn would share what he had learned in his life with them.

My father also has the utmost respect for the deacons and pastors at church. Whenever they came to visit, he would give them the royal treatment and enjoy talking with them. Although he did not want to accept the truth, he would not refuse them directly. For example, a few years before he passed away, Elder Gi used to come by to invite him to the evangelical services. Whenever the Elder invited him, my father will go to attend the evangelical services, dressed in his best attire.  When my father came home, he would ask me who the sermon speakers were and then share his thoughts about the sermon he heard. During services, he would put on his farsighted glasses to read the Bible. Occasionally, he would also kneel with the rest of church to pray.

My father was a gregarious person; he is well-loved among family, friends, and colleagues. Inevitably, he spent a great deal of time socializing. Even in my father’s retirement, many of past colleagues will still come by to take him to many social events. Whether it's attending a wedding or a funeral, people often asked him to speak or deliver the eulogy. My father could recite the teachings of husband and wife from Ephesians Chapter 5 like the back of his hand. People who didn't know him would think that he was a minister. Since my father was well-respected in the community, people would often ask him to preside in all the major events. My father’s busy social calendar hindered him from attending church or leading a God-centered life.

As my father grew older, the burden for me to bring him to Christ became heavier. Fortunately, the True Jesus Church in Dansui started a prayer movement to encourage believers to bring their entire family to the Lord. I could see some improvements with my father after all the prayers from the brothers and sisters. My mother had been praying for him for 35 years already and I have prayed for him for almost 10 years. Yet, there is a time for everything under the sun and God had heard our prayers. It was God’s will for us to be patient and to submit to His timing.

In July of 1989, my younger brother went back to Taiwan from the United States. At that time, I had to go to Hong Kong True Jesus Church to help with the Student Spiritual Convocation retreat held there. When I returned to Taiwan, my brother informed me that my father had pain in his feet and that he could barely walk. We tried to take my father to the hospital but he refused. My father kept insisting that he just needed a few days of rest to feel better. The truth was that my father couldn’t bear to go to the hospital when his son was home from the States for this short time. At that time, I can sense the time was drawing near for my father to come to believe in the Lord. During the last two months of his sickness, I would massage his feet while boldly testifying to him at the same time. When I mentioned the topic of afterlife, my father would either change the topic or use sleep as an excuse to deter me from talking. I was quite anxious as I watched him grow sicker every day. The only thing I could do was to pray with even more fervency and beg God for His mercy. The family repeatedly urged my father to grasp this chance to believe in God and be baptized. In addition, the entire True Jesus Church in Dansui prayed for him. Nonetheless, my father still did not respond.

Thursday, September 14th of 1989

On the day of the Chinese New Moon Festival, my father's diabetic symptoms caused his conditions to deteriorate. Thankfully, God arranged an outstanding physician from the Mackay hospital in Taiwan. He told us that saving my father's life was the most crucial thing so the doctor prescribed seven kinds of special medications to stabilize my father’s condition. Afterwards, the doctor asked us to gather our families together to prepare for my father's end.

As we watched him lay there on the bed, with only a few breaths left, still unwilling to believe in Christ, I considered my family's suggestion to baptize him in his last moments regardless whether he believed or not.  But I recalled the words of the Bible, "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved" from Mark 16:16, so I feared that the baptism would be ineffective since he still did not believe.

Friday of September 15th, my father became unconscious. That night, there was a service at True Jesus Church in Dansui. Since I was not able to do much for my father, I told my mother I would go to church to pray for him. I entrusted my father to my older sister and left to pray at church. That night, the whole church prayed for my father. Previously, I thought that I had worked hard for the Lord and questioned God why he did not save my father yet.

Since the prayer movement at Dansui church to bring the whole family to Christ began, many families have come to believe and be baptized. However, my father still did not believe. I wondered whether my father would leave this world in his unbelieving state. At the end, I repented to God for my weakness and lack of faith and prayed with tears.

When we returned to the hospital, my older sister told us that my father agreed finally to be baptized. I told my sister that I myself did not hear him say that he believed and therefore, he would not be qualified to be baptized. Then, my sister woke my father up and asked him whether he wanted to believe and be baptized? To our surprise, he replied with great resolution and a loud "YES." After ten minutes, my sister again asked him the same question. My father still loudly answered, "YES." At that moment, our family was in great joy because the Lord has finally heard our prayers. Now that he has met the requirements to be baptized, we quickly contact Pastor Hsu and decided to baptize him the next day after the afternoon service.

My father was semi-conscious when he was taken to the Dansui ocean to be baptized. After the pastor has led the prayer, my father opened his eyes. Brother Chang carried my father to the ocean while he repeatedly said, "Hallelujah, Praise the Lord." According to my father, when his body was fully immersed, he felt as if he had entered into the depth of the ocean. When my father came out of the water, he witnessed that he saw the heavenly city. My father saw a great number of people at his baptism (at that time, there were only about ten people) and wanted me to thank them for coming.  Thank God, while the Foot Washing Sacrament was performed with him on the stretcher, he was able to sit up to received the Sacrament from Elder Gi. In the concluding prayer, my father made sounds like he was breathing air, which sounded like he received the Holy Spirit. On the way back to the ambulance, my father continued along the way to praise God and loudly exclaimed, "Hallelujah, Praise the Lord!"

When we returned to the hospital, my father was able to sit on his bed and talk to the family members. He said, "The baptism was amazing." From then on, he recovered at great speed. On the night of the baptism, my father was even able to talk to my uncle and aunt for half an hour, laughing along the way. My uncle, who was an unbeliever, was amazed and thought it was a miracle. Also, at that time, both my sister who had rushed back to Taiwan from the States were both very joyful to see my father's improved conditions and to hear he was baptized. Seeing my father in such wonderful health, we thought to telephone my younger brother that there was no need to return to Taiwan right away. My younger brother returned anyway because his plane already took off for half an hour.

The Lord Jesus heard the thirty-five years of my mother's prayers and all our prayers. God even bestowed the best treasure to my father which was to let him live for another week after his baptism. God called him home on September 23^rd, 1989. We all surrounded him and my father joyfully said, "As a father, the best thing is to have all my children around me." We were also thankful to the Lord for gathering all my siblings living to return the final week and keep my father company. In my father's living years, he enjoyed the glory of this world, and when he passed, he will enjoy the blessings of an everlasting life. While my father was alive, he led a life like the Rich Man in the Bible and when he died he lived in heaven like Lazarus, safe in the bosom of God. The Pastors and Elders previously thought that leading such life was impossible; yet, my father achieved both in his life.

When I reflect on the journey of my father’s faith, I  remembered my mother who endured countless persecutions and prayed for him endlessly. She never gave up on my father and took hold of every opportunity to testify to him. Her quiet trust and limitless patience were the winning factors for my father to receive salvation.

During the last two months of his illness, my father and I both relied on Matthew 7:7 for strength, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." I asked my father to memorize this verse and put this verse in his prayer to ask God to increase his faith. I myself also relied on this verse to grasp on the promise of the Lord and to pray that His promise would be granted to my father. When it seemed hopeless, we kept our hopes up. Besides our prayers, it was critical that Elder Gi visited my father in the hospital and patiently delivered sermons to him. Elder Gi had my father repeat the main points of the sermon and urged my father to come to believe in the Lord. In addition, there were the many prayers of the brothers and sisters at church. Thank God, my entire family finally came to Christ. I have learned that our faith has to be able to undergo trials and tribulation. We should not give up when we encountered adversity. We need to rely on the Lord because the Bible records, "a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out." (Isaiah 42:3)

On September 23rd, 1989, God called my father back. Emotionally, we were reluctant to see him go. However, we were all very comforted when we thought how he has received the eternal blessings in heaven. At ten in the morning of September 28th, we held his memorial service at True Jesus Church in Da-Tung, Taiwan. We were deeply touched by the multitude of people who came to his memorial. May God remember the love and the work of brothers and sisters at Da-Tun True Jesus Church also. Bringing my father to Christ was like running a marathon. With countless prayers, strength from above, and encouragement from brothers and sisters---we did not give up, we quietly submitted, we patiently held on, and we were able to witness him receive the glorious crown of heaven.