While young people are working their way up their career paths, Stanley humbly said with contentment, “I am only a pencil in God’s hand.” This pencil does not only list out a series of career achievements but also testimonies of God’s kindness, mercy and power.

The world says, “Prove to me, then I will believe.” However, Stanley’s testimony is “Believe, then you will see!”

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Recently, I read a book called Divine Encounters at Marketplace. It was written by a professor. His name is Stanley, a Singaporean. And his book tells of his life experiences. Stanley’s background is in International Marketing. He is very successful as a businessman and in senior management, and has extensive working experience in Europe, America and Asia.  In addition, he is also an experienced lecturer and seasoned conference speaker.

One friend said of him, “Wow! Stanley was born for new challenges! His professional standards surpass that of the average senior executive while his creativity ways of doing things obtain outstanding results!”

After reading Stanley’s book, I tend to agree. But the most exciting part of Stanley’s life is not in his human achievements.

The most exciting part is that in his experiences including changing careers, managing varied businesses, handling cross-cultural challenges, working in different countries, different tough situations, and even encountering death, we see God’s hand upon his life. Stanley’s stories are Pauline in approach, like Paul telling the philosophers in Mars Hill: “He is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being.” This is a rare gift of insight, as many of us go through our Christian lives without the capacity to acknowledge the presence of God. Yes indeed, God is not far from us. God cares about us and our daily living.

Dear Listener, I am not sure if you are a Christian. Do you know God? Have you seen or experienced God’s presence?

I will be sharing Stanley’s life in the coming life testimony series. Stanley’s story is about how a person who never knew God, came to know Him and to live in His presence. It is a very interesting and challenging  story!  Ok, let’s begin!

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My whole life is a story written by God. In God’s story, my family and friends in different countries have their divine roles to play.I am only a pencil in God’s hand. He writes my destiny.

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Stanley's parents were Buddhists, so when he was young, he often accompanied his parents to the temple to pray and participate in the rituals. When he went to college, he wavered among several beliefs: sometimes he was   a free thinker, sometimes an agnostic, sometimes an atheist, and sometimes, he believed in communism.

He tried his best to be a good man; he actively volunteered in community and social work. However, after a period of time, he felt burned out; he was exhausted, and could not continue. He decided to settle on one faith and to focus on it in the hope of recovering his energies. But one thing he felt quite certain about at that point was he did not like Christians. He felt an aversion to people who held bibles or who distributed them.

In 1974, Stanley met a former classmate – Linda - from secondary school; they had not been in touch for a long time. They had lunch together and Linda told Stanley that she had accepted Jesus as her Saviour and had become a Christian. Stanley was surprised! Linda told him that she found a new life and wisdom in Christ. Stanley did not understand it at all. When Linda asked him if he was willing to accept Christ as his Saviour, he politely refused.

After the meal, they crossed the road to take the bus to return to their own homes. With many vehicles on the road, Stanley naturally took hold of Linda’s hand to help guide her across and this was the beginning of their love story.

For the next three months, Stanley could not sleep well. It was not because he was mulling over the different teachings or that he missed Linda. There was an uneasiness in his heart. Two questions plagued him: Where would I go when I die? What is the purpose of my life on earth? Stanley discussed these two questions with friends but no one could give him a satisfactory answer.

One day, while reading the newspaper, he saw a small advertisement which stated that if anyone wanted to know more about God, he or she could write in and obtain more information. Out of curiosity, Stanley wrote in and after a few days, a small package arrived. He opened it and found a small booklet, about the size of a wallet, entitled “This was Your Life!” He read it quickly and on page 22 were the words, “Those who believe and accept Jesus will go to heaven and those who do not accept Jesus will go to hell.” He was shocked! This is illogical! At the same time though, he also felt that that somehow answered his first question – where will I go after I die?

He thought, “Well, my first question seems to have been answered. But what about the second question? Would there be any answer?”

Then he looked into the package again.  There was another booklet. It was a workbook - it laid out many questions about the Christian faith together with scripture verses.

Then there was a third booklet. This contained biblical passages from which one could derive the answers. Challenged and curious, he did the assignment and mailed the answers to the organisers, wondering how he would score.

He looked forward to the next assignment and also to receiving back the graded homework with his score. He always scored well. But nothing special came out of it.The sixth and last piece of assignment contained the verse from Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Stanley did not understand the Scripture at all but strangely, it seemed to answer the question in his heart, about the purpose of his life. He felt such a wonderful relief!

He sent in the last piece of homework  and included a small note which said, “I’ve completed all of your homework. Would you please buy me a Bible? I’ll reimburse you.” Stanley included the time and place to meet. That day was April 1, 1974.

He didn’t know then if the person was a lady or a man. He didn’t know if the person would show up or bring him a Bible.

On 1st April, he went to the designated place. The man who marked his homework appeared! And he brought a Bible! Stanley paid him and invited him for a chat at a nearby café.

The man shared with him about Jesus and God’s plan of salvation. Then the man, like Linda, asked Stanley if he would like to accept Jesus as his life Saviour. And once again, Stanley declined.

But that night when Stanley was alone at home, he thought, “God seems to have answered the two questions to which I had been unable to find answers. I will give God a chance. Since Linda and that man tell me that accepting Jesus is very simple, then I’ll try it!”

So Stanley prayed a simple prayer, saying, “Jesus, I am willing to accept You as the Saviour of my life.” He didn’t expect anything; he didn’t expect that Jesus would enter his life and be his Saviour. He merely wanted to see if anything would happen in the next few days. He thought, “Since it’s April Fool’s Day, let me see if I’m indeed a fool!”

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Dear Listeners, Stanley prayed a very simple prayer. What will happen next?

We hope you will tune in to our next episode in Divine Encounters at Marketplace, when we’ll hear how God unfolds step by step, his great and eternal plan for Stanley.