Hello friends, we are going to start a new Life Testimony series from today onwards on every Thursday to come, taken from the book entitled “From Darkness to Glorious Light” authored by myself, Lim Min. It is about the life testimony of a primitive spirit worshipper turned evangelist. And, before I get into the meat of the testimonies, I would like in this episode to tell you the background to the birth of this book, hence the program.

Very often my readers would ask me how I met Tam Ki, the main character of my book. Well, it was in 2006 when I met him. One day, my gym instructor invited me to her church as they were having a guest speaker from Myanmar. Apparently, this Myanmese pastor was reputed to have been raised from the dead by the Lord Jesus. Although I was skeptical, but curiosity got the better of me, so I went to find out for myself who this man was.

I was expecting to see a hail and hearty, bigger than life evangelist, but what I saw was a soft-spoken man who said “yes” to every question I asked him. Then I realized that Tam Ki spoke no English! But through the mouth of an interpreter, came the most incredible story I have ever heard.

Tam Ki was born in 1953 in a remote jungle-village hidden in the Chin Hills of Myanmar. No foreign missionary had ever visited the village. No one had ever heard of Jesus Christ. But in 1973 Tam Ki died and was mysteriously transported to Heaven.

With no access to any Bible, Tam Ki received supernatural visions, dreams and healings from God. A former spirit worshipper, Tam Ki is now a remarkable evangelist and church leader, bringing God’s light to thousands of people trapped in darkness.

As in the Apostles’ time, signs, wonders and miracles abound in Tam Ki’s ministry. God’s power is evident in Tam Ki – the blind see, the lame walk and the sick are healed.

Not long after our brief encounter, Tam Ki’s son Ki Tam came to Singapore. With only $150 in his pocket, he set off in faith to pursue a Theological education in Singapore. Impressed with the young man’s unwavering faith in the Lord and his unrelenting determination to pursue his further studies in Singapore, I was moved to help this young man. Together with a few friends, we managed to sponsor Ki Tam in his college education. One of my contacts even provided free accommodation for Ki Tam in this expensive city! I had inadvertently landed myself as the custodian of a young tribal man hailed from the Chin Hills of Myanmar!

The following year, Tam Ki visited Singapore again. His son Ki Tam was able to be his interpreter. Tam Ki brought up the matter about publishing his testimony in English. I simply brushed him off saying, “Oh, writing is not my cup of tea!” I was then having a well-established career in a pharmaceutical manufacturing company. With my Chemistry background, writing has never been my forte.

However, for some inexplicable reasons, Tam Ki’s request for his testimony to be published in English remained etched in my mind. One day, I casually brought the matter up to a church choir member and he introduced us to Armour Publishing. The director of Armour was immediately drawn to Tam Ki’s amazing testimony and his ministry. She encouraged me to help in some preliminary interviewing of Tam Ki’s many intriguing stories of his adventures as an evangelist, travelling more than a thousand miles all over the Chin Hills on foot. Without knowing what I was getting myself into, I stoically agreed as she had assured me that she would find a writer for the book. However, weeks turned into months with no writer in sight.

As my interviews with Tam Ki progressed, I was even more intrigued by the many signs and wonders that followed Tam Ki’s evangelistic escapades. I soon found myself visiting Myanmar and the Chin Hills to interview those who had received miraculous healings through Tam Ki’s ministry. I have also done further due diligence in interviewing two leaders from two denominations, namely Rev Myo Chit (the then Superintendent of the General Council of the Assemblies of God Churches) and also Rev Tin Maung Tun, the leader of the Brethren Churches in Myanmar, along with many other church pastors. This was to authenticate Tam Ki’s claim that he was raised from the dead and his credibility as a leader in the faith.

One day I asked Tam Ki, “Why do you want to publish your story in English, after all you’re already a renowned evangelist with a successful growing ministry of 61 churches and many mission outreaches in Myanmar.” Then came a firm answer, “The Lord commanded me to publish my testimony in English, so that His Name will be glorified amongst the nations!” This hit me like a rock.

I suddenly realized that I was the only individual in the English-speaking world that knew all about God’s miraculous works in Tam Ki’s life and ministry. I have interviewed a total of 32 people verifying the miraculous healings and conversions. What an honour and privilege it was to be given the first hand knowledge of the compelling works of the Holy Spirit sweeping through the villages and towns of the Chin Hills during the revivals that followed massive conversions.

I was struck with 2 dilemmas – Firstly, when I was a young believer, I was grounded in a non-Pentecostal environment of a reformed church which subscribed to Calvinistic doctrines. Hence raising from the dead and miraculous healings are considered the first century miracles and they no longer exist in this modern day and age. However, through the numerous interviews I had conducted, there were compelling evidence of the works of the Holy Spirit - still very much alive! In fact, they were very much similar to the Apostolic times where the blind see, the demon-possessed are delivered and the sick are healed! Secondly, I was faced with the dilemma of whether I should be the one authoring the book. Or, shall I bring all these testimonies to my grave - without telling the world about the power and love of God for these mountain folks hidden deep in the jungles of the Chin Hills? The answer was crystal clear. I resigned from my career in the pharmaceutical industry and undertook the task of authoring Tam Ki’s testimony “From Darkness to Glorious Light”.

During the final draft of the book, my editor advised me to change the title of the book to something more fanciful so as to attract more readers. Since I had no experience in book writing, much less marketing a book, I took the editor’s advice and approached Tam Ki.  A faithful Servant of God, Tam Ki was adamant in keeping the title as he maintained that it was the Lord Jesus Himself who, in 1992, had given him the title “From Darkness to Glorious Light” when Tam Ki published a short testimony booklet in Burmese. It was in utter spiritual darkness when the Lord raised Tam Ki from the dead and gave him a second chance to savor the wondrous grace of His salvation. It was God’s glorious light that penetrated the darkness that had entrapped these tribal people so hopelessly lost, since time immemorial, in spirit worshipping. Indeed, this is a most gracious act of God reaching out to these primitive people, bringing them into the glorious light of salvation. Today, after 44 years of faithful ministry, thousands of souls have been saved and many who were saved through Tam Ki’s evangelistic rallies have since become pastors and church leaders, bringing the Gospel to further afield, even beyond the boundaries of Myanmar!

So, “From Darkness to Glorious Light” was published in May 2011.

Many of my readers have pointed out that it is indeed the Lord’s divine will that my path and Tam Ki’s path should cross. For I was a city girl from the pharmaceutical sector in Singapore and Tam Ki, a tribal man from a little known community in Mynamar. In fact, Tam Ki would always introduce himself as a jungle man from the Chin Hill tribe of Myanmar during his first few speaking engagements in Singapore churches following the debut of the book.

What is even more intriguing is my sudden discovery that my name, Lim Min, is actually the title of my book. I am a second generation Chinese, born and bred in Singapore. When I was born, my grandfather named me Lim Min (a name more suited for a boy!). Perhaps this name was given to me in memory of my brother whom my mother lost during her third month pregnancy. Soon after the miscarriage, I was conceived.

Speaking about the meaning of my name. Most Chinese names do have meanings in them.  Lim is my surname or family name – Lim can be taken to mean “forest” or “jungle”. Min has the characters “sun” and “moon” in the word – giving the meaning of brightness. Therefore the meaning of my name can be taken to mean “the Brightness through the forest” or “the Bright light shining through the forest!”

I shudder in speechless awe at the thought that God has in his infinite wisdom even chosen the author, right from the time she was born, to write Tam Ki’s amazing testimony. What an awesome God we serve! All glory be His Name!

Find out more about the chilling realities of spiritual bondage in Tam Ki’s spirit worshipping world. In next Thursday’s episode we will visit the circumstances that led to Tam Ki’s premature death, his exciting adventure in Heaven and his raising from the dead by the Lord Jesus. Stay tune and goodbye!