Thank you for staying with Life Testimony programme every Thursday. We pray that as you continue to listen or read David’s sharing of his path as led by God, you will be encouraged by his faithfulness and be boosted spiritually.

When David responded to God’s calling, he did not ask God for a wife. There and then, he prayed for sufficient food, travelling costs and clothing. Was he pessimistic because he was poor and out of job at the same time?

God’s has His plans laid out for David. As God called David, He led him to the path, protected and provided him with food, shelter and clothing timely. We heard from the previous episodes that God prepared him to walk further. God started to mould his character and temperament as his faith built.

The missionary training on board the ship and his road journey to India tested David’s strength, trust and faithfulness, leading him to see how to reach the tribal people. One cannot serve God with just a passionate heart. He must also have the compassion, attitude and a servant’s heart, to serve the needy “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20: 28). While David had no idea how to start a ministry with cassette-taped messages, he had, first, the vision.

The provision of a wife is part of God’s providence. Besides spiritual and material needs, God knew that David needed a life companion.

David said he had befriended many Christian girls in and outside his church. During his study in Bible school, some sisters were suitable partners in his ministry, but David never experienced any sparks with them. Somehow, God knew who was more fitting as his life partner. God sent a Christ-follower, one with a profound Bible knowledge, and an ideal fellow-worker for David.

In 1979, David was assigned to get a speaker to talk in his church’s annual mission convention. The theme feature was Israel. Naturally, he turned to OM which had a base in Israel. The OM Singapore leader then told David that Veronica Chiam would return from OM Israel a month prior to the convention and he would assign her to speak at the convention.

Actually, David got to know Veronica by face from a poster hung in his Bible school in his Year 1. He met Veronica in person at last when she visited his church for the annual event where she shared about her missionary work in OM Israel. It must be part of God’s plan that Veronica somehow forgot to take home with her the Israel map that she used for the presentation. David called her the next day. Since they were both ex-OM members, they had many common friends and matters to talk about. That was the beginning of their regular phone chats.

They had phone chats for almost one and a half years every Saturday. David then came to know from an ex-OMer one night that many brothers were attracted to Veronica. David panicked and his heart rate went into overdrive. He told himself he must do something about the issue real quick. He called and fixed a date with Veronica with the intention to say “be my special girlfriend.”

But she was not ready for any relationship and answered David, “I have committed myself to the Lord in missions.” That disappointed David and made him anxious. Whenever he asked her whether she had decided to accept him as her boyfriend, she would tell David about her plan to go overseas for missions and expressed that she was not keen on settling down. After one month, Veronica finally accepted David’s proposal and he leapt like a calf released from the stall! He was so overjoyed!

In 1980, David was in his second year in Bible school. He fell into a chronic depression for nearly nine months due to a chemical imbalance in his body. He had been dating Veronica for six months then and she did not know that he was suffering from depression. They had some misunderstandings and arguments leading them to split up.

Although they had broken off, whenever he saw a girl that resembled Veronica, David’s heart still yearned for her. David missed her, and he knew he really loved her. God also knew that, but David was struggling to get well and to complete his studies.

One day after God had healed David of his depression, he was reading John 21. Jesus appeared to the disciples on the beach early morning after His resurrection. During breakfast, he questioned Peter three times whether he loved Him.

It seemed as if the Lord was asking me, like He had asked Peter, whether I loved Him more than Veronica. God permitted the broken relationship due to my putting her above Him. She was to me like Isaac to Abraham – an inordinate affection. God was not interested in the sacrifice of Isaac. He wanted only Abraham’s affection. He wanted mine too.

I recalled when I started to date Veronica, I became so preoccupied with her to the extent that I neglected fellowship with other students and even my studies. So I told the Lord I would love Him above anything. Whether Veronica would return to me or not no longer mattered. I decided to follow Jesus, and serve Him with total dedication.

I would learn many times that when we surrender to the Lord, He gives us peace and joy. Besides, He can bring healing, resolve problems and restore a broken relationship. It is like Joseph, who would not reveal himself to his brothers if Jacob would not release Benjamin to stay with him. Letting go of Benjamin would ensure the return of Joseph.

Very soon, God allowed David to meet Veronica three times in the same week. It appeared that God was working in them.

On Monday, David was invited to a group lunch arranged by ex-OMers. He was informed that Veronica was invited to join too. That was the first time they met each other after they broke off.

On Wednesday, David met her in the workplace where she worked part-time. By divine appointment, she replaced her colleague, who was off that day, and worked full day. She was warm to David which surprised him. They sat in a corner and chatted for a while. She even arranged a friend to accompany her to visit David’s mother who was sick at home that evening, while David had to attend a church meeting that night.

On Sunday, Veronica and her churchmates attended service at Calvary Assembly of God Church. The preacher spoke about running away from life problems. The message was so obvious that her churchmates felt that God was speaking to Veronica about her relationship with David.

Veronica called David that night and told him about the message. David sensed that she wanted to reconcile. ‘It was quite humbling for a girl like her to initiate the move’ David said to himself. As he did not know how to respond to her initiative, he shared his situation with his lecturer’s wife. The latter advised him to send Veronica some flowers and he did, through Veronica’s friend.

I called Veronica to meet me the following Saturday for another date; it was a happy get-together. So we dated each other for the next few months.

I knew we could not remain as boyfriend and girlfriend forever. I visualised her as a bouquet of fresh flowers. If I waited any longer, she would turn into a bag of potpourri, and I, into a root of ginseng! Therefore I decided to marry her.

Veronica’s father was thoughtful and generous. He neither asked for any dowry nor grilled David of his bank account nor his future career. He just said, “Just throw a dinner to show that my daughter is officially married.” David, in actual fact, had nothing then. He was still halfway through his Bible school training.

David and Veronica got married on Christmas Day. They invited nearly 300 guests for the wedding, but the turnout was more than the number of people invited. Veronica engaged three professional cooks to prepare several courses for the buffet. She managed to get raw ingredients at wholesale prices through her friend whose brother worked in a company that supplied food to ships. Food served was like an imperial cuisine. They were delicious and more than enough to feed a huge crowd with leftovers. The church reception reminded many friends of Jesus feeding the 5,000. The total expenditure was slightly less than $500. That was unquestionably a blessing from God!

They also had a Chinese reception at Lai Wah Restaurant which was meant for both their families and relatives.

Veronica has proven to be a gift from God. She is a good friend and co-worker in GR, and she shares my vision and principle of faith. For a minister, having a spouse fully supportive of one’s ministry is vital. Many good pastors have left the ministry because their spouses were unable to share their vision, passion and commitment to their calling.

David knew that financial security is a girl’s second skin. When he was dating Veronica, he put her through some tests to make sure that she was willing to go through the journey of faith with him. I did not want her to regret marrying me later on. Once, during a date, I asked her, “Veronica, suppose we are married and then one day, there is no more rice in our home. What will you do?”

“Well, we will both stick our heads into the pot and shout ‘Hallelujah!’” she beamed. Thankfully, that ended not happening, even when we had no rice, we still had plenty of spaghetti, instant noodles and canned food. Even cans of Abolong is given by her mother, our food cabinet is not usually full. I believe if I had a pet dog, God would not let it starve either!

Immediately, I realised I had found the right woman.

Veronica not only united with me to trust God to provide for our family and organisation, but also shared my passion in serving God. Her vision for GR came from her time working with OM Israel when she met the Bedouin people. She was frustrated that she could not share the gospel in their language and wished she had a cassette tape then. You see how God providentially brought together two strangers who had the same vision to become a couple.

Their daughter Melody was born in November 1981. Veronica cared for her through the day and often duplicated cassette tapes late at night when Melody was in bed. After the full-time staff who worked as David’s secretary and book keeper resigned, Veronica took over her book-keeping. Although she had no book-keeping training, God amazingly helped her to handle the GR account that was acceptable to the auditing company.

Veronica helped David in his pastoral ministry, particularly in preaching. After preparing a sermon, he would go through it with her. Time after time, she would remind me to preach what God wants me to speak, not what people want to hear. To do my best and leave the rest to God. She also cautions me to avoid criticise other faith, but preach only Jesus Christ and him crucified. (1Cor 2:2) Every night before I preach, she holds my hands and prays that God will use me to exhort His people, and remind me that I am merely a mouthpiece.

Whenever I preach, she continue to pray for me. Whenever I come across challenges and problems, I discuss them with her. She often helps me clarify and resolve problems, which brings me much relief.

Her entrance into my life is definitely a divine providence. We are like a pair of bicycle pedals. We need each other to keep moving – moving in the ministry, moving in our relationship with God. God has put us together to share our burden, blessing along this journey.

Indeed, God’s choices for you are always the best ones. Friends, let us find out what’s next after David. Stay tuned.