Hello friends. Welcome to this series of inspiring testimonies by remarkable women. Today, we shall first see how God alerted Joyce that some of her simple activities had become bondages that suppressed  her sensitivity to the voice of God. In the second part, we shall waltz with Joyce’s mother, Ying.

I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me (Isaiah 45:5)

On 22 February 2009, as Joyce was praying, she felt a strong leading of the Holy Spirit to go on a 40-day fast. As she counted the days on her calendar, she realised that the fast would end on 2 April, a week before Easter.

Alhough she didn’t know of any particular reason to fast and pray, Joyce yielded to the Spirit’s prompting. When she decided to obey, the Lord spoke again in His still, small voice, “Don’t read anything except Exodus in the Bible. Read one chapter a day – slowly.” She looked at the chapters involved and was amazed to discover that Exodus has exactly forty chapters – one chapter for every day of the fast! Joyce certainly didn’t need any more confirmation! Obediently, she embarked on her forty days of fasting, in eager anticipation of what would unfold in the days to come.

It was only as she began to read through Exodus one chapter a day, Joyce realised that the fast was to rid her life of superfluous entanglements that were beginning to choke the life of the Spirit in her. She had to let go of all her crutches – from coffee, to TV, to even Christian literature. These things have become bondages to Joyce that were stifling her sensitivity to the voice of God because she was depending on them for her daily sustenance. She had unknowingly become a slave to these albeit legitimate things. In the course of the forty days, Joyce had to unlearn her dependence on external things to tend her inner fire. Soon, she found out that she could live without them. She was beginning to enter into true communion with her real source of life.

Interestingly, God asked her at the start of her forty-day plan, “What do you wake up for each morning? What keeps you awake at night?” Joyce answered instinctively and in all honesty, “Coffee!”

She felt God respond, “Indeed.”

“Your coffee is your stimulant, an artificial way to get you going for the day. And too much of it makes you unable to sleep at night!”

Joyce had to concede to the accurate and divine assessment of her condition.

“So what now, Lord?”

“Turn the addiction over to Me.”

And so, that was just what she did. For the entire forty days, she didn’t drink coffee at all. Of course,  initially, she suffered severe withdrawal and had excruciating headaches that ran from the front of her skull to the nape of her neck. But after two days, the headaches subsided, and she felt clearer in her mind and sharper in her reflexes. She couldn’t believe that she had been detoxified from caffeine addiction!

Like a drug addict after rehab, Joyce looked back at her former bondage to glean lessons which would help orientate her life towards wholeness. She learnt that she had tried to manage issues without God’s help. Her acronym for these issues is C-O-F-F-E-E.

C - cares of family

O - overloaded calendar

F - finances

F - forgiveness of offences

E - excuses to God

E - entanglements with the things of this life

During the forty-day fast, our wonderful and almighty God firmly and lovingly led Joyce out of her bondages. He led her from independence to dependence on Him, from self-management to surrendering the reins of her life to Him. The things that often kept her awake at night were cast upon the Lord’s shoulders as she yoked herself to Him. Her mind no longer mulled over how she would juggle all of the ministry and family demands and how to meet all of these looming needs. The all-wise God taught Joyce to dance above her circumstances. It was the dance step of surrender, of letting God set the pace and decide the tempo. Joyce confessed, “Yes, as I have learnt to let God be God, I have been dancing my way out of the thorns that were choking the Spirit-life out of me.”

Joyce learnt precious lessons from the forty-day reading of Exodus. Her thoughts are penned down in “The Ninth Dance Step” of her book. We will be broadcasting this in Episode 10. Till then, let’s anticipate knowing that His way is the only perfect way. Jeremiah 30:17 says, “I will restore you to health and heal your wounds.”

Ying’s Dance

Because I live, you also will live. (John 14: 19)

Ying is 89 years old today. She has been a Christian for about 40 years. She is grateful to Jesus leading her in a dance that healed her heart and soul, and enabled her to live a victorious life for so many delightful years.

At the young age of 20, Ying married Chong Koon, a tin-mine dredge driver and mechanic. A year later, their first child, a baby girl, was born and they named her Chong Ooi Chun. This is Joyce’s Chinese name which mean ‘the true treasure of the Chong family’. When Ooi Chun was about three years old, Ying gave birth to twin boys but sadly, only one survived. They named the boy Chong Hoi Yong, meaning ‘an ocean of blessing’. In the same year, Chong Koon died of a ruptured spleen. In the depths of despair, Ying cried every night. Little Ooi Chun would bring her a face towel and speak gently to her, “Don’t cry, mama, don’t cry.”

After weeks of grieving, Chong Koon’s elder brother visited Ying. He dropped a bombshell – he wanted Ying to release custody of Hoi Yong to him! Being childless, he and his wife felt they should take over the responsibility of raising Hoi Yong. Moreover, he being a successful businessman, would be able to give the baby boy a much better life compared to Ying, a poor, young widow. But Ying could keep Ooi Chun as they didn’t want a girl. In those days where women had little say, Ying did as she was told.

At the same time, Ying’s father was going bankrupt and was planning to relocate to Singapore. So the separation happened naturally. Ying never saw Hoi Yong again.

As Ooi Chun was growing up, Ying told her she was her only child.

Ying’s father, the patriarch, passed away in 1956 and left a household of women – Ying, her mother, and her daughter Ooi Chun. Ying worked as a domestic servant while her mother looked after the house and little Ooi Chun. The family could only afford to give Ooi Chun an entire duck drumstick once a year - on her birthday. But Ying saved enough money from her meagre earnings to see her daughter through school.

Being a widow at such a young age and having to support the family, Ying often demanded that Ooi Chun worked hard and do well in school. Ying desired that Ooi Chun get a good job after graduation so that she would have money to look after both her mother and grandmother when they grew old. Ying had unwittingly created an environment of anxiety and resentment in raising Ooi Chun. Having to cope with the immense pressure from her mother, Ooi Chun became very rebellious in her teens. Pressure and insecurities manifested in sarcastic repartee, tension and resentment characterised their mother-daughter relationship.

When Ooi Chun was in Secondary 4, she accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour. Consequently, the mother-daughter relationship turned around and Ooi Chun became a very responsible girl. She even passed her Senior Cambridge School Leaving Examinations with distinctions in English and Art. Her transformation created a thirst in Ying – she too wanted to know her daughter’s God.

In 1977, Ying attended a Chinese ‘I Found It!’ Crusade held at the Singapore National Stadium. The preaching brought deep conviction to her heart. For the first time, she realised that she was a sinner. When the sermon ended, Ying followed the crowd streaming towards the platform for prayer. On that unforgettable night under a clear starry sky, Ying accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour. Halleluyah!

Ooi Chun was ,of course, overjoyed that her mother had become a Christian. Their relationship improved. That year, Ooi Chun married a fine young Christian man named Timothy. Three years later, Ying was blessed with a robust grandson and soon after, a beautiful granddaughter. She was happy and grateful that God not only restored what she had lost but gave generously and bountifully!

In 1985, the Lord called Timothy into full-time ministry as a missionary to Kuching, Sarawak. Difficult though it was, Ying knew that they were obeying God, so she must give them her blessings. The night the young family left for Kuching, Ying cried herself to sleep, feeling that she was all alone again.

But God is good. Ying received positive reports that many in Kuching including rich and famous people were saved during outreach events and were channelled to Timothy’s church to grow in their new-found faith. The missionary stint lasted four and a half years, during which Ying’s mother passed away at the age of 89.

One day after their return from Kuching, Ooi Chun asked Ying to forgive her for being resentful of her mother. They had a tearful reconciliation. The restoration was complete. Since then, both of them have been enjoying a good relationship.

Now, Ying is suffering from osteo-rheumatism that left her home-bound with limited movement and very dependent on a walking stick. No one fits the role of caregiver better than Ooi Chun. Despite times of tension, anger and even fights in the past, both share many wonderful memories together. Ying acknowledged that they have come a full cycle – a cycle of healing and restoration that only Jesus could give. Being a mother at a young age, Ying said she tended to hold on tightly to her children as if they were precious gems. But now, she understands that God gives and He takes away. She knows that it is only by God’s grace that she had the courage to let go and trust Him. She recognises that God works in her life for good. He sees her heart and will let her have sufficient grace to live out her life to glorify His name.

Not long ago, Ooi Chun (or Joyce) told Ying that Jesus would like to invite her to dance with Him. “What a surprising invitation! Me? Dancing with my walking stick? What an honour to be invited by Jesus!” Ying accepted the invitation, knowing instinctively it is a healing dance. “Only He could make all things beautiful.” Praise the Lord!

Ying knows and believes that her last waltz will be with Jesus in heaven, at the marriage supper of the Lamb! She is already hearing the music in her spirit. Halleluyah! Ying will see her son who died at birth; and both mother and son will dance together in the throne room of the Father in heaven. It is a day Ying looks forward to!

Let’s dance again with Joyce next week!