Hello, I am Chai Hok, the founder and current editor of ALBERITH. Let me begin my testimomy of our Father's rich and gracious provisions in the ordinary things of life by taking you back to the end of 1990. I had been teaching the Old Testament and preaching in a seminary for the previous five years when we felt that he time to leave had come. We (i.e., with my wife, Lilian, seven-year-old Martyn, and one-year-old Mary-Ruth) returned to our home church (a Presbyterian one) in Johor Baru, a city at the southern end of peninsular Malaysia as an assistant pastor. It was a church we loved and a church which loved us. Within two years, however, I would resign from my post and never receive a "salary" again.
You see, both my inner ears are damaged in such a way that there is no cure for it. The practical effect was bouts of vertigo, and in 1992 I would often land up in bed, spinning away like a top, for weeks. The pastor and elders of the church were very kind, assuring us that they understand. Nonetheless, we felt dishonest taking home a pay-cheque everymonth when I have hardly done any work. In the end we felt that the honest thing to do was to resign from my post. Our decision, to be honest, did upset some of the leaders. Still they very lovingly sent us a "love-gift" regularly for a while afterwards. We "wandered" for a while with this and that but by the middle of 1993 we knew very clearly what it was that the Lord wanted us to do: to live by faith. But what, we asked the Lord, does that mean? As we prayed and waited the Lord set out two main principles for us. One, we are not to seek for financial support from churches for what we do henceforth. Two, we are not to discuss our finances with anyone unless they initiate the conversation about it. Three, whatever are our needs we are to bring them to our Father and let Him take care of them for us.
And thus I returned to "a full-time ministry," speaking at conferences and church-camps, as well as teaching part-time as an adjunct-lectuere in the seminary where I used once to teach. That I could have done all that owed much to the kindness, trust, and confidence in faith of those who dared invite me still when they know that I 'could' hang them up to dry because of my vertigo. Despite not knowing what our next dollar (ringgit) was coming from, an amazing thing happened. By the end of the millennium we had not only become debt-free, having paid off our car, but we also managed to save about 30 thousand riggit—a first in our married life and something we have never managed to do on a salary.
God's time for us in Johor Baru was coming to an end for us. In early 2000 we moved back to the Klang Valley (the region around Kuala Lumpur). As we were hunting for a house to rent, JE told us he was moving from his presently rented house to his own. He asked if we might want to take over the rental of the house. My wife fell in love with the house the moment she saw it and, yes, we loved to rent the house. JE conveyed out wish to the landlords and they agreed to let us have the house. A month before we moved, Lilian called up the landlady, asking how much she wanted for the deposit on the rental. "O, no, no," she said, "we don't need a deposit from you. We trust you." It turned out that they know us; I had spoken at one of their church's camps. And how much would she want to raise the rent—a common practice when a new tenant takes over. "No, no, we are not going to raise the rent. In fact, my husband and I have prayed about it and we are halving the rent for you." Speak of God's goodness! From 600, our rent was slashed to 300 a month. We have always had good landlords. TS-PF was a class of their own. They would regularly send workers over to service the auto-gate, the kitchen ventilator fan and air-conditioners in the house and to make sure that everything was good and comfortable for us. The house even came furnished with beautiful furniture. About nine months after we moved, TS-PF paid us a visit. "We have been praying, and the Lord told us to halve the rent again for you," they floored us. Then, as they left, they passed us a 'love-gift'; it was essentially the rent we had paid thus far. O, the Lord's largess!
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