Michele Chia Xin Yi

Our family used to pray at temples in the past and we used to have an altar at home as well. It seems to me that both my parents as well as their family members were observing these practices as this was what they were taught to do. I did not really know who to turn to spiritually.

My brother Melvin started attending church many years back and has been going to YCKC for the past few years. He tried introducing the family to YCKC and both my parents started to attend as well and over time have come to accept Christ. With encouragement from my parents and Melvin, I started attending Sunday service more regularly.

Initially, I felt obligated to attend so as not to upset my parents. But as time passed, I could feel a change in my attitude. As I learned more and listened to the gospel being preached weekly, I found myself wanting to come to hear about the gospel. Sunday service became something that I looked forward to instead of dreading. This was never the case with the previous churches that I’ve attended. Whether it was at work or at home, I found myself slowly relying more on God and less on my own abilities and felt great comfort and relief whenever I did so.

When I came to know about the India mission trip, I found myself wanting to go. Despite being relatively new to the church, I felt as if something in me was encouraging me and wanting me to go. On hindsight now, I feel that it was probably God’s way of revealing Himself and His works to me. I felt like He called on me to go but at that point, was probably still too new to Christianity and did not realize that this was His way of calling me.

I have come to accept and acknowledge that we are all sinners and it is only through Jesus Christ that we can be saved. Previously, it has always been my own needs or family or work as priority over church or Christ. Now I’ve slowly learnt the importance and the need to place Christ as the focus of my life, to always place God first and that the Bible is truly the living Word with all the answers I need. I can always and should always turn to and rely and depend on God. I’m also learning the importance of regular devotion and reflection and am making the effort to be doing these on a more regular basis.