Brighton Community Church

Faith Stories

Testimony of Law Enling Jasmine

As a young child, I was brought up in a Christian environment in a Christian family and attended an Anglican primary school. I grew up on bible stories both in school and in the Sunday School. The accounts of famous characters like David and Goliath, Moses, and Daniel were told to me but they were only stories to me in those years.

The primary school I attended also had volunteers from a church who came once a week to conduct Christian activities. The programmes usually ended with a time of response to accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour. One afternoon, I put up my hand and prayed along with the rest of them.

Nothing miraculous happened immediately. There was no significant change in me. I did not pursue this Saviour beyond what I was taught. Life went on and I was still an easily irritable and stubborn girl who suffered from inferiority complex deep within.

I thank God for my sister Janice who invited me to Brighton Youth Fellowship one Saturday afternoon. I had no programme on that day and simply agreed to go with her to the Youth Fellowship. Little did I know that would change the entire course of my life and give me a new relationship with God.

I liked the people in the Youth Fellowship from the first time I joined them. There was a unique sense of warmth and friendliness in the people and I certainly enjoyed being with them. Week after week, I looked forward to coming to the Youth Fellowship and grew in my friendships with many of them. Looking back, I knew that it was God who was drawing me to Himself and surrounding me with the love and warmth of friends in Brighton.

When I was 11 years old, I attended my first Brighton Youth Camp held at NACLI. That was the turning point of my relationship with God. There were games, workshops and praise and worship sessions. At one particular worship session, I found myself crying uncontrollably when we sang the song ‘You are Faithful’. As the song played on, I felt a deep sense of peace in the midst of overwhelming emotions and tears. I remember that a few youths looked at me with a puzzled expression wondering what was happening to me. Later I felt the warm embrace of my sister who had come over to comfort me. That night I rededicated my life to Jesus and opened my heart to God. God took that first step to reach out to me and assured me of His everlasting love and tenderness.

It has been 7 years since I first stepped into Brighton. I have definitely grown and received much since the day He called me and I am still in the process of being refined and moulded by my Maker. Being a Christian for quite some time, I have had mountaintop and valley experiences but sometimes it is in the valleys that the presence of our God seems more real than ever. One thing is for sure, having experienced Him for myself, it is hard to walk away.

Isaiah 40:28-31
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Testimony of Han Yanjun Aster

I first accepted Christ when I was about 5 years old. It was on the night when I came home from a funeral – my first encounter with the death of a loved one. Even though I was then very young, the somehow traumatic experience led me to wonder why people are born into the world to eventually die. Troubled by such questions of life and death, I asked my mother, who was then already saved, about what would happen after people die. I still remember vividly my mother telling me not to worry and to simply repeat some words after her and believe. “You will then have eternal life, and you’ll know why next time”, she said. It was only years later did I finally realize it was the Sinner’s prayer I was uttering that faithful night.

Although I became a Christian at a very young age, I knew almost nothing about God. When I was in primary school, my friend invited me to her church and I agreed but it was solely because I was at an age of seeking a sense of social identity and the church seemed to me a safe place to put foot in; “I should because I am a Christian anyway… ain’t I?”I told myself.

However, my first exposure to a church was not exactly a positive one. In the first church that I went to, I found that there was a prevalent individualistic nature, a far cry from the beautiful image I had painted of a church. Not only so, this also tarnished my view of Christianity when I saw how powerless and laidback the Church was. I told myself it was probably because of the high expectations I had that resulted in a greater sense of disappointment later. I left after a few months.

Even though I became skeptical of this God, I still prayed to Him to release me of my emotional burdens by pure faith that He exists. I would talk to Him and challenge Him to give me a sign to be sure that He was real. In my most desperate moments I would pray to Him to deliver my family.

When I was in Secondary 3, I felt that I was ready to explore further. My prayers every night had led me to want to find out whether someone had really been listening to my cries and if so, who actually. I boldly asked my then classmate, Candice, to introduce me to her church. Coincidentally, there was a Brighton Youth Outreach programme in East Coast Beach and Candice was surprised that I asked her before she could ask me.

Nevertheless, once bitten, twice shy, I went with zero expectation lest I come home disappointed again. However, I found myself amazed by the warmth and friendliness of the people. I felt very welcomed by the people there and had an enjoyable time at the beach. The event left a deep impression in me and subsequently I began to join them for their weekly fellowship meetings.

The thing about Brighton is that it not only gave me a sense of belonging and the genuine love that I sometimes found myself devoid of, but it also taught me about the love of God that transcends and excels every other love. I said the Sinner’s prayer once again, this time with understanding and much conviction. Being in Brighton has been a wonderful and life-changing experience for me. My insecurities were exchanged for the peace and love of God. I’m thankful that God has brought me here and has provided me the platform to serve Him and at the same time, experience and love Him.

Testimony of Ivana Jaide Teo

Having been born into a Christian family, I came to know God at a very tender age. Bible stories and Jesus’ teachings were part and parcel of my everyday life. Looking back, I felt that it was not exactly the best thing that could happen to me; because even as I was deeply “indoctrinated” at Sunday School with all the stuff concerning Christianity, I never really felt God’s presence in my life. Christianity was just a religion on paper, and Jesus was well, just another story character I learnt.

As I grew into my teens, somehow the more I tried to rationalize Christianity, the more lost I felt. In the end, I left my former church (where my parents went) in 1994 and drifted along in life. Then one fine day, during a class reunion with my primary school friends, one of them invited me down to Brighton Youth Fellowship (YF). That was my first encounter with Brighton.

My second visit to Brighton was a year later during a Christmas party organized by the YF then. The ironic thing was that I actually turned down my friend’s invitation to attend the party because I had plans to boogie the night away with another group of friends. Yet all night I was bored out by the festivities along Orchard Road. And, something stirred in my heart to call this friend of mine to ask if I could still join his church’s Christmas party.

Attending the Brighton YF Christmas party that night was one of the turning points in my life. I got to know some of the YFers and I felt the genuine warmth of the group of people who were there. One thing led to another, and I started joining them regularly for YF meetings. At that point in time, I had this strange feeling I had returned home to a familiar place, and it seemed like I was finally experiencing what Christianity was all about.

But my walk with God was like a rollercoaster ride. Two years into being part of the YF, I left Brighton due to some personal issues I could not resolve. That was mid-1999, and I was starting out my university life then. Since then and for many years after that, I ignored God’s prompting to come back to His Kingdom. Repeated invitations to church events were turned down flatly and I avoided conversation topics that veered towards Christianity.

I really want to thank God for His immense grace because the whole time that I was ignoring Him, He didn’t once stop caring and watching out for me. I had my fair shares of ups and downs, and knocks and falls. But God never once put me through something beyond what I could bear, and I actually enjoyed quite a peaceful life during the period that I was trying to walk away from Him.

The lowest point in my life came in October 2006. It was also the biggest turning point in my entire life. Seven years after leaving the church, my emotional life hit a very bad patch. I was in such a terrible state, my buddies wouldn’t leave me alone for a minute because they really thought I would not have the mental strength to pull through the ordeal. I couldn’t eat and sleep properly for days and I was in a perpetual state of depression. Yes, my world looked like it had crashed.

In those darkest moments in my life, sitting in my bedroom, a verse suddenly came to my mind; which was weird considering I had not picked up the Bible for years and I probably could not remember most of the stuff I read. The verse was part of Hebrews 13:5 “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you”.

The most indescribable feeling came over me at that moment. I felt a huge wave of comfort, and as I half-cried and half-prayed to God, I felt that someone out there really understood the extent of the hurt and pain I was going through and He too was hurting with me. That episode changed my life. Though I was still hurting, I felt I had found the strength in God to go on, and I wanted to move on.

I wanted to return to God’s wide-open arms again and to renew my commitment to Him. It was my way of telling Him that since He has shown how He has never forsaken me no matter what happens, I wanted to do the same for Him now. I picked up the phone and called my good friend Shirley, and asked if I could come for cell group that Friday. I think she must have felt that God has certainly chosen the most non-conventional way of answering her prayer of bringing her friend back to church.

It has been a year since I have made that decision to respond to God’s prompting to renew my faith and commitment to Him. I have not looked back since; and through the course of this year, God has slowly but surely healed me. I also thank God for placing his angels (my beloved CG members) around me to support me through.

Having experienced so much of His love and grace in my life, I want to be right with God again. I want to walk by His side and never run away again. God has lived up to His promise to me, and now it is my turn to start doing my bit for Him.

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