A simple faith glorifying God

At the age of two, after her third vaccination, Sister Geok Lian had a leg infection that needed surgery which required her to stay in hospital from aged two to five. One just needs to look at the photo of the scar to appreciate the extent of the surgery and of the length of hospital stay. Her struggle did not end for there was more in store.

She came from a disadvantaged family with twelve siblings and although she was right smack as the middle child and need not look after the welfare of all of them, it was still a challenge to look after the welfare of 6 siblings younger than her. That was one reason she had to cut short her education at Primary 6 after being retained for a year. To help her parents, she had to take on odd jobs starting at the age of 14. She did casual work for about 2 years and then as a seamstress for another 2 years. She then learnt baking but took up a printing job for more than 10 years. On top of this, she had to help her father sell cookies during the CNY periods.

In 1981 her father was stricken with cancer and she had to look after him for half a year before he passed on. Then her mother also passed away a few months after that. It was a hard life made harder with no emotional support.

In 2007 she was divorced and all this while, she felt she had no one to help share her burden. She had to live a nomadic life for about 3 years because she had no home of her own, having sold her matrimonial home to help offset her husband’s debts. With all these challenges, it was quite natural for Sister Geok Lian to contemplate suicide.

When I interviewed Sister Geok Lian to write her testimony I did not sense any bitterness nor did she blame anyone for what she had gone through. Yes, she did mention the lack of support but it was more a matter-of-fact remark.

She counts her falls as her blessings for there were 6 to 7 times she fell badly but never was she ever hospitalised for those falls. In the past, she felt that if she were to share this blessing of hers, it might then be taken from her. However, the most recent serious fall changed her mind although she still was not hospitalised. She felt it was time to share her blessings. She felt her testimony would also be an answer to her friends who often asked her why she would fall so often when she had a God to protect her. She hoped this testimony would serve as an answer to their question too.

As it is, no one can lay claim that he/she has the ‘ultimate in suffering’ testimony but Sister Geok Lian is willing to share her life story to glorify God who has shown such mercy and grace to her. What I am writing now did not come up in the interview but from me. I feel that because of Christ in her life, she is giving back to Him, extending her hand to touch one person at a time, old or young. I see that in her.    

As a human it is easy to give thanks and still maintain the faith when things are sailing along but what if you were to face a surgery at the age of 2 and had to stay in hospital until age 5 and thereafter a life of miseries, would you have given up? Sister Geok Lian did not but accepted Christ in 2008 and was baptised in 2012. Then she put it simply to me ‘and life had been more stable after that’.

以单纯的信心荣耀神

两岁时，玉莲姐妹在接种第三剂疫苗后腿部受感染，需要动手术，之后从两岁到五岁，一直需住院。只需看她腿上的疤痕照片，就能体会到手术的严重程度和住院时间之长久。然而，她的苦难并未就此结束，更大的挑战还在后头。

她出身在一个弱势的家庭，有十二个兄弟姐妹。虽然她排行在中间，不必承担照顾所有兄弟姐妹的责任，但照顾六个比她小的弟妹仍然是一项挑战。这也是她小学六年级留级一年后，不得不辍学的原因之一。为了帮父母分担重担，她从十四岁就开始打零工。她先是做了两年的临时工，然后又做了两年的裁缝。之后她学习了烘焙，但最后从事十多年的印刷工作。除此之外，她还要在春节期间帮父亲卖饼干。

在1981年时，她的父亲患上了癌症。因此，她不得不照顾他半年，直到他去世。几个月后，她的母亲也去世了。由于缺乏情感上的支持，生活因此变得更艰苦了。

在2007年，她离婚了。此后，她一直感到孤立无助，觉得无人可以分担她的重担。由于卖掉了房子来偿还丈夫的债务，她失去了自己的住所，被迫过着大约三年居无定所的生活。面对这一切困境，玉莲姐妹有自杀的念头是很自然的。

在采访玉莲姐妹为她写见证时，我并没有感受她有任何的怨恨。她也没有责怪任何人。是的，她确实提到了缺乏支持，但这更像是一句陈述事实的话。

她将自己的跌倒视为她的祝福。因为她跌倒过六七次，每次都很严重，但从未因此住院。过去，她觉得如果分享这份祝福，它或许会从她身上被夺去。然而，最近一次严重的跌倒改变了她的想法，尽管她仍然没有住院。她觉得是时候分享这份祝福了。她觉得她的见证也能解答朋友们的疑问。他们经常问她，既然有上帝的保佑，为什么她还会经常跌倒？她希望自己的见证也能解答他们的疑问。

事实上，没有人能自称拥有“苦难的终极”见证，但玉莲姐妹愿意分享她的人生故事，来荣耀那位对她施以如此怜悯和恩典的上帝。我此刻所写的并非采访内容，而是我个人的感悟。我感到，因着基督在她的生命中，她正在回馈于祂，伸出援手地去触摸他人，一次一个，无论老幼。我从她身上看到了这一点。

一般人在一切顺利的时候，很容易心怀感恩并保持信仰。但如果你两岁时就面临手术，不得不住院到五岁, 之后还要经历苦难的人生，你会放弃吗？玉莲姐妹并没有放弃，她在2008年接受了耶稣，并于2012年受洗。她只简单地对我说，“在那之后，生活就变得更稳定了”。