BRINGING HOPE TO GATTON (PART 2)
By Christopher Quah
(In our last article, (Bringing Hope To Gatton part 1), Christina See was faced with a dilemma. She had been called to do ministry in Gatton, Australia, but her five-year veterinary course was about to finish. Now she had to decide whether she would continue to stay or to return home. So she turned to God in prayer)
“I prayed to God, and said that if it was His will that I should stay and continue the ministry, then He would provide a way for me,” she explained.
God answered her prayer, and miraculously opened the door for her to stay in Australia to continue with her studies to do her Masters.
“If it is God’s calling, He will provide a way for it to be done,” Christina who is now a university tutor with an Australian Permanent Resident status said.
To confirm this further, the church which Christina helped to plant is increasing in numbers. God also blessed her with a husband to start a family there.
Her husband, Gabriel grew up in a Christian family but never truly believed in God. He was in the (Singapore National Service) army when he started fainting and was soon diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), an irreversible disease of the heart. He was going to study abroad and his mother’s parting advice to him was to find a church and to trust God for healing. He took that advice to heart and joined Hope Brisbane. It was during a church conference that he fainted again. With an injured face and in the hospital instead of the conference, he decided to make a deal with God, “if you would heal my heart, I will give it to you”. And at that moment He heard God spoke that he was healed. Upon further check-up, the doctor told him, “Your heart is completely normal”. Excited with this new found news, he ran all the way home without fear of fainting or his heart stopping. And it was never the same again since that day. His heart now belongs to the Healer.
“God also revealed His plan for him. That He would prosper my husband, as Christ had chosen him to finance His ministries in the mission fields. And, indeed it is all coming to pass,” Christina testified.
Yet she cautioned that God gives riches not for our own use, but for His purposes.
Her story did not end there. When she was doing her Master’s degree, a church member gave her a vision of them having a church service in a chapel. That chapel turned out to be an unutilised chapel in the university itself. They conduct regularly services there and Jesus provided them yet with another vision, that the chapel itself will overflow with people from Gatton.
“When I came here to study veterinary science, I expected a life treating livestock and pets. My favourite animal is the sheep by the way. Funny thing is God had an even better plan. Instead of the livestock, He gave me, His flock to care for. Just like how He turned fishermen to fisher of men,” Christina ended with this piece of comment.
It has been 1 year and 2 months since Hope Gatton was officially planted. The church has already seen 7 salvations since it started. They gather weekly at the chapel in the University for their Church service and have Bible studies on Fridays. Armed with the knowledge that God is good and will bring revival to Gatton, they continue to impact the lives of the students on campus and have shared the gospel to many non-believers through their weekly fellowship groups on Friday nights.
