Having received a few feedback regarding certain entries in our competition, we feel we need to clarify a few things:
- This competition is based on each writer’s individual experience and provided they can testify to them being genuine, we consider all testimonies valid and eligible for running. We hold to the guideline that each writer is entitled to their own opinions about their experiences, and in their expression of said opinions.
- Currently, this is still part of an ongoing competition. As such, the articles listed on this page are still under the prerogative of each writer and Asian Beacon will not meddle in any way with any content by any writer. If we ever publish any articles under the name of Asian Beacon, we will clearly state our stand on our statement of beliefs.
- This competition is judged purely on the writer’s testimonies and not on the finer points of theology. While the competition is still ongoing, in all cases, and in line with our respect for each writer’s individual testimonies, we adopt a ‘spirit rather than the letter of the law’ approach to each writer’s testimony.
- The Asian Beacon team will endeavour to its utmost to be fair to all participants, without any discrimination, prejudice, or favoritism to any single participant.
- In all cases, the Asian Beacon team will hold true to the conditions we have outlined in our Terms and Conditions for the competition. You may find these terms on https://asianbeacon.org/writing-competition/
Asian Beacon would like to reiterate here that we are all members of Bible-believing churches and we hold to the evangelical creed. We thank those of you who have raised your concerns and hope this will help answer your questions.
I Was Blind Now I See
by Stevens Chan
I lost my eyesight at the age of 45 in 2007 due to glaucoma and Diabetic Retinopathy. Prior to my blindness, I was a busy entrepreneur interested only in attaining wealth and power. In my pursuit of these desires, I sacrificed my health in excessive drinking and smoking, late nights, and unhealthy eating habits. I sacrificed time I should have spent with my wife and family and even compromised my character sometimes just to fulfill my ultimate goal which was to be rich and powerful one day.
In early 2002 I was awarded a supply contract worth RM2.5 million which would earn me a whopping RM1 million in profits. Needless to say, I was overjoyed with this success after years of sacrifice. I told my long-suffering wife that all of her sacrifices would soon be worth it as we would be millionaires soon. Or so I thought.
A few weeks before receiving my first trench of payment, I was stricken with a very bad headache. It was so bad that not only was my vision becoming blurry, I also could not raise my head due to the immense pain. The GP then advised me to see an ophthalmologist as he suspected the pain could be due to an eye infection.
This news came out of the blue. “Glaucoma? What’s that?” I asked my consulting ophthalmologist, Dr Fang. “Your headache is due to the Intra Ocular Pressure in your eyes which is very high,” Dr Fang explained. If the pressure did not go down to the normal level over the weekend, he would have to perform a surgery on me to reduce the pressure and hopefully improve the vision in my right eye.
Over the weekend, the pressure in my eye did not decrease much and Dr Fang had to do the surgery for me the very next day. My right eye never recovered from that surgery. It was the first of a continuous series. 8 other surgeries and countless other laser treatments, eye drops, and medicine that I had to take would follow over the next few years.
Yet despite these many treatments, I soon lost all of my eyesight five years later, in 2007. With the loss of sight came the loss of hope.
A friend once ask me, “How is it for you now, being blind?” I described to her that it was like taking a bungee jump and the rope did not seem like it would stop.
But stop it did. The endless rope into the abyss was stopped suddenly one day by Christ. Slowly but surely, Christ was pulling me up again, from darkness to light. It was in 2008 on Easter morning that I accepted Christ as my Savior and my Lord.
On the eve of Easter 2008, we received an invitation from a friend to attend a Church Easter celebration and to Kaye’s surprise, I accepted their invitation. Previously I have rejected and declined many similar invitations to attend church for prayers. When Pastor Albert Kang, after that Easter celebration came and ask me, “Do you want to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior?” I just said Yes. As we prayed the salvation prayer, I told God to please take over my life now. I have messed up, please take over now Lord. From that day onwards, our lives were turned upside down.
From a previous self-seeking entrepreneur interested only in enriching myself, now for the past 12 years since our salvation, we have been social workers serving the Impaired and Eye Patients, social activists advocating for the accessibilities rights of the Impaired in our nation by initiating a movement to start the first Guide Dog School for the blind, and social entrepreneurs empowering and sustaining our communities through collaborations with the world-renowned Dialogue in the Dark experience programmes.
Who would have imagined that GOD can transform a Blind, Broken, and Bankrupt hopeless person like me to be the Founder of an NGO Malaysia Glaucoma Society, a Christian NPO SOS Missions Bhd, and an Accredited Social Enterprise acknowledged by the Government, Dialogue in the Dark?
Over the years our works have gained much media publicity and support, appearing in many printed and virtual media portals and even on TV, not only in Malaysia but also overseas as well. God gave our lives a purpose when all hope seemed to be lost
Over the years I can never thank GOD enough for His Amazing Grace and Mercies on a wretched sinner like me. Despite the numerous stumbles and falls our Lord never failed to pick us up and to strengthen us to press on and to endure our pilgrimage joyfully. During the course of our works, I have suffered 2 strokes that have left me still walking with a limp on my right leg, a badly broken right elbow, a still persistently painful frozen left shoulder and last year, a massive Heart Attack in Seoul Korea that nearly took my life away. Kaye told me later that the Doctors in the Seoul University Hospital that I will most likely not be able to make it through that fateful night on November 22, 2019. The Korean Doctors in their broken English told Kaye that my Heart was very weak, there were many bad blockages and I was too weak to respond to any of their treatments. They asked Kaye to call my family members and to be prepared for my demise. Kaye did what she can only think of at that moment. Pray and to ask as many Brothers and Sisters-in-Christ to pray for me. Miraculously I survived that night and the doctors told Kaye that they can now perform the Bypass Surgery for me and hopefully save my life. I woke up on the 26th morning in the ICU ward with many wires and tubes strapped on and in me. Dr Hwand and Dr Kim the Specialists that performed the Bypass on me then told me that I was very lucky to be alive. Shaking my head and with the little strength I have pointed my finger to Heaven and said thank GOD, smiled at them and said Kamsa Hamida Doctors.
Only GOD through Christ can accomplish this for all to see His Glory The total costs of my Surgery was a whopping RM430,000.00 and 90% of that costs was thank GOD, covered by our travel insurance which I nearly forgot to buy. Thank GOD we remembered to buy the travel insurance 1 day before my flight. My Heart Attack happened on a Friday evening during rush hour, yet the ambulance managed to send me to the Hospital within 15 minutes during rush hour and to the best Heart hospital in Korea, the 108 year old Seoul University Hospital. Apparently this Hospital was not on the panel of my insurance provider, yet the doctors proceeded to do the necessary treatment without insurance approval. Somehow the Insurance Company approved my case within a few hours before my bypass. Thank GOD the insurance company approved and paid in total RM400,000.00 of the total bill of RM430,000.00 The balance was paid for me first by our fellow Dialogue in the Dark Korea partner Mr Song as a
loan to me. All coincidences? No, only GOD can perform all these miracles. Today if you happen to see a Blind Limping old man with funny looking shoulders walking on the street, that’s me, a Walking Miracle of GOD.
We pray that many including those we serve, the Impaired and the eye patients as well as their family members will one day, by GOD’s Grace and Mercy through Christ see and receive His Love and Salvation for them. That GOD loves them irregardless of their conditions.
Just like it was with me and my wife; Christ saved us from darkness into His Light. May Christ be seen in our Words and Deeds.
