I Am Blind, But Yet I See
By Ritchell Lim
From The Desk of Tek & Goldie
I was at a concert of the Perth WAAPA (W.A.Academy of Performing Arts) in 2018 and heard Ritchell sing. Her story about how her parents were traumatised when she was born appeared in Asian Beacon in the 1990s (Blind Girl opens People’s Eyes*). I emailed her and asked if she could write a sequel. From then, we worked on material from her as-yet-unpublished book. I was amazed at the speed at which she answered my emails and WhatsApp – much faster than many sighted people! You will be similarly astounded at the remarkable technology she uses.
“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them.” Isa.42:16
Am I extraordinary?
“Wow, you’re so strong!” “You’re extraordinary!” “How do you do that? I can’t imagine living without my sight!” As much as I appreciate those comments, I have to be honest with myself. Sure, being a strong, extraordinary person would be pretty awesome, but let’s face it, I’m just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. The only difference is I’m blind.
I’m not superhuman, but I’m always awed when people tell me I am such an inspiration to them. Very often, I find myself asking: “How did I get here? How did this become my life?” They seemed like big questions to me until I realised the answer. It was so simple, so obvious to me, that I’m surprised I didn’t realise it sooner: God!
My answer
God has been with me throughout my journey. He is the one keeping me strong; He is the one fighting my battles for me. Without Him in my life, I don’t know where I’d be. According to the doctors, I should have been dead. I was born two months premature with many complications. My chances of survival were predicted to be a mere 5%. But thanks to God, I defied the odds and survived. Looking back at my life now, I figured there’s got to be a reason for this.
Through dark valleys
In my dark world, I go through hardships like everyone else. I often find myself in a place so empty that there just doesn’t seem to be any way out. There were times when I’ve felt completely and utterly stuck in hopelessness. But I’ve come to realise that it is in such times that I see God for who He is.
As a Christian, I often took Him for granted. I forgot His power. When I felt my world was falling apart, God showed up and gave me a whole new perspective. It didn’t take me long to realise that when life seemed meaningless, it actually wasn’t. God was all the time at work. My world wasn’t falling apart. It was falling into place.
Facing life’s challenges
Not being able to see, I face many challenges throughout my life. While some of them can be navigated through practical means, there are those with no solutions – they just shake my faith and make me doubt. This is where God comes in.
I sometimes feel like I’m trying too hard to keep everything together. But God is saying, “Let go, child. Let Me handle this.” I would be so rattled by what I was going through that I became oblivious to His voice.
Growing up, I’ve always had a very strong faith in God as a little child. Those were the glory days when I was so innocent. I didn’t have a care in the world – no worries, no dramas. It was just me, my family, and God. That was all that mattered to me. But then, as I grew older, I began to understand more. The more I knew and understood, the more questions I began to have. There were many times during my teenage years when I would feel so lost I didn’t feel like I had a place or a purpose on this earth. School kept me busy, and my faith started to grow cold. The scary thing was that it happened so gradually that I was oblivious to what was happening until about two years ago.
Breakthrough
I was in my third year of university, struggling to balance studies and my personal life. I was at a low point in my life. I had drifted away from God. I’d stopped reading the Bible regularly because I was simply too busy. I could feel myself drifting. It was scary. What was even more frightening was that I couldn’t see a way back due to all the earthly stresses and worries in my path. I thought I was hopelessly going down a slippery slope. My heart wanted to return to God, but my mind was always occupied.
That was when I found an American Christian radio station called K-love. I remember I was just scrolling through some online radio stations, trying to distract myself. Then I saw K-love. I thought it was an interesting name. Curious, I remember clicking on the station. Chris Tomlin’s “Jesus” was playing. I remember listening to the lyrics and feeling this overwhelming sense of peace wash over me. It was like God was there with me at that very moment, comforting me through the song.
Recognising His Hand
Over the next few days, I downloaded the K-love app, and I’ve never looked back. It is the only radio station I listen to now. There have been numerous occasions where I tuned in, and a song would come on that would speak directly to my heart, and I would just break down and bawl my eyes out. Fast forward a year and a bit later, I feel so refreshed now. I feel my faith revived thanks partly to the nightly Bible study we do as a family. I know now, and I can say with great certainty that God has put me here for His purpose. Though I don’t exactly know what His plan for me is at the moment, I’m trusting Him to lead me one step at a time.
People, including my parents, have become impatient and started to doubt God. If God is such a miracle-working God, why is He taking so long to heal me? I’ve been praying for the restoration of my sight for as long as I can remember, I’ve gone to many healing rallies, but nothing’s happened. I can’t blame my parents, though. Only a few years ago, I had the same thoughts. Sometimes I would be in my room crying to myself, thinking: “God, where are you? I thought you loved me. Why won’t you heal me right now? Why aren’t you helping me? Why are you being silent?” Why, why, why. I continued to ask God for several years. Why do other people get healed at healing rallies but not me?
But now, thanks to K-love and nightly devotions with my family, I’ve come to realise that I’m just being selfish. I’m not seeing the big picture. I’m not in control of my life here. God is. It’s no use trying to grab the steering wheel. After all, I’m not the driver. The best thing to do is to let go, surrender it all to God, and trust in Him. I must learn to be like Mary, to be able to say those four magic words: “Thy will be done.” Of course, this doesn’t mean that I should be passive about praying for my sight. But it does mean that I should not get impatient or angry with God when I don’t get instantaneous results. I should not lose hope. I should let God do His magic and watch as the most extraordinary things happen.
I watch as He continues to strengthen my faith. I watch as God’s plan for my life unfolds before me. I just need to do my part, proclaim His name and show the world that I am not an extraordinary person. It is God who is an extraordinary God. I am but an instrument in His hand, doing His work, for the glory of His kingdom.
Ritchell’s update: I graduated from high school in 2013 and was offered a place at the WA Academy of Performing Arts, Perth. I graduated with a Bachelor of Contemporary Music degree and am now teaching singing. I recorded my third album, “Superhero”, in 2011. My two most important songs are “Life”, which won a national song-writing competition in 2013. Out of the hundreds of entries from all around Australia that got reviewed, I was one of four that got chosen. Another important composition is a song entitled “A Treasure In You”, which I performed at the Miss World pageant in Bali in 2013. I also performed at one of the Perth Wildcats basketball games held at Perth Arena in the same year. I go around Perth, performing at various churches, balls and charity events. For all these, I give praise and glory to my God.
I have a Facebook page and my own YouTube channel:
Screen Readers
Screen Readers are pieces of software that aid in reading the computer screen/phone screen to people who are blind or have low vision to use technology in relatively the same way a “normal” person would. They’ve been out there since the early 21st century. Not all screen readers are compatible with every kind of technology. For example, I use JAWS’s screen reader on my Windows laptop because JAWS is compatible with Windows. On my Mac and iPhone, I use VoiceOver, a screen reader that comes standard with all Apple products. So unlike JAWS, which needs to be bought and installed on every laptop, VoiceOver comes already pre-installed with any Mac, iPhone, iPod, or iPad.
VoiceOver
I use VoiceOver to help me send text messages. With VoiceOver, I can touch type! Siri’s pretty cool, but unfortunately, she doesn’t always hear you right when you’re dictating a message to her. Also, there’s the issue of privacy, as I don’t want random people to listen to what I’m saying.
How exactly does VoiceOver help me touch-type? Well, put simply, whenever I put my finger on a letter on the keyboard, VoiceOver will tell me what letter I’m touching. Depending on your accessibility settings, you can enter the letter by holding it down with one finger and tapping anywhere on the screen with another finger. Once you know it’s the letter you want, you can lift your finger, and that letter will be entered. This new method is much faster. However, I wouldn’t recommend it for those still in the beginning stages of learning how to touch-type.
Voice-activated speakers
Now with the creation of smart, voice-activated speakers such as the Apple Home Pod, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google Home, I can do most things without the need to use a screen reader. With Google Home, for example, I can shop online, order a pizza, order an Uber and even cook.
Orcam
Another technology is Orcam – High-tech glasses invented by an Israeli company that allows me to “look” at things, artificially speaking. I can just pick up a book, newspaper, even a packet of chips and just read the information with the tap of my finger.
The Orcam My Eye V2 is essentially a miniature camera, no larger than your index finger, that attaches to the side of any pair of glasses. It’s hard to believe that there’s a battery and computer inside this tiny thing. So many exciting features have been packed into this minuscule device. I’m looking forward to experimenting with this device and seeing what it can (and can’t) do.
