SHINING SUNBEAM (PART 1)
By Christopher Quah
Yayasan Sunbeam Home is a foundation that cares for orphaned children as well as those who are abused, neglected and abandoned and children from broken families. Its founder, Pastor Alvin Tan, started Sunbeam Home with his late wife Pastor Lucy Lim in 1995.
Although there had been many articles written about Sunbeam and Pastor Alvin but hardly has been shared about the many miracles how God made it happened, in order to show that Sunbeam was not the work of man but His work.
Pastor Alvin believes that he was been prepared by God since his younger days to start this foundation that would take care of these Lost Boys.
“Formally I was a teacher. Then, one day I became a Christian. God led me to be involved with the young children ministry of the church. After that it was with the church’s teenagers. I was to help them with Bible study. Finally, I was asked to help with the young adults. After all this, God finally called me to start Sunbeam; by then I was already 50 years old. I am now 74,” Pastor Alvin explained. Just like Moses in the bible, Pastor Alvin was been prepared for a long time into his calling.
“When I started Sunbeam, God told me that it was His calling so He would provide. But it was never easy. Everything. God wants me to go through – the trials and the testing – are to get me ready into the ministry so I can gain experience and to be better in the ministry. The same experiences my family had to go through. Even though my wife and son were called together with me into this ministry, but we started with the help from the church before going independent. Unlike serving in a church, this ministry is much harder, as time is always the essential factor. There is no time for delay. This is because I need to take action immediately to protect the child. So, when a child comes to the doorstep and ask for my help, I have to help him. These children come from tough background, and from abusive families. So, Sunbeam is like a place of refuge from them. Failing to do so may turn them to other avenues such as crime,” Pastor Alvin said.
Talking about miracles that God worked for Sunbeam, Pastor Alvin said, one of the most obvious is in the area of finance.
“The three buildings lot that Sunbeam stand were bought by an old lady in her eighties. That was in 2008. She bought them for us and told us to build a centre for the children. This was how the buildings came into being. Then, we got people to donate and to sponsor the materials and everything for the buildings. This is how Sunbeam came into reality. It involved a lot of work, but everything was taken care of. It was a miracle indeed,” Pastor Alvin explained.
Pastor Alvin explained further that even with three buildings there is the ever-increasing need for more space as the number of children keep increasing every year. So, the centre also rented other buildings.
“We first started with two children. From the two children, it multiplied to ten. Even then, we were so busy that we couldn’t even go to our own home for months. That time we were not well funded, even though we were under the church. When I went to the market, I had to make sure I had the cheapest type of chicken around. Everything had to be on a tight budget. God was teaching us and preparing us for the future. It took two to three years to finally be financially in the green. When more people got to know about us and the foundation, funding stated to come in. But during the recession of 1998 finances once again became bad. My reserve money for rainy days had to be taken out. But by the grace of God, He provided and saw us through,” Pastor Alvin explained.
Pastor Alvin explained that once someone had suggested that he get some help from VIPs, so they could become patrons to Sunbeam.
“I was very tempted with that idea. I began thinking about it day in and day out. Then one day as I was walking around a Sunbeam building, I heard a voice speaking to me! “Who is your provider? Who is your patron? I looked around there was nobody! That was when I believed it was God speaking to me. So I sat down, and surrendered the whole thing to God,” Pastor Alvin testified.
Since then he said even though there are times, they were low on funds, they always manage to get through.
“God said He is Sunbeam provider; our provider. When I shared these testimonies, there were a lot of people who told me that they wished they could have faith like me. But that’s God. He is my provider and patron. Until today even though we have gone through many economic recessions, we overcame and went through each one. God’s promises once go out never come back void,” Pastor Alvin explained.
He added that even the new building that is just about to complete has an unbelievable story behind it.
“An Australian couple out of nowhere approached me. The husband asked if I was looking for a piece of land. I said yes. Then he asked what I was doing, currently. I replied that at the moment I’m running the Sunbeam Foundation, an orphanage. Immediately the man related a dream his wife had to me. The couple were in Naples, Italy. While the wife was sleeping, she had a dream. The Lord told her to go to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to someone there who is running an orphanage. He said to them that have to go there and help them. The husband informed me that they were going back to Australia and in a month, they would send money to me. It’s an incredible miracle indeed that God still works in dreams” Pastor Alvin narrated.
Pastor Alvin added that another time when they were so low in funds. The administrator in charge of funds told them that there were insufficient funds to pay the salary of the staffs.
To find out what happens next, how God provided for Pastor Alvin and his staff, read on in part 2 of Shining Sunbeam.
