God
At
Geylang
His Stories in Singapore Red-Light District
(2008 – 2020)
Debbie Zhang
with Tan Lay Leng
GOD AT GEYLANG
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From the Author
God At Geylang documents stories of the Creator-God
who loves deeply every single life He creates, including
the marginalized and downcast people group at Geylang!
It is our prayer that you will be blessed by these stories.
As God loves this special group of people, He loves you
too.
I would like to thank many people: my husband, my
three boys, my helper, my team, my church, Geylang
Ministry supporters….and every person in these stories.
Yet it is to God I render my highest tribute and praise.
Debbie Zhang
Situated at the eastern fringe of the central region of
Singapore, Geylang is perhaps most infamously known as the
red-light district of Singapore.
For the protection of Geylang community, most of the names
in “God At Geylang” are not real.
Bible verses are quoted in New King James Version (NKJV),
unless otherwise stated. All currencies are in Singapore dollar
unless otherwise stated.
GM Geylang Minisrtry
HOL House of Olive Leaf
YWAM Youth With A Mission
FMH Faith Mission Home
Agape Agape Christian Centre
COOS Church of Our Saviour
@2021 House of Olive Leaf Ltd. All rights reserved.
ISBN: 9-789811-802935
Cover Design by Teh Sim Sim and Rae Teo.
Proofreading by Lee Aye Li.
Write to Debbie: lohkdg@gmail.com
and Lay Leng: sunsetspurple@yahoo.com.sg
https://geylangministry.com
But Jesus looked at them and said to them,
“With men this is impossible,
but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:26
Contents
Chapter 1 Impossible Made Possible
1
Chapter 2 Ting Ting: A Life Touched, Touches Lives
15
Chapter 3 Naomi: Incredible Investment
26
Chapter 4 Uncle Lee: Homecoming
38
Chapter 5 House of Olive Leaf Changi Centre
48
Chapter 6 Li Na: Money, Money
62
Chapter 7 Dew: The Transgender
69
Chapter 8 Candy: From Cancer to Christ
74
Chapter 9 Satia: Tough Love
80
Chapter 10 Street Indian Ladies: Jesus, Jesus!
90
Chapter 11 Yu Lan: God the Great Provider
93
Chapter 12 Pandemic Panic: God Is Still At Geylang 102
Chapter 1
Impossible Made Possible
His Story
These real-life stories of anonymous ones at
Geylang are really His story. Time and again, we
encountered the impossible, and time and again,
God showed up to teach us it is about Him, not us.
But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With
men this is impossible, but with God all things are
possible.”
Matthew 19:26
God, impossible!
So, how did it all begin? I remembered I could not
stop weeping as I walked from Sims Avenue to
Lorong 23, Geylang. The walk was short but the
tears seemed to take a long time to stop flowing.
God had just spoken into my heart about the ladies
whose accent I had recognized to be that from my
birth country. When I first heard it, I could not
understand what those ladies were doing in this
part of Singapore. In my heart I questioned, “Why
are these ladies here?” Then suddenly, God
revealed it to me. They were in the prostitution
industry.
That was in the year 2007 when I first went to
Geylang in order to attend a Bible school with
Youth With A Mission (YWAM). After five months, I
was going to finish my course and I was rejoicing
1
that I would finally leave Geylang, this place that
was filled with pain and heartaches. I had thought
that the best way to ‘escape’ was to run away and
cover my eyes since I did not know how to help the
ladies in the streets.
At the same time, however, I felt God was asking
me to start the Geylang Ministry (GM). Like Moses
in the Bible who tried to run away from God’s call, I
told Him all the challenges in my life that would
spell ‘impossible’: my family situation, my lack of
experience, my lack of theological training, and my
lack of finance.
Moreover, there were attractive opportunities for me
to re-enter the marketplace and serving God as a
ministry worker was the last thing on my mind.
Working in the marketplace would give me financial
security to not only support myself and others but
also to pursue my passions.
But God challenged me with a question, “Where is
your heart and what are the motives behind your
plans?”
His question struck me at my innermost being.
Since becoming a Christian, the reality of His
transformative grace and compassion have shown
me how the hope in Christ can see us through all
circumstances of our lives. I have been truly
blessed to experience this hope in my life and I
know He laid this burden for the Geylang people in
2
my heart so that they too, can see this hope in their
lives.
I wept before God. Confronted by a loving God who
knew my deepest thoughts and my heart for the
Geylang ladies, I responded by surrendering all my
plans to Him. If He wanted my full devotion to the
ministry, then so be it.
I sought God’s counsel for three months. I had no
idea how to help the Geylang ladies. Besides, I was
fearful to be wrongly mistaken as one of these
ladies if I were to walk alone in the streets as part of
the outreach.
“You Will Never Walk Alone”
I did not sleep well during those days. After one
restless night, I awoke before dawn and went into
the study where I usually prayed to seek God. For
five years, I had never noticed something until that
morning. Placed on the desk and emblazoned on
my husband’s Liverpool jersey souvenir were the
words, “You will never walk alone.”
I knew it was God telling me in no uncertain terms
that He would walk with me through this journey of
sharing His love with Geylang ladies. Despite this
assurance, I was met with many challenges and
trials. YWAM, as well as the Geylang churches all
rejected my proposal for this ministry as they felt
they were not ready for it. Some, including myself,
3
began to question if God had really called me to
reach out to the Geylang ladies.
One afternoon, I was travelling with my husband
Kelvin in our vehicle, holding David, my three-yearold eldest son, in my arm. Faced with the hard
reality of rejections from the very people whom I
thought I could rely on, I was burdened and
downtrodden. What could I do if I did not even have
a place in Geylang? Suddenly, a car cut right into
our lane and right there at the back of the car were
the very words again “You will never walk alone.”
My spirit uplifted and I finally said “Yes" to God on
one condition that He would provide all the needed
resources so that I could focus on serving the
people at Geylang.
And He did. YWAM soon approached me to talk
about the ministry. At the earlier stage of GM, the
money would pour in miraculously, often in the
exact amounts even without our telling anyone the
needs. Over the years, there were a few occasions
when I was raising the fund, and the donors would
send in the money without knowing the appeals.
God is indeed faithful to His promise.
The Seed of Compassion
God has also planted the seeds of compassion and
burden in my heart. The journey has not been easy
for me, often filled with the mountaintop and valley
moments. Without God walking with me, I would
4
never have come this far. It has been good 12
years serving God in this ministry.
I remember fondly Ah Ling,
the first Geylang lady
whom God used me to
minister to. Almost every
morning, promptly at
8.30am, for three months,
she would stand outside
the classroom where I
attended the Bible school
to listen to us while we
sang songs to start the
school day. As Kelvin and I
needed to send David to
the childcare centre first,
we were always the last
students to rush into the
Faith Mission Home (FMH)
where the Bible class was
held. Ah Ling and I started
to smile at each other
whenever we saw each
other at the doorway.
Ah Ling would confide in
me later that the Christian
songs the students sang
ministered to her heart and
soothed her distress.
5
Faith Mission Home (FMH)
In February 2017, FMH finished
its new centre building project.
“We are coming back to
Geylang with a fresh mission
God is leading us to,” Brother
Chester said, as he showed me
around the new building and
offered GM an alternative place
to use when the space at
Agape Christian Centre
(Agape) was not available.
Above that, after three years of
praying for GM, FMH not only
mobilized its members for GM’s
Christmas carolling from 2012
to 2014, but also provided its
centre premise for the carollers
to gather in those years when
Agape was occupied. In March
2017, Agape notified GM that
the renovation project of their
centre building would start
soon. Hence GM simply moved
into FMH from Agape in April
2017. How good of God to
have prepared a place for GM
beforehand!
Roadblocks and Rewards
While the initial steps to connect seemed relatively
smooth, the journey with the ladies was nothing
near that at all. In fact, it has been emotionally
draining for both my team and me.
One such lady was ‘rescued’ out of prostitution and
placed in YWAM. To attend the Bible school, she
made an attempt to have a clean cut with the
‘uncle’ boyfriend who was one of her customers.
However, the ‘uncle’ managed to locate my contact
from the mobile phone he had bought for the lady
and started sending messages to harass me
because I “took” the lady away from him. To make
things worse, the disciple course was delayed for
two weeks and during this time, she suddenly
changed her mind and wanted to leave. And she
did… with the ‘uncle’ waiting right at YWAM!
Confronted with much distress and many betrayals,
I asked myself many times if these people would
really change. In fact, I would be the first to admit
that being highly educated myself, I used to look
down on ladies in this trade. While I recognized that
only God can break the mindsets trapping these
ladies, I would have given up had God not seeded
in me the compassion for them.
Roadblocks were plenty but so were rewards. In the
course of building relationships with the brothel
owners and workers, my team and I made it a point
to note their birthdates so we could celebrate
6
birthdays with them. Kelvin would specially print out
their birthday photos, framed and personalised
them as a birthday gift for them. As we sang
birthday songs and prayed for them, we, in turn,
were returned with joyous and thankful smiles on
their faces which were absolutely priceless. It might
be a small gesture to us but it meant so much to
them. It was not often they got to celebrate their
birthdays this way.
In the early days, besides the betrayals from the
ladies, I had to also learn to manage the many
issues that came with managing my team of
volunteers. God would use all opportunities to build
me up including challenging me to rethink and
focus why I do what I do.
Tough Beginnings
I still remember GM’s early days in 2008. Not
knowing how to start the ministry, I made it a point
to go to Geylang twice in a week, hoping God
would give me some ideas or inspiration. Since
1994, I have been working in Singapore as an
import agent for Chinese goods. Many times, I
would wander aimlessly in the streets of Geylang,
only to be “woken" by phone calls from customers
asking for price quotations. The stark contrast of my
life to that of the street ladies, of my current
rewarding job to that of this clueless ministry, made
me question hard how I could even land myself in
this situation. In my mind, I reckoned the best
approach was to invite the ladies to some activities
7
in order to befriend them, yet no church in Geylang
was willing to partner me by providing its place for
that use. However, miracles would happen, and
God would assure me that the invitation to partner
Him was real. I never felt God so near during those
tough and lonely days.
Geylang Christians and COOS
Agape was the first Christian organization I
approached. Agape was at a strategic location in
Lorong 11 and many ladies from China would be
standing outside its door daily. It would be a good
opportunity to befriend the ladies by simply inviting
them into the centre to have some tea together. But
Agape had kept saying no despite my requests
several times.
When the churches at Geylang began to open their
doors to welcome the ladies, they were shocked to
see them still standing outside the churches after
the church services, soliciting prostitution. Some
churches had helped to sponsor the ladies their
airfare after hearing their pitiful stories of how they
were being cheated to Singapore, yet after one
month, the same ladies would appear in the
Geylang streets again. Hence, it was
understandable why the Geylang Christians,
including those at Agape, closed the door tightly to
the Geylang ladies. Pastor Soh of Agape would
chase the ladies away from its corridor each time
he entered Agape. At an overseas conference, God
had touched the heart of Pastor Soh and spoken to
8
him regarding his rejection of the Geylang ladies.
One day, when Pastor Soh was sitting inside
Agape, thinking that the Geylang ladies were also
the people God loved dearly, he saw a China lady
in front of the centre. She was looking at the
Chinese words “Jesus is the Lord” engraved on the
gate of Agape and she started tearing. Pastor Soh,
who was inside Agape, witnessed everything and
started to tear too. He immediately called for the
meeting with me and opened up Agape for GM to
use its place free of charge till its renovation in
2017! Hence it was nothing short of amazing that
after 10 years, in 2018, Pastor Soh became one of
the directors of House of Olive Leaf (HOL) which
GM currently operates from!
It was yet another amazing story how Church of
Our Saviour (COOS), my local church, partnered
GM. COOS was a very dynamic church with a few
thousand members and I was only an ordinary
member. I came to know Pastor Vanaja of COOS
International Division through one of the courses I
attended. Pastor Vanaja has since journeyed with
me when I shared with her my passion for the
Chinese nationals. But COOS was located in
Queenstown, a distance away from Geylang. At
that time, my urgent need for GM was a place in
Geylang. Pastor Derek, then senior pastor of
COOS and Pastor Soh knew each other through
their work. One day, Pastor Soh shared with Pastor
Derek that Agape was partnering GM to provide the
counselling service to the Geylang ladies. He also
9
told Pastor Derek how he rejected me so many
times till God convicted him to repent. In their
conversation with each other, Pastor Soh recalled
that I was from COOS. It was said that Pastor
Derek, with his tearful eyes, gave a big hug to
Pastor Soh upon hearing that Agape finally gave
me a place to help the ladies. Not knowing what
had happened, I was surprised when one day,
while I was exploring with Pastor Vanaja about the
possibility of financial help from COOS for a street
lady, Pastor Derek suddenly appeared. He said that
COOS would not only support GM but sponsor me
too. Since 2008, COOS has been giving me a
monthly love gift.
You Shall Love Your Neighbour As Yourself
Staying on course has not been easy. I even
argued with God as to how much I could do, “It is
inevitable that I will pass on one day. Who will
continue to reach out to the Geylang ladies
then?” God surprised me when He showed me a
cross on a church when I stepped out of Aljunied
MRT station the next day. “You are just the start,” I
heard God whisper to me gently, “My people in
Geylang will take up this task.”
Over the years, whether GM was under the
supervision of YWAM or COOS, I always
remembered the conviction that GM belongs to the
Christians in Geylang, and I never stop working on
bridging the kingdom partnership unless God says
otherwise. It took me one whole year in 2017 to
10
explore if it was God’s timing for GM to move
towards partnering Geylang churches in more
areas. Over the years, COOS has provided the
financial resources and helped in the volunteers
recruitment drive. It would be challenging for GM to
run independently but at the same time, I also
doubted if God was also putting the same
conviction for the Geylang people amongst the
Geylang Christians. During one Bible reading time,
I came across Mark 12:29-31 and the words "love
your neighbour as yourself" leapt at me! I was
convinced that it was God’s heart for Christians in
Geylang to reach out to their neighbours, including
those who work in the red-light district in Geylang. I
knew God would go before me to talk to Geylang
churches of this task ahead for them. When I spoke
with Pastor Daniel, the new senior pastor at COOS,
of the decision for GM to run independently under
HOL, an NGO we registered as a halfway house for
ex-Geylang ladies in 2014, he not only extended his
understanding but also committed the continued
support for GM by the church. On the 10th of April
2018, I met up with Pastor YC and Pastor
Kim from Agape. That early morning, Luke 10:27
appeared in my daily Bible reading. God is
amazing!
“‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and
with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbour as
yourself.’”
Luke 10:27
11
I Would Look After Your Loved Ones!
Over the years, one of my biggest struggles has
been my time given to my three boys. I often felt the
sense of guilt for not spending enough time with my
kids to coach them in their studies as well as not
sending them to any tuition classes due to the
financial constrain. Hence, at the end of the year
2016, I was seriously considering leaving GM. GM
had done the pioneering work in Geylang. It would
be easy for any Christians, even if they were not
under GM, to pick up the baton of outreach to the
brothels. On top of that, David, my eldest son,
would be sitting for his Primary School Leaving
Examination (PSLE) the following year. I felt that I
needed to give David my time during his PSLE
preparations.
In December 2016, GM partnered Pastor Soh of
Agape to organize a Geylang gathering, whereby
Geylang churches and those ministries who were
doing outreaches in Geylang were invited to come
together to seek God’s face.
At that event, I had a picture in mind that in a snowy
winter, Jesus was holding the hands of my three
kids, who were warmly clothed. I tried to look more
closely, and neither Kelvin nor I was in that
scenario. I knew that God was assuring me He
would look after my loved ones. Since then, I made
up my mind never to consider stepping down from
GM unless God told me to do so.
12
What He Says, Goes
In early 2017, God had set up a divine meeting with
Brother Chester of FMH. He was showing me
around the new centre building to explore the
possible partnership with GM, and I had shared
with him my early struggle to step down from
GM. Chester sighed and said, “It is just one of the
examinations in our kids’ lives.” His comment was a
wake-up call for me and I began to release my
burden for David’s PSLE to God.
On that very day, I stopped my car at a junction and
realized that the compound on my right side was
the secondary school that David desired to enter.
“David will be admitted into this school,” I heard
God’s whisper. How could that happen? I found that
idea ridiculous because it was a ‘Direct School
Admission’ school and David was not selected.
With God, what He says goes. The school invited
David to apply for its admission again with his
PSLE results, which was actually not among the top
scores. The teachers who interviewed David
seemed very inspired by the fact that David never
had any tuition classes since young. So David was
admitted in the end! God never fails His promise to
those who choose to obey Him.
My biggest gain to serve in GM over the past 12
years is to experience the reality of God in all the
challenges and grow in the maturity to learn to
partner with Him to overcome the impossible.
13
As you read the stories of God At Geylang, if you
are struggling through a difficult patch, do not be
discouraged. You are not alone!
14
Chapter 2
Ting Ting: A Life Touched,
Touches Lives
Childhood Nightmares
Ting Ting was born in a China village. Her childhood
days were rooted in fear, one in which her parents
would fight each other, often ending with her
mother covered in bruises and blood.
At the age of six, her parents finally ended this
turbulent marriage despite Ting Ting’s pleas against
it. Though the court gave Ting Ting’s custody to her
mother, her father “kidnapped" her while on her
way back from school. However, he could not take
good care of her as he had to work late and she
was often left home alone.
The situation worsened when her father decided to
go to the bigger cities to eke out a better living. Ting
Ting was sent to stay with different relatives. Those
relatives, who were supposed to be her caregivers,
took advantage of her vulnerability and sexually
abused her whenever they had the chance. This
happened in almost every home her father put her
in.
The abuse continued even when she visited her
mother’s home. Her stepfather would come in the
middle of the night and committed the
unimaginable. One of the neighbours also took
15
advantage of her when he saw that her parents had
neglected her.
More Nightmares
Growing up in such an abusive environment robbed
her of all sense of dignity and self-worth. Overcome
by shame and guilt, she had no one to confide nor
to seek help from. At the age of 16, she ran away
from home because she could no longer handle the
oppression, fear and attack that happened almost
every night. Still, her nightmares continued. One of
her factory colleagues trapped and raped her when
he saw that she was naïve and lonely.
Since her body had been ‘dirtied’ by him, she was
left with no other choices but to believe his lies that
he would marry her. He promised to divorce his
wife and take care of Ting Ting. However, she soon
discovered that this man was actually a pimp
targeting young, naive factory girls like herself for
prostitution. While in prostitution, Ting Ting met a
customer whom she truly fell in love with. She ran
away with him, only to discover that the second
boyfriend turned out to be a pimp too. Just like her
previous boyfriend, he too was addicted to drugs,
gambling, and prostitution.
The second boyfriend was young and handsome
and Ting Ting trusted him wholeheartedly. She
believed that he would marry her after she earned
enough money to buy their house. She worked very
hard and gave him most of her incomes. The
16
boyfriend even sent her to Singapore after the
Chinese government started to crack down on
prostitution in China.
Met Jesus In Geylang
Ting Ting was so shocked to meet us in the first
week of her arrival in Singapore. She knew that
Jesus is holy and she never expected to be
reminded of Him in such a dark and sinful place.
For six months, she never dared to touch any of our
pamphlets until one day. She was feeling very
down and all she wanted was to just seek Jesus,
whom she knew would be her only rescue and
hope. It was so amazing that she immediately
found a Bible in her brothel, and the page that she
turned to spoke about the love of God. She began
to tear uncontrollably.
Overwhelmed by God’s Love
She then connected with us through the other
brothel lady. I brought Ting Ting to the church
service on Sunday and she was overwhelmed by
the warm welcome of the church people. She
started reading the Bible and found much joy
studying His words. She diligently came for our
daily Bible study and even lamented, “If I had
known God’s truth earlier, my life would not have
ended up like this.”
She began to witness God’s goodness in her life.
After a few days of studying the Bible with us, she
learnt from her family that the financial situation at
17
home had improved. Although she came to the
realisation and even felt shameful working as a
prostitute, she struggled a lot with giving up all that
she had to follow God.
To add to the challenge, Ting Ting was actually one
of the highest earners who raked in big money for
her brothel. With God, however, all things are
possible. God began to convict Ting Ting and
through several personal encounters with Him, she
knew that God wanted her to leave prostitution first
before directing her next step. Ting Ting made the
decision and became GM’s first brothel lady to
follow Him wholeheartedly by leaving prostitution
completely. She then went back to China where
she attended a Bible school in a southern city.
Journey of Recovery
Much healing and deliverance took place during
Ting Ting’s Bible school days in China. There was
so much joy and passion and she wanted to give
back to her Saviour, who had set her free from all
the bondages of her past.
Every weekend when she was able to get hold of
her handphone, she would call via WeChat to share
with us what she had learnt. She was on fire for
God. She would use all opportunities to share all
that she had learned to her circle of friends
including Geylang bosses and her former clients via
social media. Her efforts paid off. She was even
18
able to minister to one of her clients who felt much
better after Ting Ting prayed for him.
Visited Ting Ting in China
God then opened a door for me to visit Ting Ting in
China during her Bible school study in October
2015. During my four-day stay in China, Ting Ting
met me at the small inn where I put up and began
pouring her heart out to me, including her
boyfriend's matters.
During the conversation, she confessed that the
second boyfriend had actually tried to bring her to
Hongkong and Macau again for prostitution after
her return from Singapore in July. Thank God her
admission to the Bible school required her
immediate response so she rejected his brazen
proposal in favour of pursuing Jesus.
Though she had received much healing from her
past, at times, she would still feel very lost and
even miss that intimacy with the former boyfriend.
She confessed, “I desperately need love in my life.
What finally drove me to leave Geylang was the
desire to have the happiness that I saw you have in
your marriage. I wanted to trust Jesus for my future
husband by following Him.”
God then orchestrated a deliverance session with
her at the small inn. It was already midnight and I
had wanted to wait till the next day to pray for her
19
together with her school leaders. But God had His
plans. Midnight was not too late for Him.
I wanted to encourage Ting Ting so I shared with
her the story of Uncle Lee, a former Geylang pimp,
who stopped hearing the unusual knocks on his
door at midnight after we went to his house to pray
for a ‘house cleansing’ (inviting King Jesus into the
house completely). Ting Ting’s eyes suddenly
reflected fear and confided that she would always
hear a man coughing at midnight after her home
return to China. She shared that she was so fearful
that she would run to her father’s room for refuge.
Just then, Ting Ting suddenly cowered into a corner
and started shivering in fear. I was totally taken
aback but I knew that I had to call upon the name of
Jesus to chase the demons out from her at that late
hour. With my trembling fingers, I sent out an
urgent prayer request to the team in Singapore,
hoping someone was still awake to pray with me.
Thank God a team member replied that she was
with me in prayers.
I never knew that the spiritual realm could be so
real until I personally encountered this frightening
experience. I witnessed that God did not leave me
alone in that situation. While singing Christian
songs, I gained the confidence and in Jesus’ name,
ordered the demons to come out of Ting Ting. Ting
Ting knelt on the floor, tearing and vomiting. After
praying for her, I noted that Ting Ting had an afresh
look on her face. She later wrote to us, “My
20
emptiness has gone away. Hence I am going for
further equipping so as to help the needy.”
Upon graduation from the Bible school, Ting Ting
was grateful to secure a job at an organization. Her
employers treated her with kindness and she was
receiving a good and stable pay. However, the work
demanded strong communication skill, something
she was not confident in.
Some of her past was still holding onto her and she
was reluctant to seek help because she was afraid
to be looked down upon. She also worried about
losing her job, despite assurance and
understanding from her organization to work around
her situation. It became an open door for the fears
and temptations to come back to her when she felt
lonely and had nobody to talk to.
Ting Ting Came Back to Singapore!
God was merciful and real to Ting Ting during times
when Ting Ting felt “spiritually dry” (a time when
one feels that God is not near). In 2018, Ting Ting’s
visit pass to Singapore was miraculously approved.
ICA officers had replied us that they are always
willing to give the second chance to those who
show sincerity in repenting. They had assessed all
of Ting Ting’s three years of work history after she
had left Singapore and were aware that Ting Ting
was also going through her part-time counselling
course.
21
It was a great joy to see Ting Ting finally stepping
out of Changi Airport. She was so excited and
grateful to be able to come to Singapore that it felt
like a dream to her even when the plane had
landed.
However, we soon noticed that Ting Ting had many
issues which she was unwilling to deal with,
including the fear of darkness at night and her fear
of sleeping near a window. All these were rooted in
deep seated wound from her childhood sexual
abuses and her attempted suicides. I asked her
about the origin of her fear.
It was a battle to be with her each night. But God
was faithful as we kept walking with her daily and
He delivered Ting Ting from many fears. The weeks
of discipleship training saw God restoring Ting
Ting’s passion and courage. It was a season of rest
in Him to face and deal with her issues, which Ting
Ting was grateful to God for. She had received so
much love when she was here in Singapore.
Not only that, she began to be very clear of His
calling to help the left-behind children and the
ladies in the red-light districts. She knew that she
could be a witness for God and a great
encouragement to the needy in the middle of evil
and darkness in this world.
Only God knows their pains and fears, like those
which Ting Ting went through.
22
Met Former Boss
During Ting Ting’s visit to Singapore, I brought her
to meet Ah Yuan, her former Geylang boss in one
of coffee shops in Geylang. Ah Yuan was amazed
to see Ting Ting after three years and commented
that she was the only lady who was truly blessed
and lived well after leaving Singapore.
He had commented, “Most of my girls marry after
they go back to China, but they are forced back to
prostitution by their husbands after the money is
used up. Many of them get divorced but still cannot
get rid of this fate (to be in prostitution).”
Ah Yuan said he did see the hope Ting Ting had
after she found Jesus. “Stay blessed, Ting Ting!”
Ah Yuan was almost in tears when we departed.
Testimony Touched Lives
True enough, in God’s mercy, He used Ting Ting’s
testimony video to touch more hearts of Christians
to care for the Geylang people and bring hope to
those who still do not know Him.
One day I met with up a non-Christian friend upon
her persistent request. Over the past years, she
kept complaining I was too busy to give her time,
yet I never disclosed to her the work I was in. She
was in tears when we watched Ting Ting’s video
together. She confided that she had a friend who
ended up with depression after helping the exprisoners. Therefore, she was very amazed that I
23
could still stay positive and full of passion despite
the challenges I faced. I then joked with her that I
had a “Big Boss” to shelter me and He can make
the impossible possible.
One time, the wife of a brothel boss sat with me at
the food court for long hours. “I hope you will not be
offended,” she said, suggesting that some bosses
thought we should help old folks instead of those at
Geylang. I replied her, “If one day God tells me to
stop coming to Geylang, I will spend my time with
my kids then. It is my regret over the past years that
I did not spend enough time with them.” On hearing
my reply, she felt guilty and asked why I wanted to
come to Geylang. Previously she saw prostitution
as the girls' own doing, for being stupid to be
cheated by their husbands and boyfriends.
However, she gained some understanding after I
shared Ting Ting’s childhood nightmares.
Former Boss and Wife
It was nothing short of a miracle that Ah Yuan
remained a good friend with GM when he had
earlier blamed me for ruining Ting Ting’s future by
bringing her out of the trade. Later that same year
when Ting Ting left Singapore, Ah Yuan’s pretty
and young wife, Xiang joined our Jubilee outreach
to find out if we were indeed the kind people whom
Ah Yuan said we were.
In May 2019, the couple came for a mass event
called Celebration of Hope (COH). Despite their
late arrival, they were the first ones to enter the
24
Sports Hub, much earlier than any of the other GM
groups who had been queuing since 5:30pm. The
couple was so amazed by this encounter that they
could not stop talking about it when we met.
Both enjoyed the whole Chinese rally, taking
photographs and clapping hands along with us. It
was so unexpected that the couple welcomed
Jesus into their hearts at the end of the event!
Ting Ting’s story is a true testimony of God’s
unwavering faithfulness. After Ting Ting had ended
her training in Singapore and gone back to China,
God raised many sponsors to provide for the full
funding of Ting Ting’s internship programme and
then her theological school training. God never
gave Ting Ting up throughout her many weak
moments. Even when she stumbled, He pursued
her relentlessly with His unconditional fatherly love
as her life story continues.
Scan QR code below for Ting Ting’s story or
search “A Home In Christ” in YouTube or go to
the link https://youtu.be/2lRIntdFLsg
25
Chapter 3
Naomi: Incredible Investment!
Like the stories of many, Naomi came to Singapore
to make a better living for her two sons from the
previous two failed marriages. Whenever we visited
her brothel, she would stay away, not wanting much
to do with us. This carried on for a while until we
surprised her with a cake to celebrate her birthday,
just to let her know she was much loved and
treasured. Since then, our friendship blossomed
and she opened up and shared many of her heartwrenching stories with us.
Sentosa Tour
In November 2018, Naomi’s cousin Ruth came to
work at the same brothel. Naomi arranged their day
off to go on an outing with us. She expressed their
desires to visit Universal Studio Singapore (USS)
on Sentosa island which we were happy to oblige.
The two Thai ladies were so excited that they woke
up at 6am on that day, something that would never
happen during their work in Geylang.
They were so high-spirited that my team member
Jane and I had to change our plans. Instead of only
one of us accompanying them to USS in order to
save costs, we ended up four of us going together.
We, however, did not share our faith with them
because I sensed from God not to let the ladies
mistake our kindness to be a conditional one and
that they were obliged to accept our faith.
26
It was, therefore, quite surprising on the way back
to Geylang, even before we asked if they had
anything we could pray for them that Naomi started
to praise Jesus on her own accord! They knew the
tickets were expensive and they gave thanks to
Jesus who provided Jane and me to accompany
them to spend a wonderful time together. Naomi
had gone to USS before with a customer of her
trade but she said it was so different compared to
this time with us.
Both ladies were extremely tired of their work in the
red-light industry. They said that we lit up their
days.
“I want to go home!”
Ever since the Sentosa trip, Naomi suddenly
realized that despite the fact that her customers
were increasing, her income was almost the same
as her pub receptionist job in Thailand.
Furthermore, her nine-year-old son kept calling her
to go back home. “I do not want money, I only want
Mummy!” Naomi’s heart broke after hearing her
son’s cries.
On the night of 24 December 2018, something
happened inside of Naomi. Customers thronged the
streets of Geylang and her brothel was packed with
customers too. What would have been business as
usual suddenly became unbearably torturous for
her. She was desperate for a way out and in the
27
midst of utter hopelessness, she heard the singing
of our carollers outside her brothel! What
inexplicable joy and peace just came upon her and
she knew she had to leave Geylang for good!
In January 2019, the GM team flew to Thailand to
attend Sami’s wedding. Sami was a former Geylang
lady who had left Geylang in April 2018 after she
got to know a Singapore boyfriend. It happened that
Sami and Naomi were from the same province
though both did not know each other. Hence, we
were very happy to meet Naomi again though it
was not in our plan when we booked our air tickets
as early as in September 2018.
Naomi told us that it was a miracle that her mum
did not scold her upon knowing her new faith. On
the day of her home return from Singapore, she
asked to eat at the courtyard first and during the
meal, she told her mother that she had become a
Christian and then she returned the amulet to her
mother. There was a long silence until her mother
amazingly conceded that since Naomi is an adult,
she can make her own choice regarding her faith.
Even her sister was so shocked and asked her
mother if she had gone crazy.
She also told the friend, who was one of her former
Geylang customers and was interested in her, that
she would accept him if he became a Christian.
“The Christian God commands the husband to love
his wife as his own body because no one ever
28
hated their own body, but they feed and care for
their bodies. I will feel secure if we have the same
faith.” The friend was from a very different religious
background and was so stunned that he kept silent
for more than five minutes before he asked her to
give him more time to think about this.
On our last day in Thailand, we were so surprised
that the television in the restaurant of the resort we
stayed in was screening a Christian concert video.
We also discovered that the boss of the resort was
a Christian.
God had divinely arranged for us to meet that boss
and his wife too! Naomi was very happy for that
connection and she said she would attend his
church service.
However, soon after we came back to Singapore,
Naomi’s first test of her faith came when one of her
sisters demanded Naomi to repay a big sum of
money in order for her to buy over her share of the
family house, after Naomi refused to let this sister,
who married and stayed overseas, brought her Thai
lover to stay into the house whenever she came
back to Thailand. It pushed Naomi to be tempted to
go back her old ways.
“She seems to have found ways to go to Korea to
earn quick money,” lamented Suwanna, our Thai
translator after talking to Naomi over the phone.
29
We helped find solutions, including for her to go to
a local rehabilitation centre to receive training with
some income or to attend a Bible school. Naomi
was keen on the latter but asked if we could
sponsor her family a fixed amount per month.
However, before we could even give her an
answer, Naomi suddenly “disappeared” from all the
sources of contact, leaving all our messages
unattended.
Raising $8000
In June 2019, I got the news from my former YMAM
colleague that the Bible school where he was the
staff would be commencing soon. This five-month
training school was a stay-in programme, involving
communal living, daily teaching sessions of God’s
truth and related ministries that would help the
participants grow in their walk with Jesus Christ.
I then wrote on Naomi’s Facebook timeline and
prayed to God that He would lead Naomi to give me
a call. Amazingly Naomi responded and she
seemed very eager to attend the Bible school, but
still, she asked if we could support her a sum of
amount per month for her family expanses.
From the breakdown of the monthly expenses she
listed, I was surprised that instead of supporting her
mother as expected in the Thai culture, most of her
expenses were to support her two sons from her
past two failed marriages. She did indicate that she
hoped the support for her elder son, who was 17
30
years old and not staying with her, could stop when
he turned 20.
To be honest, I was not assured that Naomi’s
motive to be trained at the Bible school was totally
pure. It was, however, clear enough that she was
seeking for a breakthrough in her life. I had not
expected that Naomi would since then leave the
trade completely, but I felt that God was offering her
another chance to come back to Him through
attending the Bible school. Even if the school had
graciously offered a decent amount for her school
fees, the total cost, including her family support for
that five-month training school, was estimated to be
well over $8000. It was a big amount, given that
there was no assurance that Naomi would stand
firm after the school training.
Mindful to be a wise steward of
God’s resources, I told the team
that I did not want to make the
decision alone. Given all rational
considerations, supporting Naomi
did not seem like a wise
“investment”, unless this was God
leading GM to take a step of faith.
Each team member was asked to
seek God and I would gather the
collective thoughts. Throughout
July, I also met up and heard from
different GM teams as we sought
God together whenever we could.
31
Prophetic Drawing
To some Christians,
a prophetic drawing
is a visual imagery
which speaks God’s
words and by the
hand of God. It can
bring healing and
release His power in
a way that spoken
words cannot.
It was a tough decision to make. But I trust that God
would show His way.
It was amazing that though the GM team was in a
quandary about Naomi, most felt that it was worth
the while to take the risk. At one church service, I
saw a prophetic drawing of olive leaves and the
fruits. I became excited at the revelation that Naomi
will be the fruit of the House of Olive Leaf!
At the same time, God confirmed the decision
through the story in Pastor Joseph’s sermon on that
day. It was about how a former offender was
determined not to go back to his past because of
how the counsellor took care of his family during his
jail term! I knew that God had led us to support
Naomi to attend the Bible school.
32
New Creation
Naomi was touched and
overjoyed when we informed
her that we would support her
to attend the Bible school.
She wrote in her Facebook
posts that she had earlier
stopped believing in Jesus but
she thanked God for bringing
her back to Him again through
us. She then went on to
The sight of an angel
attend church services at the
appearing in the sky
church the resort manager
during our visit of Naomi
whom we met during our
in Thailand in January
January Thailand trip had
2019 deeply encouraged
connected her to. Naomi had
us.
even signed up for the church
retreat on her own initiative. She made many new
friends during that three-day retreat and also
agreed with us that she has found a new church
family. She also seemed to have found relief in God
from her past and able to see hope for her future.
She had told me, "I hope I can serve God full time
like you!" However, there were still challenges she
had to confront. One night she sent me two
messages that she wanted to kill herself. The
school leader called her urgently and found out that
Naomi had an affair with a policeman. The wife
found out about the affair and demanded her to go
over to their home to have a clear talk. "She and
her sister are on the way now," the school leader
told us. It was quite a challenging night for the team
33
as we prayed fervently till the next morning.
Imagine our relief when we received her news that
"everything has been settled. I am now a new
creation!"
Many Gave to God’s Work
Even though GM did not intend to do the
fundraising for Naomi, God poured in the full
funding for her in just one month’s time, one week
after she started her Bible school!
It was not unusual for the ladies to turn their backs
on us, especially after they had left for their home
countries. GM team had suffered from the setback
of a lady whom we walked with for quite some time
yet she had chosen to cling on to a boyfriend whom
we had advised against. Hence, it was both
encouraging and amazing to see many team
members’ love for the ladies remain, evidenced in
their willingness to support Naomi financially.
Seed Fund through Flea Market
I am thankful that during this time, COOS had
planned a flea market sale in the church, of which
the proceeds would be channeled to GM. I then told
the GM team that since the sales proceeds was an
unexpected funding, we would put it as a seed fund
for Naomi’s school project and wait for God to grow
it. GM would then not officially raise fund for Naomi.
Nevertheless, a number of GM team members
started to send in the love gifts for Naomi. Without
knowing any of our plan to Naomi, COOS even
contributed $2000 as gift vouchers to encourage
34
residents near the church area to visit the flea
market. Funds continued to pour in. When
announcement was made that proceeds from the
flea market sales would be used to fund GM, it
garnered much enthusiasm and support from the
church members.
On the day after the flea market weekend, the
church staff updated me that her team was shocked
by the unexpected outcome. She said, “Many gave
much more than the price of the goods and still
many others gave generously as donations. We are
still counting the money. The amount has exceeded
$7000!”
We serve a faithful God!
“God is so real to me!”
In October 2019, I made a trip to visit Naomi in
Thailand on her birthday, remembering how she
had opened up after we surprised her in Geylang to
celebrate her birthday last October. Naomi was so
happy that she told her church friends about the
purpose of my visit.
She was going through the baptism class and
would be baptized in November in the church. She
showed me all the notes she had taken down
during her Bible school, as well as her scarred
finger because she had spent much time daily
writing the journals.
35
Having encountered so many miracles after going
to the school, Naomi was so excited that she could
hear God and feel Him so real in her personal life.
She had since put on so much weight because of
the joy and opened up to eat a lot without being too
concerned about her figure, knowing that physical
beauty is no more a key factor in her life.
From Naomi to Ruth
Since Naomi’s return to her home country, we were
never able to meet the ladies at Naomi’s former
workplace. Word had spread in Geylang that the
ladies would leave the trade when we shared Jesus
with them. Hence it was great joy when Ruth,
Naomi’s cousin, met us secretly for a farewell
breakfast.
36
“You Are Different!”
One time I had an
interesting conversation
with a brothel owner. He
agreed that money is not
the solution to every
problem, but he stressed
that money can earn
respect, “If I do not wear
branded clothes, people
will look down on me when
I walk in Geylang.” I joked
that my team had been in
Geylang for years and we
have dressed in unbranded
jeans and T-shirt, yet
Geylang people respect
and welcome us each time
we walk the streets. “You
are different!” the boss
said, “you come to share
with us about Jesus. You
represent Jesus.”
May the light of Jesus
continue to shine in
Geylang!
37
You Are Precious!
My team member,
Clara and I met Ruth
over breakfast. I
explained to Ruth
how God saw her
with a card printed
the wordings “You
are precious!”
Amazingly, Clara
immediately took out
her necklace made
of precious stone,
with a cross, which
she had kept for 25
years.
“Now I know why
God told me this
morning to bring it
out and give to you
as a farewell gift!”
Ruth was
speechless. It was
definitely not a coincidence.
Incredible Returns
In 2019, a pastor of a Geylang church had invited
me to share on GM and she had wisely said, “My
church members know all the truth in the Bible. But
it will come alive for them only if you can share with
us not just the successes but the struggles.”
It is true that there are not many “success stories”
that GM can boast about. Over the years of
labouring, GM might appear like a big failure since
there was no guaranteed “return” despite the
outpouring of time, energy and money. Yet God’s
measure of a successful outcome is so different.
God sees investments differently. Jesus was
considered a big failure in the eyes of people when
all His disciples abandoned Him and He died on the
cross alone. Not everyone may understand what
God did when Jesus died to redeem mankind. But
God knows every tear we shed when we are apart
from Him. God longs for His children to come back
to Him to enjoy the abundant life which is the
original purpose why He creates mankind.
Every investment done for God will surely not be in
vain. Every lost soul who returns to Father God is a
“return”.
38
Chapter 4
Uncle Lee: Homecoming
We first met him in the year 2012, during our first
Father's Day outreach to the brothels. An ‘uncle
pimp’ heavily tattooed, he looked very distracted
when he received our outreach gift, and murmured,
"Oh, it is Father's Day again!" We learnt from other
pimps that he had a daughter in Thailand but for
many years, they had lost contact.
In April 2015, we met Uncle Lee again. This time he
looked skinny and obviously very sick. He kept
saying desperately that he wished Jesus would give
him five more years of life.
“I do not request much, just five more years!”
He shared with us that he never closed his eyes
before bedtime, because he had fears that once his
eyes were shut, he would never wake up again.
God had put Uncle Lee in our hearts to pray for
him. Sam, Uncle Lee’s colleague at the same
brothel, had kept us updated that Uncle Lee had
been in and out of hospital due to his lung infection.
When we found out that Uncle Lee was getting
worse and it seemed that his days on earth were
numbered, we finally persuaded Sam to provide the
home address for us to visit him. It shocked us
when we first arrived at his home: we thought we
had stepped into a temple because his two-room
39
flat was full of statues, not to mention, dust! It was a
pitiful sight to see Uncle Lee with a tube inserted in
his nose and connected to an oxygen machine. He
could hardly move. His daily life was restricted only
to watching television and sleeping on the sofa. He
said he was just basically waiting to die.
After a few visits, we realized that his door gate was
never locked. We sensed that he had the fear to die
alone so he kept the door open in case anyone
needed to come in to assist him.
When he was not hospitalised, two nurses from Tan
Tock Seng hospital would take turns to visit him
regularly to check on his condition and give him the
necessary medication. A charity organization
delivered food twice a day to his home. Uncle Lee’s
neighbours would buy him his favourite food
whenever they could.
Love in Action
We had never met his family members. Knowing
that Uncle Lee’s days on earth were limited, we
began to sow in his life fervent prayers and love in
action. It was obvious that he should not stay in that
dusty environment because that would worsen his
health condition.
My team decided to clean up his bedroom. We
threw away his filthy bedsheets, pillows and
bolsters and we could see the worms on top of
them and the cockroaches when we swept the
40
floor! But that was only from a very small part of his
bedroom.
We were mentally prepared that the house cleaning
would be a massive project. However, GM lacked
manpower, as most of our volunteers were sisters
who had a 9-to-5 job and it looked impossible for
GM to do it alone.
My phone rang when I walked out of Uncle Lee’s
house with a heavy heart. At that time, COOS was
conducting a cross-training program and Pastor
Vanaja had sent the students to GM for their
internship. After hearing our challenges, Pastor
Vanaja immediately offered to let the students
render the help.
House Cleaning
But Uncle Lee refused to remove the more-than100 statues in his house, saying that he had kept
them for over 40 years and he was attached to
them.
We told him that whether he wanted to remove
these statues or not, we would still continue to help
in the house cleaning.
Hence, it was so amazing that 12 of us including
nine of COOS cross-training students did the house
cleaning for Uncle Lee. His house was so filthy that
it took us five hours to clean up his two-room flat!
Even though we believed that the house full of
41
statues covered with the dust was the source of his
health problem, we respected his decision to keep
them.
God continued to move the hearts of COOS crosstraining students to serve Uncle Lee together with
GM. We took turns to visit him, buying him food,
eating together with him and cleaning up his house
during each visit. And we praised God when we
saw Uncle Lee's physical and spiritual condition
getting better and better each day. He would talk to
us a lot and would joyfully bid us goodbye when we
left his house. He testified that he was able to sleep
peacefully after he became a Christian.
One day, Gerald and Clarissa, a couple from
COOS cross-training program, visited Uncle Lee
and bumped into his three friends. Though they
were not Christians, they were very touched by our
love action to help Uncle Lee. Hence, they also
advised Uncle Lee to remove the statues from his
home because “the Christian God is very holy”.
When his friends left, they helped him remove two
statues. They also told Gerald and Clarissa that
Uncle Lee was very grateful for what we had done
to him though he never expressed it openly.
During our next visit, we found that all the statues in
Uncle Lee's house had been removed by his
friends! The students then went to paint his whole
house and put on the designs of the birds and trees
42
on the wall as Uncle Lee had requested. They even
bought him a light which was able to reflect a
rainbow on the wall so as to encourage Uncle Lee
who could not go out.
We thanked God that Agape had welcomed Uncle
Lee into their Elderly Fellowship. Another
thanksgiving was that Uncle Lee had told the nurse
who visited him at home that he now has Jesus’ big
family to help him.
Uncle Lee Was Water Baptised!
God continued to encourage us. We were amazed
when Uncle Lee willingly agreed to be water
baptised at our first Christmas party for pimps at
Agape. It was certainly a ‘homecoming’ party for the
pimps and Geylang ladies who had not tasted
home cooked food for the longest time!
Many of us including Uncle Lee’s Geylang friends
were filled with tears of joy when Pastor Kim and
Pastor YC from Agape baptized him. Ah Yuan, Ting
Ting's former boss, with teary eyes, ran to the table
to get tissue papers to wipe his eyes.
On the last day of 2015, Uncle Lee went to Agape’s
year-end prayer meeting to testify God’s goodness
in his life to encourage others!
Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and
dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it
produces many seeds. John12:24
43
Uncle Lee’s Last Days
Being on stage sharing his testimony in front of so
many people at Agape still left Uncle Lee feeling
amazed at himself.
Our first fellowship in the year 2016 with Uncle Lee
in his home was very encouraging. Unlike before,
Uncle Lee was not moody or grumpy. Instead, he
was very positive about his future and his new
identity in Jesus. We blessed him to be used by
God to help other people as it was his heart desire
in this new year.
GM and Agape assured Uncle Lee that he would
always be in good hands whenever he visited
Agape. A brother from Agape would drive to pick
him up every Tuesday for Agape's elderly
fellowship while one volunteer from GM would
accompany Uncle Lee till he felt comfortable with
the community at Agape.
One day before attending the Elderly Fellowship at
Agape, Uncle Lee was admitted to hospital due to
difficulty in breathing. When we visited him that
afternoon, he looked very well and we had believed
that he would be discharged soon.
On 13 January 2016, during my daily Bible reading,
I came across Luke 23:43 when Jesus said to the
criminal, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.” I
did not take it into my heart even after the hospital
44
staff called to inform us that Uncle Lee was not
responding to medication.
Uncle Lee had been in semi-coma when we arrived
at hospital. Mary, the GM team member who had
experience in helping the dying people, told us that
it was the sign for death, unless God wanted to do
a miracle. Four of us then prayed and sang songs
to Uncle Lee. His heartbeat stopped immediately
after I spoke into his ears in tears that we would
take care of his funeral.
Though Uncle Lee's siblings had sent words
through friends that they would not get involved in
his funeral, it was truly a miracle that Auntie Lee,
Uncle Lee's eldest sister and her husband came for
cremation and sea burial at the end.
The Seed That Died
I could only face the pain from the reality of his
death the night before his cremation, I kept crying
and questioned why God took away GM's first fruit
of pimps.
I stopped tearing when God spoke gently through
John 12:24.
But if it dies, it produces more seeds.
John 12:24b
It was only during the two weeks of our handling
Uncle Lee's funeral and house cleaning that we
45
understood how true God's promise was through
John 12:24.
Uncle Lee’s Sister
Auntie Lee said that her husband told her since the
first day they met us that we were people with kind
and genuine hearts. Hence, they attended Uncle
Lee's cremation and sea burial at the end. She also
shared how much of a heartache Uncle Lee used to
be to the whole family and was amazed when she
saw Uncle Lee's smiles in his baptism photographs.
Auntie Lee was in tears when she saw 30 over
Christians, many of whom did not know Uncle Lee
personally, turned up at Uncle Lee's cremation. All
came after receiving the news from GM, and did not
want a quiet funeral for him.
In 2019, COOS featured a video about Uncle Lee’s
story. Auntie Lee gave us the permission to upload
it online.
Neighbours
On the day when we went to Uncle Lee's rented
HDB house to clear his belongings, we went to the
nearby hawker centre to buy food. The hawkerauntie who was a remote relative of Uncle Lee,
offered us free curry puffs. Uncle Chen, Uncle Lee's
neighbour since 1975, came to talk to us. Both
knew Uncle Lee's past very well and were very
inspired by his transformation in his last stage of
life. Uncle Chen’s eyes reddened when we prayed
for him.
46
Geylang Friends
Geylang brothels sent us condolence money
amounting to $1900, just enough to cover Uncle
Lee's funeral expenses. After Uncle Lee's death,
when we were on our outreach to Geylang, most of
Uncle Lee's Geylang friends showed appreciation
towards us, expressing that they were amazed that
we even held sea burial for him.
Completion
I had wished that I could track some of our journey
with Uncle Lee the night before his funeral, so that I
could share with his relatives and Geylang friends
when they attended the next day. However, I was
so sad that night that I ended up doing nothing.
I was very surprised when the next morning, I
received an email from Pastor Susheel of Oasis
Christian Fellowship who said that he tracked all of
our prayer updates and discovered that we had met
Uncle Lee in 2012 and he became a Christian on
16 May 2015. From May 2015 till Uncle Lee's
departure, it was a good seven months, which
some believe means “completion”.
When Pastor Kim of Agape asked me to share
something at the end of Uncle Lee's memorial
service, I knew what I had to share!
In one GM recruitment in COOS, Clarissa shared
with the whole church her experience in helping
Uncle Lee.
47
She said when she first met Uncle Lee, he had told
the students that he was “waiting to die”. As God
touched his heart, he was transformed from a lost
and grumpy man to one who would welcome them
joyfully like they were his family members!
Our Chief Shepherd would go after the one sheep
that went astray after leaving the 99 in good care.
That is the overwhelming love of God. That is the
hope not only for Uncle Lee but also for every one
of us.
Scan the QR code below for Uncle Lee’s story
or search “Indescribable Love” in YouTube or
go to the link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnyBhci5o58
48
Chapter 5
House of Olive Leaf Changi Centre
The name “House of Olive Leaf”, inspired from
Genesis 8:11, spelled hope for the ministry.
Then the dove came to him in the evening, and
behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her
mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded
from the earth.
Genesis 8:11
God’s amazing provision for the start-up of HOL
encouraged us. In 2009, we sent our first exGeylang lady to a centre in China but we
encountered many challenges. As we sorted out
many issues, we were convicted that we should
instead set up a halfway house by GM itself for exGeylang ladies. When I brought up the idea to Joe,
the YWAM-based director who oversaw Geylang
ministry at that time, he said causally that we might
need $30 000 which should be sufficient for us to
build our own centre in China.
Why Exactly $30 000?
I then thought of going back to my church to raise
this fund. Not knowing about the need, Pastor
Vanaja asked if she could meet me after two
weeks, because she was busy with one particular
event at that period. I then had a strange feeling
that God would pour in the sum from other sources.
Amazingly, after one week, a friend of mine called
49
to inform me that he had prepared two cheques for
us. “If it is urgent, please come to my home to
collect the cheques. Otherwise, I will pass them to
you this Sunday after church service,” he had said.
Two days before my appointment with Pastor
Vanaja, I received two cheques from this brother.
One amounted to $30 000, for the ministry, but for
the other, the payee was left blank. Following the
donor’s suggestion, I banked it into my own
account, as I understood it to be a comfort from
God for a recent loss of my diamond necklace
when I was at Geylang.
The brother later told me that he had initially
wanted to put his donation only in one cheque, after
hearing from Kelvin that our family’s financial health
was fine. But when he started to write the
first cheque, he felt very strongly from God that he
needed to separate the amount. Not knowing why,
he nevertheless obeyed by leaving the payee blank
in the second cheque, leaving the discretion of its
use to me.
Since then, there were several times where I was
so tempted to step down from the ministry,
especially during the times of discouragement and
the pressure from my non-Christian mum, who
lamented that I had failed to repay my parents’ hard
work in raising me as a graduate.
“Why exactly $30 000?”, I would question God
many times. The donor knew neither our plans nor
our needs. Any amount more or less, or simply put
50
the two amounts in one cheque and I would have
excuses to walk away from the Geylang work as I
had wished. It could only be God. This miracle of
God convinced me that I should not step down until
the halfway house was established.
The way God led us to the venue for the centre in
Changi was also nothing short of a miracle.
It took two years for GM to explore the possibility of
setting up the centre in the ladies’ home countries
but we later realized God wanted it to happen in
Singapore instead. It took another two years for us
to seek God about the centre location which we
believed was to be in Changi. Another divine
revelation came in June 2013 when the team
sought God together again for the centre. Joanne
received the two digits “97”. But God kept silent to
her question on what it was about. Both Kelvin and
I saw a long house with many rooms. It puzzled us,
since we only intended to run the centre on a small
scale at the beginning stage. Why did God give us
a big house then?
In October 2013, I had a dream about a big
playground. It was so vivid that I woke up and could
not shake off what I saw. Kelvin then, after his
work, went to Changi to find if there was a big
playground, spotting one in Mariam Way.
The team came together to seek God further and
He seemed to be silent.
51
Later when Joanne visited that area, she suddenly
had the revelation about “97”: It was the first two
digits of bus stop numbers, beginning from Upper
Changi Road North to Old Tampines Road and
New Loyang Link. In this area, there was a huge
landed property named Loyang Villas, resembling
the long terrace houses in the vision received by
Kelvin and me.
Yes to Everything I Requested
God continued to guide us in our decision-making
regarding the centre in Changi. My kids’ schooling
needs were settled within one hour which was
amazing in itself. You must understand that even
with God's given vision, I did not totally embrace it
with full enthusiasm. House moving was never a
good idea for my family, since it would pose great
challenges to my kids’ education. Furthermore, God
never spoke clearly whether my family should move
into the centre. Kelvin and I had that idea only
because we hoped to cut costs by renting out our
flat to offset the centre’s rental, and at the same
time, making it convenient for me to serve.
I told the team that if all my kids’ schooling needs
were settled, I would then believe that God was
indeed leading us to make the centre happen
during this season. It was the last week of school,
hardly possible for David to transfer to any school,
as we were told earlier that no space was available.
Furthermore, there was also no vacancy for my
youngest son Peter in Clementi Wood, a Christian
52
kindergarten in the west, even for the year after.
Hence, I dared not dream of my two younger ones,
Luke and Peter, enrolling into a church kindergarten
in Changi in such a last-minute arrangement.
Surprisingly, when Kelvin went to a school near
Loyang Villas to submit David’s application form,
the staff said that David should be accepted after
seeing his primary two results. Within half an hour,
the school called Kelvin and confirmed that David
was accepted and asked us to settle all the
transfers immediately because the school would
close in the next two days! At the same time, I
called a church kindergarten in Changi and the
principal picked up the call. She said yes to
everything I requested for Luke and Peter.
That morning in January 2014, before I signed the
Letter of Intent to rent the Changi House, I spent
some time with God alone, asking Him to give me
more confirmations that it was His leading instead
of my own decision. He led me to read Psalm 118,
in which every verse is His assurance and promise
about this new venture.
So, HOL Changi Centre finally happened after four
years of seeking and planning. However, it also
meant great commitments and challenges my
family and GM team would face in 2014.
I thank God that He had provided new team
members. God also provided a swing for my
children who would otherwise feel so bored! God’s
53
ways are always higher than ours, always beyond
our own understanding! HOL began to serve the
needs of the Geylang ladies since 2014.
Changi Centre: Mission Confirmed
We moved to Changi on 26 December 2013, which
marked the beginning of HOL. Back in 2011, we
had helped a local lady Surya out of prostitution by
sponsoring her $50 daily to come to my home to
bake cookies. At the same time, we would share
with her about God to encourage her to face the life
challenges positively. She would be in high spirits
each time after spending the whole day in my home
but she would face many distractions when left on
her own. After one month, Surya went back to
prostitution when her boyfriend found another
Geylang lady to support him. That convinced me
that the ladies must stay in a centre to go through a
24-hour in-house discipleship programme so as to
minimize the distractions they face.
The First Ladies at HOL: Melati and Amisha
When we first met Melati and Amisha, they had
been held in Singapore for nine months. Each time
the two ladies would shed tears when they met us
in the streets and confided in us. To raise their
spirits, I decided to bring them to tour Gardens by
the Bay. Getting away from the streets of Geylang
would bring some joy in their hearts and grant them
strength to carry on with their lives. Melati and
Amisha thoroughly enjoyed themselves, taking
much delight smelling the flowers and taking
54
pictures with my two-year-old youngest son Peter.
During our breakfast together, Amisha showed me
the photograph of her 35-year-old mother and
three-year-old brother. While I looked at their
desperate and hopeless faces in the photographs, I
knew what I must do. Despite the fact that there
was no stay-in-staff to assist me yet and my family
was still getting used to the new environment, I felt
God’s peace to take Melati and Amisha into HOL.
The First Challenge
The landlord was so shocked when the property
agent updated her that Melati and Amisha were
holding special pass. She questioned why the
ladies needed to report to ICA enforcement division
and why the address was in Kallang (she could not
even mention “Geylang”). While waiting for the
landlord’s reply, I asked the team to intercede and
God reminded me that He was the one who led us
to rent this house so He would make clear the path.
Amazingly, the landlord agreed to let them stay in
after my explanation that they were the group of the
people that we were helping with, our initial purpose
in renting her house. God answered our prayers!
“As long as the ladies are given the permission to
stay in Singapore and on humanitarian grounds, I
have no reason to worry,” the landlord had said.
55
From 44 Cookies to 360 Cookies
It was definitely beyond me to disciple Melati and
Amisha without a stay-in-staff while still needing to
take care of my three young kids. But God did take
the full responsibility to teach me and the team that
He is sovereign and He would make the impossible
possible. My family, including my helper, did not
feel stressed during the two ladies’ stay-in, rather,
we were blessed by them, though sometimes it was
challenging to be firm in enforcing certain rules with
them.
During the first week, Melati and Amisha, who had
gotten used to their Geylang life, could not wake up
at all at 7am as requested. It took more than half a
day for them to do their daily Bible reading. They
baked only 44 pieces of their first batch of cookies
in six hours and we had to throw away all of them
due to bad quality.
Things completely turned around after one month.
They could wake up at 6:30am on their own, and
even had time to go out with me for morning
exercise and complete the added daily workloads
before the 9.30am Bible study. They could do their
daily Bible reading within one hour, pray and
prepare each day’s worship songs before we
started the daily training. As for their baking, they
easily baked 360 pieces of tasty cookies within five
hours! God was certainly in this with us! Each time
56
when they learnt a new skill and succeeded, they
would take photographs and upload them onto their
Facebook page to share with their friends and
families. The most amazing part was, without my
prompting, they would put away their handphones
so as to concentrate on their daily routines in HOL.
Amisha’s Story
Since young, Amisha and her family were looked
down by their fellow villagers because they were
poor. When she was 20 years old, a young man
from her neighbouring village showed interest in
her. Her family granted his request to take Amisha
to Batam to work, since she was not able to find a
job in the village. Love was sweet in the beginning,
but it turned out to be a disaster after a five-month
courtship in Batam. The boyfriend sold her to a
Geylang agent, baiting her with the story of working
in Singapore for a higher pay. Only upon arrival did
Amisha realise that she needed to sell her body
and worse still, without pay, because all her income
had to be used to clear her “debt” (agent fees). She
was caught in an anti-vice raid after two weeks of
working in Geylang. However, her hope to return
home was gone, because she was needed as a
witness to testify against her agent. To support
herself, she had to continue working in Geylang. To
add salt to injury, her ex-boyfriend posted her nude
photographs on her Facebook after she refused to
give him money. There had been too much pain
57
and shame that Amisha had to bear till the day she
met Jesus.
Amisha had prayed to welcome Jesus into her
heart during our Geylang outreach. But it was the
day she moved to stay in HOL that Amisha
acknowledged her Christian faith. Like Melati,
Amisha began to weep when she first stepped into
a church Sunday service, feeling that it was time for
her to pour out all her pain instead of holding it
tightly. Unable to stop crying, she covered her face
when she went forward for prayer. On the second
Sunday, she was so overwhelmed by the presence
of God that in her dream she saw Jesus in white
and He had a very long conversation with her. Ever
since then, Amisha seemed to have no problem in
Bible reading. Her daily study showed such depth
of understanding that we were all amazed at her
progress. Though Amisha was a slow learner, she
was enthusiastic in learning new things. During one
period, I noticed that she was not emotionally stable
and I found out later that she was affected by the
Facebook nude photographs, downloaded and
uploaded again on the internet by Indah, another
Geylang lady, to shame Amisha. We made a report
to the police as well as to Facebook and both
Facebook accounts of Amisha and Indah were
since removed. Amisha was able to smile again,
and her family in Indonesia also felt relieved. She
learnt to pray to God in the assignments given to
58
her, though at the beginning she had no confidence
to take them up. Her self-esteem was built up, that
even she herself was amazed that she could
achieve the impossible with Jesus’ help.
This is Amisha’s testimony in her baptism
application form: “I became lazy after I could not
find a job in my kampong (village). Now I have been
healed from anger and hatred towards the people I
used to be angry with. I am no longer lazy and I
have a heart to work hard and learn more. I am
happy to learn about God and the Bible and I feel
joy living in Debbie’s house and learn from her and
the team. I want to become a better person and I
am grateful for everything that God has done for
me. My heart will follow Jesus and will not change.”
Melati’s story
Melati was born in a Christian family but she was
not walking with Jesus. She came to Batam in 2006
and never went back home because she resented
her parents who were strongly against her having
any Non-Christian boyfriends. Being the only child
who did not go through university education, she
felt unfairly treated by her parents. She came to
work willingly in Geylang after her family went
through a financial crisis, hoping to prove to her
parents that she was more capable than her other
siblings. However, she was caught just after five
days of arrival in Singapore.
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“I have been very tired after working in Geylang for
nine months,” Melati shared, in response to why
she had decided to end her Geylang street life and
come to stay in HOL. Melati said that it was only on
those hopeless days that she began crying out to
Jesus, “the God of her family” and she believed
Jesus heard her prayer and led her to us.
Though Melati was very intelligent and a fast
learner, it was not an easy journey to disciple her.
She turned out to be very rebellious whenever she
was not in a good mood. She would also make up
stories when I questioned her the real reason of
their late return after they reported to the authorities
to extend their visa. There had been a few times I
told the team that I would ask her to leave if she
refused to change. It seemed that Melati was
jealous of Amisha who could see Jesus in her
dream, so she would discourage Amisha whenever
she was picking up a new skill. I had told Melati
many times that she had leadership qualities but
she needed to show more consideration towards
others. It was only through a few counselling
sessions and the team’s fervent prayers that Melati
eventually changed her attitude. When we finally
got to know that she actually had a Geylang
boyfriend, I did not ask her to leave HOL because I
could see that she was determined to end that
relationship.
60
During their first month stay in HOL, the ladies only
made 1730 pieces of cookies in 21 days for our
Geylang outreach, likely because they were new
but also Melati’s heart attitude was not positive.
However, when I later assigned them to make 2000
pieces of cookies within five days for COOS
Sunday school children, Melati displayed her
leadership qualities, waking up in the early
mornings to plan. She was rather happy when she
saw their daily tasks being achieved, “because I
pray to Jesus”.
For many mornings Melati woke up at 5am to study
the Bible and pray. God honoured her heart’s
desire and spoke to her through dreams too.
In her baptism application form, Melati testified, “I
used to feel hurt, disappointed and hold grudges
against my family. Now I feel that my attitude was
wrong and I miss them very much. I want to
reconcile with them. I desire to follow God and I will
always be thankful and grateful to God for
everything He has given me. I am much happier
now after knowing Debbie and her team. I want to
read the Bible and seek God’s face every day so as
to continue the joy in my life.”
Footnote:
Melati and Amisha stayed in HOL for 3 months.
They returned to their home country after their court
cases miraculously came to the end. HOL Changi
61
Centre served Geylang ladies between 2014 and
2015, hosting other street ladies and brothel ladies
including Li Na and Ting Ting.
62
Chapter 6
Li Na: Money, Money
An Escape That Found Her Lost
Li Na was born in a poor China village. Since
young, her parents left Li Na in her uncle's care so
they could go to work in the city. Li Na remembered
that her biggest childhood fear was never knowing
if she could have food for her next meal. She did
not do well in her academics and ended up in a
vocational school. She went into prostitution after
graduation as she believed that through her
sacrifice, she could give her family a better life. She
came to Singapore working as a brothel lady after
paying $8000 agent fee.
After a year of working in Singapore, Li Na was
able to buy two flats in the city (near her hometown)
for herself and her family. Her last goal was to buy
a shop house, so that her family can have a
sustainable livelihood. She planned on running a
Korean restaurant business and had started making
plans for it. Her eagerness to learn was evident in
her detailed documentation of, for example, kimchimaking from the time she came to Agape for our
cooking fellowship.
She faced struggles daily, from chronic lack of
sleep to disdain towards her work. “Every Saturday
I look forward to your visit because your presence
makes me feel that I am still alive. Every time when
63
I received your paper (Bible materials), I always
read it aloud in front of everyone. The other ladies
felt that I was very nasty, but I felt relieved after I
had done so.”
“There are still 289 days to
my home return...”
After Li Na welcomed Jesus
into her heart, she was
always eager to meet us
each time during our
Geylang outreaches.
However, it was obvious that
she was also very jaded. She
could only visit HOL Changi
Centre on her days off from
work. During one visit, Li Na
confided in me her problems
in getting along with the
ladies in the same brothel.
She was in tears during our
fellowship.
Only God Knows
Shame, rejection, fear of
affliction of sexual diseases,
getting pregnant and forced
to go for abortion… only God
knows what Geylang ladies
go through in their daily lives.
Would you say a prayer for
God’s divine healing upon
each of them and they will be
able to see that there is
better choice they can make
in their Creator?!
“How do you know my problems?” Li Na cried,
holding my hands halfway during my prayers. A
team member later told me that when I went to the
washroom, Li Na had asked her if abortion was a
sin. With tears in her eyes as she turned her face
aside, she painfully confessed, “I wish to keep the
baby. But I had no choice.”
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When I browsed her WeChat moments, I was
surprised to find that her profile picture was of a pile
of money. It also saddened me to read her post,
“What’s up – still another 115 (thousand RMB)
more to reach my goal… I miss home so so much.
But I must not give up. I must persist ...still 289
days for my home return.”
In March 2015, I had to go to China to visit my mum
who was still unable to recover from her traffic
accident. Li Na later told me that she felt so lost on
the day of my departure as she seemed to have
grown emotionally attached to me.
On the day of my return, I noticed that Li Na posted
these questions on her WeChat, “Who am I? What
is my life goal?”
Over the phone, I asked her if she had found the
answers. She said her life goal was to marry a
“right husband”. I told her, "It may be your desire,
but can you guarantee a happy marriage even if
you work very hard for it? It takes both parties to
make a marriage work.”
Li Na broke down in tears and admitted that I had a
point. She said my family was the dream family that
she longed for since young. She had worked very
hard for a relationship that worked yet she never
achieved it.
It was clear that she must have cried her eyes out
when we met later that day. She was on the brink of
collapse with the insurmountable stress she was
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facing. She hated her work but there seemed to be
no way out.
She confessed that she left China not just to make
money but more to escape a toxic relationship with
a married man. However, he managed to locate her
in Singapore which further exacerbated her
emotional turmoil. Unable to control her emotions,
she offended her boss who then decided to send
her back to China.
It was not a coincidence that I brought her to the
Easter service at church on that Sunday. Youya, a
famous Taiwanese singer, shared her testimony
that spoke to Li Na. She was inspired to also let go
of worldly temptations and to let God be her guide.
She then called her boss after service to apologise
for her disrespectful words despite his kindness to
her. Her boss, who heard from other Geylang
people that I came to pick her up to church that
day, responded to her message for the first time
after she had offended him.
He later told her that he would give her another
chance for the sake of Jesus. Since she had been
sorry for her bad attitude after receiving the
teaching of Jesus, he would still try to keep her. But
Li Na had decided to go back home to China as she
suddenly felt that she could not continue her life at
Geylang anymore.
Although Li Na loved her parents very much, she
ran away from home as she could not face her
66
“controlling” mother who would nag incessantly at
her. She confided, “My heart has been too broken. I
could not take any more negative words from my
mum.” Sitting by the seaside of East Coast, Li Na
laid her head on my shoulders as if to seek
temporary relief from all her troubles. She said that
we were the only ones whom, for the first time in
her life, she could experience unconditional love
from.
“How I wish that I can stay at your side forever!”
But she also agreed that
Jesus is the only one who
could accompany her
entire life, and He would
send different people to
walk with her at different
stages of her life's journey.
Li Na had hoped that she
could go to a rehabilitation
centre in China, like HOL,
after her home return. This
would help to give her
strength and restore her
spiritually and emotionally
before she faced her
parents and society.
A Home for the Ladies
HOL in Changi had been
like a maternal home ("娘
家") for the Geylang
brothel ladies, giving
them breathing space,
away from the life that
they were in. They came
to HOL to learn baking
and cook meals together
with my family. Besides
the emotional respite,
they were also able to
take rests in the rooms
when they were tired.
Although this did not happen for her when she left
Singapore, Li Na believed that Father God was
67
walking with her when she recalled the days she
spent with us, especially in HOL. Many times after
meals with my family, we would walk around the
neighbourhood and talked for hours about God and
life.
In the last week of Li Na’s stay in Singapore, Kelvin
and I accompanied her to TT (telegraphic transfer)
all her money back to China. She had been very
stressed over the huge amount of cash she needed
to carry.
After it was done, she slept for more than five hours
in HOL. Li Na commented that it was the most
peaceful sleep she had ever had after coming to
Singapore. On the way back to her brothel, Li Na
began to feel oppressed and started coughing. She
then realized the huge contrast between HOL and
Geylang. This served only to further convince
herself that she had made the right decision to
leave this trade.
Back in China and Back to Prostitution
I wish I could say that Li Na had made a clean
break from prostitution after her return to China.
The reality from family needs and financial
demands forced her back to the trade. Unable to
find other means to finance the loan commitment
for the shop house, this seemed the only way.
Li Na kept telling me to give her some more time to
make money. She had invested a lot of money into
68
a business and was trying to recoup some of the
losses. That pushed her back again into
prostitution, flying to Japan, Hong Kong and even
America to earn more money. From her WeChat
posts, however, it was obvious she was jaded and
felt bleak about her life.
We know that God is still pursuing her. The seed of
love He had planted in her through the work of GM
remained good memories for Li Na. We trust and
pray that in His timing, Li Na will leave the trade
and return to His arms again.
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Chapter 7
Dew: The Transgender
Early in the morning, I received a message from
Dew, a transgender, that her mother was dying.
“My father called me home to see her for the last
time.”
Dew’s mother expected Dew to be a girl when she
was pregnant with Dew. When Dew was young, his
mother would cane him without a reason.
Whenever she was drunk, she would severely beat
Dew up with empty beer bottles. Dew did not want
to live in fear every day, so when he was a
teenager, Dew decided to run away from home. At
16, he decided to have gender reassignment
surgery. For 17 years, Dew never saw her family
other than her mother, who came to Geylang to
look for her a few times to ask for money.
We have journeyed with Dew since 2011. She
believed that religion brings only comfort to the
mind, but in reality, she had to fend for herself in
order not to get hurt. She longed for love and had
boyfriends but they cheated her of her money. In
times of desperation, she would deliberately take
drugs so as to be caught and sent to prison. At
least, she figured she could find food and shelter.
As we were the ones who always helped her with
the rental room arrangements, we became the main
source of contact for the landlords whenever she
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went missing. It was common for us to find her at
the police station or in prison.
Over the years, we had accompanied her to apply
for a flat so she could have a chance to leave
Geylang but the application was always turned
down because her family members are still around.
She had, however, refused to seek reconciliation
with her parents. Dew also declined our offer to go
through HOL’s 24-hour in-house discipleship at our
Changi Centre, where we provided not only free
food and lodging, but also a monthly allowance. “I
can only trust myself. What if you abandon me
again?” Dew had confided.
After she was released from prison, she would still
go straight back to Geylang because a low-income
job was simply insufficient to pay for the cost to
upkeep her transgender body.
Joy of Reconciliation
Dew finally went home to visit her dying mother and
I visited the family the following day. I told her father
how Dew had missed them over the years.
Unexpectedly, her father’s eyes turned red and said
that he missed Dew every single day since Dew ran
away from home. “My only desire is that she will be
in good company. I am old and I still work for
others. But I can still survive by working hard.”
Dew could not believe it when I told her the
conversation I had with her father. She asked me
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several times if I was making up the story just to
cheer her up. She told me that she had a big fight
with her father on the day she went back home.
The father was shocked to see that Dew had
become a transgender and asked her why she had
come back to shame the family.
When we visited her late mother’s wake, Dew told
us happily that her father did not feel ashamed of
her when the relatives asked about her gender
change. After the funeral, Dew updated us that her
father asked her to move back home after the
grieving period.
Since then, Dew only came to Geylang on
weekdays, because she had reserved the
weekends to be with her family. She told us
cheerfully that she would live a decent life.
Prison Again
But Dew’s weakness to use money to buy love
surfaced again. With the source of her income from
Geylang, she tried to please her family by indulging
them with all kinds of material blessings. When one
of her brothers suggested Dew to buy a
condominium so as to secure the future, Dew would
give him a few hundred dollars every two or three
days when she was able to earn up to that amount.
She shared with us her heart cries whenever she
thought of the possibility of not being able to earn
enough money to finance the condominium
payment. But she would always avoid our questions
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and reminders that there should be boundaries
when handling money. “I should trust my family
members!” she would say and then quickly
changed the topic. I could only imagine the
devastation upon her should her family betray her.
In November 2018, I woke up at 4am and
wondered what God wanted to speak to me at such
an early hour. Dew came to my mind so I texted
her. To my surprise, Dew was sitting in a void deck
of a HDB flat and she did not even know where she
was. When I managed to locate her, I saw that Dew
was under the heavy influence of drugs. Dew had
been very tired of life at Geylang, but there seemed
no end as she needed to shoulder the heavy
financial burden to buy that condominium. “That
day I was punched by a customer seven times,”
she confided, with tears rolling down her cheeks, “I
am getting old and I do not know how long I can
continue this kind of life…but I still need to grit my
teeth for the sake of my family.” I tried to tell her
that her family members were adults and they
needed to take their responsibilities for their own
lives. But again, Dew declined to hear.
She appreciated our love and help over the years,
but, in her view, we were just “outsiders” and she
could not put her hope in us. She kept silent when I
asked if her family could be her hope then.
The news soon came that Dew had been sent to jail
for her drug offence. As usual, she chose to go into
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prison for free food and lodging so as to run away
from her problems which were too big for her to
handle. Our hearts were heavy laden when we
heard that she was caught on the first days of
January. She was looking for a hope and a
breakthrough in the New Year.
We tele-visited her in prison and were comforted to
hear that her family members visited her too. They
assured her that they would welcome her back
home after her five-year jail term.
Footnote:
At time of writing, Dew is still serving her term. We
hope that readers will begin to see the suffering and
plight of transgenders from prostitution. More often
than not, prostitution is not something they want
and definitely not the way out of their problems.
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Chapter 8
Candy: From Cancer to Christ
Diagnosed with Cancer
Candy’s life was tumultuous, to say the least. Back
in the year 2008, at Christmas, Candy and six
street Geylang ladies from China had received
Jesus into their hearts during our “Matthew and
Friend” party. Over the years, however, they
continued their Geylang life despite the fact that
they hated the work and often shed tears when they
confided in us. Before we knew it, one by one, they
were caught to have over-stayed in Singapore and
sent back to China.
Since returning to China, life had not been any
easier for Candy. She battled with poor health and
poverty. Like her other Geylang friends, with heavy
financial burdens to shoulder, Candy was driven
back to prostitution by going to Taiwan.
But her health deteriorated quickly and she was
diagnosed with last stage lung cancer. With the
ongoing chemotherapy, Candy became too weak to
work. She missed her family very much but she
claimed that she would rather die in Taiwan, where
she was still able to receive the free treatments,
than go back to China. Over the years, she had
used her earnings during the days in Geylang to
build two houses in her village in China. Going back
to China meant she had to sell the houses in order
to pay for her treatment. Candy, however, wanted
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to keep the houses for her 19-year-old daughter.
Her 80-year-old mother was the only one eligible to
visit her in Taiwan to render care but was too old to
do so.
Decision to Go to Taiwan
Although Candy read the Bible I sent her, there was
no breakthrough in her negative thoughts. She had
been asking why she deserved all the sufferings
since she had not done anything bad.
I began to seek God’s direction about visiting
Candy in Taiwan. That very day, the title for my
devotional reading was “Lasting Regret”. Not
wanting any lasting regret, I knew I had to make a
trip to Taiwan. It was, however, a costly decision for
me. Feeling so torn about having to leave my three
young kids for one week, and with David’s
examinations around the corner, I struggled much
and did not have joy or confidence about going, yet
I knew I had to obey God.
The trip proved to be worthwhile.
Four Days in Taiwan
Candy was evidently in high spirits when she
received me. She looked good for someone
suffering from cancer. She proudly introduced me
to the people in that small town and said, “My friend
from Singapore came all the way to visit me,
instead of sightseeing Taiwan!”
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Candy’s living conditions were devastating, in a
container at a car workshop, with the cobwebbed
toilet and shower room a distance away. I was both
surprised and comforted to see that Ah Shui, her
Taiwanese boyfriend, taking care of her. Candy
confided that though he was unable to accompany
her to the hospital, he would cook and bathe her
when she had to rest on bed after the
chemotherapy treatments.
Earlier on I had raised $1450 to bless Candy. With
another $50 from a sponsor I received two days
before my trip, I bought milk powder for her as she
enjoyed having two cups of milk daily. However,
she refused to let me pay for any food or lodging.
On the night before I departed from Taipei back to
Singapore, she put all the money back into my
luggage and only informed Helen, who received me
in Taipei, about it when I got into the coach. When I
asked her why she did not accept the love gift, in
the most heart-wrenching tone, she replied, “I
swear that I would not let you give me any more
money as I had owed you too much!”
Another incident warmed my heart. Most of the
ladies we ministered in Singapore before had not
visited Candy when she was found with cancer. But
they came and gathered in her village when they
knew I was there. This brought much joy to Candy
who was very happy to see so many people
around. Ah Mei whispered to me that they were not
sure if they would see Candy again the next year.
“Will you pray for her?” she looked at me
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expectantly. All the ladies witnessed how in
Singapore, God miraculously healed Helen of her
pain she had suffered for more than 10 years with
just a simple prayer.
Then God opened a door for me to testify of His
faithful provision for my family and me. The ladies
remarked, “We still could not understand how you
made it over the years serving God as a full-time
volunteer.”
After I shared with them how God provided, Helen
exclaimed, “So everything is still related to Daddy
God!” It is certainly all about Jesus Christ!
Rededication to Christ
After the other four ladies had gone back to
different places in Taiwan where they worked, I
spent one night alone with Candy in the motel. She
listened attentively to my sharing on why Jesus
died on the cross. She looked obviously relieved
after she rededicated her life to Jesus.
Candy later told me that her mother, in her
desperation, had dedicated her to Buddha in China
after she was found with cancer. She confided, “I
did not go to any temple because you treated me
so well and you wanted me to be a Christian. But I
also could not go to any church because my mother
will be unhappy.”
“Do not go to church because you want to please
me,” I told her.
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I encouraged her to maintain joy in the heart, since
a cheerful heart is good medicine (Proverbs 17:22).
Last meeting with Candy in China
In May 2016, the cancer cells had spread to
Candy’s whole body and she was in great pain
each day. The family had to bring forward her
daughter's wedding in China. Li-Shien, the team
member who had served together with me in GM
since 2008, went with me for this trip. On the first
day of our arrival, Ah Shui, Candy’s Taiwanese
boyfriend, told us that he was very touched by our
act of love “from Singapore to Taiwan, now to
China...” Candy’s eldest sister hugged us and
broke down in tears. The family witnessed Candy
sleeping soundly for the first time after her home
return, after we prayed in tears on the day of our
arrival.
Tao Zi, a lady whom we reached out eight years
ago in Geylang, told me that she kept running away
from me when I invited her for our English class
fellowship at that time. “I was ashamed to face God,
I know what I did was unforgivable.” I told her that
the amazing meeting with her was an expression of
Jesus’ unconditional love. “See? Even though I did
not remember you, Jesus did!”
Death – and in His Arms
Candy passed away on 22 March 2017. After
receiving news of her death, I read Isaiah 40:9-17
again. I had posted these verses on my WeChat on
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16 March 2017 and Candy had liked the post,
which was the last time she did so. Two verses
deeply touched me again.
Lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of
Judah, "Here is your God."
Isaiah 40:9b
He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the
lambs in His arms and carries them close to His
heart; He gently leads those that have young.
Isaiah 40:11
We thank God for His faithfulness to
take her away peacefully, according
to what Ah Shui told me. And our
amazing God assured us through a
Bible material that Candy is now "in
His arms" on the next day of her
passing on.
In His Arms
23 March 2017
And God will wipe away every tear from their
eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor
crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former
things have passed away.
Revelations 21:4
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Chapter 9
Satia: Tough Love
It was during our regular weekly Geylang outreach
when two GM team members met Satia for the first
time in 2011. When she was presented an apple
and a card with an oil painting of Jesus flying a kite,
she burst into tears. In her very limited English, she
told the GM sisters that her name was Satia, a
Christian from Indonesia. It surprised us so I
approached Pastor Christian of COOS Indonesia
Fellowship to help to find out more about Satia.
It happened that on that same night, I was very
disappointed over some issues in the ministry, so I
had wanted to step down from GM. Besides, I was
expecting Peter, my third child at that time. I asked
the biggest GM donor, who miraculously poured in
$30,000, which later became the seed fund for HOL
Changi Centre in 2014, if he wanted to take his
money back so that I could walk free away from the
Geylang work.
Minutes after I sent the message to the donor, I
received the email below from Pastor Christian who
just finished his talk with Satia. Then I started to
weep.
“…Satia’s husband went into gambling, drinking
and womanizing before he left. She used to plant
padi (rice) and corn but the crops were destroyed
by bad weather. As she was unable to do other
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work, she came to Singapore to work as a
prostitute for less than a year so as to support her
mother and three young kids. She sounded
genuinely remorseful and cried a lot during our
conversation. She said that going back to God is
impossible. I told her that was a lie from the enemy.
I assured her that Father God still loves her very
much. I believed her meeting with Debbie’s team
was no coincidence. Father God loves her so much
to arrange it. I told her that Father God is waiting for
her to stop .... repent.... and ask Him for
forgiveness. Our Father in Heaven will forgive her
immediately. I tried to lead her in her repentance
prayer. She said “Sorry Pastor” and ended the
call….”
It also ended our contact with her for two years. But
God. He has not ended His pursuit of her. That
night I withdrew my decision to step down from GM,
knowing that the ladies like Satia needed me. The
journey with Satia would prove to be far beyond my
expectations.
The Father’s Heart
Two years later, in 2013, during our Father’s Day
outreach, I spotted the street pimp, who had
referred four ladies to our English class, talking to
an Indonesian lady and pointing at us. When we
walked on further, the lady walked into the
courtyard. I could sense that she was waiting for us
though she seemed to walk away on purpose. I
grabbed the last piece of “Father God’s Love Letter”
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in Bahasa Malay and ran after her. I noticed a sad
expression on her face.
I showed her the cross on my necklace and asked,
“Are you a Christian?” She nodded her head but
refused to give me her name. The team came over
and laid hands to pray for her. She began to sob.
After praying, I asked again for her name. This time
she did not resist, “Satia”.
God immediately reminded me she was the same
lady we reached out to two years ago though I
never met her. I hugged her and began to weep.
“Do you know that we have been looking for you?
Jesus has not forgotten about you, Satia!”
I asked if she had three kids and showed her the
same card with its evangelistic message we once
gave to her. Satia wept more loudly as her
handphone began to ring incessantly.
“The customer is waiting for me,” she told us.
Watching her in tears as she turned to go
reluctantly was so heart-breaking. It was Daddy
God’s heart crying for her. Two days later, Joanne
and I went to the streets to look for Satia again. We
were told that she had gone back to Indonesia.
“I did not eat from morning till now…”
A month later, in August 2013, during our Geylang
outreach, I caught sight of Satia’s back and I
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recognized her immediately. She was talking to a
pimp whom we had asked to pass our regards to
her. He then translated our message to her that we
intended to bless her children with something.
Not wanting to miss out the opportunity to reach out
to Satia, my team member Catherine and I aborted
that day’s Geylang outreach. Catherine brought
Satia to sit at the nearby coffee shop while I went to
a nearby mart. She noticed that Satia’s eyes were
glued to the food.
“Have you eaten?” Catherine asked her.
Satia looked very embarrassed and replied slowly,
“From morning till now, I did not eat.” It broke
Catherine’s heart to hear that because it had been
the late afternoon and she bought Satia curry
chicken rice. Satia began to tear and asked why
Catherine treated her so well. “Not me, but Jesus!”
Catherine replied.
At that exact time, I came back with a bagful of milk
powder. Satia’s eyes were teary again. Ever since
she stepped into prostitution, she had felt very
guilty and had stopped praying to Jesus. We
explained to her that Jesus still loves her. I then
asked a sister who spoke Bahasa to talk to Satia
over the phone. Satia was now working as a
hairdresser from her rented place in Batam. But the
business was so bad that she had to come to
Geylang on weekends to earn extra money.
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Visiting Satia in Batam
I decided to visit Satia in Batam in September 2013.
In the midst of many uncertainties, God's presence
was so strong and once again He proved to me that
I was not alone!
The first miracle was that though the mobile
roaming network was completely down, hence the
online translation was impossible, I was still able to
communicate with Satia during my visit.
Then at the village where Satia stayed, food was
not easily accessible but both of us did not feel
hungry and we only ate lunch at four in the
afternoon! It was also hard to find any taxi in that
‘kampong’ (village) area in the rain but within
minutes, we were able to get a taxi to go back to
the ferry terminal! Our God is at work on our behalf!
As I assessed her hair salon business, I helped her
work out her daily needs and reminded her to
commit all her needs to God who will bless her. I
also took time to listen to her stories and ministered
to her. And guess what, I was very blessed to have
a free haircut and body massage from Satia!
Satia’s Hard Life
Satia’s childhood life was so hard. She
remembered the only food she ate was plain rice
with chili. Due to poverty, she could not attend
school.
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She thought she had found the meaning of life after
getting married but when she was expecting her
third child, her husband went to another woman.
Since then, she stopped attending church because
during that difficult period, none of the church
people offered to counsel her husband or comfort
her. She later chose divorce because she could not
grant his request to keep two wives.
Life was harder than ever when she needed to
raise three kids singlehandedly and the eldest son
was only three years old then. Not wanting her kids
to suffer from poverty like she did, she forced
herself to work in Geylang, thinking that it was the
only option. The money she earned in Geylang
would enable her to pay the first instalment of the
house she bought in Batam which she turned into a
hair salon. With some hair-cutting skills she had
acquired before, she used it to bring in some
income.
But she had to come back to Geylang again
because for most months, the income from the hair
salon business could not support the expenses
incurred. Thinking that I was single and thus had
the time to visit her, she was in tears when she
found out that I also had three young kids.
“You should be very busy. Why do you bother to
care for me?” she asked me.
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However, she could not agree with me that it was
Jesus who sent me.
“If Jesus really loves me, why did I need to go
through so many hardships?”
She was envious that I could see my kids daily. She
could not afford the expensive airfare back to her
hometown to visit her children. The high living cost
in Batam meant that she could not fetch them over.
Even though the daily budget of her food was only
$1, she still struggled to make ends meet. At least
in her hometown, the kids had food from the field.
She started to cry when she confided in me that
she had thought I would condemn her work in
Geylang. That stigma prevented her from attending
any church in Batam for fear of being found out that
she was a Geylang lady. She hoped to stop
prostitution after she was able to pay her balance
housing loan, thereafter, depending on income from
her hair salon, to support her family.
She was in tears again when I played a Bahasa
Christian song “Power of Your Love” stored in my
phone. It reminded her the days she was with
Jesus. Many times when she was desperate, she
would do embroidery with the wording “I love
Jesus” to calm herself down.
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Second Visit to Batam
On my second visit to Batam, I had hoped to
explore with the Batam church to find ways to help
Satia. It will be a good opportunity to help her out of
the trade if she can meet our expectations as we
work out financial arrangement for her.
Saita was happy to receive me at the harbour.
When she discovered that the two friends with me
were from a church in Batam and that we would like
to visit her home, she looked utterly shocked and
disappeared into the mall, beyond our reach. We
decided to drive an hour to her hair salon to locate
her. But Satia refused to talk to me.
I gave the gifts and money for Satia through her
friend. I left a note for Satia, assuring her that I still
loved her and that we remained willing to ride the
storms of life with her.
Yet, in the ferry ride back to Singapore, it had felt
so hard for me to carry on. This thought reeled in
my mind, “Even Satia also betrayed me!”
At the same time, I was reminded of how God had
been prompting me to start a rehabilitation centre in
Singapore for these street ladies. Though this trip,
while I saw the importance of this centre, I also
questioned its feasibility.
Why should it cost us so much energy and money
to build it up, since bondages upon the ladies
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were so hard to break? Why did the ladies, who
obviously hated working in the trade, still cling onto
prostitution despite all the pain and shame?
No answers from God… but the next day, I found
that my passion to serve Him was restored. God is
faithful even when we are not.
Then Satia’s message came after one month,
“Sorry, sorry to disappoint you that day because I
hated to see any Christians except you. Thank you
for bringing me so many gifts. I’m on my way back
to Batam. I was in Singapore three days and really
wished to see you but I cannot bring myself to face
you, Sorry. Thank You.”
In May 2015, I had a three-day fast in our Changi
Centre to seek God for His direction for the future of
HOL. During that period, I just rested and waited
upon God. All of a sudden, Satia came into my
mind.
“Oh God, it is over! I can’t do anything further with
her.” I resisted the idea to contact Satia again.
During the four-year journey to walk with her, I
could see how much God loved and pursued her
despite her choices, yet on the other hand, I felt
very defeated.
Many miracles had happened since Satia betrayed
me during my second visit to Batam. She would
come back to ask for forgiveness. Then she would
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disappear even after we came up with our own
money to help her finance monthly without any
strings attached. She cut off my line when I called
her in Batam, and I later realized that she did not
want to get in touch with us any more after her
former in-laws came to Batam to look for her and
her three kids.
In my busyness, I forgot about Satia after my fast.
During our Geylang outreach the week after,
unexpectedly, we bumped into Satia again in the
streets. She was in tears when she later heard the
story of how God remembered her.
Just as how God touched Hosea’s heart never to
give up his unfaithful wife in the book of Hosea in
the Bible, the journey with Satia is a love story
between the Geylang ladies and a God who loves
unconditionally.
Footnote:
Satia would contact me whenever she came to
Singapore. She said that it was I who helped her
see the reality of Jesus and whenever she felt
distressed with her hard life, she would feel better
after praying to God. Satia’s life remained dramatic
till the current COVID-19 pandemic but it is an
amazing journey of God’s faithfulness. I could never
figure out how we could still love her despite being
betrayed and lied to so many times, if not for God
who loves.
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Chapter 10
Street Indian Ladies: Jesus, Jesus!
They Queued Up for Prayer
When we first met them, we were physically
exhausted, after having already spent three hours
walking and ministering to people along the streets.
When I spotted a few Indian ladies standing afar,
we decided to approach them. Despite the
language barrier, it was amazing that through our
evangelistic cards, they were able to identify that
we were Christians. While two of my team
members were praying for one lady, another lady
came over to me and asked for my prayer. Very
soon the ladies came out from the house one by
one to queue up for prayer!
Isn’t this like the story of the Samaritan woman in
the Bible, who, after tasting the goodness of Jesus,
went back to ask the entire village out to meet
Jesus!
Every time we left them, we would leave with heavy
hearts. At the same time, we felt relieved that we
were able to bring them much joy and hope, even
though we did not know how else we could help
them. The ladies could only speak Telugu so we
could not communicate with them at all. But
whenever we prayed for them, they would often fall
under the presence of God onto the bumpy streets
of Geylang.
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Our journey with Anaisha, Sayamai and Zuri was a
testimony of God’s mercies and grace. In their late
twenties, the three ladies were promised a job as
housemaids in Singapore. As it turned out, they
were deceived into prostitution work in Geylang.
During a police raid, they were caught and held in
Singapore so as to testify against the crimes of their
boss. Each week, they had to report to the relevant
authorities to have their visa stamped, with no hope
of returning home in sight. This seemingly endless
waiting also meant the pain of having to work as
Geylang ladies to support themselves and their
families in India. On top of that, they had to repay
the hefty loans they took to pay the agent fees to
get them here. Even though against their wishes to
continue in this trade, they had no choice and
staying at shelter provided by police was definitely
out of the question. It went like this for seven
months before they met us.
Though God had miraculously healed their sickness
after our prayers, Anaisha, Dayamai and Zuri also
desperately wanted to go back home. They were
always so happy to see us. We would bring them
apples and bless them with a meal whenever we
could.
Going Home At Last!
In July 2013, I accompanied the three Indian ladies
to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).
God faithfully led me to the officer-in-charge of their
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case. After hearing what I shared and checked the
updates in the computer system, she told me over
the phone that their case actually had just been
closed.
Later, I went back to Geylang together with the
ladies to pay their outstanding hostel fees. The
ladies were overwhelmed with joy that they cried
and repeatedly shouted "Jesus, Jesus!" The hostel
auntie also rejoiced with them as she shared how
these ladies had been crying day and night over
their predicaments.
Before they departed from Singapore, Lai Heng, the
GM sister, brought them to Gardens by the Bay
where they saw a beautiful rainbow, reminding her
of God's covenant.
On 9 July 2013, Anaisha, Dayamai and Zuri left
Singapore with the love they had received from
Jesus and the miracles they had witnessed. At the
first Geylang outreach after the three ladies left
Singapore, a Bangladeshi lady smiled at me and
said, “I know the Indian ladies were able to go
home because you prayed to Jesus for them!”
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Chapter 11
Yu Lan: God the Great Provider
My first Geylang outreach in 2008 could be
described as “frightening”. Gianne, a Holland sister
who came to Singapore for some training before
her work in China, joined me for that street walk.
Feeling uncomfortable at the sight of the street
ladies and the uncle-customers who flooded the
odd numbered “lorongs” (streets), we decided to go
to the even numbered lorongs instead as the
streets there looked empty.
Everything started quite fine at the beginning. We
bumped into a 17-year-old local Indian lady Advika
whom we later discovered that she was actually five
months into her pregnancy. We befriended her and
our friendship lasted even till she gave birth to her
baby boy.
However, our encounter with Xiao Hua, a China
lady, did not go well. While in a conversation with
her, we noticed that several men started
approaching us. Then Xiao Hua’s phone rang and
she left in a hurry. Sensing something was amiss,
we quickly moved towards the main road only to
bump into Xiao Hua who was questioned by a
group of men.
“Oh, you are her boss!” I greeted the boss. Though
paralysed with fear, I managed to summon enough
courage to ask him to grant permission for Xiao
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Hua to attend our free English classes. Her boss
waved his hands to signal us to leave. Then as we
were walking to the main road, Gianne and I could
sense that someone kept following us till we
reached the main road. We then sat at a coffee
shop for one hour before we could recover from
that trauma.
We later understood that the even numbered
lorongs were controlled by the “gangsters” at that
time. The street ladies there were young and pretty
and their services could command high prices. Little
did I expect that in the later years, from 2011 to
2013, we would become good friends with the
street bosses and the street pimps in that area.
Even though we were not comfortable going to the
odd numbered lorongs, crowded with older China
ladies and the uncles who patronised the services,
we felt that we should start the outreach from
Lorong 11 where Agape and FMH were located.
God Provides!
Then we met Yu Lan and her friends. They were
the first group of street ladies who welcomed us
when they discovered that I was from the same
province as they were. They were always proud to
introduce me to other ladies that I was a graduate
from a prestigious university in China. In China, it
was rare for the intellectuals to befriend the
prostitutes.
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One day, Yu Lan opened up and told me that it was
never her desire to be in the trade. Her past
marriage resulted in so much pain that she had
even wanted to take her own life twice. She
incurred RMB140 000 (about $27 000) debt after
several business failures. She came to Singapore
to try her luck, hoping to find a good husband to
settle all her life problems. It turned out that she
was in Geylang on the first day of arrival in
Singapore. She was 48 years old then. In her
views, only younger ladies were suitable to be in
this trade but she had nowhere and no one to turn
to. She cried for one week till she gave in and
forced herself to stand in the streets to start to earn
her “Geylang income”.
I had no idea how to help her. Yu Lan could not go
back to China due to her debts. However, I knew
God would provide a way for her as she desired to
leave this trade. I asked God to bless Yu Lan with
$600 to pay for her food and lodging so that she
could at least not stand in the streets. I might have
$600 to help her but it would just be a temporary
bailout. How about her future? I certainly could not
support her financially for an indefinite period. God
needed to figure that out for her.
Unexpectedly, a sister came to YWAM to visit me.
Over the weekend service when she wanted to put
$100 into the offering bag, she felt God asking her
to give it to me instead. She obeyed Him as she
remembered that I needed to bring Advika for her
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periodic pregnancy check-up hence I might need
some money for my transport. Though I was a fulltime volunteer in YWAM, Kelvin worked to support
our family so I did not think that I needed that $100.
I wished to give to Yu Lan since she needed the
money. But I was afraid that she would start to rely
on me especially if God did not ask me to do so. I
then asked two YWAM sisters, Maggie and Irene,
to pray if God wanted us to bless Yu Lan this
money. Maggie and Irene were not really keen but
they saw that I was burdened by this dilemma so
they agreed to seek God together with me. It was a
surprise that when we just closed our eyes, Maggie
immediately received the word “give!” Irene also
received the same message! Furthermore, she
started to tear when it started raining. This
downpour provided the assurance that His
blessings would pour on Yu Lan abundantly.
We started to get excited so I called Yu Lan and
handed her $100. Yu Lan thanked us but she
shared with us an incident. She said during one
Chinese New Year eve, the debtors came at her
doorstep to demand payment. This created much
commotion and a neighbour stepped forward to
help dismiss the inquisitive crowds. The neighbour
was a Christian. She bought Yu Lan out for food but
she did not give her any money even if she knew
Yu Lan had only RMB5 ($1) to celebrate the
Chinese New Year. Since then, Yu Lan always held
to the belief that Christians would never give cash
to help others.
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Though I felt sorry to hear about the whole story, I
knew it was a confirmation from God that we did the
right thing to bless her with the money. Hence, I
asked God to give me $500 so that Yu Lan could
leave the streets for that month. On that night, I
received a text from a brother, who said he was
very burdened and felt the urgency to give me
$500! What a faithful and amazing God we serve!
I was overwhelmed because I did not expect the
money could come in so quickly. $500 was a much
bigger amount than $100. I came to YWAM the
next day, sharing with Carl, the YWAM leader who
oversaw GM at that time. I also gathered seven
people who were in the office that day to seek God
together. I told God that if He wanted us to bless Yu
Lan this $500, He should align all the seven hearts
towards giving to Yu Lan. It was amazing to see
how God led all seven of us to receive the same
confirmation through different words and Bible
verses.
Yu Lan was overjoyed. She then came to YWAM
every day to go through our discipleship
programme. She shared many heartache stories
about her past but she never teared, as she said
that she had steeled herself to be emotionally
strong so as to survive.
One morning I woke up and realized that one
month was going to be over. “God, where is the
next month’s expenses for Yu Lan?” Soon, I
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received a text from a brother. “Are you at home
tonight? I feel very burdened to send you $700.” I
was overwhelmed again. I have been a Christian
since 2001. Never in my life have I seen God
answered my prayers so quickly. I also knew why
God sent $700, it was for Yu Lan to learn to tithe in
church as He has instructed Christians to do.
However, Yu Lan did not show much joy this time.
She was more worried about another bigger
problem. Her friend in China had informed her that
she needed to pay for her outstanding social
insurance over the past four years so that she could
receive pension after she turned 50 years old. The
amount was about $3600 and Yu Lan needed to
send back that money within one week. “I do not
know if I can earn so much money even if I go back
to the streets now. But I will try all means to make
up this money,” Yu Lan confided.
WOW! $10 000!!!
Even I myself could not believe that God would
send in that big amount within a short period of
time. I assured Yu Lan that I would use the saving
for David’s education to help her if God did not
send in money this time. Three days passed.
Nothing happened. On that coming Sunday, I woke
up with a heavy heart. “God, are You sure that You
want me to use my son’s money?” David was three
years old at that time and Kelvin and I had put a
sum of deposit for his future education. This saving
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was especially crucial to us after I stepped into the
ministry without an income.
That morning my family went to COOS for service
and Kelvin told me that he bumped into Sue. Sue
and Wesley were one of the couples who signed up
for COOS parenting workshop while I happened to
be their facilitator. We kept in touch after the
workshop ended. The participants and my family
always organized outings together since our
children were about the same age group. Almost
after every service on Sunday, our children would
spend time together with one another in front of the
church open space.
“Danica is turning one year old tonight,” Sue said to
Kelvin and she invited my family to her home that
night for the birthday celebration. Initially, I wanted
to say no. I still needed to bring Yu Lan for Chinese
service that afternoon and I had not prepared well
for our discipleship teaching the next day. Then I
remembered that the family had just moved into a
landed house because her husband, Wesley’s
business had done well recently. It might be
possible I could raise fund from them for Yu Lan.
At the sight of their grand house, I hesitated as I
might dampen the joyous occasion by mentioning
Yu Lan’s sad situation. I needed to give Yu Lan an
answer the next morning if we could help her with
the pension insurance but till then God had not
done anything.
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“Well, God, I have dedicated everything to You
since day one when I had said yes to Your call to
serve the Geylang community. If You want to take
David’s saving, so be it! I trust that You will take
care of his future even if we may not be able to
afford his future education.” I comforted myself
while talking to God.
Kelvin started his vehicle engine. Then I saw
Wesley running out of the house. “Wait!” he
signaled to me to wind down the vehicle window
and my heart leapt with anticipation. Wesley
passed me a cheque and said, “God asked me to
give you this.” I had a sense that the miracle had
happened. But I acted politely by thanking Wesley.
After Kelvin had driven for some distance, I asked
him to stop the vehicle. My two arms were carrying
David but I was so curious and wanted to see how
much Wesley had blessed the ministry. I passed
David to Kelvin and took out the cheque from my
pocket. The amount was “$10,000”! Kelvin and I
were speechless! We were also praying for Yu Lan
to go for the Bible school and $10 000 was the
exact amount to pay for her pension insurance and
her school cost!
Wesley later shared with me that as early as two
months ago, he already felt that God asked him to
give me this $10,000. He said, “But I just bought the
house and my commitment was huge. Hence, I
dared not commit. However, my business went so
well and God reminded me again about that
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contribution. Initially, Sue and I only planned to
invite our relatives for Danica’s celebration. I did not
expect that you would turn up in our house that
night!”
When I shared all these things with Yu Lan, for the
first time since I knew her, I saw her tears flow
uncontrollably down her cheeks.
What an awesome God we serve! He is responsible
for all of His work and He has never left me alone to
carry all the burdens!!!
Footnote: Today, Yu Lan enjoys her retired life in
China, with the pension she receives each month!
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Chapter 12
Pandemic Panic: God is Still At Geylang
COVID-19 started in China in December 2019. It
shook the whole world, including Geylang red-light
district which was shut down at the end of March
2020. The brothel ladies hence faced many
uncertainties: loss of income, unable to go home
because of limited flights and also fear of
contracting the virus.
But God revealed His unfailing love during the
pandemic. He has never forgotten them, especially
during these challenging times!
Food Blessing Opened Up
We started to send food to Geylang when we
sensed the despair of some ladies who ran out of
money. It was during “Circuit Breaker” time in
Singapore (like a lockdown) when everyone was
advised to stay at home, and non-family members
were not able to visit one another. Hence it was not
possible for the GM team to come together
because of the lockdown. As such, Kelvin and I had
to shoulder most of the responsibilities. It was
indeed very time-consuming for my whole family
including my helper and three children to help out in
our food blessing outreach, which involved
marketing, cooking, and packing. It was especially
challenging because of limited supply of essential
food in the supermarkets due to the lockdown.
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Finance was another challenge we faced. When we
first started, Kelvin and I could only deliver the food
to a few brothels where the ladies were most in
need of help. We would still need to spend $300 to
$800 each time as we tried to send as much food
as possible since we were not sure if we could send
food to them again. The COVID-19 situation had
worsened each day at that time. The food expense
increased to $1600 with each food delivery when
we later decided to cover the whole Geylang redlight district on a weekly basis. HOL’s fund quickly
ran low.
But God never left us alone to face all these
challenges.
God Provided - Again!
I was amazed at how God provided through a sister
who asked how to contribute money to HOL since
COOS, one of the venues where the donors could
send the money in, was closed. It was a sign to us
that God knew GM’s needs!! Over the days, the
money just came in from different sources.
Furthermore, when I wanted to pack the Mother’s
Day gifts for some ladies, I was able to find
sufficient items from my home, which were the
excess gifts from our last Christmas event. When I
thought of buying masks for the ladies, a church
would, in the most timely manner, donated 500
pieces of masks, then another 580 pieces when
they heard that we needed more!
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And the stories of God’s provisions continued.
When I was struggling with lack of manpower, two
COOS sisters who stayed nearby my home helped
to cook part of the food. God also sent two
churches to help with the preparation and delivery
of the food. I also bumped into an egg supplier who
could send countless trays of eggs to my home!
Working Together with God
I first approached Bible Church, which was nearby
my home, to help with the food delivery. Bible
Church responded readily to our call for support in
our food blessing efforts. Food collection near my
home eased a lot of our stress and Angela from the
church went together with her husband to Golden
Miles to purchase the Thai and Vietnamese food to
bless the ladies. Angela later told me that Bible
Church did set aside some funds to help those
affected families in the community, but surprisingly
there were still no takers until I approached them.
God had reserved the fund for GM!
Tabernacle of Holiness provided another timely
support. Led by Pastor Xavier, the team was made
up of all the Indian brothers who hardly did any
marketing at home, yet they did try their best to
learn to buy the non-Indian food and the groceries
from the supermarkets.
Soon the other churches and Christian groups
joined us in the food blessing when GM sent out the
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call to help the Geylang community. Every Friday,
eight churches and Christian Fellowships with nine
cars came together with Kelvin and me for the food
blessing in Geylang. Each team was assigned to an
area and a time slot so that we would not breach
the rule of social distancing.
The ladies were so overwhelmed by our love. It was
a common sight to see tears in their eyes when we
sent food to them each time.
In the midst of this pandemic, we witnessed more of
God’s wonders.
The Light Above Ngoc
It was still drizzling and the sky was dark. Ngoc ran
to hug me when I sent her the luggage after GM’s
weekly food blessing. Ngoc had wanted to go home
but it was very hard to secure a seat back to
Vietnam. Amazingly, she saw from above a light
shining brightly upon her and she knew that it was
Jesus. She could not stop her tears. When I
encouraged her to trust in God, she felt a sudden
surge of warmth going through her body and
sensed that she would be able to go home soon.
She never expected the miracle would happen so
quickly. At 11.48am, on the very next day, which
was a Saturday, Ngoc received a call from the
Vietnam embassy informing her that she could take
the Monday flight back home. When she rushed to
ICA, all the service counters were already closed.
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Just then, an officer, who actually waited for her,
handed her all the necessary departure documents.
However, when she rushed to the travel agency
assigned by the embassy for the chartered flight to
buy the air ticket back, she was told there were no
more vacancies left. Ngoc was then prompted to
show the embassy’s notice email, the staff did a
check and indeed her name was the last in the list
for confirmed flight back to Vietnam! Ngoc’s life has
taken a dramatic turn since this encounter. She
asked to take a picture with me as one of the proofs
of the miracles from God. She was so fired up to
share this testimony to her people and in her own
words, “I want to be like you, to share about Jesus
to the people so that they will know about the real
hope!”
As Ngoc sat with me at my block void deck to bid
me farewell, she showed me all the pictures she
took at ICA of the closed doors to prove that she
did not make up her story. “In the past I only
believed in myself. Now I know that God is so real
when I saw the light that day! I swear that I will
follow Jesus without turning back to the past!”
I could hardly believe that this was the same Ngoc
who ran away after our first online baking class and
was never keen to come for any of our online Bible
study. Her life has been completely changed simply
because of one touch from Jesus!
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Jesus Paid It All!
Since January 2020, Qi Qi had found all kinds of
excuses not to work in the brothel due to the fears
of contracting the virus. Yet, she hesitated to go
back home because she hardly earned enough
money since she had just arrived in Singapore.
When the ladies in her brothel all left, Qi Qi felt lost
and hence, started opening up to have online Bible
study with us. The airfare back to China could be as
high as $6000 in June 2020 to even about $2000 in
August 2020. Qi Qi still hesitated even though she
was very touched by GM’s offer to sponsor $1000
for her airfare. She finally made up her mind when
China announced that further entry restrictions
would be imposed soon. But the airfare was high, at
$2400. Unexpectedly, Covenant Evangelical Free
Church, our partner to deliver the food to the area
where the brothel Qi Qi worked in was located,
decided to top up the balance $1400! Qi Qi was
speechless. In her life, she had never experienced
such timely help without any expectation of return!
Home Sweet Home for Daisy
It had been three weeks since Daisy terminated her
work pass and even with letter of appeal, there was
still no news from Vietnam embassy. When Aye Li,
the GM sister, finally got through the hotline, she
was told that there were more than 2000 people on
the waiting list to go back to Vietnam. The embassy
staff, who did not understand the Geylang ladies’
situation, insisted that the boss should provide the
medical care for Daisy if she had severe medical
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issues as described. While GM team interceded
fervently for Daisy’s home return, a sister also felt
the prompting to bless her with $500, which was
just the right amount for her air ticket. Daisy was
overjoyed with this big surprise. She also felt much
relieved that on the very same night her health
miraculously resumed back to normal. She pledged
that she would not return to the trade after she left
Singapore.
One Friday, we were busy with the food blessing
preparations all morning when just after 10am,
Daisy suddenly received a call from ICA informing
her to go to settle her departure documentations by
2pm. Doreen and Sheng Mao, the couple from
Agape who provided weekly food delivery to
Daisy’s brothel, responded quickly to this urgent
request. They brought Daisy to buy her air ticket for
the chartered flight arranged by the embassy before
rushing her to ICA. Daisy never went for any
Singapore attractions over her ten months in
Singapore due to many restrictions. Hence, it was a
miracle in itself that God answered our prayers for
Daisy to visit Jewel, the shopping mall at Changi
Airport, before her departure.
Miracle after Miracle
It was a heartache when we heard that Angel’s
family in Vietnam had to find all ways to borrow
money so that she was able to buy an air ticket
home. Again, without appealing for contributions,
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GM team members contributed generously. Within
days, HOL received $6000 in total solely from the
team. Angel and her two other friends, Hoa and
Dung, were in tears when we told them that GM
would help with their home return expenses. One
week after, the three ladies witnessed another
miracle. I had invited them to my home for a
barbeque feast. I recalled an earlier notice from
HDB about the power supply disruption which was
scheduled on that very same day. The ladies,
however, were so eager to come that they asked
not to cancel the event and instead prayed
earnestly with us for God to do the wonders again.
On that day, which happened to be the mooncake
festival, when the ladies stepped out of the lift with
me, we saw right before our eyes, a construction
worker switching on the power supply at my unit!
The following week, Angel was in despair that only
Hoa received the embassy notice to go home. GM
team and Agape, who adopted Angel’s brothel for
the food blessing project, prayed fervently for God
to let the ladies encounter Him again. The
following day, Angel received the ICA call that she
and Dung could go back home on the same day as
Hoa!
We Stood Together with Them
Whether or not all the ladies and uncles will leave
the trade when they leave Geylang, they will never
forget in their lifetime about COVID-19 and the fact
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that it is the disciples of Jesus who stood together
with them during this crisis. God is to be praised.
We dedicate 12 chapters to 12 years of God’s
goodness and greatness at Geylang.
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