《Because of Jesus》
The Exit Centre Founder - Moses Tay
You will
recall the testimony of Raymond Tay last month from Malaysia where I mentioned
that his brother Moses also had a very interesting testimony which is featured
below.
May the grace and
peace from God our heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My
name is Moses Tay Kock Yew and I am fifty-five years old. I am married. My wife
is a pastor and we have a seven-year-old daughter. We currently live in Muar,
Johor.
I grew up in the
little-known village of Central Paloh. I have nine other siblings and I am the
eighth child in the family. The family that I grew up in was that of the Buddhism
faith, so were the neighbours in my village. My mother was a devout Buddhist,
while my father on the other hand seemed to be an atheist.
Since young, I had
followed my mother’s faith. I would pray to idols which my mother prayed to. On
top of that, I would also follow others in worshipping idols. I did not know
who Jesus Christ was. I also did not know that He had known me since the very
beginning.
During those trying times, my beloved mother
needed a steady source of income to raise the ten of us. There was a coffee
shop that was on sale then and she bought it. Though she was unfamiliar with
the nitty-gritty of operating a traditional coffee shop, she managed to raise
us from the earnings of the coffee shop business through her unwavering grit
and hard work.
“A Fallen Life”
Faced with such complicated circumstances
during my adolescence, I fell into bad company and joined a secret society at
the tender age of thirteen. I quit schooling at the age of fifteen in 1978.
From then on, my life began to change drastically. I got bolder as I felt I had
the backing of my secret society.
Eventually, I picked up the habits of
smoking, drinking, gambling night-clubbing and sexual immorality. I also rose
in rank as the gang leader of my secret society when I was eighteen years old
in 1980. I even got in contact with gangs from a neighbouring country where I
recruited some members to be initiated into my
secret society, from there, I met people
of different trades involved in dubious activities. Callous and naïve as I was
as a robust young man, I did everything I could for my secret society. I got
involved in gang fights, collecting “protection monies” and operating
clandestine gambling dens.
I
felt I was on top of the world then. Little did I know that danger was awaiting
me just around the corner – Death! Owing to a failed relationship, I went on a destructive
path of drinking and partying to numb myself from the pain of being mentally
distraught.
At
the age of twenty, I made my first contact with drug dealers and drug addict friends.
I did not know then that I had begun my dangerous journey bordering on the edge
of death. In order to earn more money, I began to push drugs to others. My
journey of drug abuse started from then on. I started experimenting with hallucinogens,
super glue, marijuana, opium, heroin and intravenous drug use.
I eventually got addicted to heroin. I
tried using my own willpower to kick the habit, but I failed miserably. I tried
using many different methods to kick the addiction but to no avail. I even
considered committing suicide several times; but I did not have the guts to do
so each time I harboured such thought. As such, fifteen years of my life were
bound by drug abuse and addiction. During that fifteen years, not only did I
hurt myself physically and mentally but I also hurt my own family members and friends
emotionally and psychologically. In order to satisfy my addiction, I resorted to
stealing, lying and even robbing. I even started selling drugs to help feed my nearly
RM300 per day addiction needs.
Eventually in 1994, the arm of the law
finally caught up with me and I was arrested by the police from the Kluang
Johor Police Department. I was sentenced to two years in prison and three
strokes of the rotan (cane).
In 1996, I was
released from the prison. Out from the prison, I vowed with a new determination
to do good and be a changed man.
I wanted to stay away from drugs, to help out
in the family business, and to be a filial son. However, I failed miserably again.
I got back to my old ways and started taking drugs again. At the time, I felt I
was in the dark abyss of no return. Life to me then was meaningless and
hopeless.
That was the
turning point in my life. It started from one simple word of encouragement from
my brother that I picked up my courage to step into the rehab centre to be reformed.
That was the beginning of a life journey towards light. I repented before the
Lord and embarked on a journey of hope and renewal.
It was through one
verse from the Bible that made me to be willing to give my whole life in servitude
to The Lord, and to be used by Him as His valued vessel - Romans 12:1. God summoned
me to go out and help those who are bound by drugs. Till this day, I have been
involved myself with the drug rehabilitation ministry for 21 years.
Continued…..
Continued…..
During my time in the ministry, I was able to
see the mercy and grace of the Lord acting in the lives of many of those lost
souls bound by drugs. I am deeply moved by being able to witness God’s
deliverance of them. I give all praises and thanks to The Lord.
The Lord said in
John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in
darkness, but will have the light of life.” Another thing that I am greatly grateful
for is that my third elder brother Kok Ann, by witnessing my living testimony
as a transformed person through Jesus Christ, accepted The Lord in 2001.
Currently his
entire family members have all turned to the Lord. Following this, my youngest
brother Kenny and his entire family, my third elder sister Susan and her entire
family, my fourth elder brother Raymond and his entire family, all accepted the
Lord one after the other.
Furthermore, I was
truly exhilarated when my father accepted Christ and was baptized on 29 Sep,
2012. He returned to our Father’s embrace on 27 Feb, 2013. As for my mother,
she accepted Christ and removed all the idols from her house on 3 March, 2013.
She was baptized on 4 Aug, 2013. She is now 91 years old and
is still healthy
and well. Another matter that struck me greatly was that a number of my nephews
and nieces have also accepted The Lord.
I can only describe this as a miracle of God
that it is his mercy and grace showered upon my family. This was something I
prayed for earnestly after I converted, that all my family members turned to
Jesus Christ for His saving grace. I have been able to witness it all with my
own eyes. The Bible says: Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is
impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26).
Thank the Lord that
I have been able to experience his faithfulness and his abundant grace all
these years. As mentioned in the Bible:
The Lord is my
shepherd; I shall not want. (Psalms 23:1). The Lord is my shepherd and I am His
sheep. As long as I remain faithful and follow His ways, my life will be
abundant and will never be lacking.
In 2009, I founded and established The Exit
Gospel Rehabilitation Centre. God was able to help me to weather through the hardest
of times of my life through various helps and support from many people. As of
2017, I stepped down as the Centre’s Principal and passed the baton of
leadership to a committed and
capable leader.
God had prepared
and raised up a new leader and 15 other like-minded coworkers to run the
Centre. The Centre currently has about 100 occupants and about 90% of them have
accepted The Lord.
In our current
society, drug abuse and addiction problem has reached an epidemic proportion,
the youths and intellectuals are the main targets and victims of this social
problem. These are the people the Lord loves. It made me think of how I should
help these people. Should I just continue on with my everyday life or should I
…? This is my current struggle, and worries…..
Apostle Paul said:
“I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through
the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I
could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my
people, those of my own race” (Romans 9:1 – 3)
For a good 22 years (1975-1997), I had lived a
life that was sinful and corrupted, walking on the edge of death without hope.
I was saved by our Lord Jesus Christ’s grace, that I can live to serve Him and
his people. I could never imagine where I would have been now if I had not been
saved by His grace. I have nothing to boast but the power of Christ that saved
me. Amen.
As Paul had said:
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which
the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Galatians 6:14)
P/s: Please keep me
in your prayers with regards as to my future plan and direction. Thank you.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, may the grace of The Lord forever be in your
hearts. Amen!
A
big thank you to Raymond Tay for getting this testimony to us.