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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

David Fam: My Testimony, His Story

David Fam

A Miracle Child

You know, when I was asked to come and share at Advent Hope, the first thing that come to my mind is, there's so many spiritual giants that stand in this pulpit and preach.

Where am I that I was given this opportunity to come before this church to share.

You know, Advent Hope Audioverse, I think is maybe ranked, if not the first, the second, in the world where Advent people have been tapping into listening to sermon up to date.

People all over the world, I know many of my friends that have entered into this audio verse and it has been a great blessing to the world.

And as I was thinking, there's so much doctrinal and sermons that have been preached in this audio verse, I don't think I can do better.

And after thinking through, I told Alastair, I say, maybe the church wouldn't mind to listen to some story.

Now Today, this whole day, I will have 3 chance to speak to people here.

It's all going to be stories, and I hope you don't mind.

If you have your Bible, this morning I'd like to share with you the first Bible verse.

It's found in the 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17.

I know most of you, maybe you can already memorize it.

In the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17, the Bible's saying, Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.

You know, if God today would have given you 1 more chance to live in this life, repeat your life again in this earth, everything is going to be the same.

Maybe 50 years you have lived in this life, or 70 years, or maybe 30 years.

If God would have given you 1 more chance to repeat your life in this earth, everything is the same.

Whatever you have been through in this life, difficulties, trials, happiness, joy, bitterness, rejection, whatever it may be, and God says, I let you repeat this life again in this earth.

And I thank God that God wants to give us a new life, not the old life.

Jesus said, if any man be in Christ, Paul said, he's a new creature.

Behold, old things are going to become new.

Without new life, I don't know what to hope for.

I'd like to share with you my personal testimony.

Too many, I don't know about American, I have 11 brother and sister.

My mother, my parents have 9 boys and 2 girls.

You know, when I was born, all my brothers, my 8 brothers, they wish that I'm a girl.

And when I was born, all of them were disappointed.

My eldest brother, children, which my nephew and nieces, they are my same age.

When my mother go to give birth, my first sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, my sister, they all go together to give birth.

And when I was born, I was already born an uncle.

You know, you may think that from a big family, I'm the last.

You know, Chinese always treasure the last 1, you know.

Today my mother, they're still alive, they're 80 years old, and they have more than 50 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

And I live together with my nephew and nieces together.

Honestly, it's a big family and I don't get the care that I suppose I should have.

In fact, at the age of 12 years old, I don't even own my own pens.

Because it's a big family, everyone shares.

And that day, it all depends on who gets it first.

Tomorrow, it may be a totally different story.

And All my childhood life, there was only 2 things that I do.

I don't know how many meals I eat a day, but I know I eat a lot.

I remember I was in the age of 7, 8 years old.

I always stand beside my mother when she was cooking.

I remember I can eat 7 fishes, this size, at the age of 7 years old.

I stand beside my mother while she was frying the fish.

I cannot wait until it reached to the table.

Finally my mother had to chase me out of the kitchen because if I continue eating, nobody can eat anymore.

Chinese used to eat the kind of, I don't know what you call, you know, the fat in between with meat.

And most of them, they take away the fat, they only eat the lean meat.

And I would use a bowl to collect all the fat, you know.

1 meal I can collect 1 big bowl of fat and I'll finish in 1 meal.

When I eat until I cannot eat anymore, I enjoy by sitting at the dining table watching other people eating.

When I stand up, I couldn't even see my toes.

And besides that, I don't study well at all.

In my elementary school, I have never passed 1 exam.

Every day going to school is a torture to me.

I remember when my teacher, when in a class, I sit the last row.

I never know what his teacher is talking about.

At the age of 10 years old, I couldn't even write from A to Z.

You know, all my brothers, they are quite good in their studies.

My brother are doctors, they are teachers, engineers, you know.

They are very worried about me all the time.

They used to try to teach me mathematics, language, and they all gave up.

My parents used to take teachers into the home and give us tuition.

Many nephew and nieces get the tuition together.

They always tell my mother, you know, This son is hopeless.

I used to steal so much money from my parents.

And I go to the school and I gave it to my friends.

Right Arm of the Gospel

If you have your Bible, let's turn to the book of Matthew chapter 4.

The book of Matthew chapter 4, verses 23 to 25.

The Bible say, and Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sicknesses, and all manner of diseases among the people.

And they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with diverse diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with the devil, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy.

And it healed them all, verse 25 say, and there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee and from Decapolis, from Jerusalem and from Judea and from beyond Jordan.

The Bible tells us that when Jesus began His ministry, He started His Healing ministry, in which today the Sunday churches have been using this, might not be the right way, I mean the right type.

Use it as a front to invite so many people.

I remember in Malaysia, there are a lot of Pentecostal churches that advertise in newspaper, anyone that is sick, come, you will get healing.

And I did a research, because I have health patients that in our health center, that have been to this kind of faith healing place.

They might feel that they've been cured that moment, But after they go back home, they come back to the same, you see.

But the Pentecostal church's pastor, they realize healing ministry is 1 of the most powerful ministry to reach people because we are really in a sick world.

You can go to a street, you can go to anywhere, in almost every home there's somebody sick.

And today the Lord has given us the medical missionary work to become, to pioneer the work.

Do you know why Adventist Church is ranked the second, as far as I know, that reached the whole globe after Roman Catholics?

Because the Lord had given us the right and the left arms of the gospel.

The right arm is the health ministry and the left arm is the education ministry.

That's why our pioneer, wherever they went, clinics, health centers have been set up, schools have been set up, right?

And that's how we reach to the unreached area.

You know, when I was still studying in the college, After 1 year, my heart was burning because I was reading so many of the Spirit of Prophecy about the right arm of the gospel.

And Sister White is saying, Medical missionary work is the right arm of the gospel.

I think you have read that before, right?

And Jesus is the greatest medical missionary physician.

I read so much of it and I said, Lord, I don't know how.

And after praying, I said, Lord, you must show me.

I don't care whether it's there but you must show me personally.

So while I was praying after 1 year studying, you know after you study up 1 year, you study nutrition, and then anatomy, physiology, massage, hydrotherapy.

But if you don't practice them, they're all going to forget.

Most people forget 80% of what they've studied after they graduate.

So I say, Lord, you must tell me what to do.

After much praying, 1 day I was in my room, 1 of my friend came to me, his name is Dennis Ng, a Malaysian.

He said, David, what is your plan in this summer?

I can only work in the campus and pay for my bill.

He say, will you be interested to come with me to Philippines?

I say, why don't you come and do some health work?

I will go back to do some evangelism work, crusade.

After I prayed, I felt that the Lord really wanted me to go.

And to make a long story short, you know, a pastor was willing to let us go to the church to raise money.

It was in the afternoon, they give us, I thought the pastor would give us in the mean service, but I was too naive.

The church was like this morning, packed.

But in the afternoon, they only left about 20, 30 people.

I say to Dennis, I said, Dennis, if we could just raise $200 from the church, we should be happy.

So that afternoon we share with what we want to do.

And amazing, that afternoon we received $2, 680.

While we were counting the money, and 1 church member passed by, he say, David, how much do you have?

I said, man, this is more than we can hope for already, you know, $2, 600 over.

10 minutes later, he came with another $400.

And the afternoon, we have more than $3, 000.

I said, Lord, it is definitely a sign that you have given us a green light to go.

I don't know whether you heard this place before.

And from there we went to a fishing village called Agusan.

A fishing village, not many people, but maybe more than 500 family, I'm not sure.

The fishing village, we have an elementary school there.

The principal of the school, Her name is Mrs.

When Daniel was introducing me, he said, this is David, he's here to do some health work.

Barbarino looked at me, and said, David, what can you do here?

I look at her, I say, I really don't know.

I know some hydrotherapy, massage, you know, things like that.

In His Hands (The Story of the Aenon Ministry)

What you have just seen was produced by our little media studio.

Whatever you see is only in a 1 acre land, very small.

But later on you will find out our progress.

It was always a great struggle for anyone that is going to graduate to decide where they're supposed to go.

Going to start a new chapter of your life, you know.

I have few choice then, to choose whether to go back to Malaysia or to stay in America to start a dream home or whatever dream, Most people like to stay in America, you know.

And, but I know the Lord want me to go to China as a missionary.

I told God, to go there for a month or 2 month, it's okay.

I need a work to sustain me, you know, and I plan to have a family.

And to go to China for a missionary work, it's too much for me.

Go there a month, okay, 2 months, no problem.

No matter how difficult the life as a missionary, I know I'm going to leave that place after a while, you know.

But the Lord said, I'm going to want you to go to China.

I remember 1 day I was working outside of the wellness center, pulling weeds with a doctor beside me.

While I was walking and working with him, I was looking at him.

He was then, in 1995, he was already 70-odd years old.

He has been a missionary doctor in Africa all his life.

If he didn't go as a missionary and stay in America, he could have been a rich doctor.

But he believed that Jesus is coming soon.

And he forgo all his dream in America and became a missionary doctor in Africa, all his life, with his wife.

And I was looking at him, I said, when I was thinking, when he was young, most, he had the zeal, and he went and he believed that Jesus would come in his time.

And now he is old, and Jesus is not here.

So I turn, finally I cannot take it anymore.

I say, have you ever regretted of your missionary life?

You spent all your life in a mission field, and now you're back here, not much money, and Jesus is not here.

He turned and He looked at me and He said a statement that I'll never forget till today.

He said, David, Advent movement begin with sacrifice.

And it will take greater sacrifice to finish the work.

When he said that word, it's like a knife cutting through my heart.

After then, I said, Lord, if you want me forever be in China, maybe.

I could have been in the street doing nothing, and you're giving me this life.

And while we were there, after about 8 months, We have a lot of people came into our program for health and 1 person came, he was telling me about his story, her story.

I had colon cancer, I was overweight, my heart was swelling, my high blood pressure, everything.

I was lying on my bed, waiting for my time.

Then I heard about Jesus, and I prayed to Jesus.

I said, Jesus, if you can heal me, I will give rest of my life to you.

I was thinking you were already 65 years old.

The Bible say, remember the Lord in your youthful time, not in your old time.

She said after 1 week, she don't know Whether she was better or not, I mean, she was healed or not, but she felt better.

So she got up from her bed, she started to go door to door telling people about Jesus.

In less than 3 years time, she brought 3, 000 people to baptism.

Can you imagine a woman, 65 years old, inspired by God?

And she was talking to me, she said, David, now I know more about health.

And then she asked me a very profound question.

She said, David, you know these people have never went out of China.

They thought that out of China, any other missionary work or church work is greater than China.

She said, David, how many health centres do you have?

How many health centres do you have in your Malaysia?

How many training school do you have in Malaysia?

I said, you don't have 1 health center in your own hometown?

Then he said, then why are you here in China for?

I looked at her, I said, man, you're right.

So I went back and then she said, you should go back to your own hometown and do something.

I was thinking maybe the Lord has sent you here to tell me.

The first thing that I, before I can pray, I kneel down, before I can speak, the first Bible word that came into my mind is Jesus said, the prophet is not welcome in his own country.

It's about 40 US dollar a month in China.

But I speak like a king, because I'm a foreigner.

Whatever I say, they take it very strong.

They can pay me $3, 000 US dollar if I go back to my own hometown, they treat me like dirt.

So I say, Lord, how to start this kind of work in your own hometown?

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Series

David Fam: My Testimony, His Story

Right Arm of the Gospel

Transcript

Parent Series

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Recorded

Parts

A Miracle Child

38m

Right Arm of the Gospel

31m

In His Hands (The Story of the Aenon Ministry)

42m

Sound Doctrine