Anonymous

I am a competitive canoeist, and normally before a competition I would spend the prior 3 months doing nothing but training and preparation work. For the past 5 years, I’d been fighting and striving to get 1st place in a competition but I was never able to despite being faster and stronger than the rowers that won. However, as I spent more time during my Sec 3 and 4 years growing in the Lord through DARE and Sunday services, I learnt that the race is not to the strong or to the swift but to those who wait upon the Lord, and that when I had the capacity to handle this success, God would provide.

I spent the last 2 months of 2010 training and preparing for the Singapore Canoe Marathon that took place on the 9th January 2011. With the singles event normally being my forte, I was slightly outraged when my coach decided to put me into a doubles event, teaming me up with a partner that I did not really like initially. Reluctantly, I just went with it, and trusted God’s blessing in my life.

A week before the race, I went on The Zone Israel trip. My coach told me that if I went for the trip, I need not bother competing because I would definitely not even come in top ten as I would have missed 2 weeks of training leading up to the race. Despite his opposition to my decision, I decided to go for the trip, and indeed I was blessed beyond description.

However, upon returning to Singapore, I fell sick and began feeling unbearable pains in my stomach that would come and go. The pain was sometimes so severe that I would cry and not be able to walk.

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By Gideon Sng

Before I set off for my Israel trip, I had a disagreement with my father. He did not want me to bring my guitar on the trip because he did not want me to lug it around. Moreover, if I were to bring my guitar, I would have to borrow a hard case, which made him even more disagreeable to the idea. I could not understand his reasoning at all and was adamant that I would bring it. I had longed to bring my guitar to Israel to worship the Lord. So, even though I only had an hour and and a half left to reach the airport, I decided to get the case from my friend.

As my father did not want to send me there, I headed to the bus interchange by myself. While walking, I felt unrest on the inside of me. I nearly cried because I really wanted to bring my guitar along, but I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to just relax and go home. It was a tough decision but God taught me to let go of what I want and to allow room for what is needful. And what was needful was for me to submit to my parents, which is what I had learnt in church. I really did not want to leave Singapore on a bad note with my father, especially at the last hour.

So, I reluctantly called my mother and told her to inform my father about my decision. Although she had been fighting for me to bring my guitar too, I could sense that she was glad that I was being obedient. After the phone call, I felt such peace and rest on the inside of me. I knew that somehow, everything would turn out all right.

A few minutes later, as I was waiting to take the bus home, my mobile phone rang and it was my father on the other line. Although I was not sure what to expect, I picked up his call. My father then asked me if I really wanted to bring my guitar to Israel. When I heard that, my heart jumped for joy! I quickly replied yes, and he said, “All right, you stay at where you are. I’m coming to get you.” Tears welled up in my eyes and I felt God’s awesome goodness in a way like never before. I felt like I was standing under an open heaven with His goodness and tender love raining down on me, hallelujah!

Jesus really deserves the highest praise for teaching me things even before the Israel trip. Thank you, Lord, for Your goodness and grace that breaks all bondages. All glory and honour to You! Amen!

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Anonymous

When I was in Secondary one, I was told that it was apparent that my body’s weight was leaning more to one side.  Early this year (2010), I realised that my right leg was shorter than my left.  The doctor said that it was because my spine was tilted and that it was a minor problem.  In any case, I didn’t feel affected by this report.

On the 5th of December, I went for the second service with my DGL.  It was the service with Dr Richard Roberts and when we were laying hands on each other, my DGL prayed for me.  When she laid hands on me, I felt God’s presence and I opened my heart to receive any healing that God wanted me to receive although I was not focused on receiving healing for my condition.

A few days later, unknowingly, I noticed that my condition was healed!  My knees were level and I was no longer tilting to one side!  It then came to my mind that my DGL prayed for me.  I felt very loved by God because even though this condition didn’t matter to me, it mattered to God.  God still cared about this small problem as it was something about me.  So don’t lose hope!  God is more willing to heal more than you know.  If God cares for such a small thing, how much more will He care for the big problems in your life!

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By Lim Jia Jun

I scored 39 points for my preliminary exams. Some of my teachers had given up on me and some of my classmates joked that I would not make it to a junior college despite being in the Direct School Admission programme.

To be honest, I only started studying hard about a month before my first paper. By then, I was panicking and breaking down because there was really too much information to be memorised in a month. But what made me feel better and less stressed was when I attended church services on Sundays, DARE services and church events such as the live recording of I Sing Hosanna last October.

Two days before my English paper, I felt prompted to ask my English teacher to help me with an essay draft. I believed that the draft would be suitable for all the essay topics that would come out for the exam. Sure enough, the topic I had prepared for came out! I was so amazed and touched by how great God is! From then on, I knew that the O-level exams was going to be a breeze because God is with me.

Before each paper, I would pray in tongues instead of following my friends who would do some last minute revision. My friends would tease me, give me weird looks and ask me what I was doing. I just ignored them. In the end, I was able to breeze through every paper without falling asleep! In the past, I couldn’t help but sleep for at least an hour during all my examinations even though I really wanted to work on my papers! Praise God that that did not happen during my O-level exams!

When I got my results, all my teachers and friends were shocked! I got 13 points, which is a 26-point improvement from my preliminary exams! Even though I only received Jesus into my life five months ago, I know that God is really good! I could really feel His love for me and I witnessed how He conquered all my giants! For instance, I would usually score an F9 for my Additional Mathematics before the O-level exam. But God gave me the desire to learn this subject, as well as favour with my teacher and friends to help me. In the end, I scored a B3 for my Additional Mathematics in my O-level exam, praise God!

To my friends and teachers who thought I would not be able to score well, they were right! I was not able to do it, but God is!

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By Shaun Lee

2010, the year of restful increase, was the year I sat for my O-level exams. Even though O-level is usually a time when students would be very stressed from studying, I am truly grateful for the messages preached by Pastor Prince, Pastor Benjamin, Pastor Joe and my youth leaders that taught me to put my entire trust in Jesus and His finished work instead of striving and being self-reliant.
Throughout my exam preparation, I was able to study without feeling stressed or worried. I could even study for long periods of time, yet be at rest because I had built my trust solely on Jesus and not on how much I had studied. I thank God for the opportunity to continue serving in my DARE group because every time I served, I would feel refreshed and strengthened. It was definitely supernatural that I was able to continue serving in the midst of the exams. God was faithful to multiply and restore the time that I had spent serving for my studies.

During my revision, whenever I felt nervous, I would pray in the Spirit and I would be filled with a supernatural peace. During the exams, I would anoint my papers, proclaiming what Jesus had already accomplished on the cross, and that my results were never going to be determined by what I had written but by His unmerited favour. In retrospect, my exams felt so fulfilling because I did it with Jesus. In fact, I found my O-level exams to be the most fun and restful exams I had ever taken, praise God!

I would like to give all glory and honour to God for my results because truly it is He who did it for me. I am amazed by how much favour I had with the exam markers despite the mistakes I had made on my papers. His grace is greater than my errors! When I received my results, I could not help but feel pleasantly surprised. Even though I had a confident expectation of good, I did not expect to attain such excellent results. 10 distinctions with 8 A1s and 2 A2s! Indeed, God exceeds our expectations! To God be the glory and the best is yet to be!

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