In Romans 10:17, the apostle Paul wrote that faith comes by hearing. While this is certainly true of God’s word, it is equally applicable to listening or reading testimonies of the miraculous encounters between ordinary people and an extraordinary God.
Last year, well-known local author Stephen Ng – best known for his books on Pr Raymond Koh and the Hebrew Language – wrote and compiled a book of local testimonies. Within the 80 or so pages of that book, Same God Different Stories, he brought to life 9 remarkable true stories of life-changing encounters with God on our home soil of Malaysia. The second book in the series, Out of the Jaws of Death, has also been successfully published.
The stories in Out of the Jaws of Death are equally diverse as in the first book. This time round, Stephen has extended the range to cover Singapore; three of the ten testimonies in the book are from Singaporeans. The theme of all of us being one family in Christ under the same God, no matter a person’s background, has been a touchstone of the series since the first book. In Out of the Jaws of Death, a second cohesive theme ties all the testimonies together, giving it an enhanced unitary element. Every person in the book had been delivered by God from death’s clutches in one way or another.
Some of the stories may be familiar to us, such as those of Tony and Ashley Low or Liew Ah Onn, because they are so well-known. However, they have been given a new perspective through Stephen’s initiative of personally communicating with them to find out in more detail about their miraculous deliverance.
There are many extraordinary stories you will read in the book. Some of these include:
- Lyn Loh: Although blind from age eleven, Lyn Loh of Singapore finds God’s providence and faithfulness throughout her life. In one incident, she found herself hauled up from the MRT track by someone with “powerful hands” whom she never had the chance to thank.
- Dato’ Tan Chong Jin: The Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Malaysian Police was pulled from the jaws of death through the fervent prayers of friends.. but this wasn’t his only brush with death
- Tiffany Wong: 16-year-old Tiffany was supposed to be aborted before she was even born. Refusing to take the advice of three doctors, her parents decided that they would trust God for the best. They make up their minds they would still keep the child even if she was born with deformities.
- Celine Oh: Celine suffered from a rare medical condition known as ‘pneumothorax’ which nearly took her life. After going through a gruesome period of hospitalisation, she saw a vision of flowers that started blooming again…
As in the first book, the stories are accompanied by short introductions setting the context for each. Highlights of the salient parts of each story bring them to vivid life. The book is adorned with photos of the relevant people, giving them a personal touch. Available in both English and Mandarin, both volumes are designed to leave an impact on pre-believers and are very useful as Christmas gifts.
An evangelical vision drives the motivation behind the books’ production. We often read of miracles taking place in history or in other nations. However, God is present through all time, and He is close to every one of His children. Through this series of books, Stephen aims to show that God is also at work in our region in our current day. At the back of the book, an exclusive section is included on the saving work of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
‘Miracles do still happen, and they are evidence of God’s work in our midst,’ he writes in the book’s preface. ‘Even in our postmodern world, God is still at work in the lives of ordinary people. There is no denying there is a God out there who cares for our well-being.’
From the very first book, Stephen is fully committed that the series would be an ongoing project. For the second book, he engaged a team of co-writers. He shared that the selection of what stories to cover in each book was based on recommendations in conversations with Christian friends. Initially, the information that was collected after each interview was somewhat disorganised.
‘My co-authors and I had to find the most interesting part in each person’s story, similar to the style used in modern magazines,’ Stephen expressed. ‘This time, we had three co-authors – Caleb Koh, Chong Ching Keat, and Lorraine Khoo – on the team. The team is part of my succession planning if the Lord calls me home.’
‘The team dedicated themselves fully to the production of the book. One of the co-authors, Lorraine Khoo, was a student in my creative writing classes for adults. She was diagnosed with Stage Four cancer and went home to be with the Lord on May 25, 2022. A page of the book has been dedicated to her memory.’
“Have you read the book? Come to listen to the real person.”
Book Info:
Title: ‘Out of the Jaws of Death: A sequel to the first book, “Same God, Different Stories”‘
Author: Stephen Ng (Co-authors: Caleb Koh, Chong Ching Keat, Lorraine Khoo)
Printed By: Akitiara Corporation Sdn Bhd
Published By: YOONG & NG CONSULTING, Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan
‘Out of the Jaws of Death’ is available now from Canaanland and Precious Pages Resources. For bulk purchases, please write to Stephen.Ng.Author@gmail.com. This is the second book, and the sequel to the first book, ‘Same God, Different Stories‘.
Read more about the first book here
Read more on the book launch for Out of the Jaws of Death here.
Bookstore Locations:
Precious Pages Resources in Penang 56 Lorong Selamat,
10400 Penang,
Tel : +604-2297678
Canaanland Bookstore
23-25, Jalan PJU 1A/41B, Pusat Dagangan NZX, Ara Damansara, 47301 Petaling Jaya,
Or directly from Stephen.Ng.EJ@gmail.com
Note from Stephen about Prices
The book will be priced slightly higher due to additional costs incurred in printing — the price of paper has gone up, and this book is 128 pages compared to 84 pages in the previous book.
For one copy it is marked at RM20. Makes a good Christmas gift for friends. This is equivalent to RM2 a chapter.
However, for quantity purchases of 10 copies and above, it is RM15 per copy.
Quantity of 50 copies and above would be RM12 per copy.
If any church or Christian organisation would like to have the book translated into Mandarin or Bahasa Malaysia, I would be happy to give away the rights to translate and publish the book, provided they fund the project, apply for the ISBN and use the same graphic artist so that the design is consistent. The organisation or church only needs to give me 100 complimentary copies.
P.S. It is unfortunate that we cannot get anyone from Sabah or Sarawak willing to share their testimonies, but if you know of anyone, we can work on it for the third book. Please email me (stephen.ng.ej@gmail.com). Thank you.
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