How do you pick up the pieces in your life when you feel that nothing is going right and you have come to the end of the road? While I have faced my fair share of challenges, they were never on the level of that faced by some of the people I have had the privilege to meet. I am always amazed by their strength. Among these is Dr. Chow Li Sze, a sister-in-Christ who has since become a friend.
I first got to know Dr. Chow’s story through her book, A Grieving Heart Is Most Loved (the book is now in its second edition) when I was on an assignment at Asian Beacon while I was attached there in 2021. In it, she relates her life story of how God lifted her from the depths of tragedy and gave her a newfound purpose in life.
Early in her life, Dr. Chow had married during an impressionable phase a handsome but irresponsible Brazilian man. The marriage was not a happy one, and it eventually came to a breaking point, and she found herself on the verge of a divorce. It was during this difficult time that her son, Zhen Kan, was diagnosed with a genetic disorder that would eventually lead to liver failure. Dr. Chow’s son was only a toddler when he was diagnosed with the disorder. Because there was no cure in Malaysia, and Zhen Kan’s Brazilian grandparents had visited and offered to bring him to Brazil for liver transplant, Dr. Chow had tried this as a last resort. However, the long journey wore him out, and before the liver transplant could be carried out, Zhen Kan passed away at the age of only 2 years and nine months. As a young mother, it was as if Dr. Chow’s world had collapsed completely. Bereft of support from the person she needed it most, she even contemplated suicide.
Dr. Chow had been a young Christian at this time and it was the support from her Christian friends that helped her climb out of the pit of despair. Some of them had been there ever since Zhen Kan’s illness, praying for him. In addition, Dr. Chow would find God personally relating to her and doing deep healing in her. In her book, Dr. Chow shared about this journey of faith and recovery.
At first, racked by guilt, God would bring peace into her life. Dr. Chow related further in her book that soon after having lost her son, God had impressed the verses of John 11:25-26 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16 on her heart and mind.
John 11:25-26
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
1 Thessalonians 4:16
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Furthermore, God would also show Dr. Chow two different versions of her son in Heaven. “I knew then that God is now taking care of my son,” Li Sze wrote in her book. God would gently lift her, give her a purpose, and guide her in her relationship with Him
Dr. Chow relates the full story in her book, and you can read about it as well in the Asian Beacon article: https://asianbeacon.org/a-mothers-grief-and-gods-mighty-grace/
It was a painful journey for Dr. Chow, but through it, God carried her on a journey of growth. He would lead Dr. Chow to serve actively in two children’s ministries; PowerFun and PowerKids, to partner with a pastor in starting a home school where children could grow to be strong in the Lord, and finally to her position as Assistant Professor at UCSI University, educating the next generation of leaders. Through the pain, God brought her closer to him. She is still serving in PowerKids today and is part of a prayer ministry at Christ Lutheran Church.
Recently, I followed up with Dr. Chow again. One of the earliest things she had shared with me even back then is that even though she had attained prestigious academic qualifications and she is now a respected member of the faculty at UCSI as a lecturer in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, she had found her true identity as a daughter of God. I have also seen how diligently she shares about the love of God on social media. Almost daily, I would receive her devotionals through my news feed.
Today, she has founded two well-received digital ministries, LiSze Piano (https://www.youtube.com/c/LiSzeChow), and a Heavenly Devotion (https://www.youtube.com/c/HeavenlyDevotion) channel.
As an accomplished pianist, Dr. Chow ministers through LiSze Piano by playing worship songs on the piano. But it is not just another collection of videos of piano music. Dr. Chow built Lisze Piano up to be a personal channel of worship. Through it, she provides a safe place for relaxation through soothing music. Dr. Chow also partners with Metro World Child (MWC) to raise funds for underprivileged inner-city children around the world in such countries as the Philippines, Kenya, India, Romania, and Indonesia. Currently, she is sponsoring a Filipino girl and a Kenyan boy through MWC. The channel has already garnered 700+ subscribers, and each video has views up to the hundreds.
The Heavenly Devotion channel is dedicated to encouraging listeners to listen to Bible Scriptures and pray along with them. It has both a ministering as well as an evangelical outlook founded on Paul’s statement in 2 Corinthians 9:12-15:
“This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”
Despite her busy schedule, Dr. Chow uploads her devotionals pretty much daily, and she does it in both English and Chinese. Beginning from Psalm 1, the channel has progressed on to Psalm 55 at the time of this writing and is continuing well and at a consistent pace.
Dr. Chow brings her faith and Jesus to her workplace and has made an impact in the community. She leads the Friday Chapel for the staff in UCSI every Friday during lunchtime. The fellowship that she started in December last year combines worship, prayer for each other, and discussion on the book of Acts chapter by chapter each week. ‘We have a very fruitful discussion every Friday and recently we went through Acts 22,’ Dr. Chow shared happily.
Recently, she organised a Matlab workshop for UCSI’s students. This workshop is non-profit oriented and all collection of fees and donations from the workshop will be donated to help Ukraine through Metro World Child.
Dr. Chow explained, ‘Another aim of the workshop was to create awareness among students to give, to have compassion, and to be grateful for how fortunate we are.’ And the best thing is that the founder of UCSI University, Dato Peter Ng, has doubled up on the amount collected, the total to be donated in whole to Metro World Child.
Dr. Chow still shares her story. She will be doing so and touching on the power of forgiveness through a Zoom meeting hosted by the Sri Damansara Gospel Centre (details below). But she has also found healing and a new direction with God alongside her in her life.
At the end of her book, Dr. Chow had written, “Some of us might have experienced disappointments in life in doing His work and left the church or even left Him. It is a greater loss if you leave God when you are at the bottom of the valley. You will not be able to walk out of the valley on your strength and will, for we are mere humans, frail and weak, and made of flesh and blood. When my son passed away or my daughter was rejected by the schools because of her emotional troubles, I did not walk away from God because I knew He loved me.”
Today, Dr. Chow is very actively encouraging others with the gospel about the love of God that she had experienced so powerfully in her own life. From out of the depths of despair, she has gone far in her Christian journey.
‘It is still a daily process,’ Dr. Chow conveyed, ‘but God is close every day. And every day I journey with Him, I discover anew the power of His love and grace.’
Note:
- Dr. Chow tells her story in an intimate and tender way in her book A Grieving Heart Is Most Loved and I myself have been blessed by it. The book is now in its second edition and can be found at Canaanland Bookstores or directly from Dr. Chow through her website at https://www.liszechow.org/ and it is now also available in Chinese.
- Dr. Chow’s channels can be found through the following links:
LiSze Piano at https://www.youtube.com/c/LiSzeC
Heavenly Devotion channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/HeavenlyDevotion
Dr. Chow will be sharing her story through a Zoom meeting hosted by the Sri Damansara Gospel Centre and the Women of Worth (W.O.W) ministry on the 4th of June 2022 at 3pm and she extends her invitation. The meeting ID is 836 1484 7186 and the passcode is sdgcwow. Do come and listen and be blessed!
All photos kindly contributed by Dr. Chow.
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