Disclaimer: While the events of this testimony occur across three different countries (Malaysia, Thailand, and Myanmar), it is not meant to reflect on the culture of these countries.
Fraud syndicates can exist anywhere, and while the context of this testimony is broader, some of these syndicates can operate within local boundaries. While efforts have been taken by the respective governments to eradicate these syndicates, they can be extremely challenging to flush out. One of the purposes of this testimony, besides giving thanks and glory to God, is to create awareness and caution readers to be careful when coming across suspicious job or financial offers.
This article is about an experience from the recent event that was headlined in our national papers in November and December 2023 and is edited from testimony given by the victim, Brother J, and his mother, Sister L. Their names have been written solely in initials and their photos filtered for privacy purposes.
Edited from a testimony shared with Christianity Malaysia by Dr Philip Kwan, the pastor of Sister L’s family, and his wife Sister Lee Leng, through a testimony originally related by Sister L and Brother J
In September 2023, two weeks after Brother J, who had been missing after being tricked abroad and captured into a scam syndicate, God gave Pastor Judah Henry a vision. In that vision, God promised the pastor that J would return through the Malaysian airport in December 2023 to serve God! And the miracle in that vision did happen!
The wife of the victim’s pastor, Dr Philip Kwan Swee Cheong (National Specialist Register: https://www.nsr.org.my/list1viewdetails.asp?Account=1792), Sister Lee Leng, has known Brother J’s mother, Sister L, for about 20 years. L’s family has also been attending Dr Kwan’s church for around 15 years.
On 11th September 2023, Sister L reported to the pastor and his wife that her son had gone missing, with his passport and some clothes also gone. Subsequently, someone by the name of Peter Ling (a person that Brother J got to know online) reported to her that J had gone to Thailand. Later, J would share, “On September 11, 2023, I was deceived by a person named Peter Ling to go to Thailand to do a so-called job of purchasing and taking some nuts back to sell in Malaysia. He purchased and provided me with a round-trip air ticket to return to Malaysia in 3 days.”
Sister L was facing turmoil at that time due to the unusual incident. In desperation, she asked for help and prayer from church leaders and members. A few days later, her son managed to send a short message to his sister and told her that Peter Ling, who tricked him into going to Thailand, had smuggled him to Myanmar. He couldn’t reveal much else. After this incident, they lost contact for a while.
Sister L was in shock. She immediately reported it to the police. The police checked the CCTV in KLIA 2 and discovered that Brother J had passed through the immigration to board a flight to Chiang Rai, Thailand.
Brother J later related the events that happened after he had arrived in Thailand. Peter Ling, the middleman who lured J to Thailand, put him up at a hotel and the very next day, a person on a bike came to see J and whisked him off on the bike by threatening him at gunpoint to follow him obediently. He was taken on another truck with some others for four days and just given water and bread to keep him and the others alive up to the border between Thailand and Myanmar. There, they crossed a river by a float being pulled over from the other side with a rope.
While in a foreign country, God also spoke to Brother J in a dream: Trust in Jesus and you will be saved! Upon reaching Myanmar, the scam victims were sold to Chinese big bosses to do scamming jobs. The bosses would come and check on the victims/”piglets” as they were paraded in front of them. The victims could choose their bosses. J chose a lady boss as he said the others looked very fierce and evil. He and a few others were then taken to a scam syndicate park in the interior of Northern Myanmar.
There were 25 victims in the office working as scammers. Guards with guns took turns to watch over them. Brother J was given some training to scam. He said his team was trained to cheat people online by using love scams. J was very convicted at times not to cheat, so he would send out tips secretly to the potential victims who would have fallen prey to the scams. As a result, many didn’t transfer the money, which ranged from RM20k to RM500k.
Brother J was beaten and electrocuted by an electric rod whenever he didn’t hit any targets. He shared that some were sent to a smelly horrible dark room with faeces and urine and were not given any food. If anyone disobeyed orders, they were threatened with having their fingers cut off. Praise God that by His grace J did not suffer much. God gave J wisdom on how to answer his captors and how to remain humble throughout the ordeal. Also thanks to God, there was a power cut for many days during the civil war in Myanmar and they were forced to stop the scamming job.
Praying in Malaysia, Sister L received a vision. She saw that Jesus was victorious during His 40 days of trial, and that likewise, her family will have the same victory after hardship.
Nevertheless, for a few months in Malaysia, there was still no news from Brother J, except multiple threats to his family from the scammer Peter who demanded RM50k – but then slowly reduced it to RM5k – for him to bring J back to his family. The scammers called the family and threatened that J would be hurt. They said J’s fingers would be cut off, and that he would even be killed, if their demands were not met. They wanted J’s family to live in fear and to pay ransom money. However, after much prayer, the church sensed this was also a big lie. The church leaders advised Sister L not to pay the ransom because they sensed something fishy.
The support of Sister L’s spiritual family helped her to live courageously, and every time she felt that she had no more energy to live, God miraculously gave her timely comfort and encouragement through one of her spiritual family members. Even her eldest son D saw a vision from God that Brother J would be saved, and her daughter saw a vision that her family would play with J.
Weeks went by. The church continued to press on with fervent and earnest prayers unto God. They prayed unceasingly. Sister L would come to the church every Wednesday prayer meeting and kneel in tears to pray along with the church for two and a half months. With God’s strength, she continued to work to earn a living, and also most importantly, she continued to serve God faithfully despite the ordeal she had to go through each day. L obediently relied on God, not complaining, and continued to grow spiritually by spending less energy and effort on things that were not fruitful and instead focusing on what God led her to do.
God is good. Throughout the ordeal, He was always beside Sister L and her family. He assured L and her church that Brother J would come back. There were many different ways that God spoke to L and her church leaders and members about J. Pr Joanne saw J like a piece of driftwood that was submerged in water but later floated up. God comforted and encouraged everyone in different ways.
God told all the intercessors in many ways (including through visions and dreams) that He will send Brother J back home. On September 24th 2023, Pastor Judah Henry prayed and saw a vision that God had given to him. In the vision, Pr Judah saw J arriving back at the airport in Malaysia. He also received a word that this would take place in December 2023! This vision was a cornerstone of faith throughout the ordeal. The church proclaimed and declared this promise of God daily. Whenever Sister L began to worry about the possibility of her child returning to Malaysia, her pastor’s wife, Sister Lee Leng, reminded her of the vision that Pr Judah Henry had received.
(Note: September 2023 was way before the bombing of the many scam syndicates’ buildings in Kokang. At the end of October 2023, many Myanmar military were killed, and by November 2023, there were some bombings of scam syndicate buildings, which carried on until December 2023.)
A month after the vision, at the end of October, the Malaysian government had not yet made any arrangements to fly the syndicate victims back to Malaysia. But then, more and more victims who wanted to return home appeared. Originally, the Malaysian government’s arrangement was for the scam syndicate victims to return home in November, and the schedule was distributed, but at the last minute, there was a need to change the schedule!
In the end, the scam syndicate victims returned on a government-chartered flight from Kunming, China to KLIA on November 30 and they arrived in the early hours of December 1, exactly as it was foretold in God’s Vision to Pr Judah three months before! The repeated vision that God gave to Sister L of seeing Brother J every single day, with a certain look, was the very same image of J coming out of the airport and smiling at his mother. God is a miracle-working God. He had indeed performed a miracle to rescue J and bring him back to Malaysia.
Brother J related to the church members that a civil war broke out in Northern Myanmar. The scam park had to quickly move out of that area. They took the smart “piglets” along to other places in Cambodia, Laos, or Dubai to continue scamming. The not-so-smart ones remained in the park and were supposed to be sold to other syndicates, perhaps to harvest their organs, etc. However, with help from locals, they escaped and sought refuge in the refugee camp, where they met Christians who ministered to them. They were then connected to the Foreign Affairs Ministry to get them back to Malaysia. Furthermore, the whole rescue effort was done free of charge by the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Malaysia.
‘We serve a true and living God who hears our earnest and persistent prayers,’ shared Brother J, Sister L, and their church. ‘We believe that many angels helped too. God had truly sent angels in the form of many kind persons who helped J and the other victims. Prayers for J enabled him to stand firm, avoid trying to harm others, and from being harmed badly. Eventually, even a few scam victims and their family members who were around J became Christians due to joint evangelism efforts. What is important is not just the salvation of the body alone, but the salvation of the soul. To God be the glory!’
Christianity Malaysia would like to thank Sis L, Bro J, Dr & Mrs Philip Kwan, and Pr Judah Henry for their generosity in sharing this testimony as a blessing and encouragement to our readers. We would also like to thank them and Pr Lilian Yap for their kind hospitality and help throughout the production of this article. All testimonial photos kindly contributed by Sis L, Bro J, Dr & Mrs Philip Kwan, and Pr Judah Henry. All other images used solely for illustrative/representative purpose.
|Share The Good News|
Leave a Reply