It’s always an encouragement to read about God’s work in the lives of His people. Many of these testimonies come in the form of His healing, oftentimes from conditions and situations that looked very dire. In Christopher Koh’s case, God did not just deliver him from a life-threatening situation but from eternal death in the nick of time.
On the 6th of December 2012, Christopher experienced an uneasiness in his body, conspicuous enough for him to see his company’s panel doctor. The doctor told him that his blood pressure was very low and that he just needed rest. He, thus, gave him a day’s medical leave. Little did he know that this small incident would lead to something much bigger and more substantial.
The next day, still not feeling well, Christopher went again to the clinic. There he found that his blood pressure was extremely low and that the clinic couldn’t treat him. He was given a referral letter to get himself examined at the outpatient clinic of the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital (KLGH). By God’s providence, a KLGH attendant at the crowded waiting area noticed there was something odd about his stance and he was given priority to see a doctor. What the doctor found upon examination and what he told Christopher shocked him.
Discovery of Heart Condition
Christopher’s blood pressure had fallen dangerously low, serious enough for Christopher to be put on a drip and rushed to the emergency room for further tests. Another doctor informed him that he had a heart condition and asked him to call his next of kin. “I was traumatised by the news,” Christopher related. In fact, Christopher had only a 50/50 chance of surviving the dye test he was about to undergo, a necessary test which would determine the exact location of blockages in his artery. “Either way, whether I did the test or not, I could die!” Not having much choice in the matter, Christopher signed the consent documents and underwent the test.
After the procedure, while he was being wheeled to the ICU, Christopher’s heart suddenly began to beat loudly and furiously. “It was as if it was bursting out of my chest but I felt no pain,” he later shared. Upon asking the consulting cardiologist accompanying him why this was happening, he discovered that he was in the middle of a heart attack! Christopher was transferred to the Institut Jantung Negara (IJN) for an emergency angioplasty. “I found out later that I had, in fact, collapsed in the ambulance even before reaching IJN.”
At this time, Christopher was not a Christian. Although the days after were tense, the one thing that gave him much assurance and impacted him greatly was hearing what his sister, Christina said when he was in an unconscious/semi-conscious state. When she visited him, she prayed throughout and said again and again, “Jesus loves you. He is with you. You can call out to Him any time and He will answer you.” He only had to call and Jesus would answer.
Furthermore, he also got his mother’s assurance, that she was always praying for him from her home in Melaka, even though she couldn’t be with him all the time in Kuala Lumpur.
A Harrowing Life-and-Death Experience
On the 12th of December 2012, Christopher experienced a harrowing brush with death. Before the extubation procedure, the doctor had assured him that he only needed to relax and everything would be fine.
“However, when he started beating my chest, I suddenly lost my breath and a deep darkness came over me.” Christopher felt his strength ebb away. He was paralysed and couldn’t even signal to the doctor that he was in distress. In this most desperate moment, he cried out with his whole heart to God: “God, if you are real, just give me a sign and pull me out of this darkness!”
Suddenly, Christopher saw a tiny spark of light coming from his heart. It burst brilliantly into a sparkling star, and then that star burst slowly into more sparkling stars. These then rose up from his heart and totally covered his eyes with pure white light.
“A deep sense of peace came over me. I felt my strength and confidence returning even though I still could not breathe at that moment. Light had overcome darkness. I just knew in my heart that this was divine intervention and that God had indeed answered my cry for help.”
Christopher felt bubbles rising up from his throat and heard popping sounds, like those made by someone bursting bubbles. Immediately after this, he got back his breath of life. There and then, Christopher made a decision: I have seen the Light and I will follow the Light! And from that moment onwards, he never felt fear again throughout the session.
The Exact Nature and Seriousness of Christopher’s Heart Condition
Christina Koh (Christopher’s sister) related the seriousness of Christopher’s emergency.
- Christopher had had a very massive heart attack at the KLGH and was transferred immediately to IJN for angioplasty but he collapsed in the ambulance before arrival.
- All three of Christopher’s arteries were blocked. The angiogram indicated one chronic artery. The blockage was thought to be a matter of not just a few years, but close to a decade. The amazing thing was that the chronic artery had created a natural bypass. However, this bypass was too narrow to alleviate the effects of the blockages permanently, and by this time, the blockages had become serious.
- Two long stents had been inserted in the other two arteries during the angioplasty procedure. Christopher was intubated/attached to a breathing machine which was set at 13. Once in a while it rose to 14 when there was some effort on Christopher’s part, but it remained mostly at 13. There were times when it even went down to 12 and then the machine would beep. The sign “no patient effort” was lit up most of the time.
- Christopher’s heart was too weak on its own so he had to be hooked onto a machine that helped the heart pump blood. In addition, Christopher’s blood pressure was too low and his heartbeat was too fast. He had to undergo tube feeding and there was water in his lungs.
One of Christina’s friends, a doctor, later verified how close Christopher had been to death. The Lord had indeed delivered him from death’s grasp. But even more than that, the Lord had delivered him from eternal death.
Salvation Comes from the Lord
Christina shared that her greatest concern was that Christopher would die without receiving the salvation of the Lord. Two days after his life-and-death experience, on the 14th of December 2012, Christopher surrendered his life fully to Jesus and said the Sinner’s Prayer. He had come to believe that Jesus Christ is real and that He is the One True God. At the same time, Christina led him in prayer to release and forgive those who had offended or hurt him.
Christina also gave Christopher a little booklet by Charles Capps called God’s Creative Power for Healing and told him to read and proclaim God’s Word as medicine besides taking the several types of medication he had been given. “As I took God’s medicine faithfully seven times a day, I could literally feel heat filling my body and strength returning to me. God’s Word is Spirit and Life. I had no problems doing this many times daily, as after all, I had nothing much to do in the Coronary Care Unit (CCU).”
Becoming a Part of God’s Family
On the day he was discharged, 22 December 2012, Christopher went straight to the Sidang Injil Borneo Kuala Lumpur (SIBKL) church in Sunway Mas (SMCC) to watch their Everworld Christmas musical. Christopher conveyed the powerful emotional experience he had, “I was emotionally captivated by it and cried throughout the show because it encapsulated my recent experience.”
Christina shared that this was in fact God’s answer to her prayers. “Christopher’s recovery was indeed miraculous. I had wanted so much for him to see our church’s Christmas production Everworld Musical because it encapsulated his recent experience.”
On 23rd December 2012, Christopher had the privilege of celebrating both his 50th birthday and his spiritual birthday at the SIBKL church in Bangunan Yin. “God truly delighted the desires of my heart, for He had paved the way for me to be discharged a day earlier to celebrate in church. I worshipped Him with a heart full of thankfulness for the second lease of life I had received from Him.” Jesus had said in John 8:12 (NKJV), “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Christopher had experienced the truth of this in a very personal and powerful way.
The Years After
God continues to take care of Christopher and Christina as well as their family years after this incident until the present day. Two years later, in August 2014, God delivered Christopher from a liver condition, cirrhosis, miraculously restoring his liver function test to ‘normal’. Intent on carrying out a thorough check-up, the doctor at the Selayang Hospital Liver Centre announced after the scan that the spot found in his liver looked like it had already been healed!
Additionally, in September 2014 at IJN, Christopher’s blood test results were shown to be ‘normal’, the liver function test continued to read ‘normal’, and the blood pressure reading was 117/74. A heart scan done in 2013 showed 10% of the heart muscle had been damaged. The doctor had said then that his blood pressure could never have a normal reading again and would never be higher than 80/60. For nine months prior to this test reading, Christopher had stopped relying on all his prescribed medication. “The doctor was shocked. He told me to take all the medicine but he reduced the dosage. But for me, God had set me free from this bondage of having to take all the prescribed medication throughout my lifetime. I praise the Lord for His wonderful works.”
Christopher’s readings continued to be normal in 2017 and even until today. “I must confess that for many years I had been very anti-Christ. Whenever Christina talked to me about Jesus, I would say, ‘Please don’t hurt my ears.’ Today, however, I am happy and proud to confess that what I have been missing in the first 50 years of my life, I have finally found in Jesus and Jesus alone.
All glory to Jesus Christ, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, my Lord and Savior, my Protector, my Healer, my Provider, My All in All!”
Today, Christopher takes God’s Word as his daily medicine instead, and his health continues to improve.
Proverbs 4: 20-22 (HCSB):
My son, pay attention to my words; listen closely to my sayings. Don’t lose sight of them; keep them within your heart.
For they are life to those who find them, and health to one’s whole body.
Note from Christina:
Christopher had stayed in my house for one year after his discharge from IJN, and I was the one who put the different types of medication he needed into a weekly medicine box until he was able to do it himself. However, I was totally unaware that Christopher had stopped taking all the prescribed medication until he told me about it after his check-up – such was his faith in God’s medicine! His decision not to take the medication stemmed from his personal conviction and great faith that the Lord would definitely heal him, and this was after a mighty encounter with the Lord.
(This does not mean others should stop taking their medicine. We do need doctors and their advice! Before making major decisions, we must seek the Lord fervently for ourselves as Christopher did, for God moves in different situations differently. The decisions made must be out of our own personal conviction and according to our own faith, even after having heard from the Lord clearly ourselves.)
This article shares its title, God’s Power Manifested, with a book written and compiled by Christina Koh. It is a book filled with powerful and encouraging testimonies of God’s very real presence in her family’s life. Christopher’s testimony as related above is an abridgment. In the book, you will read about Christina’s experience during challenging times, more detail about Christopher’s experiences, and a doctor’s report and reflection on the miracle.
In fact, Christopher’s story is just one of four testimonies, including one about Christopher and Christina’s mother being miraculously raised from the dead! All testimonies in the book include medical reports and a doctor’s reflection, as well as forewords by prominent Christian leaders who know Christina personally.
The book’s refrain and main theme is established on remembering God’s goodness and on hope, as expressed in Lamentations 3:21 (NKJV):
This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope …
To get a copy of the book, you may contact:
* The Canaanland Online Bookstore https://www.canaanland.com.my/SKU-A-9789671773109-UNIT-26353
* Pastor Lilian Yap +6018-2657173 ACTS Agapetos Christian Training and Services.
The book is also available at the following stores:
* Canaanland Christian Store (Selangor)
* SCC Books and Gifts (Ipoh)
* Precious Pages Resources (Penang)
|Share The Good News|
Leave a Reply