Priest of Darkness to Priest of Light – Eddy Yong

 

Eddy Yong came from a generation of temple owners. He and his mother started a temple about 30 years ago when he brought his mother to seek ‘treatment’ in another temple after she fell sick.  His mother became a medium in the temple they started. 

As a young kid, Eddy recalled witnessing her aunt being possessed by a demon, who supernaturally ran up the roof of a house and jumped from tree to tree.

“I was amazed and I wanted that power but did not know at the time that it was actually the spirits that went into her. Just imagine how the Lord turned me around even after I was so deep in this idol worship,” said Eddy.

When the family moved to Subang Jaya in 1999, their sons aged 7 and 12 at the time were invited by their school mates to attend cell groups and church.  

By God’s grace, the boys were allowed to go with their friends although Eddy forbade his wife to go to church. The church pastors, elders, and members would diligently fetch the boys to cell meeting every Friday and to church every Sunday.

 

 

“I was a very staunch idol worshiper. But I allowed my two sons to go to church. I mean these people fear God right? How bad can they be?” said Eddy.

What Eddy and his wife did not know was that their two boys started praying for their salvation. Their younger son Adam would weep at the altar and cried out to God for his parents’ salvation. His son faithfully prayed for 12 years before his parents came to know Christ in year 2011.

On that year, God began to pursue Eddy through his wife Ireen. Accepting Christ a month earlier than Eddy without his knowledge, she pointed out to him that his children would grow up with a different faith and lifestyle than his.

“My wife said, ‘What if I told you that there’s a temple out there where you can receive lots of miracles, signs, and wonders, and there’s no need to pay money? Would you go?’ I said to her, ‘Yes,’” said Eddy, not knowing that the temple she meant was Jesus Christ’s.

 

 

But why would Eddy need to know Christ since his gods were already ‘so good’ to him? He recalled how a soothsayer or a medium would describe to him how the furniture of his house looked like.

“I was very impressed with the medium, but it was actually a bondage,” said Eddy, digging deeper into idol worship.

Having attuned to the spiritual world, he would also often had dreams from the spirits to buy lottery numbers that produced winning streaks. Sometimes, he would even hear the spirits residing in his idols, arguing on who is the greatest.

“So, I cannot take it when I hear about Jesus Christ. I know my wife Ireen would attend the ladies prayer meeting every Wednesday. But I warned her if she becomes a Christian, I would divorce her,” said Eddy.

 

 

But God is a relentless pursuer! Years earlier, He met Eddy through a medium in a temple. In one of his temple visits to acquire a lottery number, the medium in a trance asked him, “When did you become a Christian?”

“I was so shocked and I said, ‘I have nothing to do with Jesus!’ The medium told me, ‘I saw Jesus come into your house. You are so blessed. Do you know many people want to receive Jesus also cannot get?’” said Eddy.

How could the spirit in the medium talked about Jesus? At that time, Eddy knew in his heart that Jesus Christ is more powerful than the spirit in the medium.

 

On his robe and on his thigh he (Jesus Christ) has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords. (Rev 19:16)

 

Therefore God exalted him (Jesus Christ) to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

(Phil 2:9-11)

 

 

One month before Eddy accepted Christ, coming home one day, he saw his wife wiping her tears from her eyes. She was with their two sons in the kitchen, yet they were filled with joy. Eddy asked if anyone had bullied them. But Ireen told him that God loved them so much that when one soul is saved, the angels would sing and the church bells would ring.

 

In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10)

 

Although Eddy suspected that his wife had become a Christian, he did not pursue further. Days and weeks went by as he witnessed his wife being transformed before his very own eyes! The home became more peaceful and harmonious. He and his wife used to quarrel over so many things. But not only Ireen became more tolerant of him, she was seen smiling a lot, much to the surprise of Eddy. He thought that Ireen was possessed by a spirit.

Following the incident, his colleague shared with him one day how the company director cried out to the Lord to resurrect his dead mother for a second chance of salvation, as she was not in Christ yet. Coming back to life, his mother later shared how she was in darkness with lots of fire burning around her. At that time, Jesus Christ’s mighty power was revealed to Eddy.  

 

 

On a Friday, four days before Eddy accepted Christ – still deep in the ravine of idol worshiping – Eddy bought a DVD, which tells a story of a Chinese idol who was celebrated at that time for his recent promotion to a higher spiritual ranking. Yet, Eddy knew this general killed many people when he was alive.

As he watched, he started spouting curses over the celebrated idol. And immediately, he smelled a terrible foul smell, like a pungent decomposed dead rat, coming towards him. Then, another strong and equally foul presence came. Eddy became very alarmed because he could sense a bad spirit amidst the foul smell. It was only days later, he found out that it was actually the smell of demons!

“But how can there be demons in my house? I have so many gods in my home. I have everything!” said Eddy, whose house was like a mini temple itself, housing idols of many religions.

Ireen had also smelled the foul smell when she started praying in the master bedroom on the same day.

 

 

On a Saturday, three days before Eddy accepted Christ, the Holy Spirit prompted Ireen to pray with Eddy over a bible and the Lord would give him a vision. As much as Ireen was reluctant and was afraid to even ask (knowing her husband). But being an obedient child of God, she took courage to suggest to Eddy that they should pray together. And although Eddy had animosity towards Christianity, he relented for the first time, being alarmed by the presence of demons in his house.

So the couple went into their master bedroom. Sitting on the bed facing each other, they held the Bible at both corners, following the leading of the Spirit in Ireen. And fumbling as she was as a young Christian, Eddy saw a big white cloud with a hand coming towards him. It was nothing he had ever seen before, despite his past spiritual encounters.

“Usually, I would see a black cloud or a black figure. I thought whose hand was that. When I saw that vision, immediately, I pointed at the hand and asked in my heart, ‘Who are you? What do you want,’” said Eddy. 

 

 

Sunday, two days before Eddy accepted Christ, Eddy was determined to provoke Ireen into anger because disbelief was still lodging in his heart, causing uneasiness of his wife’s transformation. 

He waited for Ireen to invite him to church like what she had always done every other Sunday. As Ireen walked down from the stairs that Sunday morning, she began to ask in her sweetest voice if Eddy would want to go to church with her and the children. But Eddy scolded her, witnessing his wife’s face turning red. Bracing for an argument to erupt and opportunity to provoke further, Ireen smiled at him instead.

“How can you get angry with a wife who is smiling at you?” said Eddy.

He later found out that Ireen was about to burst into anger of his response. Yet, she heard a tender voice telling her to smile.

“I even said to my son, in front of the idols, ‘I tell you, in front of our ancestors, I will never forget my roots and my tradition!’”

“But I could not stay too long by myself because I would hear voices, and spirits would start talking to me,” said Eddy who despite his reluctance, decided to join his wife and children to attend church that morning. “I went over to my wife and told her, ‘I go, okay… because I support you.”

 

 

Before adjourning to church, Ireen asked Eddy to remove all his talismans from his body, which is the first step to breaking the bondage. But being in church was a constant struggle for Eddy. His flesh and mind struggled. But above all, his spirit struggled. Over the past 12 years, he had only attended the church a few times, for Easter or for Christmas. And often, before he visited, he would struggle so much that he would become an angry man, almost upsetting the whole family with his erratic behavior. That morning was no different. Yet, it was then the Lord reached out to him.

After his son Adam played the drums for worship in the youth church of GTPJ, Rev Julie Khoo gave a sermon about Bill Wyss’ 23 minutes in hell. The video revealed how hell was a dark, lonely, hot, and smelly place. And as Eddy sat and listened intently, he thought to himself, “Oh no! I just smelled the demons in my house two days ago!”

After the sermon, Rev Julie came over to greet Eddy and Ireen. Gently tapping his chest near his heart, Rev Julie asked him, “When are you going to accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour?” Eddy smiled but immediately he started chanting in his heart, thinking she was trying to put a ‘charm’ on him. 

The Lord continued to pursue Eddy. Arriving home from church, the Lord showed him that the church bells in Heaven are real. The first time he heard the church bells chimed was in the kitchen. He thought his wife Ireen called because her phone ringing tone happened to be church bells chiming. Yet, Ireen did not call.

 

 

And then it happened again! This time he heard it in the other ear! And as he entered into the living room where his son was playing war games, he heard it again for the third time, louder still, superseding the loud sound from the war games his son was playing.

“I asked my son if his war game had any sounds like church bells. My son told me that church bells are only found in church, not in war,” said Eddy who forgot about the incident and went about his regular routine at home. 

But God did not forget! On the evening of the same day, Eddy and Ireen went out for dinner at a restaurant. Eddy asked Ireen about their couple friend, Kelly and Goh, who were their travel buddies and were residing in Australia as PR. He wanted to know if they were back in Malaysia. And as he spoke, he saw this couple walking into the restaurant! What a delight! God even sent messengers!

 

 

This couple had often shared the gospel with Eddy and Ireen. Seeing her Christian friends, Ireen became excited and happy. They exchanged hugs and well wishes. And at this moment, Ireen not being able to contain her excitement of being in Christ, she revealed to them how she received Christ a month ago. 

“I said in my heart, ‘Now that you have admitted, tomorrow I will divorce you,’” said Eddy, as anger and resentment filled his heart.

Kelly, on the other hand, was excited and said to Ireen, “The heavens rejoice! The church bells ring for one precious soul saved. The angels are singing!”

All of a sudden, Eddy’s anger and resentment towards his wife subsided. He remembered the church bells rang in his ears three times! Eddy then confided to Goh that he heard the bells chimed on that very same day! And like Kelly, Goh also congratulated Eddy and reminded him how blessed he was to have this supernatural experience with God. 

 

 

And finally, the day Eddy accepted Christ was also the day of celebration at his temple on 17th of May, 2011. Yet that morning seemed like every other morning on a normal day. But God had a better plan!

On that day, Ireen was prompted by the Holy Spirit to call Pastor Julie to come to the house. And at the same time, Pastor Julie was also prompted by the Holy Spirit to visit the family. Truly, this was God’s divine appointment!

At 4 PM, Rev Julie Khoo and Pastor Danny Tan stepped into the family home for the first time, after more than a decade knowing the Yong family. 

“Why would I let these pastors into my house, knowing that they would preach the gospel to me? It was because of their love. The love they showed my two sons. All these years, it never failed to amaze me. Week in week out.

“Year in year out. They would pick up my boys and drop them back home, after cell, after church. I would often asked myself, ‘Where does this love come from? My children are not their children.’ Now I know. This unconditional love has to be from God!” said Eddy.

 

 

As the family and the pastors sat together in the living hall, exchanging greetings, hugs, and hand shakes, the Lord began His work for Eddy’s salvation.

Conversations turned into sharing of God’s Word, testimonies, uncertainties, beliefs, ancestral worship, and more. Questions were asked and answered, as three hours ticked away, steadily chipping Eddy’s patience. Every time he asked about ancestral worship, Rev Julie would talk about the love of God.

As Ireen listened and witnessed the intensity escalating in the meeting, the Lord came to her rescue. She heard a voice said, “Talk to pastor about the vision your husband saw,” to which Ireen quickly prompted Eddy to share his vision.

But as Eddy was about to share his special encounter with God, the enemy tried to stop him. Eddy heard a voice saying, “Trap! Trap! Trap!” So, he kept quiet and told his wife to talk about the vision instead of him, adding that the vision was only a fickle of imagination.

“My wife spoke about the vision of the white cloud I saw and a hand coming down from it to reach out to me. And then, there was silence. I thought everyone was waiting for me to manifest or something…Haha!” said Eddy.

 

 

But later, Rev Julie oddly requested Eddy to share the vision himself saying, “Eddy, why don’t you tell me yourself of what you saw exactly, when your wife prayed with you in the room. Then I will tell you whether it was a vision or an imagination.”

There was a long pause. And Rev Julie added, “Don’t you want to know the truth?”

As Eddy began to talk about the vision, he heard a loud thunderous voice in his ears. “WHO ARE YOU?!!! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?!!!”

Eddy was trembling with incredible fear. Never had he had so much fear in his life. He knew right away in his heart that it was the voice of God. It cannot be anyone else but the Almighty God. It was so loud and clear, full of authority!

Eddy broke down and sobbed uncontrollably. Ireen said he was practically wailing for more than 15 minutes! Watched by his shocked children and the pastors, they all waited in silence.

 

 

But in the midst of his fear and trembling, a white light came beside him. And he was immediately comforted. “It was as if there was this amazing presence, so comforting. I immediately felt the peace. I muttered in my heart , ‘God, I love you, don’t leave me and don’t forsake me.’ Only much later I found out, this same verse from the Bible. Wow!” Eddy said.

He continued, “After I composed myself and wiped away my tears, I told Pastor Julie, ‘Pastor, please pray for me!’ Then pastor responded by saying, ‘How may I pray for you, Eddy? You want to pray for your business? Your health?’ I said to pastor, ‘Pastor! Pray for me! I want Jesus. I am scared He will go away!!!’”

And that was how Eddy was saved. God came Himself to convict Eddy, to bring him out of the pit of darkness into His glorious light!

 

 

After Eddy’s acceptance of Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour, the whole family rejoiced with he and his wife staying up all night, glorifying God’s awesomeness and His amazing grace. They stayed up till 5 AM in the morning! Yet, they were refreshed the next day even without much sleep! THAT is the power of God’s love and peace!

At 2 AM the next night, as Eddy was lying on bed trying to sleep, a black figure came flying towards him, oppressing him and threatening him in Cantonese, “You die now. No one is going to protect you! All the demons downstairs are waiting for you!” 

“I was struggling so hard. I could not even speak! In my heart, I called out every god that I knew. I was so desperate. But I was still being oppressed! Then suddenly, I remembered there was one person I have not called. And the very second I thought of calling Jesus, the demon fled! THAT is the power and the authority in the Name of Jesus!” 

 

 

“Brothers and sisters, there is power in the Name of Jesus! Everywhere you go, evoke the Name of Jesus Christ, the Lord of lords and the King of kings!”

“Since that night, I never had any encounter like that anymore! The demons fled and never dared to oppress this child of God ever again!” rejoiced Eddy.

The Lord has since used Eddy and his wife Ireen in the ministry of healing and deliverance. He brought them to places they never thought they would go for His purpose. Here and abroad, they were brought to where the people of God witnessed His glory, where signs, wonders, and miracles followed.

The hospital became Eddy’s office for praying for the sick. Mission trips to Sabah, Sarawak, Myanmar, Vietnam, Nepal, Singapore, Australia, and the Philippines have all become testimonies of God’s enduring love and humility as he embarked on this amazing journey.

From the priest of darkness, Eddy is now the priest of the Everlasting Light of Jesus Christ, Lord of lords, King of kings!

 

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You can read how God has used Eddy for healing and deliverance here:

http://christianitymalaysia.com/wp/tag/eddy-yong/

Eddy and his family are worshipping in Glad Tidings Petaling Jaya. He and his wife Ireen are members of the Healing Rooms Ministry.

Written by Adeline Lum