1st Nov 2012. By Ezra Chim. CM –
Every thoughtful person has wondered why a loving God sends trials and testing to His children. You don’t have to live very long before that question stares you in the face. It might be a critical illness, death of a loved one, loss of a job, the breakup of a marriage, trouble with your children, a season of depression, financial difficulties, or a time of intense persecution from others because of your Christian faith. Those things happen to all of us sooner or later. If you have never pondered why God allows such things, you ought to consider and understand the workings of Almighty God.
And for Christmas and celebrations, anniversaries or birthdays, jewellery is always a popular gift item. Gold jewellery is made from 14-karat, 18-karat, 22-karat, or 24-karat gold. What’s the difference between them? What do you know about the metal refining process that brings about such beauty and quality? In the dictionary, “Refine” means to reduce to a pure state, to free from moral imperfection, to improve by pruning or polishing, and to free from what is coarse, vulgar, or uncouth.
In the Bible, every great man and woman of God goes through the refining and purification process in the furnace of affliction, to become pure vessels greatly used by the Lord. The same refining process is still being carried out by Almighty God for the preparation of His servants in today’s Kingdom work.
Pastor Monica de Silva went through the furnace of affliction and purification in her early years which has prepared her for the ministry she is leading now in the River of Christ (ROC) Church in Kota Damansara. She is the Senior Pastor of the church with a congregation size of more than 100 members. Surrounded by many high growth residential areas like Sungei Buloh, Kota Damansara, Subang and Kepong, the church is poised to grow exponentially in the near future. With the love of God in her heart and with God-loving capable leaders and members surrounding her, the Church is sure to impact the people around them and the nation as well.
Before her conversion, she had to go through a difficult marriage, raising her only daughter as a single mum, persecution from immediate family members and was very lonely in her daily struggles. She sought out the true meaning of life with many learned people but no help was at hand to assist her. She did not get any life-giving answers to her questions about life and her deep struggles. At one point, due to her extreme struggles she had thoughts of committing suicide. But because of the love of her daughter and family members at that time, she did not do it. It was by the grace of God that she overcame that critical time of her life.
In her most difficult moments, the Lord visited her while she was in her sitting room one day. She had just sent her daughter to dance class and was at home alone. A vision came to her at mid-day. She saw an “open-sky” in front of her and as she looked, there was a huge white circle of light which came out of the sun and moved to the front of the sun and the bright light later covered the sun. Monica spoke out loudly, “Who are you?” A voice inside her said, ”I am the Lord.” She again asked back, “Which Lord?” And for the second time, the words came “I am THE Lord.” She spoke back again for the third time, “There are so many Lords? I don’t believe in all this.” But the Lord was patient and replied to her in a calm voice, ”I am THE Lord and I have come to save you.” Finally, realising it was the voice of the Almighty God, her whole body was already trembling and shaking, and she immediately fell down on her knees saying, “Lord, if this is you, the True Lord, then save me. If not, I don’t want to live like this anymore.” A little while later, she saw the white light disappeared into the sun. After many years as a believer, she came to understand that the shining bright light was the “shekinah glory” of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord in His mercy sent her younger sister Agatha from the United Kingdom to visit her in Kuala Lumpur. Agatha was studying for her Masters program in the UK and she became a born-again believer while in the United Kingdom. By divine intervention, she was back home in Kuala Lumpur to comfort her. She shared the Gospel to her and took her to attend many evangelistic meetings. It was in one of those meetings, at the age of 33, she gave her life over to her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It was also the first time she owned her first Bible.
After becoming a born-again Christian, her heart was to serve irrespective of the circumstances around her. In her early Christian walk, she and her daughter would travel to Seremban to serve in a church there. The Lord moulded her in different ministries and leadership positions in the church. Later she had also travelled on weekends to Kuantan for 6 years to run a church there while at the same-time holding a full-time job in a local bank. Through it all, she had no weekends and public holidays. Weekdays working in the bank and weekends ministry work. In 1992, she was ordained as a Pastor and few years later was promoted to be the Senior Pastor.
At the time of writing, Monica in her sixties now, is able to look back at her life and says, “The Lord is faithful and good.” Her own mother who was against her in her faith became a “born-again” believer. Hallelujah! Her daughter was a brilliant and gifted student and she is now a qualified and practicing doctor in the United Kingdom. Monica is now a grandmother. Her own auntie who is 95 years today and still living also became a “born-again” believer. Nearly all her family members are in Christ Jesus. Last but not least, the Lord has led her to her present position as a senior pastor of River Of Christ church, a ministry which is beyond her expectations. Only the Lord can make it all happen to someone who will not give up on Him. He will lead and guide us through all the adversities and fiery trials of life. Our God is the Risen Christ and He will lead us through like a good shepherd.
God is looking for faithful disciples and servants who having passed through the fiery trials, are stamped for all the world to see, “Approved by God.” Great people of God placed an unshakable trust in God’s purifying fire. The paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness. And the path to purity like pure refined gold and bliss in heaven is this: where there is no pain, there is no gain.
Praise God for the Refiner’s fire!
Pastor Monica has graciously given us the permission to publish her hand-phone contact no. 016 – 3306483 for those who needed urgent counseling and the Word of God.
Her email address – mdesilva36@gmail.com and the church website – www.rochrist.org
hii just a siner saved by grace