Hallelujah, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I bear testimony of the grace of God.
I am Dn. Tan Siok Kong, ordained Name is Jonah Tan. Currently, I am a member of the True Jesus Church Sungai Petani, in the state of Kedah, West Malaysia. I am now 63 years old and presently retired from the government service. Before my retirement, I worked in the District Health Department under the Ministry of Health Malaysia. I had already retired 10 years and five months. Praise the Lord, whenever I pondered over what had happened, it was the guidance, grace and mercy of the Lord. I Thessalonian 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray unceasingly, give thanks in everything, for this is the will of God towards you in Christ Jesus”. As such, whatever one encounters in one’s life, irrespective whether it is sickness, sufferings or difficulties, it is the beautiful will of the Lord.
Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those loving God, to those being called according to His purpose”. Today, each and every one of us enjoy the grace of the Lord, we are being chosen under His will, as such we must clearly understand that all things work together for good to those who love God. We should always count the blessings of God, only then we can live a life giving praises and thanks to the Lord.
At the end 2008, I was diagnosed with stage two Nose Cancer (NPC). I underwent 33 cycles of Radiotherapy and 4 cycles of Chemotherapy treatments. Praise the Lord for His protection and mercy, I completed the treatment in year 2009 before the start of the Chinese New Year. After that, I returned to the hospital periodically for follow-up and did scope tests for my nose. Praise the Lord, after follow-up for about eight years, there was no sign of relapse of the cancer. At the beginning of November 2021, I followed up with an ENT specialist and did a scope test. The result was good and I really praised the Lord. During the process of my treatments, I experienced side effects of the treatments such as vomiting, giddiness, weakness of body, could not take foods and experienced insomnia. My weight also reduced drastically, my waistline reduced from 40 inches to 24 inches. However, I gave praises and thanks to the Lord that after half a year of medical leave, at last I could return to work.
When I went back to work, I knew that the biggest problem faced by patients inflicted with nose cancer was dry mouth, always the need to drink water to solve the problems of dry mouth. At that time, I was working as the prosecuting officer of the District Health Department, so I needed to attend court cases very often. Because of the problems of dry mouth, compounded by work pressure, I prayed to the Lord and the same time discussed with my wife and children about my intention of opting for early retirement. Praise for the guidance of the Lord Jesus, I finally made up my decision and submitted my application for early retirement. Giving thanks to the Lord, while waiting for the approval for my early retirement application, the government announced new rules for the government servants who opted for retirement. The good news was that those who opted for early retirement, besides receiving the gratuity based on the years of services and they too received the monthly pension payment. Praise the Lord, I retired on the 31st August 2011, that was in coincidence with Malaysia’s Independence Day and I was indeed free from the bondage of working and achieved my freedom, no longer need to worry about the pressure of work.
Through these experiences, I deeply felt and experienced that the Lord Jesus had arranged the beautiful time for my early retirement. Proverbs 20:24 says, “A man’s steps are from the Lord, so how can anyone understand his own way?” All glory and praises unto His Name, Hallelujah, Amen.