Testimony

I would like to begin this writing by ascribing all praise, glory and honour to the almighty God Yahweh. Indeed, the only true God Yahweh whom I believe and adore all these years is full of compassion, mercy and love! My sole purpose in writing this testimony is to declare His mighty deeds. Through it all, may the name of our great and awesome God Yahweh be glorified! There is none besides Him who has never ceased performing miracles, creating wonders and displaying His amazing work in and through those who are totally committed in following Him faithfully to the end.

When I reminisced about the many miraculous events which had happened in my walk with Him, once again our gracious God Yahweh brought to my remembrance His unfailing love through the many miracles that He had per­formed in His time.

In early March 2023, a strange encounter with Yahweh God led to the emergence of this writing. I recall that on one blessed morning, while I was praying and listening atten­tively to Yahweh God’s still small voice, I heard His gentle whisper which stirred up my spirit. Tears began to roll down my cheeks uncontrollably as the Holy Spirit touched the depths of my innermost being. These are the words which surfaced in my mind:

With tears of joy welling up in my eyes, I replied, “Yes, Abba Father in heaven, if it pleases You, Your wish is my command. Here I am Abba Yahweh, Your most unworthy maidservant is willing. Yes, I will LORD. To You, O Yahweh God, I offer my all in all. I will serve You with my whole being. Amen.”

As always, my motto is,

When I answered Yahweh God’s call to do His will, I knew through His guidance that I will be penning another piece of writing in due time. How time flies! At the time of this writing, the year 2023 is almost drawing to a close. As I recall Yahweh God’s goodness, indeed 2018 was to me a very significant year. It was a memorable year in which my husband Bong, my autistic son Brendon and I had a chance to join a group of seven church brethren to explore the Bible Land on our very first “Visit Israel trip” from 10^th to 22^nd November 2018.

Throughout our first “Visit Israel Trip,” every single day was filled with amazing surprises and unexpected mira­cles. Yahweh God in His mercy and love had granted me and my family the experience of His wonderful working power throughout our entire first “Visit Israel Trip”. Oh how wonderful! Oh how awesome is the love of our God Yahweh which He lavishes upon His children. Though undeserving we are, He has revealed Himself through all the wonders and miracles around us. My whole mira­culous encounter with the amazing God Yahweh was documented in my writing, “A miraculous journey to Israel with my autistic son.”

As of this day, my limited understanding of the spiritual realm could only enable me to comprehend a certain depth of Yahweh God’s love. His eternal love for mankind is beyond description. There is none like Him who has never failed me nor forsaken me. The warmness of His love envelopes me all the time. I have experienced how Yahweh God would embrace me in His arms as I braved through every single storm in my life. Up to this moment in time, I marvel at the numerous incredible encounters with Yahweh God throughout my first “Visit Israel Trip”.

As I ponder, one important question which I would like to pose to my readers is this: “Do you think words could express the exact experience of one’s heart?”

The answer is, “No. Certainly not 100%”. In my own experience, I strongly believe that it is in surrendering your life fully to the one and only true God Yahweh that will eventually lead you to a unique first-hand expe­rience of who He is. Having said that, the prayer of my heart for those who are yet to discover the reality of the one and only true God Yahweh is:

Oh how unworthy I am, yet Yahweh God has never ceased to surprise me with His marvellous work! He is the only true God who never slumbers nor sleeps. How wonderful He is! Our God Yahweh is an awesome God who continually works mightily in the midst of those who are willing to follow and obey Him wholeheartedly. As long as we remain on this earth, every true believer in Christ has an important mission to fulfil. We are called to be the light which shines in the world of darkness in order to draw men to the one and only everlasting God Yahweh who is our Father in heaven.

The sudden outbreak of the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic took the entire world by storm in early 2020. Everyone was caught off guard! An invisible, unknown virus had emerged out of the blue and disrupted our lives tremendously. Many businesses were forced to wind down, particularly the tourism industry which had suffered huge losses over the last three years.

Finally, on 5^th May 2023, the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 an endemic. It was a relief for people from all walks of life as many have found their lives to be stagnant and boring when they could not fly to various countries for a breather. How blessed it was when many countries began to open their doors to tourists. Many who had long been craving to soar to the skies could finally embark on new adventures in various parts of the world once again!

Thanks be to our God Yahweh for the benefits brought about by the advancement of technology. During the Covid-19 lockdown, our church was able to carry on with our weekly Sunday Worship Services via Zoom. Our hearts were grateful to Yahweh God for granting us the oppor­tunity to meet virtually for almost two years. Oh how I thank our God Yahweh for His love and never-ending provisions!

After two long years, we could finally resume our physical services in March 2022. It was a joyful day when our beloved brothers and sisters could finally gather in-person to worship our awesome God Yahweh. With much anticipation, we looked to our good God and Father in heaven for His leading each step of our way. We have learned that it was time to brace up and commit our new plans to Yahweh God. As always, our church’s Full-time Co-workers Team had several great plans for our church. With deep thoughts, earnest prayers and careful considerations, they had decided to organise another trip to Israel. Tentatively it will be a three-week trip which covers Jordan as well.

On 14^th February 2023, our dear Pastor See Chuan had sent out an email announcement to all our church brethren regarding the upcoming “Visit Israel & Jordan Trip” which will most likely take place from 24th October to 11th November 2023. In that email, it was stated that the closing date for registration will be 28^th February 2023.

We were given two weeks to seek Yahweh God’s leading on this matter. Each morning before the breaking of dawn, I would come humbly before our God Yahweh and seek His counsel. Earnestly I prayed whether it was Abba Yahweh’s will that I should return to Israel with my beloved autistic boy for another new learning experience. At last, the dead­line for registering for the “Visit Israel & Jordan Trip” flew by in the twinkle of an eye! However, I did not receive any indication from Yahweh God that I should sign up for the trip.

Around mid-February 2023, a planning committee was formed to organise a memorable dinner party to bid fare­well to our beloved Pastor Boon and Pastor Stephanie who had been serving faithfully in our church for thirty years. We are very grateful to Yahweh God for placing them in our midst for such a long time.

A total of thirty-six attendees came to the dinner party which was held at a cozy hotel café on 4th March 2023. It was a wonderful evening of gathering together for a great time of feasting, merry making, sharing, and fellowship with one another.

That evening, my autistic son Brendon came along too. When Brendon was first diagnosed with autism in 1994, his ears were tested to have super high sensitivity to sound frequencies. He could hear certain frequencies which are way beyond what a normal person could hear. As a result, he would often suffer meltdowns in public places when the sound levels proved too much to bear. To assist him in dealing with this knotty issue, the only solution was to provide him with earplugs or headphones which have noise cancellation. However, those devices have their limitations; they do not have the capability to block out the noise levels completely.

At the dinner party, Bong and I had to stay vigilant and watchful at all time. If necessary, one of us would be ready to leave with Brendon immediately if the situation proves unbearable for Brendon’s sensitive ears. While the party progressed, Bong and I were worried that Brendon might be affected by the loud volume of the ongoing sound frequencies. Although Brendon had his earplugs on at all time, never­theless the sound of the music, voices and laughter remained audible. On that special evening, all of us had a great time together as the party went on from 6pm to 10pm.

Out of deep concern for Brendon’s well-being, every forty minutes my husband Bong would approach Brendon and ask him if he was annoyed by the loud noises. For a total of five times Bong offered to leave together with Brendon if that was his choice. However, despite the ongoing noise levels, Brendon was determined to stay on. It was beyond my imagination to see an impressive, totally different Brendon under such a challenging setting. Brendon was very chilled throughout as he persevered to the end of the party. That was so incredible! A miracle indeed! Oh how I thank Yahweh God for His blessings. He had shown me His great mercy and love for my beloved son!

The following day, I shared at our regular Sunday Prayer Meeting about my experience of Yahweh God’s mighty work at the dinner party. My heart was filled with God’s blessings overflowing! Words could never describe my heartfelt gratitude to Yahweh God for watching over Brendon throughout the party. Yahweh God had shown Bong and me another miracle when Brendon surprised us by achieving a new record in coping with four long hours of non-stop sound frequencies.

In our daily encounters with Brendon, he would nor­mally grit his teeth, throw tantrums, and jump up and down coupled with loud screams when the surrounding noise levels proved too much to bear. In the worst scenario, he would run away from situations where the noise level is beyond his tolerance limit. Nevertheless, I had just wit­nessed the exact opposite reaction from my precious son. Without a shadow of doubt, the unexpected miracle at the dinner party was an eye-opener to me. Indeed, our God Yahweh is a God of miracles! He is great and greatly to be praised!

Apart from being a first-hand eyewitness of yet another miracle, our gracious God Yahweh had taught me some important lessons through it all. It is the faith lesson on endurance and perseverance which was taught by the Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 24 verse 13.

Oh how precious is the word of God. This is such a short but sweet sentence spoken by the Lord Jesus to his disciples. What a timely reminder! Oftentimes when we are hard pressed, when the going gets tough, we tend to display a lack of trust and perseverance. The word of God in this verse is a wake-up call to all true believers in Christ. Yes, a key lesson in scripture is that,

After returning from church that evening, my heart was comforted. I went to bed feeling a strong sense of peace. That night I slept very soundly. When I woke up the next morning, to my amazement, a very strong urge to go to Israel welled up in my heart which was totally beyond my understanding. It was a strange feeling which I could not describe in words. As I was calling upon Yahweh God, it dawned on me that the closing date for registration for the upcoming “Visit Israel & Jordan Trip” was a week ago. I asked Yahweh God, “Oh no … the deadline has way passed. Can I still join the trip?” The answer I received was, “Yes, I command you to join the trip! There is no time to lose! Call Pastor See Chuan and have a talk with him.”

Oh wow! What a pleasant surprise! Without further delay, I shared with my husband Bong about my strange encounter. He then called Pastor See Chuan to find out if our family of three could still register for the trip. Much to our delight, Pastor See Chuan replied promptly, “Great! We welcome your family to join our trip.” My heart leaped with joy when I received that confirmation. It was an assurance from Yahweh God that I was moving onto the path He had set before me.

A day had passed since my decision to join the “Visit Israel & Jordan Trip”. Interestingly, there was an inexplica­ble peace within my heart. That night I went to bed as usual but at around 3am, my mind became alert and I failed to go back to sleep. In the quietness before the breaking of dawn, I could hear the early birds singing some sort of melody plus the non-stop rhythmic sounds of the crickets. Together they created a beautiful symphony which was very soothing to my heart and mind. No matter how hard I tried, I could not sleep any more. My old body was tossing and turning on my bed for quite a long while.

Then I heard the prompting of the Holy Spirit. The clear instruction given to me was that the reason I was com­manded to join the “Visit Israel & Jordan Trip” was to fulfil an important mission. It was revealed to me that I will be writing another testimony on my upcoming trip. Oh wow! How exciting! Yahweh God had not left me in suspense. In fact the title of my next writing was revealed to me early that morning. With a heart of thanksgiving, I uttered a simple prayer, I said, “Abba Father, may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Yes, I have heard it loud and clear. Dear Father in heaven, the title of my next writing will be, ‘Another exciting adventure to Israel & Jordan with my autistic son’. Amen.”

Oh how incredible! How amazing! I was dumbfounded! I finally understood why out of the blue I had the strong urge to go to Israel and Jordan. I looked forward to another fun adventure together with my husband Bong, my beloved son, and thirteen of our church brethren. I believe with all my heart that it will definitely be another exciting trip filled with lots of pleasant surprises and miraculous encounters.

With a heart full of excitement, my husband Bong and I were looking forward to revisiting some of the sites in Israel once again as we hadn’t seen enough of everything during our first trip there in 2018. As I recalled, upon our return from the first “Visit Israel Trip” in 2018, the team members were given the opportunity to share at the prayer meeting about the lessons we had learned during our first “Visit Israel Trip”. I was scheduled to share on 21^st April 2019. With much joy and gladness, I began my sharing with a lovely PowerPoint slide. The title of that PowerPoint slide was in bold letters and these were the words right at the top of that beautiful slide: “Israel, I will be back!”

At that point in time, my mind was filled with thoughts about revisiting Israel in the near future if it was God’s will. Now the words came to me, “To be able to return to Israel for a second visit is another dream come true! Surely God knows the desires of my heart. How blessed I am that at last I will be returning to Israel once again! It is a fulfilment of what I said more than four years ago.”

Two months had passed since we signed up for the “Visit Israel & Jordan Trip” but due to the vast changes caused by the detrimental effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, it took much longer for Sar-El, our tour agent in Israel, to finalise the itinerary.

This upcoming trip to Israel will be different from our last trip in one important respect: In the earlier trip of 2018, we started preparing Brendon well in advance—by seven months—before we set our feet on the Bible Land, but this time we had no such early preparations for Brendon.

Surely our merciful God and Father knew Brendon’s needs through and through. He makes all things beautiful in His time! If you have read my writing, “A miraculous journey to Israel with my autistic son,” you probably would remember that our greatest challenge during that time was dealing with Brendon’s obsessive-compulsive behaviour. To give you a clearer picture, I here quote a section from that writing:

During our first “Visit Israel Trip,” my husband Bong and I were concerned that Brendon’s obsessive behaviour might act up as we would be visiting many historical sites throughout our fourteen-day trip.

However, throughout the entire trip in 2018, Brendon’s obsessive-compulsive behavior did not act up at all. What a pleasant surprise! Yahweh God had shown us many mira­cles as we saw Brendon enjoy the whole trip immensely! He did not display any destructive behaviour whatsoever. Bong and I together with the whole team felt very honoured to be blessed by Yahweh God when He granted us the pri­vilege of witnessing a totally different Brendon throughout our fourteen days in Israel.

Moreover, ever since our return to Singapore on 22^nd November 2018, my beloved son was healed of his obsessive-compulsive behaviour. He has since stopped destroying old building structures or kicking on pebbles and stones. Hallelujah! Praise Abba Yahweh from whom all blessings flow! Glory and honour be to our most high God Yahweh!

While I was waiting upon Yahweh God, at last, on 16^th May 2023, our tour group leader, brother Johnny, had received a preliminary copy of our itinerary from Sar-El, our tour agent in Israel. We were about five months away from our “Visit Israel & Jordan Trip”. However, time and again Yahweh God would instruct me not to breathe a word to Brendon regarding our upcoming trip until the time is ripe.

Surprisingly my heart was at peace even though I had no clue as to why I should not make known to Brendon our upcoming trip. All that I needed to do was to trust and obey Yahweh God who is the shepherd of my soul. Slowly but surely, I believed in due time that Yahweh God’s purpose and plans will be revealed to me for He is the only true God who knows the future. How true it is that curiosity kills the cat! I was very curious as I awaited eagerly to see what our God Yahweh would do in His perfect timing! A gentle re­minder from His word had granted me new strength each day, quoting from Isaiah 30 verse 18 and Psalm 27 verse 14 which say,

Another month had passed! The only instruction I had received from Yahweh God was, “My dear child, it is crucial for you to prepare yourself spiritually, physically and mentally as much as possible so that you may be able to cope with Brendon in the journey ahead! I will show you how to get ready for the challenges before you. You are to watch and pray, and at the same time cling on to Me wholeheartedly, for the battle will get more intense each day. You are not going to prepare Brendon in the same manner as you had done in 2018. It will be an entirely different approach this time. Be strong and courageous for I am with you always!”

I was deeply touched by Yahweh God’s unfailing love for me. He is the sovereign God who is in control of everything. As the Bible tells us in Matthew 6 verses 28 to 34, Yahweh God takes great care of His creation because He is a God of love!

Our compassionate God Yahweh once again reminded me to look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t labour or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they. And if Yahweh God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for me. I am convinced that He will see me through every trial and tribulation which will come my way. Although He has not promised that the sky will always be blue or that life will always be a bed of roses, yet His word has given me the full assurance that His grace will always be sufficient for me.

As I waited upon Yahweh God, time had been passing by quickly! We were four months away from our trip yet I hadn’t got a single clue as to what to do next. After enquir­ing of Yahweh God, I finally received some guidance from our merciful God and Father in heaven. I was told to begin my preparation by going around to hunt for some stress relief toys for Brendon. Many thanks to Yahweh God for the new trend of this century. I have discovered that the online platform is a good arena for finding anything and every­thing under the sun! I began my search by combing through a few online stores. Truly thanks be to Yahweh God, I managed to purchase quite a reasonable number of stress relief toys largely catered to the needs of autistic individuals. Oh how I thank Yahweh God for the abundance of His provisions (see the photo).

 

Frankly speaking, throughout the past thirty plus years of travelling abroad with Brendon, I had never brought along any stress relief toys for him. This is an entirely new revela­tion. I am thankful to Yahweh God for teaching me to obey His command even when I do not know the reasons behind it. As I continue to seek after Yahweh God, interest­ingly, the next items on my preparation list were Brendon’s favourite snacks such as sour plums, candies and chocolates. It was absolutely unthinkable that Yahweh God had instructed me to prepare these items for Brendon. Although I did not understand the purpose or intention of our good God Yahweh, nevertheless I heeded His words as I went around shopping for varieties of stress relief toys and many choices of Brendon’s favorite snacks.

In early June 2023, the St. Andrew’s Day Activity Centre had its mid-year term break. As in previous years, Brendon requested to revisit the historical town of Malacca in West Malaysia. We decided to fulfil his wish and we travelled to Malacca for a short two-night stay.

But at the same time, the school kids in Malaysia were having their holidays. In recent years, Brendon had deve­loped a strong fear of young children as his ears could not tolerate the sound frequen­cies of children screaming or crying. He had the tendency to run to a safe distant in order to cope with the noises coming from young children.

Throughout the years, no matter how hard we tried to convince him that young children might be loud at times but are harmless, it did not help the slightest bit. Brendon continued to avoid them all the time. It is a daunting issue for us whenever we are surrounded by young children. The only solution is to get on my knees and plead for Yahweh God’s mercy upon Brendon.

So, what was supposed to be a fun holiday for Brendon had turned into the worst nightmare when he saw the shopping malls flooded with young children every­where! It was very tedious for Bong and me when we had to put in our best efforts to help Brendon keep a comfortable distance from all the children. On our first night in Malacca, Brendon did not sleep a wink as he was badly affected by the noisy children in the malls. For a total of eight long hours, Brendon was rolling all over his bed while uttering repetitively, “Oh … no more … no more! Oh … no more … no more!” That was the first time Brendon ever had insomnia while we were away from home. Oh my goodness! My head almost exploded from hearing those repetitive words over and over again for eight long hours!

Bong and I did not sleep a wink either as we saw Brendon in great distress! It was the first time ever that during an overseas trip, Brendon had such an extremely disturbing sleepless night. Thankfully, we were able to rule out any physical pain or discomfort in Brendon because he is able to tell us when he is unwell. Upon hearing Brendon’s in­tense groaning and his struggles through the night, at that juncture, my heart began to waver. My heartbeat increased its rate, and fear began to creep into my heart.

Under such a circumstance, I sensed that my flesh was becoming weaker and weaker as the clock ticked by. Subsequently, evil thoughts began to surface in my mind. My response was, “Oh, it must have been a grave mistake in signing up for the Visit Israel & Jordan Trip.” My heart was pounding with fear as I was afraid that Brendon might not be able to survive the upcoming trip to Israel & Jordan.

When I could hang on no longer, I sought counsel from our gracious God Yahweh. As I prayed, once again Abba Yahweh showed me His absolutely marvelous ways! In His mercy, He revealed to me that I was a woman of little faith. I had came to realise that my faith was being put to the test. I was full of remorse and wept before Yahweh God as I prayed earnestly,

Despite my weaknesses, Yahweh God is forever faithful. After that intense prayer of confession, on the following night there was peace and calmness all around us. Brendon was grinning from ear to ear when he finally returned to his normal self. After one whole night of insomnia, I noticed that he was totally worn out. Without my realising it, he hit the sack at a much earlier hour than usual. It was a relief for Bong and me as Yahweh God had granted us a sweet and sound sleep throughout our second night in Malacca. Bong and I were very thankful to Yahweh God for He had refreshed our hearts. How blessed it is to wake up with the beautiful thought of God’s love through His word in Lamentations 3 verses 22 & 23.

Finally the end of July 2023 had arrived. It was approxi­mately three months away from our upcoming “Visit Israel & Jordan Trip”. However, Yahweh God had forbidden me from informing Brendon about our upcoming trip. I had no clue at all as to why I was not allowed to share with Brendon about our trip yet. It puzzled me, yet surprisingly within my heart there was peace like a gentle river flowing as I waited for Yahweh God’s guidance. Frankly speaking, I normally would prefer to get things done way ahead of time. It is not easy for me when I have to strive hard to wait. But that was a good training for me. I believe with all my heart that Yahweh God always has His perfect plan for those who wait upon Him. He had encouraged me through His word in Isaiah 40 verse 31,

Oh how I thank Yahweh God for teaching me an important lesson on waiting. I am referring to waiting with the power and strength from Yahweh God. Yes, as I waited upon Yahweh God, I was gaining new strength each day! My spirit of weariness was lifted away and I could soar to a great height like the majestic eagle. How comforting are those words in Isaiah 40 verse 31.

The truth of the matter is that when we find ourselves in the unknown, the important faith lesson that we need to grasp is to cling on to Yahweh God tightly for He will surely lead us to where He wants us to be in accordance with His perfect will and purpose. We ought to bear in mind that Yahweh God has our best interests at heart at all time. As for me, I will obey Yahweh God’s command. I will continue to wait upon Him until He reveals to me the next step to take in the coming days.

It was a beautiful and sunny day on 28 July 2023. Brendon attended the St. Andrew’s Day Activity Centre as usual. Upon alighting from the school bus after class dis­missal, he did something totally beyond my imagin­ation. All of a sudden, he shouted out loud with his thunderous voice, “Go to Israel!” I was totally stunned upon hearing Brendon’s most shocking words! The reason was that over the years, I had observed that Brendon would definitely burst out in anger and kick up a big fuss if we intend to revisit the same country again. He would never agree on revisiting the same country for the second time. I expected him to say “Not going to Israel two times!” instead of saying “Go to Israel!”

It was a huge shock to hear Brendon shout, “Go to Israel!” It was totally out of expectation! I was striving to stand firm when I heard him loud and clear. It took me a while to believe the reality of Brendon’s uttering those words out of the blue! Oh, I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. Never­theless I gauged from his tone that he was positive about revisiting Israel. That was the assurance from Yahweh God that something good was going to happen soon!

My heart instantly leaped with excitement, but the question was, “How on earth did Brendon get to know that we are in the process of planning a trip to Israel and Jordan?” I search high and low for an answer. After verify­ing with my husband Bong and Brendon’s coaches, the truth was that none of them had breathed a word to Brendon regarding our upcoming trip. In the end, the con­clusion that I believe with all my heart was that Yahweh God must have sent these words through an invisible angel to inform Brendon in His time! How marvel­lous is our God Yahweh. He had forbidden me from breath­ing a word about our upcoming trip to Brendon in order to blow my mind away with such an incredible miracle. Oh how great, how won­derful is our God Yahweh.

At that juncture, my heart was filled with joy unspeak­able. I was eternally grateful to Yahweh God for showing me His greatness, His mercy and boundless love. My immediate response to my beloved son was, “Yes, we are going to Israel. Not just Israel, we are going to Jordan too.” Brendon then answered me with a gentle tone. He replied, “Okay.”

My jaws dropped when I heard his short but sweet reply. Immediately I felt I was totally wrong to be so judgmental of Brendon. My initial thought was that Brendon would most probably raise his strong objections to returning to Israel for a second visit. On the contrary, he wasn’t against the idea of another trip to Israel. I could gauge from his expression that he was looking forward to the trip since he had never been to Jordan. Stepping our feet on Jordan for the very first time would be a great motivation to him for sure! At the end of that day, I jotted down in my diary with a remark, “A blessed day with a magnificent miracle!” Before I dozed off that night, I made a promise to Yahweh God that I will declare His mighty work in due time.

We were moving quickly into the month of August 2023. It was quite remarkable that we were only two months away from our trip yet Brendon had not approached me to ask for any further details about the trip. That was unbelievable because his usual practice was to ask for the itinerary, particularly all the available information on the hotels we will be staying at. Certainly Yahweh God has His good pur­pose as I remember His word in Romans 8 verse 28 which says,

As always, no matter what happens I will put my total trust in Yahweh God. I continued to look to Yahweh God for His guidance. As I gazed upon the holiness of Yahweh God, the intensity of my prayer escalated each day. Yahweh God in His wisdom had provided me with the same answer which is none other than to prepare myself, watch con­stantly, and pray unceasingly as I will soon be confronted with a series of nerve-wracking spiritual warfare ahead. With much anticipation, I knew that the path ahead will be rough, winding, and full of challenges. Nevertheless, I believed with all my heart that I will be able to fight the good fight by the power of Yahweh God’s love.

I thus decided to shelf my initial plan of compiling a “Visual Travel Guide Book” and a set of “Rules & Regula­tions” like the way I prepared them for Brendon seven months ahead of our first “Visit Israel Trip” in 2018. Apart from that, the clear indication from Yahweh God was for me to hold on until around late September before I discuss with Brendon’s coaches all the necessary prepara­tions for our “Visit Israel & Jordan Trip”.

Six years ago, in the year 2017, I was diagnosed with an incurable eye condition known as eye floaters in both of my eyes. Although eye floaters are harmless in themselves, they can be a nuisance in obstructing one’s vision. Can you imagine countless tiny black dots about the size of numerous mosquitos or at times strands of cobweb-like structures floating in the field of your vision all the time? Those floaters have taught me a great spiritual lesson on how one ought to focus on the things above and not be distracted by the mundane things of this world. My doctor shared some words of wisdom with me through it all when he said, “Since eye floaters are harmless, learn to live in harmony with them.” I thank Yahweh God for teaching me to focus on Him and Him alone for He is sovereign over all!

When I focused on the lessons behind it all, my heart was deeply encouraged. By the power and strength granted by our gracious God Yahweh, I could embrace those irritating eye floaters with joy and thanksgiving. Day by day I would ignore the presence of those unpleasant eye floaters so that I may say confidently, “It is well with my soul!”

Ever since the emergence of the eye floaters, I have been seeing my eye specialist annually to ensure that the situation with my eye floaters does not deteriorate to the extent of possible dire consequences such as a retinal tear or detachment which might result in perma­nent vision loss if not treated properly. The doctor had cautioned me time and again to watch for symptoms of a retinal tear or detachment which would include a sudden outbreak of exceptionally large floaters or a sudden and tremendous increase in the number of floaters or the occurrence of flashes of light at the corner of the eyes.

On 26th July 2023, I returned for my regular annual eye checkup. After the examination, the doctor was pleased to inform me that the state of my eye floaters was quite stable. Besides that, the retina scan report further confirmed that my retina was in good condition. However, in the course of examination, he discovered that I had a cataract issue in my left eye which required surgery. I decided to go ahead with the cataract surgery which was scheduled for 24th August 2023. Yahweh God’s interven­tion was timely as it was good timing for me to go through the surgery before the “Visit Israel & Jordan Trip”. Besides, this will give me approximately two months of recovery time before I embark on the upcoming “Visit Israel & Jordan Trip”.

Lo and behold, two weeks later, something out of the blue happened. On 8^th August 2023, when I woke up at 6 am, I began to observe some tiny specks of sparkling light at the corner of my left eye. It appeared suddenly and then faded away in a split second. I decided to wait and see if there were any other signs. While I was gazing at the sky to watch the first ray of the early morning sunrise at around 7 am, a horrifying sight popped up before my very eyes. I almost fainted when I saw millions of tiny black dots and circles together with some very thick and black brush strokes—much like the brush strokes that we see in Chinese calligraphy—appearing in the scope of my left eye vision. I sensed something must have gone terribly wrong.

I called my eye doctor immediately and he ordered another thorough eye scan for the second time within a short time frame of two weeks. True enough, my worst nightmare had become a reality! There was a tear in my left eye retina and it had to be mended as soon as possible to prevent the tear from getting bigger which would lead to a serious issue of a retinal detachment. An emergency laser surgery had to be carried out to seal up the tear. When I think of the whole dramatic episode, I thank Yahweh God for His lovingkindness. His timely intervention had pre­vented my eye from further damage. Thus, my eyesight could be restored.

Unfortunately, the retinal tear had occurred in the same eye which was due for the cataract surgery. I had no choice but to postpone the cataract surgery till 19^th September 2023.

Three days after the laser surgery, both of my legs were wobbly like jelly. Despite getting plenty of rest, I felt as though my entire physical body was falling apart. I could barely walk for a short distant. Out of deep concern for me, Bong shared with our church brethren regarding my sorry state. I am truly thankful to my dear brothers and sisters for their prayers of supplication from the bottom of my heart. I also thank Yahweh God for providing my husband Bong as my strong and constant pillar of support.

Under such unforeseen circumstances, my faith was shaken once again! How true was the great Apostle Paul when he cautioned the church brethren about the danger of falling into temptation. Indeed, my personal encounter had revealed to me that my spirit was willing but my flesh was weak! In those dark moments, my whole being was full of unspiritual thoughts and negative attitudes. These des­tructive thoughts surfaced on my mind. I was lamenting, “O Pearl, you are so weak now; you can’t even walk a reason­able distance. How are you going to survive the upcoming Visit Israel & Jordan Trip? It is better for you to throw in the towel and call it quits!”

I confess that I was so taken aback that I almost contem­plated giving up going to Israel and Jordan. I asked myself, “Should I cast aside Yahweh God’s call to go to Israel and Jordan just because of a small setback?” Oh how very wrong I was to harbour such thoughts. I wept and wept sorrow­fully before our merciful God Yahweh. Apart from seeking His forgiveness, I prayed for His grace to sustain me and to restore me once again! This is the second time before the “Visit Israel & Jordan Trip” that my faith was being put through another test.

After calling out to Yahweh God, I experienced His power in driving away my fear and doubts. The power of His love consumed me and renewed my mind. Time and again Yahweh God would caution me to set my perspective right. Instantaneously I was transformed by His mighty power. My lips uttered, “Abba Father, You have led me out of darkness and You will definitely carry me through the mission which I am called to fulfil in my up­coming trip to Israel & Jordan. I will go wherever You ask me to go and I will write another testimony regarding my upcoming trip for sure. Surely the mercy and goodness of Yahweh God shall follow me all the days of my life. Amen.”

Amazingly I was healed of my physical weaknesses, thus enabling me to go through the scheduled cataract surgery forty days later. God’s timing is perfect. After the cataract surgery, I had approximately thirty-five days of good rest before embarking on another new and exciting journey to Israel and Jordan.

Amazingly, right from the start of my decision to join the “Israel & Jordan Trip,” Yahweh God had been telling me that the main focus of my preparation had to do with preparing myself rather than Brendon. I had put my total trust in Him as I obeyed His command. I therefore made quite a huge adjustment in my dealings with Brendon. As a result, I began to see the amazing changes in Brendon. There were lots of positive outcomes in the area of behavior manage­ment. I particularly noticed that Brendon had become much calmer than before.

By the end of August 2023, my diary records showed that it had been more than a month that Brendon did not display much outburst of temper tantrum or meltdown. His coaches gave us the feedback that Brendon was not as affected by the environmental noise level as before. More­over, he had stopped using his headphones which was what I had been praying for over the years. Praise Yahweh God for all that He has done! Yay! With a heart full of gratitude to Yahweh God, I prayed, “Abba Father, thank you for Your goodness and lovingkindness. We are ready to go to Israel & Jordan! Amen.”

However, I received another reminder from Yahweh God that it wasn’t yet the time to tell Brendon about the confirma­tion of our trip to Israel & Jordan. With that in mind, I will continue to wait patiently upon Yahweh God.

On 31^st August 2023, Brendon had an enjoyable Teachers’ Day celebration with his classmates and coaches at the St. Andrew’s Day Activity Centre. Before class was dismissed, his coaches had written a good report on Brendon’s perfor­mance for that day. We were well pleased with Brendon’s cooperative behavior on such an important day of the year.

Nevertheless, at around 9 pm, all of a sudden, we heard an extremely loud bang coming from the direction of Brendon’s room. Instantaneously my heart started pound­ing with fear as I knew a raging storm had started brewing! Just as I had expected, my well-behaved boy had suddenly lost control of himself. He started shouting at the top of his voice and was jumping, being hopping mad in his room for no apparent reason. We could not pinpoint what was the cause of the sudden outburst of temper tantrum.

The next day, his crazy behavior continued on. Brendon woke up at 5am. The whole episode of screaming, stomping and jumping all over the house resurfaced once again. It went on and on until 2pm. Bong and I tried hard to calm him down but to no avail. I sensed our world tumbling down at the sight of Brendon’s crazy actions. We were absolutely hopeless as we watched our boy in despair. Can you ima­gine the repetitive cycles of Brendon’s trauma at every 15-minute interval? Oh my goodness! I cried and cried before Yahweh God and pleaded for His mercy upon my poor child.

Later in the evening, we decided to appease Brendon by bringing him out for dinner. We thought that a change in environment might help him get over whatever that was mind boggling to him. Much to our shock, when we arrived at the shopping mall, he continued to scream and jump at the food centre. Many pairs of eyes were staring at my son for creating such an ugly scene. My heart was shattered when I could do nothing to help him. Bong and I had to leave immediately in case he starts throwing himself onto the floor.

That night I wept and wept sorrowfully before Yahweh God. I begged of Him to grant Bong and me the extra measure of grace to brave through the raging storm. At the same time, I prayed that Abba Yahweh would lead Brendon out of the valley of distress. After submitting to the will of God, I experienced His perfect peace enveloping me, grant­ing me the power to fight the battle relentless­ly.

That night Bong and I were totally worn out both physi­cally and mentally. Just as we had fallen into a deep sleep, another thunderous explosion rocked us up from our dreamland at 12.30am. Our son had gone hysterical again! We heard the sound of his loud jumps in the middle of the night. We were so afraid that our neighbour might lodge a complaint against us. I quickly came before Yahweh God on bended knees. I prayed, “Abba Father in heaven, I am at my wits’ end! Please have mercy on us according to Your unfailing love. Amen.”

After that prayer of desperation, amazingly Brendon fell asleep soundly. I truly thank Yahweh God for keeping watch over us. In the quietness before the breaking of dawn, I remembered Yahweh God’s timely reminder. I must watch and pray as the warfare will get more intense each day. So, I did not return to sleep but kept watching and praying until early sunrise.

It was now 2^nd September 2023. After a good night’s sleep, I thought the battle was over. But it didn’t turn out as I thought it would. Brendon resumed his crazy acts of jumping, stomping and screaming uncontrollably. It had gone on for the third day! I had no clue as to what might be the trigger of those undesirable behavior issues in Brendon. It was the first time in the last thirty-two years that Brendon had gone hysterical for such a long duration. I was totally torn apart when I could not do anything to rectify the situation. After battling for over three days, my flesh has become extremely weak. I could hardly hold on anymore. At that point in time, once again I contem­plated giving up going to Israel & Jordan.

Just as my fears started to creep in, our gracious Father Yahweh intervened in His perfect timing. He led me gently out of the entanglement by sending me away for a walk. During that breathtaking walk, I asked Yahweh God for guidance as I was almost at the verge of a mental break­down. While I was sitting on a swing at the play­ground, I sensed my heart bleeding with an intense pain. I called out to Yahweh’s name, and our awesome God Yahweh com­forted my heart with His precious word from John chapter 14 verses 1 to 4.

A beautiful melody started flowing as I sang out those precious words. Abba Yahweh had given me a new song to sing as He lifted up my spirit. As I sang, the fear and the sorrow within my heart started fading away. Abba Yahweh had driven away all my fears. He had wiped away my tears and restored my soul! Oh how I adore Him and lift up His name on high. Hallelujah!

Those words which I sang were deeply engraved in my mind. These are the words I was humming while my heart cried out to Abba Yahweh. Here it goes …

Without my realising it, I was humming a soothing melo­dy and singing those words over and over again. Each time when I repeated those words, a strong force began its heal­ing power from deep within to drive away my pain. I could sense Yahweh God was mending my broken heart. Oh how blessed I am to be so loved by a compassionate God. I was deeply touched by the power of Yahweh God’s love for me.

After returning from the walk, I began to see everything in a different light. Yahweh God had shown me His way. Instead of throwing in the towel and giving up on going to Israel and Jordan, I said to Yahweh God, “Yes, our Father who art in heaven, no matter what happens, I will go to Israel and Jordan to accomplish the mission that You have called me to fulfil. Amen.”

The next big step I took was to mark on Brendon’s calendar to tell him the dates we will be embarking on our journey to Israel and Jordan. To my amazement, Brendon replied with only one simple word. He replied speedily and exclaimed, “Exciting!” That one word uttered from Brendon’s lips in the nick of time lifted up my spirit. I felt that God’s power had lifted me out of the pit of dark­ness instantaneously and I felt I could soar to a greater height.

I remember that this incident happened on 3rd September 2023 which was a Sunday. That afternoon, my husband Bong had to skip church service and stay at home with Brendon as we were not sure if Brendon had recovered completely.

During the prayer meeting, I shared with our church brethren regarding what had happened to Brendon over the last three days. I shared with a heavy heart. I described how Yahweh God had led me out for a walk, how He had comforted my heart through His word and also how He had given me a new song to sing. Last but not least, He had shown me how to fight the good fight and to gain victory by His wonderful working power! All the burdens which weighed me down were lifted away by the power of our Almighty God. Amazingly, while I was in church, Bong sent me a message to inform me that throughout that whole afternoon Brendon was absolutely calm. Praise Yahweh God! What an amazing God we serve!

After returning from church that evening, I received a heartwarming message from Pastor See Chuan. I thank Yahweh God for giving our church such a wonderful shepherd. Quoting what he had written:

My reply to him was,

That night my dear son slept soundly and so did Bong and I. Our almighty God Yahweh had calmed the raging storm. There was no sign of a typhoon, hurricane or storm throughout that night. To this day, we have no clue as to why Brendon went hysterical for a few days. All that I could say is, “We have won another battle by the power of Yahweh God and we thank Him for the victory won!”

The next day, I woke up at 5 am. I saw the dark clouds & the lightning flashes across the sky. I heard the thunder, the howling of the wind and the sound of the trees swaying violently. The whole scenario reminded me of what was brewing at home when out of the blue Brendon went hysterical. To calm the raging storm, I called on Yahweh’s name over and over again! I prayed, “By the power of Yahweh’s name, grant me the strength to fight the good fight! Abba Yahweh, I believe with all my heart that by Your power I will win this battle for sure! Amen.”

While I was praying, Yahweh God had reminded me of the theme for this year’s Combined Church Camp held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The theme was “Fight the good fight of faith”. Yahweh God reminded me to be a loyal soldier who ought to be fully equipped with the full armour God at all times as we are constantly engaged in spiritual warfare. With that reminder, He directed me to read the passage on putting on the full armour of God in Ephesian chapter 6 verses 10 to 18.

After a refreshing moment of prayer and reading the word of God, at around 9 am Brendon stepped out of his room with a bright smile. I had not seen such a mesmeriz­ing smile from him in ages! He gazed at me confidently and yelled, “Game over!” I was grinning from ear to ear when I heard that. Brendon had very minimal expressive language skills but he has always enjoyed playing computer games espe­cially those which involved shooting down the enemies.

To him the whole episode of being in a hysterical state was much like engaging in a battle scene of some sort of computer game in which the enemies are eradicated when the game ends! Oh, what a battle! Indeed, for my family it was a victory won by the power of Yahweh God. Bravo!

Yahweh God’s mercy has never come to an end. While I was facing the battle with Brendon’s hysterical behavior, Yahweh God reminded me of my promise to Him regarding the call to fulfil a mission in our upcoming trip to Israel and Jordan. At the point of deciding to go for the trip, I was told that I will be writing another testimony on my new adven­ture with my autistic son.

While sharing with our church brethren about the battle we faced regarding Brendon, I finally concluded that we shall go forth regardless of whatever trials and testing come our way. I wish to remain faithful as I go forth to fulfil the mission God had entrusted to me. My heart is filled with unspeakable gratitude to Yahweh God for His provisions and guidance.

Time flew by quickly. We were now approximately one month away from our “Visit Israel & Jordan Trip”. It was time to take out the luggage bags and start packing some of the travel essentials. As this old brain was getting absent-minded, I had to print out a travel checklist. Brendon’s coaches had also created an interesting and impressive “Visit Israel & Jordan Social Story” using PowerPoint slides to brief Brendon on our upcoming trip. Bong and I were very encouraged by Brendon’s coaches’ dedication to their work in every way. Moreover, they have been great counsellors provided by Yahweh God to assist us at all times.

What an amazing God we serve! In the following sect­ions of my testimony, I will share three incidents in which Yahweh God allowed some unfavorable events to surface with the intention of preparing Brendon for what was yet to come.

The first incident happened on Monday, 25^th September 2023.

Over the past fifteen years, there has been a regular ongoing weekly training session on proper toothbrushing techniques at the St. Andrew’s Day Activity Centre. Before Brendon goes to the Centre every Monday morning, he would pack his toothbrushing set which consists of a tooth­brush, toothpaste and a face towel. And every Friday, he would bring back the face towel for me to wash at home.

On 25^th September 2023, Brendon was supposed to bring his face towel back to the Centre after a good wash. But he had forgotten to do so. It was an unusual encounter be­cause autistic individuals would normally follow a rigid and fixed routine throughout their lives and they have great difficulty accepting sudden or unpredictable changes. That Monday, it so happened that he had for once forgotten to bring along his face towel together with his toothbrushing set.

It was the first time in fifteen years that this hap­pened. Normally when he forgets to do something, his usual reaction would be an outburst of anger followed by a series of temper tantrums, and he would start destroying things to vent his frustration. But on that occasion, he did not show any negative reaction at all which was rather unusual. However, I was pleased to see that he was able to break free from his usual routines. My heart was very thankful to Yahweh God for showing me a totally different Brendon.

Since he had forgotten to bring along a face towel, his coach decided to lend him a spare towel. Surprisingly he readily accepted it instead of kicking up a fuss. I was very surprised to learn that he was totally unaffected and that he enjoyed his activities at the Centre that day. That was absolutely incredible! A miracle indeed!

There were more shocks which followed when Brendon got home after class dismissal. He confronted me and said, “Mummy forgot bring towel!” Oh, those words were earth­shaking! I almost fell off my chair! I thought, “How on earth did he come up with the idea of putting the blame on his mummy dearest?” On the other hand, I was glad to be his scapegoat because he finally could regulate his tem­pera­ment instead of always feeling guilty over the nitty gritty things in life. It was a huge development mile­stone for Brendon. I was over the moon and I could not express in words how Yahweh God had blessed me with that unfor­get­table incident.

I will share later how this first miraculous incident served to prepare Brendon for a greater trial which will follow soon.

The second incident happened on Wednesday, 4^th October 2023.

As I have shared earlier, Brendon was born with hyper­sensitive ears which are able to hear frequencies beyond what normal people could hear. Over the last thirty years, he has been using a headphone set to cope with the high environmental sound frequencies. I have been hoping and praying that some day his condition will improve so that perhaps one day he could stop relying on the head­phones. Yahweh God finally heard my plea. In 2022, Brendon had stopped using the headphones. Instead, he switched to silicon earplugs.

Although he had stopped using the headphones, he would still bring them along wherever he goes as he regards it as his security blanket. The truth of the matter is that I had observed that he would often feel insecure when the head­phones aren’t with him. That is understandable because it was his habit to bring along the headphones in his bag wherever he goes.

In order to promote better gross motor skills, every Wednesday there would be a regular ongoing weekly swimming session at one of the swimming complexes near the St. Andrew’s Day Activity Centre. On 4^th October 2023, I woke up earlier to assist Brendon in packing all his swimming gear before he set off to the Centre. While I was packing his stuffs, I noticed the headphones were not in his bag. At that juncture I thought, “Oh that’s good news! Brendon had finally stopped bringing along the head­phones. Wow! God has answered my prayer!”

At around 4pm, Brendon got home from the Centre. While unpacking his bag, he discovered he had forgotten to bring his headphones to the Centre that day. That was the first time in twenty years that he had left his headphones behind. Again, I expected to see another outburst of anger because being an autistic individual, his brain could never tolerate any mistake at all even if it had to do with human weakness such as forgetfulness.

To my amazement, he remained calm and said to me, “Tomorrow Brendon remember to bring headphone. It’s okay today Brendon forgets.” Although he could not express himself clearly in a proper sentence structure, those words he uttered were enough to melt my heart. Oh wow! Such a cool and calm response which sounded like beautiful music to my ears. Totally incredible! Praise Yahweh God for His marvellous work in Brendon.

I will share later how this second miraculous incident had served to prepare Brendon for a greater trial which will follow soon.

The third incident happened on Saturday, 7^th October 2023.

Ever since the day I marked on Brendon’s calendar the dates we were to embark on “Visit Israel & Jordan Trip,” I decided to start packing our luggage bags in stages as I did not wish to wait till the last minute to put everything toge­ther. By early October, I had packed most of the essential items except for one last item, which was Brendon’s aqua shoes. I have shared with him that we will be going to the Dead Sea for a float and he will need to wear a pair of aqua shoes to protect his feet from accidentally stepping on the corals when he gets too excited with the fun floating activity.

That afternoon we decided to visit a sports supplies store to purchase that last item on my travel checklist. I was glad that in a short time span, we managed to find a reasonably good pair of aqua shoes. At last, we were all set to go to Israel and Jordan. Hurray!

That evening, Brendon suddenly had the urge to go to Adam Road Hawker Centre for dinner. We hadn’t been there in ages and we thought that his idea was great. But by the time we reached the hawker centre’s carpark, there was a huge banner before our very eyes that said, “This hawker centre is closed for renovation from 1^st October to 31^st December 2023”. Oops! What a day! My heart sank after reading those words on that eye-catching banner. My immediate thought was, “O dear God, would Brendon get angry?”

Normally my husband Bong would Google beforehand to make sure our destination is in operation before we head out. This time around, he had forgotten to do so. I guess for every happening, Yahweh God has His intended pur­pose. So, guess what happened next? The whole scenario wasn’t as we had expected. Again, Brendon did not throw a tantrum at all. That had never been his usual response over the last thirty years.

To our relief, Brendon was quick witted. His little brain worked at an incredibly fast speed as he yelled at the top of his voice. He said, “Go to Chomp-Chomp Food Centre”. For a moment I was wondering, “Is that my son? How on earth did he come up with an alternative so quickly?” Oh how good is our God Yahweh. He had shown us another miracle! Once again, He had done great things to show me that He had paved the way so beautifully. How I praise Him again and again!

At the food centre, Brendon feasted happily on his favor­ite charcoal grilled chicken wings, satays and desserts. We were so blessed to have the opportunity to detour to another food centre for a delicious and sump­tuous meal. Truly our hearts thanked Yahweh God for granting us a good time together.

When I reached home after dinner, I quickly ran through my travel checklist. My heart was satisfied that I had finally gathered all the items for our upcoming trip.

Just as I was sitting back to relax, at around 6 pm, an earthshaking news broke out. It was reported all over the news channels that Hamas had started firing rockets at Israel.

After hearing that horrifying news, it was then that I realised Yahweh God is so amazing! In His perfect plan and wisdom, He has been preparing Brendon over the last two weeks through three unusual miraculous incidents in order to help Brendon accept the sudden change in plans which will surface real soon.

The Hamas-Israel war had turned our dream to go to Israel and Jordan into the worst nightmare ever! We heard on the news that the Hamas terrorists attacked Israel from the Gaza Strip. They might launch attacks on the West Bank and Jerusalem too. Our team members for “Visit Israel & Jordan Trip” began to pray unceasingly and to seek Yahweh God’s guidance on what steps to take in view of the out­break of war.

On 10^th October 2023, I heard on the news that,

• More than 1,000 people had been killed so far in the fighting: At least 700 people in Israel, according to the military, and 687 people in Gaza and the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
• Hamas today threatened to start executing hostages if Israel bombs civilian houses in Gaza.

Everything happened so suddenly. We were about two weeks away from our “Visit Israel & Jordan Trip”. In view of the devastation in the state of Israel, Pastor See Chuan together with the Full-time team members held an emer­gency meeting in the evening to discuss what to do next. As the tension was escalating, our tour group leader brother Johnny contacted Sa-El Tour Agent in Israel for further advice.

The following day, to our amazement, we received an email from Emirate Airlines, the airline from which we booked our tickets. We were informed that all flights to Tel Aviv, Israel, had been cancelled until further notice. That was the clear indication from our great God Yahweh that our trip to Israel and Jordan had to be called off. How wonderful was God’s intervention. He is good all the time.

On 12 October 2023, the “Visit Israel & Jordan Trip” team members held a meeting via Zoom. We decided to cancel our trip, and request refunds from both Emirate Airlines and the Sar-El tour agent. After that decision was made, the next big challenge which Bong and I faced was how to inform Brendon regarding the sudden change in our plans.

That night I went to bed later than usual. Before hitting the sack, I decided to inform Brendon’s coaches of the cancellation of our trip to Israel and Jordan due to the outbreak of Israel-Hamas war.

As I reminisced on all the miraculous happenings, one of the great blessings was Yahweh God’s provision of coaches who were so devoted to assisting Brendon in every way. Brendon is very blessed to be so well taken care of by a team of dedicated coaches. Through this incident, I had wit­nessed how efficiently Brendon’s coaches worked. Upon hearing the news concerning the cancellation of our trip, Brendon’s coaches got down to preparing another social story using the PowerPoint slides.

The next day, Brendon was presented with another stun­ning social story complete with a full description of a war scene which includes pictures of armies, tanks, guns and explosions from the bombing. Brendon’s coaches were well prepared to explain to him the reasons behind the sudden cancellation of his so-called “exciting trip” due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Throughout the years, Brendon has always been aware of the terror of wars and their detrimental impacts. All along he has been a big fan of all things military. His toy library has a complete collection of military related items such as soldiers, tanks, rifles and cannons (see the photo).

Occasionally he would Google and watch video clips on wars. Although he could not express his thoughts in proper sentences, he has always been fearful of wars because he dreaded seeing many war casualties. His usual statement on warfare is, “War, very dangerous!” Bong and I knew his fear. We could under­stand him perfectly!

After Brendon’s coaches went through the social story on the Israel-Hamas war, they reported to me that Brendon’s immediate response was, quoting Brendon’s own words, “Brendon not going to Israel. War. Very dangerous.”

Surprisingly there was no sign of disappointment in Brendon. Normally when we change our plans on anything, Brendon would definitely hit the roof. He would wreak havoc by destroying his toys or shredding his books into pieces. After the news of the cancellation of our trip was revealed to him, he came home with an absolute compo­sure which was truly remarkable!

On his way home after class dismissal, he remained calm on the bus. Upon arrival at our housing estate, I saw him hop off the school bus very quickly. Then he ran towards my direction and immediately shouted, “Cannot go to Israel! War! Very dangerous!” My heart rejoiced when I heard his clamouring shouts. Oh, my beloved son was afraid that Bong and I might still wish to travel to Israel despite the ongoing war. He was warning me of the dangers of step­ping into the land of Israel. How lovely! Yahweh God had turned my fear into joy! My heart uttered, “Nothing! Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Nothing is impos­sible with our awesome God Yahweh. Amen.”

Yahweh God has placed in my heart the unspeakable joy and comfort as I saw that Brendon did not get angry when his excitement to go to Israel was toppled by the unex­pected outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war which continued to escalate since it first broke out on 7th October 2023.

A few days after the cancellation of our “Visit Israel & Jordan Trip,” Brendon started searching high and low for all the hard copies of our research information pertaining to our trip and also our flight tickets’ confirmation letters. He had gathered them from the folders left on Bong’s study table and also on my bookshelf. Thereafter he ordered his daddy dearest to shred them completely as he thought we should forget about “the unrealised trip” once and for all. Haha, that was his straightforward way of telling us that we should never go to Israel until it is safe to do so.

It had now been a week of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. On 15^th October 2023, I came humbly before Abba Yahweh and asked Him if I will be writing another testimony since the trip had been cancelled. After all, the initial plan to embark on a new journey to Israel and Jordan was to fulfil Yahweh God’s call to pen another testimony on, “Another exciting adventure to Israel & Jordan with my autistic son”.

Three days flew by at lightning speed! I continued to look to Abba Yahweh concerning His will for me in writing another testimony. As I seek to do Yahweh God’s will, it has always been, “If it is Yahweh’s will, I will do so without any reservation.”

On 18^th October 2023, I woke up early in the morning to pray. Finally, I received a clear indication from our amazing God. As I have always enjoyed cooking, while I was praying, suddenly I saw a beautiful vision of a huge round table loaded with cooking ingredients such as the condiments, the varieties of garden greens, the combination of assorted seafood, and some meat. That was the very first time such a vision related to food and cooking was presented to me.

I wondered what the implication was of such an interest­ing vision? My first impression was, “Oh, the whole vision seems like a new parable to me.” While waiting upon Yahweh God, I heard some voices explaining to me the meaning of the vision. With inspiration from Yahweh God, I was given the privilege to name it, “The parable of a new dish”.

Here is the explanation of the vision.

After hearing the clear instruction from Yahweh God, I paused for a moment. Finally, I understood what my next mission was. With a grateful heart I thanked Yahweh God for calling me to another mission. Since the day I made up my mind to embark on another new adventure with my autis­tic son, I have started jotting down the whole prepara­tion process in a diary.

How marvellous it was to learn that the ingredients such as the condiments, the varieties of garden greens, the combina­tion of assorted seafood and the meat represent my day-to-day records on the events which had taken place since I first started preparing my autistic son for the upcoming trip to Israel and Jordan. The act of putting all the ingredients together to whip up a delicious dish signifies the act of compiling all the events recorded in my diary into a writing which is meant to be shared with others, particu­larly those who have yet to know the one and only true and living God Yahweh.

As I thought through the matter, my whole idea of writ­ing a testimony on “Another exciting adventure to Israel & Jordan with my autistic son” had vanished into thin air when our trip was cancelled on 12th October 2023. Never­theless, Yahweh God turned things around when He granted me a clear vision on what to do next. I will certainly write another testimony with a brand-new title. I was full of enthusiasm as I waited upon Yahweh God for a new title of my sharing.

Just as I was meditating on what Yahweh God had revealed to me, a new title flashed across my mind. The voice of the LORD said to me the new title of my sharing shall be, “Preparation for another exciting adventure to Israel & Jordan with my autistic son.” How interesting! I was told to share my whole miraculous encounter during the course of my preparation process.

Yay! That was so amazing! Here I am, penning down what our awesome God Yahweh had laid upon my heart. My heart sang with joy! Rejoice! Rejoice! And again, I say rejoice!

I will end this writing with an episode that took place on 24^th October 2023 which was the date we were supposed to fly off to Tel Aviv, Israel.

Life had returned to normal after the cancellation of our trip. Twelve days had passed, and I thought Brendon had gotten over it completely. On 24^th October 2023, Brendon woke up at 6 am. In our original plans, we were supposed to leave home at 7 am that day to Singapore’s Changi Airport. Ever since the trip was cancelled, Brendon would return to the St. Andrew’s Day Activity Centre as usual. While I was preparing break­fast, I heard the sound of sobbing coming from Brendon’s room. Besides the sobbing sound, I heard the sound of him destroying some of his toys. It took me a while to connect the whole episode of his sobbing and destructive behavior to his deep regret or disappointment for not having the chance to fly to Israel on that day.

As I opened his door, I caught a glimpse of his sadness through his teary eyes. It was a sorrowful morning for my dear son but thanks be to Abba Yahweh, it lasted only ten minutes. Over the last thirty years, we have seen on several occasions that Brendon would cry uncontrollably for at least forty minutes for reasons unknown to us when­ever he found himself in a situation too overwhelming for him. Each time that happened, Bong and I would put in our best efforts to console him but our approach never worked. All that we could do was to leave him alone to cry his heart out. I was very surprised that on that particular morning he did not cry as loud as it had always been, but merely sobbed for a short ten minutes.

After sharing the whole episode of Brendon’s unusually gentle sobbing with his coaches, they told me that a week earlier during his class activities, a couple of times Brendon requested to review the social story that his coaches had created regarding the Israel-Hamas war. They guessed it might be because he wanted to con­vince himself thorough­ly that it was a reality that he could not go to Israel unless the war ceases and it is safe to go there.

I am thankful to Yahweh God that Brendon did not pent up his emotions. Instead, he had a good time of weeping and finally we could close another chapter of our life with thanksgiving to our everlasting God and Father in heaven.

Before I close this remarkable chapter of my life, I must say it again that our God Yahweh is a God of miracles! He is the one and only true and living God whose love for mankind is beyond measure. I have been richly blessed by Him in each step of my life as I raise up my autistic son. With each miracle I have experienced come the blessings which to me were beyond words. The only thing I am always ready to do in showing my eternal gratitude to Yahweh God is to channel all the blessings I have received through declaring to the world that Yahweh God is real.

May you be blessed with the riches of His blessings as you seek Yahweh God with all your heart. Shalom! Peace be with you.