My Story

My story (for video testimony please go to the "Media" page.
I grew up biracial. My father is Singapore Chinese and my mother is Polish decent from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. I was born dyslexic so I had a learning disability and also a speech impediment. My father was a violent man and he was a man of few words and the way he would teach me and my siblings was by beating us, he didn’t explain to much.
My parents served in the church and moved to New Zealand when I was 11years old. I encountered racism because I was Asian. The school kids started to get violent with my younger brother. I started to fight the kids in my school to protect my younger brother. I then joined my first gang at 11years old.
18 months later my family moved to Penang Malaysia, where my older brother was a part of a Triad Group. I was having a fight in school when my brother called the Triad to come. They came and watched the altercation and told me they were here to watch the situation to make sure nothing would go out of the ordinary. After the alternation with the guy at school, the Triad came and asked me about joining. I responded that I would give it one week to think about it then I will give them my answer. One week passed and I was walking home from school when a car pulled up next to me, and the guy in the car asked what my answer was. I told him I would join.
I was recruited and Joined the Triad at 13years old. I was kicked out of school that year and only finished my 1st quarter of 8th grade, due to leading a gang fight at another school. Because I was out of school my leader mentored me in the triad culture and after some time he made me his right hand man, to look after the other members in the schools. By the time I was 15-16years old I had responsibility for managing a subdivision branch under the Triad group I was with. I was fully embedded in the secret society. I always believed in God but I didn’t know him at the time as personal or that he could intervein in my life.
My mother said she heard from God that I was going to get killed (I didn’t know that at the time, and I wouldn’t have believed her even if she told me). She moved the family to Pittsburgh Pa.
My goal was to come to US for a short time then move back to Penang Malaysia, because my future was in the Triads. At the same time I felt I didn’t have much choice because I didn’t have a formal school education plus having a learning disability I couldn’t see myself outside of organized crime.

While I was in the United States I suspected my girlfriend in Penang Malaysia was cheating on me, so I called my boss to have the guys look into it. He called me the next day and told me she was cheating on me and told me who the guy was.

It was actually a guy I fought before, and this guy was also a part of the triad groups and one of the rules that is among the Triads is you cannot take a members girl. Because of this I was going to settle this issue myself because of this code being broken.
After I found out about this issue, I bought a plane ticket to fly to Malaysia and get the guy. Before I left my house in Pittsburgh my mother was waiting by the door of the house and she had tears. She hugged me at the door and told me that she prayed a prayer that she never prayed before, and told God to do whatever it takes in my life to get me back to God. When she told me that I had this fear that something on this trip was going to happen. I got onto the airplane, and I had this little pocket bible that I brought with me, which I opened up and I read “in 3 days I will heal you.” I was shocked because I never read before, so I believed somehow I was reading a miracle but I told God if you take away my anger in 3 days I will not go after this guy. When I landed in Penang my guys were waiting for me, I told them I needed a few days. But in my heart I was going to wait for 3 days. During those first 2 days my anger was boiling inside of me. I wanted to commit to my plan in taking revenge, I felt that was the only thing that would calm down my anger. But I waited. When the 3rd morning arrived and I woke up where I was sleeping, I felt a tangible peace all around the room I was in, but I also felt it over my heart. The anger I had in my heart disappeared, but I felt this strange peace. It was strange because I never knew what peace was. Because I felt that my heart was instantly healed from a broken heart and it happened on the 3rd day I decided to not harm the guy I came for.

Later that month I was at a night club with some of the guys in my Triad, apparently our rivals were there in the same club. Later when the club shut down that night we went to a place to eat, the rivals showed up at the same place, and on suspicion on why they were there we attacked them and we had a gang fight. One of the rivals got hurt pretty bad. The next day I got a phone call from my right hand man (under me) who was at Gurney plaza my which was our territory. He said the rivals are here looking for you. So, I called my boss and we were going to assemble at Gurney plaza and confront the rivals. When I arrived, I was with the two guys I was with the night before, and my leader and the others from the gang was at the 8th floor at the snooker center (pool center) waiting for us to come up before we confronted the rivals.

While we were on the first floor we were waiting for the elevator, we saw guys who we didn’t know around us, and when the elevator opened that we were going to enter, the rivals were inside the elevator, they walked out of the elevator while we then walked inside, the last guy who came out was one of the guys that got beat up. When they all realized it was us they were looking for they surrounded the elevator, and we had no where to go, we were outnumbered. At that moment I felt a spirit of death, something told me I was going to die, and I could feel a presence there. That presence confused me because it was very strong, at the same time I was trying to focus on my rivals that was in front of me. After that the leader of their group started to shout, and took out a machete and was telling us he was going to hack us up. At first they were trying to get us to come out of the elevator and was attempting to kidnap us and they were saying they want to bring us to the parking lot, but we resisted knowing that if went with them there was a chance we could disappear. (Sure enough later we found out they had a second group waiting in the parking lot with trunks full of machetes and katanas) waiting for us to be brought out so they could ambush us.

In the elevator I remembered at that moment about what my mom said when she said goodbye to me. I also remember thinking I don’t know God and I was afraid to meet him, because I didn’t know him. I remembered when I was a little kid my mom said “if you ever get into a bad situation use the name Jesus.” I said “Jesus save me.”

After I said that I saw a hand in the crowed come and hold the leaders hand back with the machete. And I saw protection right at that moment of time I prayed. We were able to escape the situation.
The next day I was at another night club and I overdosed on drugs, I again felt a spirit of death like the day before. I was also having what felt like an out of body experience and I remembered calling on Jesus the day before. I did it again and I sobered up instantaneously. I told my friends I think Jesus saved me, they thought I was crazy just high still, but I wasn’t. The next day a third thing happened. My right hand man came to pick me up in his car, it was at night. Before I got into his car I felt something tell me “put on your seat belt.” I never would wear my seat belt, but I knew I was hearing something. When I did that my right hand man looked at me and said “Choby you don’t trust my driving?” I was so convinced of what I heard I told him that he must put his on also, and he did. There was another car in front of us so both cars were speeding.

The car Infront of us suddenly hit the brakes and the car I was in also hit the brakes and we were going so fast we started to fish tail and I knew we were going so fast that whatever we hit we would die. The car hit a sidewalk and projected into the air, I then felt a crash. Later when I opened my eyes, I noticed my head was leaning on a pole that came through the front of the windshield into the back windshield. My friend was going through a seizure with his eyes rolled back. I didn’t know what we hit. I got out of the car and I fell to the ground with a hard drop. I looked at the car and it was sitting in a tree, snugged tight between two large branches and the front of the house hit a roof structure of this house. The ambulance came and rushed us to the hospital.

At the hospital I was convinced that God had mercy on me, he intervened in 3 life and death confrontations that I was supposed to die, and it was only God that could have saved me, and it was by calling on the his name, “Jesus” I gave my life to Jesus in the hospital that day. When I gave my life to Christ, I felt life come inside of me, almost like my soul was having breath for the first time. I knew at that moment I was saved.
I returned to the US, to Pittsburgh and in my room I had a bible but I could not read because I was dyslexic, so I asked God to open my mind to his word and heal me so I can know his plan for me. Then little by little, I started to read the bible, I could actually feel a tingling on the front of my head, I could feel a sensation in my mind as I looked and tried to read Gods word. God was supernaturally healing me. Within 6 months I read the entire New Testament 7 times, and I was never dyslexic again. During the first few months of becoming a Christian, I felt God put in my heart to quit the Triad. This was a hard thing for me to do. But I felt I needed to meet with my leader and my branch members under me to tell them about the change that has happened in my life. So I then flew back to Penang Malaysia and met with my boss. He took me for dinner, and after dinner I gave him a red Chinese envelope with 62RM inside. This is a first step and a traditional way of telling the boss you want to quit. I got on my knees and bowed down and handed the envelope to him. He asked me, “why do you want to quite?” I told him because now God has shown me a new way to live. My boss said why don’t you take the “Retire title” this is a title we have in the Triad that you are still a respected member and you did your work as a loyal member. I told him no I must come out completely, he agreed. Then he called the office, where my file is kept with my name with the Triad. He withdrew my name from the office, and I was officially out. The next day I had my last gang meeting, my right hand man called all my guys out. They met me at gurney plaza at our territory and I told them, I officially quit the gang and I met with the boss in accordance with coming out. I then apologized for getting these guys involved, because I was their leader, and many of them followed me for a few years. I also shared with them about giving me life to Jesus and that now I was serving God.

Later when I got back to the United States I studied for my GED which is a high school equivalent diploma, which I was able to accomplish. I then joined the YWAM missionary organization where I served going to many countries sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.