21 January 2005----A Tsunami Story.

Hi. I hope that your day is going well. I was just surfing through all the messages I was getting on Multiply, when I got one from the friend of one of my close contacts in my network on my blog. I have been hugely mad about what seemed to be a pitifully small response by the world community in the beginning for the helpless victims of the tsunami and earthquake catastrophe in the Indian Ocean area.

I am not going to go into the justice of how impoverished these people are, are the role of political corruption by their own governments or how their own cultures keep the people in that part of the world in deep poverty, or about the role of neglect by wealthy nations, or the harmful side effects that may occur as a result of globalization or trade protectionism. I'm going to even not talk about the issue of where God was when all these people were slaughtered, their homes, villages, even their whole livelihoods were destroyed, or when the orphan children of the disaster have been kidnapped and sold into sex slavery. That is for another time.

What I am going to do is pass along to you a story that, thankfully, was representative of more people than anyone can imagine. The point of the story is that God was not absent at all, and for more people than you may imagine. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's The Sun Times had an astounding account of two sisters, who were businesswomen on a vacation/holiday trip to Patong Beach on Phuket Island, Thailand on the day of the tsunami. Rather than relate the story, I'll just download their own account of their experience. One thing about it, the way God caused them to be able to hear his voice enabling them to survive a direct strike by the tsunami is something very controversial. However, I think that you will have to come away with questions about the supernatural that you may never have thought about before. So, here is the story, with the link to the The Sun Times included.


TESTIMONY OF CHUNG ENG LEE AND JUNE LEE

Friends, this is one story of two survivors of the tsunami tragedy. Read on and be blessed!You can read more about Chung Eng Lee and her sister June's account inthe Sun Daily online at http://www.thesundaily.com/article.cfm?id=6729

Jesus Saved Our Life - Testimony of Two Malaysian Sisters

It is definitely a blessing from the Lord that I could still writethis e-mail and wish you all A Happy New Year. It has been almost 13 days since the bad episode that almost took my life. Ever since I returned, and since The Sun newspaper carried the news of our survival, I have been getting calls and sms wishing for my speedy recovery. I have to admit that I have not been responding to any calls as I was/am still recovering. Most of all, I personally want to thank all of you for your encouragement. The whole experience has been shocking, but if anything good that has come out of it, is that my personal faith, walking with the Lord has definitely soared higher, and that He has spared my life to live again. I am better; my injuries are nothing, just some cuts and bruises on my head and leg through broken glasses and the knock against the glass door.

Unfortunately others have not been so blessed. The pictures in papers and on TV gave a clearer picture of the death and destruction ~indeed all of it was not a movie, but it was the actual scene whichtook much life away.....Therefore, to those who have been contacting me, I am taking this opportunity to write and tell you my experience. You will also hear mementioning about Jesus, and how miraculously HE saved me and my sister from death. Please note that this is my personal experience which I have encountered during the tragedy. All glory to Jesus.

25TH DECEMBER 2004- 8:00 p.m...
The night before the incident, around 8:00 p.m., both my sister and I were walking down the streets in Phuket, Thailand. I had this sudden urge to sing a Christian worship song which I have not sung for a long, long time. So, as I was walking I sang the chorus over and over again. During our walk, my heart felt uneasy. I told my sister of my uneasiness ~ and she asked me to pray in tongues to the Lord. I did understand how merciful God is, because HE tried to prepare/warn me about the tragedy. The song is entitled "STILL."

This is the Chorus: WHEN THE OCEAN RISE AND THUNDER ROARS
I WILL SOAR WITH YOU ABOVE THE STORM
FATHER, YOU ARE KING OVER THE FLOOD
I WILL BE STILL - KNOW YOU ARE GOD.

26TH DECEMBER 6:00 AM...We were supposed to check out from one hotel and check in to another at 12:00pm on 26th December 2004. There was no reason for us to wakeup so early since it was our much deserved holiday, but on that 26th December at 6:00a.m. both my sister and I (who were sleeping on separate beds) felt as though someone was waking us up. I thought my sister woke me up to pray, as she normally would, but I thought, "can't be" as it was still so early. Little that I know, she felt it, too, and she had the same thought. I then opened my eyes and looked at her, and realized that it was not our own doing. We were not scared, and concluded that the Lord wanted us to wake up to pray. So we did just that, and later checked out way ahead of time.

26th DECEMBER 2004 9:30 a.m. -10:00 a.m....We dragged our luggage and walked along the street towards the hotel. We arrived at the next hotel around 9:45 a.m. As soon as we handed ourcheck-in slip to the receptionist, we saw people were running frantically away from the beach towards the hotel. The moment we turned our head and look in front, we saw a huge big 30ft high wave come crushing through the glass door of the reception. It was so scary, as the height of the wave covered the blue sky, the whole area was darkened.

We were inside the reception area - there was no place to run as the wave crashed mercilessly towards the glass door. We could hear loud noises from the shattered glass, and in a split second the reception area was filled with the sea water. The water rose to our necks and we were swept against another glass door. The glass door", is just that; second the reception area was filled with the sea water. The water rose to our necks and we were swept against another glass door. We were clinging onto each other, the water swept through us and we went under the water. My mind went blank; I gulped some sea water - that was all I could remember. Somehow, somewhere in the middle of it, as everything happened so fast, we managed to cling onto a wooden pillar. At that precise moment, all we could do was to just pray. I left everything on earth at that point in time, my family, my loved ones, my business, my friends, everything... There was nothing or no one I could cry to, except to GOD ~ and I did just that. I took out all the knowledge that I learned during my Bible Class called Deeper Life Seminar conducted by Pastor Vernon Falls. I remembered that he always told us to pray in tongues even more when are in trouble. That was the only knowledge that I had and could use then.

We were looking at the disaster, trying to comprehend, but it was chaos. Cars were crashing through the building, gas tanks were leaking, roofs were tumbling down, people were screaming. We knew dead bodies were everywhere. All I did was pray and pray, and all I knew was to hold my sister tightly to me so that we will not be separated by the strong wave. Approximately seven minutes later, the second, much stronger wave came and swept us again. I am really amazed that I didn't cry, nor had any panic attacks at the time. I still knew what to do.

In fact, there was this Thai lady who was clinging onto my sister so hard because she could not swim. She was screaming away. In times like that, I don't know how I can still think. I raised my voice at the Thai lady, so that she could hear me and asked her to stop screaming and not to panic. I told her to calm down and just pray. I saw how she held on to my sister, and I was worried for my sister in case her weight might have pushed my sister under the water. So I said, "Don't scream, don't panic, and don't hold her so tight. It is okay, everything is going to be fine."

All I did was pray and pray, and all I knew was to hold my sister tightly to me so that we will not be separated by the strong wave. Approximately seven minutes later, the second, much stronger wave came and swept us again. I am really amazed that I didn't cry, nor had any panic attacks at the time. I still knew what to do. In fact, there was this Thai lady who was clinging onto my sister so hard because she could not swim. She was screaming away. In times like that, I don't know how I can still think. I raised my voice at the Thai lady, so that she could hear me and asked her to stop screaming ~ and not to panic. I told her to calm down and just pray. I saw how she held on to my sister, and I was worried for my sister in case her weight might have pushed my sister under the water. So I said, "Don't scream, don't panic, and don't hold her so tight. It is okay, everything is going to be fine."

My sister has always been very strong in her devotion with the Lord. She knew that she had to save the Thai lady by asking her to accept the Lord as her Saviour. I know you will think it is crazy to do so in times like that, but in Christianity, we believe that eternal life begins when you receive Jesus and we believe that when you accept Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you automatically go to heaven. And because of that, my sister knew our situation then was life and death and that she felt that if anything should happen to the Thai lady, at least she will end up in heaven. It was really amazing in a crisis like that, that my sister could lead the Thai lady into prayer to accept Christ. The Thai lady accepted Christ there and then, and she joined us to pray loudly crying out to the Lord, commanding the seawater to calm down and stop the wave from coming, in Jesus name!" Our prayer felt stronger when the three of us prayed in agreement.

After the second wave, we took the risk to swim across to a staircase. When I was up at the balcony, the whole disaster hit me, only then I started to cry, and the fear was overwhelming. There were about 20 foreigners at the balcony ~ everyone was in shock, people were crying,and blood was everywhere. My sister only suffered some bruises, whileI had a deep cut on both my feet. It was painful, but the shock was unbearable. I could not take my eyes away from the sea, worried that the third wave will attack us again. At the balcony I was still holding on to a pole, while my sister went around praying for others, telling them that Jesus will keep us safe from harm. I knew she meant well, she didn't care about her own safety. She knew if anything happened to us we will go to heaven ~ BUT she was more concerned for the others. She also wanted them to go to heaven. She kept telling them about Jesus and she prayed for all of them.

When she prayed in Jesus' Name, some appreciated her and accepted Christ there and then, while others was calmer after the prayer. She didn't allow me to cry, and she told me to keep praying in tongues and worshipping the Lord, and I did nothing but just that. Later when she was next to me, I then asked my sister in my choking voice, "CanI sing a worship song?" She looked at me helplessly and said, "ok, you sing to the Lord"

...Tears kept flowing down my cheeks. I sang, "When the oceans rise and thunders roar, I will soar with You above the storm; Father, You are King over the flood, I will be still and know you are God." Right after I sang that song, my sister looked at me and quickly said "That's right!! That is what God is trying to tell us. He is the King over the flood and He is asking us to be still and know that He is GOD ~ and He will oversee the whole situation." June continued saying, "God was trying to prepare us before the tragedy; that is why He gave you the song to sing last night, and that is why He woke us up earlier this morning, so that we could leave the room. If not we would have been trapped." I listened attentively, nodded my head, still crying and agreed that everything she said made sense. The sudden feeling of God's presence and His greatest love just flowed in my heart and immediately I had peace. And fear just left me. I felt the Lord was telling me, "Don't worry, everything is going to be over and the wave will not come near you anymore." True enough, there was no third wave. The sea water subsided, the rescue team began to search and rescued all of us.The ambulance took me to the nearby hospital as I was badly cut and could not walk. There were neither aftershock nor a third tidal wave, but the town was in chaos. The hospital that we were at, was in chaos condition. They could not treat me, but only offered me a bandage.

As we were walking to look for a shop, my sister realized I could not walk and I was still bleeding due to the deep cuts. She asked me to wait for her, while she proceeded to look for a shop to get me a pair of sandals. While waiting for her, people were again seen running towards me. The police were making some announcement in their local language. I could not understand. I thought I lost my sister, but thank God she came out looking for me, and we found each other in the midst of people running for their lives. We asked one of the locals, and we were told to run to the mountain as there could be an "after shock" and the possibility of a greater damage. I felt the tense again. We walked as fast we could, but we have no idea where to. Later, we stop a van and the driver dropped us near a hill top. We reached the mountain and we saw a bungalow belonging to a local. There were many foreigners seated along the road side. My sister told me to find a quiet place so that we could pray. We found this little corner at the side of the bungalow.We sat down and started to pray. The place we were resting overlooked the sea. I hated the sea then. I never thought such a beautiful and peaceful place could turn out to be so ugly, so fierce, and so merciless. I was angry at the sea~ deep in me I knew it was thedevil's work. The devil chooses the holiday season to kill much innocent life. I just could not leave my eyes from looking at the sea, crying and praying at the same time. I was feeling very insecure and was worried of another attack. About 30 minutes later, the owner of the house came out and asked us if we wanted a drink. I knew we looked miserable and dirty in our wet shorts and t-shirts, dirty sand on our hair. We looked and felt like a refugee. At that instant I really knew how it feels to be one.

My sister had earlier said to me, "Should we need to notify anyone, we could call our Pastor, and we agreed. We both walked towards the house entrance and asked the owner's permission to use their phone. We were blessed that we still had our passports and money, as we had stuffed those in a waist pouch. We knew that we could pay the owner onthe telephone charges made by us. I believe it was the favour from the Lord that the local owner not only allowed us to use their phone, they even offered us to take a rest in their place. They told us to shower, provided us with dry clothes, gave us food to eat, provided us with new blankets, and even gave us a mattress and pillow so we could be more comfortable. We were the only two among the many foreigners that were given such treatment by that owner. The rest of the victims were left waiting and camping along the roadside.

The two hours after shock never came and time passed. We were still waiting. It was already 6:00 p.m. The locals told us that the airportis opened. My sister was feeling uneasy; she felt that we should leave the island. But we wanted to hear from the Lord. We knew God can give us instruction. So we prayed in agreement and prayed in tongues. Again I felt the Lord was saying something to me. I felt that the Lord was saying we would be flying off that night itself. If I were to use my mind to analyse that, I knew it was impossible, as everything was in chaos, and we can't even call the airport. All the telephone lines were dead. In my mind, even if we were to reach the airport, it was near to the sea and, "What if another attack hit?" We would be facing again what we faced earlier. Being up in the mountain is not the safest place to be either. Should there be an after shock, the mountain will likely give way and cause another major collapse. I obeyed what I felt the Lord said to me and told my sister. My sister then prayed to the Lord and said, "Lord, if it is Your will for us to leave", there has to be someone who can pray and intercede for us. So I asked if I could call our Pastor, and she agreed. We both walked towards the house entrance and asked the owner's permission to use their phone.

We were blessed that we still had our passports and money, as we had stuffed those in a waist pouch. We knew that we could pay the owner on the telephone charges made by us. I believe it was the favour from the Lord that the local owner not only allowed us to used their phone, they even offered us to take a rest in their place. They told us to shower, provided us with dry clothes, gave us food to eat, provided us with new blankets, and even gave us a mattress and pillow so we could be more comfortable. We were the only two among the many foreignersthat were given such treatment by that owner. The rest of the victimswere left waiting and camping along the roadside.The two hours after shock never came and time passed. We were still waiting.

It was already 6:00 p.m. The locals told us that the airport is opened. My sister was feeling uneasy; she felt that we should leavethe island. But we wanted to hear from the Lord. We knew God can giveus instruction. So we prayed in agreement and prayed in tongues. Again I felt the Lord was saying something to me. I felt that the Lord was saying we would be flying off that night itself. If I were to use my mind to analyse that, I knew it was impossible, as everything was in chaos, and we can't even call the airport. All the telephone lines were dead. In my mind, even if we were to reach the airport, it was near to the sea and, "What if another attack hit?" We would be facing again what we faced earlier. Being up in the mountain is not the safest place to be either. Should there be an after shock, the mountain will likely give way and cause another major collapse. Iobeyed what I felt the Lord said to me and told my sister. My sister then prayed to the Lord and said, "Lord, if it is Your will for us to let someone be the confirmation" We continued praying. At 11:00 p.m., the phone rang and it was Pastor Vernon. June asked Pastor and told him about our plan.

Pastor mentioned that during his prayer he also felt the Lord wanted us to leave the island as soon aspossible. That was the confirmation and we asked the owner's son to take us to the airport immediately.We reached the airport at 12:30 a.m. There was only a handful of people. None of the victims were seen in the airport except June and I. Nobody knew what had happened to us and we proceed to asked if there were any tickets to Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia. There wasn't, obviously, but the lady told us there was a plane leaving to Bangkok in half an hour's time. We looked at eachother ~ we were very surprised and quickly purchased two tickets to Bangkok. We arrived at Bangkok airport at 3:00 a.m. I noticed that the flight that we were in was a delayed flight from Phuket which wasmeant to fly off at 7:45 p.m. I had a look of disbelief and deepwithin me I knew that the Lord must have waited for us to board thatplane. Again I was totally amazed with the Lord's timing and His plan for us to leave the island. Again I had learned another lesson fromthe Lord. When HE gives you instruction ~ don't think how, just do it! Everything is possible according to HIS will.We both returned safely to Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12:00p.m. on 27th December 2004. HE is truly an awesome GOD, and HE is alive, and HIS words are real. I don't regret going through the disaster, as it has made me a stronger person, and my faith in the Lord has definitely soared higher.....higher than the tidal wave for sure. Thank you all for your kind concerns, your sms and your calls. GodBless you always.~ Chung Eng Lee(Petaling Jaya, Malaysia).