Book
Review
Title
of Book: From Darkness to Glorious Light
Author:
Lim Min
Reviewer:
Lim Poh Ann
Publisher:
Armour Publishing, Singapore.
How
God raised a spirit worshipper from the dead and used him mightily as an
evangelist—attested by signs and wonders. This
hard-to-put-down-book is like a modern-day sequel to the book of Acts.
Tam Ki (left) with author Lim Min
Tam Ki (left) with author Lim Min
Raised in an obscure village in the western part of
Myanmar, Tam Ki was entrenched in the dark world of spirit worship and lived in
constant fear of the spirits. At 20, he had a severe illness and died. He was
transported to Heaven and came face to face with Jesus, who instructed him to
return to earth to tell others not to worship spirits and to believe in God. He
was miraculously raised from the dead to fulfil this calling.
It was God’s sovereign will to single out Tam Ki for His
purpose — just as He turned the life of apostle Paul around through a blinding
light as he was persecuting believers. At that time, Tam Ki wasn’t seeking God
at all. He had no access to the Bible since no missionary had ever visited his
remote village. Despite cruel persecution and death threats from his own
people, he obeyed God’s calling. He shared the Gospel with them, urging them to
turn away from spirit worship. It was only later that he was introduced to the
Bible through a Baptist minister. God used Tam Ki to heal the sick and cast out
evil spirits. Through these miracles, many came to know God. He has planted
many churches in Myanmar ever since this life-transforming encounter.
On one occasion, a leper approached Tam Ki and asked for
prayer. His bandaged hands were soaked in blood and pus and he stank. He used
to nibble off the dead bones with his teeth as the disease had eroded his
fingers. Yet God miraculously healed this man. He is now serving as a lay
preacher in a leprosy village. Jesus who healed lepers 2000 years ago still
performs miracles today!
One evening, while the believers were worshipping God and
weeping in repentance at the church in Machung, there were shouts of “Fire!
Fire!” Non-believers came rushing to the church with buckets of water. They had
seen huge flames blazing around the church from afar. When they arrived, they
found no trace of fire. The Holy Spirit was manifesting Himself so mightily
that the church seemed to be on fire.
So many other miracles were recorded, including Tam Ki’s
deliverance from gunshots, how God used him to raise several people from the
dead, and how he was inspired to translate 155 songs in a hymn book from
Burmese language into his tribal dialect though he had limited knowledge of
Burmese. These stories are bound to bolster your faith and drive you to seek
God more.
Author Lim Min, a Singaporean city girl, braved
incredible odds traversing mountainous terrain to reach Tam Ki’s village of
Machung to gather first-hand information and to verify the facts. Through
extensive research and interviews with more than 30 people, corroborating
different accounts, she managed to piece together a compelling story.
She did an amazing job of sharing with the English-speaking
world how God can use a primitive tribesman for his work. Her passion can be
seen in the fact she resigned from her full-time job to devote herself entirely
to this project for over 14 months.
Tam Ki and Lim Min were in Malaysia in June recently to
promote this book among the churches. The former also ministered to Myanmar
church members. This reviewer asked them, “Why don’t we see many of these
miracles in Malaysia and Singapore?” Tam Ki replied, “The believers in Myanmar
are poor and can only depend on God to provide for their needs or heal them;
they have no choice but seek Him and cry out to Him.” Lim Min replied,
“Believers in more advanced countries are ‘comfortable’ and tend to be less
passionate about seeking God.”
Have we become too “sophisticated”, instead of being
simple and child-like in our faith? Or has complacency taken over spiritual
hunger?
“My job in the pharmaceutical line required me to be
extremely meticulous and this quality helped me a lot while I was doing
research for this book,” she added. “Hopefully, this account of Tam Ki’s
conversion and his 37 years of ministry — with signs and wonders following —
will encourage readers to seek and serve God earnestly.”
From Darkness to
Glorious Light is
available through the local distributor, Canaanland.
The above article was first published in
Asian Beacon magazine, Aug 2011, issue 43.4
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