There are many things I could share about relating to Dr Stephen Tong, so much so that I could (and am thinking of) write a book on my experiences in working with him for the past 6 over years. With regard to the Hebrews expository preaching, I shared the following broad themes:

1. Learning
All the previous speakers shared on how much they have learned from Dr Tong's exposition. Some said that their eyes were opened to the errors in biblical interpretation, some said that they became more spiritual and have greater appreciation of the WORD. But among all, I must have been the one person who had benefited the most from the ministry. This is because, unlike some in the congregation, the translator can never fall asleep while translating. He would literally hear every single word, and then understands it before repeating it in another language. Therefore, the concept and sentence would pass through his mind not once, but twice. In my case, the added translation of the transcript means that I would revisit the content for the third time.

Like many, I have become more convicted that the Bible indeed is the revelation of God Almighty, and now views my life as something meant for the purpose of God. From the way Dr Tong preaches at length at only 1 verse and still is able to captivate the audience, one becomes completely convinced that there are so much to learn from the WORD, and gets a sense of awe on the power of God's WORD.

But more than others, I also get to feel the fervency and urgency of Dr Tong. A good translator must feel as the speaker does, and not only translate with technical accuracy, but also translate the emotional messages as well. So I find myself facing many sleepless nights on Sundays, because the power and impact of Dr Tong's messages would continue to reverberate in me long after I have reached home. While standing beside him, I could feel the passion and complete dedication to the cause of our LORD Jesus Christ radiating from this servant of God. There have been great sense of elation, of joy, of awe; but also moments of great sadness and grieve over the state of the church and humanity. These are all difficult burdens to bear, and I found myself staring into the darkness very often rethinking about what the Spirit had taught me during the translation that happened just hours before.

2. Faith
I have been involved in traditional ministries and local charitable causes for many years. In all my past experiences, everything involved complicated planning processes. The typical responses to anything have been "lets form a committee", followed by "where's the money?"

When I was asked by Rev Thomas Koh (STEMI's chairman then) to consider doing translation for the Hebrews expository preaching, I wanted to know what the length of commitment was. Rev Koh said he does not know, and I should ask Dr Tong. Knowing that Dr Tong took many months to finish a few verses in his home church, I asked him the same question, and he replied that he does not know either, because the Spirit did not tell him. "We move by faith because we know this is what the Spirit is leading us to do", he said. I was skeptical about such a way of doing ministry, but since he asked, I agreed but really wondered how we could proceed, given the many ups and downs of life, and Dr Tong's poor health back then.

I was to find out later that this is the way STEMI (Stephen Tong Evangelistic Ministry International) moves. Dr Tong and his co-workers would often be gathering around, and someone would say that he has been told of a certain need in Europe or wherever. Dr Tong would say that we should pray about this. Some broad discussions would go on, but I have never heard anyone talk at length about fundraising or how to proceed without funds. Lo and behold, they would declare that Dr Tong would travel to Europe or wherever to conduct a series of gospel rallies, theological seminars and the like. There would be minimal working committees (if at all), little time spent fretting over money (if at all); just this sense that if the LORD led us thus far, "things will be done" (which is a common Mandarin phrase STEMI co-workers use all the time). This was the way the two Singaporean rallies were organised and conducted (in 1998 and 2001).

Dr Tong himself illustrated this amply the same evening. After my sharing, he came forth to speak about the recent Jakarta rally. He said that some of his committee members back home kept telling him that there is not enough money to meet the US$600,000 budget for the Jakarta rallies. And two weeks before the rally, they had barely one tenth of the required amount, and some committee members were very anxious, and kept saying they don't know what to do with no money. Dr Tong challenged them to think about what to do with excess money instead. He said its only fair, since we do not know the outcome as yet and have spent so much time fretting about not having enough money, we should also spend the same amount of time fretting about having too much money. And as proven in practically all his projects dedicated to the LORD, the Jakarta gospel rally ended up with a collection of more than US$650,000; so they had excess and have to think about what to do with the excess money.

In the same manner, I have experienced incredible events enabling me to fulfill my commitment as a translator for the past 3 over years. Appointments were postponed, overseas travels cancelled by other events, essentially doors simply opened for me to continue week after week. We did not stop even in the midst of the SARS crisis, when so many people advised Dr Tong to stop. People even became weary of me, because I translate for him and he traveled to Hong Kong and Taiwan regularly. A church that invited me to speak actually arranged for people to ensure that my temperature was taken because I was Dr Tong's translator. But through it all, Dr Tong had great faith that God would not want us to stop the preaching, and he continued to travel the cities, and we continued to put our faith in God to see us through. In the end, I only missed one session due to reservist duties. I have truly learned to trust God more, and to rest in the knowledge that if the ministry is His ministry, then He will surely provide.

3. Attitude
The third and last area I would share would be in learning about the correct attitude in ministry. I have never, ever seen a man work so hard for the cause of our LORD Jesus Christ as Dr Tong does. This is perhaps the greatest lesson I have learned from him. His ministry is like one where a person gives himself up to be burned up like a candle for the LORD. Witnessing the way he works is awe-inspiring, and often times worrying.

During one of the session, he was coughing as usual into pieces of tissue paper. To my horror, I saw blood on the tissue paper (found out later that it came from over straining his vocal chords through excessive coughing). I immediately slowed down deliberately in translating so that he can have some time to rest. I scribbled on a piece of paper "Do you want to take a break?" and slide it in front of him. To my great surprise, upon seeing the note, he spoke even faster with a greater sense of urgency.

When he is on stage and delivering God's message, Dr Tong truly gives his all, so much so that it would seems that he is preparing to die preaching on stage. He is completely focused on the task at hand, at the seriousness and sacredness of being the spokesman of God and the prophetic ministry he has been entrusted. Nothing else seems to matter, nor would anything stop him from serving His LORD.

When I started working with him, I thought that the man known to many as the 'Billy Graham of the East' must have been well-served and taken care of. Many speakers from the west would expect quality accommodation, proper meals, ample time to rest between sermons. Not so for Dr Tong. He does not expect anything, and is content to stay at the simplest quarters (in fact, in Singapore, he stays at a room at the Pathseekers' office rather than at a hotel), eat the simplest meal if required. The only thing that seems to bother him is the spirituality of his audience (as reflected many a times by the questions they pose to him in QnA sessions).

Once, while waiting for a speaking session to start, he asked me if I have had my meals. When I said no, he whipped out a loaf of bread wrapped in plastic from his coat. He said that he took the bread after church service in case he has no time to eat, and that I can have it if I want (he said it is still warm because of his body heat!). At another occasion, he was busy talking about ministry to some guests while eating his plate of chicken rice. When the guests left, he looked at his plate, and told me he has forgotten to eat the chicken, only the rice!

The co-workers around him have all caught such values from him. STEMI is essentially an ego-free organisation, in that if one expects to be honoured or praised publicly because of one's involvement in the Tong ministry, then this ministry is not the one to be in. Every of my co-workers got together for simple reasons, and go on working all for the cause of Jesus Christ without the need for fanciful recognition or self-important gestures. It is a gathering of people with pure hearts, and a joy for me to be able to not worry about dealing with people with different agendas, just simply doing a task for the LORD.

I ended by sharing that at the beginning of the Hebrews preaching, I thought that one of the 'perks' would be bragging rights, that one day I could tell my grandchildren that their grandfather once translated for the great evangelist Dr Stephen Tong (Dr Tong later responded that he would tell his grandchildren that their grandfather once co-worked with Elder Yong!). But through the years, it is clear that this ministry is not about having known or worked with Stephen Tong. The purpose of the ministry is to re-awaken the church to the need for us to return to the WORD of God, and to serve Him wherever we are, not wasting a moment of our lives. I do see God's hand clearly in this ministry, and do pray that these emails and web-postings would encourage you to do the same.

Disclaimer: This summary does NOT represent the official position of STEMI (Stephen Tong Evangelistic Ministry International), and is the personal opinion of the author, expressed without prejudice. Expressed opinions are meant for academic discussions only.

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