The Directors of Exodus East Asia Ministries, Pastors Jenny Li  and Tryphena Law spoke at a gathering of Sunshine Coast ladies this weekend, encouraging them to trust in God’s incredible transforming power and His ability to heal broken lives.

Both ladies have testimonies of the way the Lord brought them out of a lifestyle of same sex attraction.  They have firsthand insight and experience of the processes of faith, forgiveness and acceptance as a result of their decision to walk closely with Jesus and allow Him to guide them.

Jenny  Li is from Taiwan and spoke via an interpreter.  She shared her struggles with insecurity and a low self esteem, especially in the midst of women who were either very pretty or very feminine.  Her defensive response to this was to feel anger inside, although, she says, the truth was that she admired them.

When Jenny was 21, a classmate wrote her a letter, praying over it before she gave it to her.  Jenny was surprised to find out that God had chosen her and even more surprised to find herself agreeing to going to church.

Her first impression of church was that it was harmonious, pure and peaceful.  In contrast she felt that she was unclean, covered by a layer of dust but when the altar call was given she went forward and gave her life to the Lord. She explained that she did not understand the power that drew her.  The Holy Spirit called her that day and she has followed Him ever since.

At that time homosexuality was not spoken of openly in Taiwan and she had nobody that she could speak with.  She was burdened with a secret that she could not tell and also by feelings of not fitting in.  “I am taller than most girls,” she explained, “and had short hair so that I was often mistaken as a man.”   As time went by she found she could share her weakness with God and she would pour her heart out to him and cry countless tears saying, “Who can save me?”  She felt a strong connection with the Lord at these times.

Two years after Jenny gave her life to the Lord, she felt to read Romans 1:26 and was convicted.  “The verse doesn’t use the word lesbian, “she said, but it spoke of my life and I felt ashamed.”

She wept before Him, especially realising that this great God was big enough to care about a little girl in Taiwan’s struggle.  Her crying turned into thanksgiving as she realised that God really did know who she was and cared enough to shine His light of revelation upon her and free her from the guilt and shame that she felt inside.   She understood that she was a sinful person and made the hard decision to ‘walk the way of repentance’ which she believed meant leaving  the lifestyle that she had been in.

This decision was hard because there were habits that had become established in her life.  One day, four years after becoming a Christian, she read Matthew 17:13-14 and understood that she needed to make additional changes in her life.  She had still been attending the homosexual tea bar and mixing with old friends in the same lifestyle.  This scripture showed her that there are two ways to choose, ‘the wide gate that leads to destruction’ and ‘the narrow way, which leads to life.’

 She knew that there was a cost to pay for both decisions.  In her imagination she pictured the narrow way meant she would have to wear dresses, meet a boy and go on the red carpet (get married).  The wide gate meant not having to leave friends behind, but it also had a cost.  In the end she recognised that one of the changes held hope for the future and the other had none.  “I decided to completely give my life to the Lord and to say goodbye to my old lifestyle.”

She has walked with Him for 27 years now and believes that we cannot understand or know all that is ahead for us but that we, by faith,  can trust Him.   As Jenny continued to walk with Jesus he worked gently to counter the many negatives and the hurts of her past with positives.   She kept going to church, praying, mixing with Christians and gradually the imbalance of the past was corrected.  The Lord even gave her a vision of scales, showing her writing her name on a card and placing it on them.  The card symbolised her acts of service and the scales symbolised the balance He brought to her life through them.

Jenny believes that for change to happen we must face our inner self and allow healing to occur.   “My life is fuller now, trust is rebuilt, defence mechanisms have been removed and family relationships have been reconnected.”

I have learned that ‘nothing is impossible for God ... including my trip to Australia!”

Tryphena Law  is from Malaysia. She shared that Exodus believes that the Power of God is available to set people free and that the Church is a healing community for people who are broken.

 “We are still capable of sin, we are not immune from it and must choose to be set free,” she said.  

“Trauma affects many people,” she said, and spoke on some of the traumatic influences that can affect a life.

One type is the “absence of necessary good things, meaning those things we should receive that give us stability in our emotions.

Those who have been through this kind of trauma need sufficient time for healing.  If they have experienced the absence of enduring love relationships, who haven’t been cherished  or treasured or who have not know what it is to be somebody’s delight.  They need to develop trust and to be introduced to the unconditional love of God.

“Jenny and I didn’t know how to be healthy women, there were fractures in our souls.”

Another type of trauma comes from bad things that may have happened like abuse, rape or violence.  “There are 80-100 billion brain cells and apparently just 1 of these cells can hold the knowledge of an entire encyclopedia!  Our brain, our memory, is affected by this kind of trauma and unresolved situations can make it hard for a person to experience joy.   We have the capacity to forget from the age of 3 but the truth is that we never forget.  We suppress emotions and become numb to past events.”

Tryphena shared that the power of God, His unconditional love, grace and mercy can bring freedom and wholeness.  From her own experience she knows that the  God who has lifted her out of the miry clay and brought her to a place of Joy can do the same for others.

Jenny  & Tryphena’s trip to Australia was sponsored by Sanctuary International Ministries. Director, Laurie Jean Wilson, has organised a number of meetings:

They will be in Brisbane on Sunday 4th October, North Melbourne on the 11th  October and Toowoomba on the 18th October.
Please contact Laurie Jean on 0419 659853 or
sanctuary4u@gmail.com for more information.

http://www.sanctuary4u.faithweb.com/index.html

 

 

 

Bev Holmes-Brown lives in Brisbane, Australia.  In 2001 she began Link-Zone, a Christian Resource ministry with a mandate to “Bring the Body together in specific interest areas and to Believe and Pray for the Reformation of Values, Systems and Wisdom.“ In the last nine years Link-Zone has focussed on praying for governments, communities and ministries.  ‘We are currently transitioning,’ Bev says, ‘believing the Lord wants us to begin to tell people’s stories.  There are so many people living amazing and victorious lives for God against the odds, we want to hear from them, to understand their hearts and glean the treasures that God has laid up in their hearts for our own breakthroughs.    Of course we will continue to feature our favourite columnists and will not give up on praying but we believe this is a season where God wants us to identify and clarify the frontlines that need our support.   It’s exciting to venture into whatever He lays upon our heart. The website can be found at www.Link-Zone.net  Contact Email: bev@link-zone.net