Testimony
By Tily
In my journey as a Christ-follower, God has answered countless prayers and shown His grace through miracles. But I would say that one of the most marvelous thing that has happened is my recent experience with the application to obtain Singapore citizenship.
I have lived in Singapore for 19 years and had set up family here. This was where I also grew in my faith as a Christian and learnt to trust Him in my daily life. It had been my long-time desire to obtain citizenship. In December 2018, I submitted the application. Based on the usual pattern of procedure, applications can take from 6 month up to 1 year to be processed and approved. So I was patient over the initial period. However, as time went and the wait dragged on, I could not help feeling impatient and anxious. I prayed and asked God to grant me the application approval. As I prayed, I was led to recall a time when I was at a church camp. The camp speaker had shared her testimony about seeking God in prayer over something that was very important to her church. She had boldly asked God for the answer to come in a form of birthday present, and it was miraculously granted. I deeply wanted the same blessings, and I asked God wholeheartedly for the citizenship approval as a birthday present. That was 10 months ahead of my actual birthday. I trusted God heard my prayer, and I was confident of God’s faithfulness.
In June 2020, I heard from an ICA officer. He wanted additional documents to be presented; I submitted what was requested. Then I waited. Another three months passed with no news. At the end of September, a senior officer informed me to submit a particular document. But I realised that I had carelessly discarded that document during the COVID-19 circuit-breaker season! I wrote to the officer and explained to him what had happened, and to obtain a certified true copy of the document would take at least 14 days, if not more. Remarkably, the officer called me upon receiving my mail, and I took the opportunity to share with him my desire for approval to the application. In fact, I also revealed to him that I prayed endlessly for God to let my application be approved as my birthday present this year. As we spoke, my birthday was just 5 days away. The officer very kindly acknowledged my concern, adding he would do his best to expedite the process.
Our God is faithful and never lets His children down. I enjoyed a fabulous birthday on 3 October, celebrating with my family. In my prayer, I continued to trust God for the approval. In the afternoon of Monday 5 October, I found an email from ICA. I read it and it was a Letter of In-Principal Approval of my citizenship. The letter was dated on 3 October. It was the exact date of my birthday! I was filled with such joy and gratitude I could not stop giving thanks to our Father in Heaven! God is Great. He is faithful to hear my simple prayer. He made what seemed impossible, possible. As I looked back, I know that God had made the way, even in sending the right people to help in the process.
Our God is faithful. If you are waiting on an answer to prayer, don’t give up waiting. Don’t give up believing! Don’t be afraid to ask our heavenly Father. He is able and can be trusted!