I Have Enough Money to Spend
An interview with Student Lau Yuk-keung and sister Lam Sau-yung
Never Quite Forget These Words
These words, “I have enough money to spend,” spoken more than ten years ago have stayed in the heart of Sau-yung.
Years ago after having graduated from his business management study, Yuk-keung chose to serve in a Christian organization. Since he did not mind the low salary, he told Sau-yung with contentment, “I have enough money to spend!”
Even though God subsequently led Yuk-keung from organization to organization and at last to a business firm to pursue his career, his words, “I have enough money to spend,” have since been kept in Sau-yung’s mind and she later stepped onto the red carpet with him. Sau-yung said, “I understand he is not a money-lover. Throughout the years, although he has kept changing his job from one business company to another, I have always felt certain that he would finally step onto the road of full time ministry. Early on since our marriage, my heart has been ready – one day he would return to serve God full time.”
Yuk-keung said, “Three years ago when I applied to study in HKBTS, the screening board interviewed me and my wife. Sau-yung was asked how she felt about her husband’s study in the seminary. She replied we both were brought up from a poor family, even if I gave up a well-paid job, she still could lead a simple life and needed not to worry about family finances. I still remembered her reply: ‘Regarding my husband’s taking the road to full time ministry, I have always been prepared.’ Hearing my wife say, ‘I have always been prepared’ really touched my heart!”
Being Captive in the Flesh. The Soul Was Open
In the past ten years Yuk-keung has been working in a company with foreign capital for more than ten years. While working diligently at his job, he kept furthering his studies and taking professional examinations and was later promoted to Financial Comptroller. In 2001 he was assigned to work in Shanghai. It was arranged that he could fly back to Hong Kong to be with his family every week so that he could still join church meetings and continue with his Christian service.
In 2002 in the church’s summer camp, Yuk-keung committed himself to serve God full time, and yet he still lacked the motivating force to step onto the road of full time ministry. Then SARS plague erupted in Hong Kong in 2003. After spending his holiday in the first week in May, he left for Shanghai but found himself stranded by the municipal government for fourteen days, being alone in the house without any outside contact. During those lonely days of solitary house confinement, Yuk-keung, who has been busy with the hustle and bustle of his work schedule, was compelled to settle down. He was of course worried that the epidemic situation in Hong Kong would worsen, and he missed his family members here. But it was during this period of uneasiness that he had lots of time to read the Bible, listened to sermons from the North American websites on the Internet and received comfort and encouragement from the Word of God. His physical body was like being a captive whilst his heart and soul were open to God. The Heavenly Father spoke to this quieted-down son in his quiet time, allowed him to feel the urgency of saving souls for Him and listen more clearly to the outcry of unsaved men and women in the vast field of the world.
It was in this small home environment with nobody else around that he had a most intimate communion with God and responded to His call, taking an oath to study in a seminary the following year.
In May 2004, Yuk-keung, encouraged by the church pastor and his wife, applied to study in HKBTS. Although at that time his company’s business was taking-off, he understood that there was no time to waste. He therefore presented his resignation letter and returned to Hong Kong to begin his seminary study.
Different Kinds of Adjustment and Study
The fact that Yuk-keung became a seminary student brought to her family many changes. Sau-yung talked about her adjustment, “After he enrolled to study in the Seminary, we had to lay off the domestic helper. On the one hand, our daughter Yan-yin has grown old enough to take care of herself; on the other hand, this is meant to save on a big expenditure item. Besides, I originally thought that as my husband returned home earlier, he could then do the housework and I did not need to prepare supper after work. However, he was busy with his homework and church practicum and so he could not possibly help! I was indeed upset at first but as time went by I could see that Yuk-keung had to spend more time learning something totally new to him and that surely demanded much time and effort on his part. I always love cleanliness but later I lowered my standard, spending a bit less time on house cleaning to avoid getting myself too tired.”
Since Sau-yung likes hiking and playing ball games, she trembled at the thought of becoming a minister’s wife, worrying whether her extroverted type of personality needs to be changed. It was with fear and trembling that she worked hard to equip herself to match her husband’s ministry. She said, “In the past I taught the youth Sunday School class and seven years ago I began teaching an adult Sunday School class. At first Yuk-keung and I co-taught that class, then the partnership was changed to another sister in Christ and me. When it became clear that taking turns teaching was not good for the continuity of the lesson, I chose to teach the class alone. I really thank God for this opportunity to serve. Not only has God raised the number of students to more than twenty, I thank God that I can get along well with this group of middle-aged students and feel that I have learned to minister to them. Besides, to become better equipped, I have joined a Bible Study evening course at church and hope to take some theology courses in future. But it is not at all easy to spare the time out of my busy daily schedule.”
Amidst his own busy study and church practicum, Yuk-keung also hopes to spend more time with his wife and daughter as he talked about his struggle and difficulty, “Sau-yung sometimes goes hiking with her Sunday Schools students. She always wants me to go too. But if I go, that will take up almost a whole day’s time. She also wants me to go jogging with her in the evening and do more exercises, but I just cannot afford the time. Once in a while I promised to go with her and she would be delighted. But I dare not give my word in advance, for if I fail to keep my word, she will be disappointed! I really feel I owe my wife and daughter Yan-yin a lot, and I especially feel I have not given Yan-yin enough encouragement. In the past, my company’s work and my church ministry took up much of my energy that I got used to leaving the household tasks and decision making to my wife. She always spent a lot of time taking care of Yan-yin and me so that I could concentrate on my job. Upon entering the Seminary, I am still very busy. I have increasingly reflected upon the need to spend more time caring for my wife and daughter. Although this is my strong desire, carrying it out can be difficult.”
Sau-yung found that her husband has taken more initiative to chat with them in these two to three years. She said, “In fact he also takes family life seriously and so after getting something done, he wants to take a break with the family. Recently he just treated Yan-yin and me to a Thai restaurant in Taipo, and then attended a concert together. He further suggested going with me on a visit to a Jewish synagogue and experience Jewish celebration of Passover during Easter holidays.
What One Has Got Is More Than What One Has Forsaken
There are people who always ask Yuk-keung: Do you feel sorry for quitting a well-paid job? But Yuk-keung did not feel that way. He says, “We have had some savings and as long as we do not spend more than we can afford, we have no reason to worry. Even if I was a financial comptroller of my former company, to me, money is just a heap of figures. In the past although I made investments for the company in the form of foreign currency investment risk management, I have never done anything like this with my own salary. Besides, we lead a simple life, spending modestly on our daily meals and living. God seems to have prepared our hearts …”
Yuk-keung talked about what he has gained in studying in the Seminary as being far more than what he has forsaken. “What I have got in my theological study and in the refinement of my own life in these three years has broadened my vision and enlarged my degree of tolerance, reminding me to appreciate more and criticize less. I have a greater understanding of human nature and my own weaknesses, as I have learned to be humble, and to follow God more closely in ministry rather than relying on my own strength.”
Another thing that has made Yuk-keung grateful is that both his mother and Sau-yung’s mother had come to Christ before he responded to God’s call. In these few years, his mother and mother-in-law have grown well spiritually in his mother church, growing in faith and praying for his family everyday. God enables his mother to be healthy even in her seventies, and she often offers to prepare supper for his family. The two mothers have become strong resources of support and this great gift from God is what Yuk-keung and his wife have greatly appreciated. What is more, God listens to their prayers and Yuk-keung’s brothers and sisters have come to Christ one after another. Even his eldest brother and sister-in-law living in faraway Australia have recently come to Christ with the help of Christian friends.
My Grace Is Sufficient for You
Yuk-keung said that this is really a great gift from God and that he is exhilarated. “When I am serving God, God blesses my family in return! Whenever I count God’s wondrous blessings, I really have to serve Him with all my heart! As someone over forty who will graduate in one or two months, I do not know for how many more years ahead that I can serve God, but come what may, as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Yuk-keung also mentioned that Yan-yin is gifted in music and committed to Christian ministry at church. He and Sau-yung hope to give her more support and encouragement so that she can also serve the Lord in the years ahead.
Although Sau-yung is still anxiously hoping that her entire family members can come to Christ and although in life and in the family there are unavoidably hardship and difficulties to overcome, she is certain that the Lord who called Yuk-keung is the One who is trustworthy. She said, “God will always lead us. No matter what kind of situation we encounter, we can ask for His help. Sometimes when we look back, each difficulty has been an opportunity and a lesson to learn. There is always sunlight shining through our difficulties since God will never forsake us. I always remember the words of scriptures, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”
From these words, “I have enough to spend” to a deeper understanding of “my grace is sufficient for you,” the couple have gone a long way together. To set forth on the road of full time ministry, a family can undergo tremendous struggle. However, this couple has given up a life of tranquility, to commit themselves to God and His truth.