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God's Little Angel

Joe and Joson

When we found out our daughter Chloe, was born with a rare genetic disease called “Angelman Syndrome”, our world fell apart. We kept asking the same question -- “Why her? Why us?”. Despite being baptised believers for many years, our souls felt empty, and we slowly abandoned our faith.

However, God did not abandon us. Joson’s sister, Joanna invited us to Saddleback Hong Kong (“SBHK”). Here, we experienced God’s love and forgiveness through the warmth and love shown by brothers and sisters. Indeed, love -- something that we’ve missed and hence been yearning for -- has never left us.

Since then, our lives have been transformed emotionally, physically and spiritually. We became more open to share with God and the people around us. Our relationship with family improved significantly. We grew much stronger in faith and love. We can really feel that God is leading us on this journey battling with Chloe’s condition, which, we have come to realize, is not a misfortune but a blessing to us. We love her dearly, but so does our Heavenly Father, who gave her to us in the first place!

We felt called to establish an organization where we could share our knowledge and experience with other families struggling with Angelman Syndrome. However, we faced many setbacks in terms of time, energy, resources, finance and, many disheartening comments from others. We wanted to give up so desperately but God stepped in once again. The Holy Spirit reminded us through Pastor Rick’s sermon series “Daring Faith” that true faith requires taking certain risks, getting outside of our comfort zone to face challenges but also,trusting that God will lead and guide us. Our hearts finally found peace and comfort as we felt more convicted that founding a support group for Angelman families was what God has called us to do.

We began to witness God’s work slowly. It’s estimated that there are a few dozens of people in Hong Kong with Angelman Syndrome across various age groups, but most of them have isolated themselves from society, making them hard to reach. We tried to connect with them in various ways and through much God-given strength and perseverance, we managed to find our first Angelman family. We still remember vividly our first meeting. We hugged and shared heart-to-heart. It felt like we knew each other for a long time but somehow fell out of touch. It is this real and amazing feeling that keeps us hanging on to our calling as it made us realize that God is always faithful to those who faithfully follow His ways.

Thank be to God for we got the chance to share our testimony on Angelman family at SBHK and on Facebook in 2015. In October of the same year, under God’s provision, we founded Hong Kong Angelman Syndrome Foundation with a group of people who share the same conviction with us. This year, we plan to further promote this Foundation through social media and public events to raise awareness of this Syndrome and gather support for the families suffering from it. May God continue to use us and the Foundation for His purpose to seek out and love more of these little children.

How big is your faith to accomplish God's purpose for you?

“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” - Mark 9:23

Saddleback Church HK | 27-03-2016 |