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I was born in Singapore

My Bible: reasons to believe in the power of the Bible

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'I was born in Singapore. I was a gangster. We threatened people, beat people up, extorted money. You graduate to grown-up gangs. It was like the triads. I was arrested on 28 August 1985, for organised crime, carrying an offensive weapon, GBH, ABH.

I had 157 charges against me and was wanted in seven or eight countries. I was a Chinese gang godfather by this stage. On the Sunday morning I went to chapel. It got me out of my cell. I liked it. I wanted to borrow a book from the chapel, but the chaplain wouldn’t let me.

I was fuming. I was cursing the vicar, the bishop, the Pope, the Royal Family and God. Then suddenly, I was on my knees with tears streaming down my face. I heard a voice saying, “Kim, why are you swearing at me? I love you and I forgive you.”

The other prisoners thought I was pulling a fast one. I was put into isolation. The chaplain came and gave me a Bible. The first thing that I did was to talk to my new boss, God. I read Isaiah 41:8-10. It says, “But you, Israel, my servant Jacob, whom I have chosen….I took you from the end of the earth”. That made me feel on top of the world. I had the ten most wonderful days of my life in isolation reading the Bible.

Those verses were wonderful then and are reassuring now. I’m marking 20 years in the ministry. I wanted to share the Bible with other people because it’s like food. You don’t grow without it. It is so important.'

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