| I Will Give You a New Heart (vol 40:2, April-May 2008, page 24-25) |
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Mother and daughter whisper secretively to each other: “Mama, you tell, Mama, you tell.” The Mama, Dina Bato Sam Bua, urges the daughter to tell it herself. This was the scenario when this question was put to Tee Hui Yi: “Mama is a Christian. Are you a Christian too?” A VIP visitWith Dina’s help, Hui Yi, 15, unfolds the story of her most important visitor at Institute Jantung Negara (IJN), the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur. “It was two days after my second transplant. As I was resting, each time I closed my eyes, I saw him. He had dark eyebrows and long curly hair. It was Yesus! I knew him from pictures I had seen of him. He looked at me with eyes that seemed to tell me, ‘I will take care of you’ and seemed to invite me to trust him.” That was probably Hui Yi’s most significant moment during her stay at IJN—a visit from no less than the King of Kings himself.When Hui Yi told Dina, she at once taught her to pray to trust in Jesus. Dina told me of her faith from the days of her nenek moyang (ancestors) of the Toraja tribe back home in Tawau, Sabah. Though Hui Yi had been in and out of Sunday School whenever her health permitted since she was young, she had not had a personal relationship with Jesus. During those heart-wrenching days before Hui Yi got a suitable donor, Dina never failed to believe that God would intervene. She could not fully describe their gratitude and joy when not one, but two miracles occurred! Higher powerWhen the doctors told her the first heart was not taking, Dina said to the doctors, “When all is done and the situation is out of your hands, there is still a higher power. He will send a better and more suitable heart for her.” The doctors prayed with her. Teary-eyed, Dina talks of her feelings when the wonder of the second suitable heart in 24 hours - a near impossibility - came upon the whole team at IJN. Fearing for the trauma of the second transplant on Hui Yi, she surrendered her to God and left the decision to the doctors.Difficult decisionTo Dina, the whole saga was a test of her faith, and it must be added, one that she passed supremely well. She looks back with deep gratitude to the mother who made that difficult decision to donate her son’s heart when she heard of Hui Yi’s plight. According to Dina, the mother of donor Chin Yoon Keong is consoled that in losing a son, she has gained a daughter. The ‘daughter’ touches her own chest and whispers softly, ‘Kor Kor (brother)’s heart.’ Both Dina and Hui Yi hope to meet her one day soon. In Batu Pahat, Dina’s church friends have been there with her through the long painful months, with prayers, donations, helping hands, and visits. Manila, Dorcas and Jek are among the Indonesian and East Malaysian friends from KBM Gereja Grace, a Bahasa Malaysia worship service, who have supported them. Their shepherd, Pastor Ivung Merang and his wife, Epong, are regular visitors and usually come with a carload of concerned supporters.Tears of joyBefore her return from IJN, a group of gotong-royong-ers spruced up Hui Yi’s big kampung home in Parit Besar. The helpers were back again as a happy throng the night of her return, each with a huge smile to welcome her home. Luggage lined the corridor like an airport carousel. Some helpers Hui Yi learns to read the Bible the next day to help Dina unpack. On 27 January, as Dina stood with Hui Yi in church, testifying to the goodness of their God of wonders, many were seen wiping away tears of joy.AmbassadressNow, lively Hui Yi is a normal teenager, enjoying school and doing homework with a vengeance. She enjoys old friends and teachers at school. Calmly swallowing a handful of pills from the big heap on the table, she chatters happily about Friendster, messaging and shopping. She gets a call from her Papa, Tee Ah Soon, a doting father to his only daughter. Though he is a Buddhist, he is often found ferrying his wife and daughter to church on Sunday. When asked about her view on organ donations, Hui Yi runs excitedly to her room and reappears with a stack of registration forms. “I’m helping IJN get organ donors,’ she says proudly. She has talked to friends at school to encourage them to sign up. An IJN ambassadress, she herself signed up as a donor while still waiting for a new heart.The real MalaysiaThrough Hui Yi’s saga, a wonderful truth has emerged on a national level: Malaysians do cross racial divides on humanitarian grounds. Muslims, Buddhists, Christians—everyone was holding his breath as Hui Yi fought to live. She is now a firm believer in the heart of humanity. After all, she had a Malay heart and then a Chinese heart. She tells me philosophically that blood has no race. Dina nods vigorously in support. MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting described the case as an “incredible Malaysian story” and said it had united all citizens of the country. The Associated Press (8 Oct 07) quoted him as saying that Hui Yi’s case showed how Malaysians would instinctively, and without prejudice, reach out to help one another. “This is the real Malaysia, where every act transcends race and religion and reaffirms the fact that all human beings are the same.” Just as Hui Yi has been given a new heart to live, may she be given a new heart to love Jesus and live for his glory. |
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