October 2026
In His Time
In October 2020, our family left Hong Kong and moved abroad. However, our destination at that time was not the UK. It was Taiwan.
We lived in Taiwan for almost three years, and I would say those were some of the happiest years of our lives as a family. Our children made some wonderful friends there, and they also learned to speak fluent Mandarin. For our family, Taiwan was more than just a place to live. It was somewhere we genuinely loved and felt deeply connected to. Even before we moved to Taiwan, we used to visit almost every year. So when I actually had the chance to live in Taiwan, I sometimes asked myself,
“Am I dreaming? How is it possible that I get to live in a place I love so much?”
During our time in Taiwan, I have seen many wonderful ways in which our Heavenly Father provided for us. My husband, Fred, had suffered from a serious slipped disc and spinal problems for more than ten years. Eventually, he had got the surgery in Taiwan. Amazingly, the surgeon who treated him happened to be the father of one of our son’s classmates. The operation went very well.
But just eight months after Fred’s surgery, we had to leave Taiwan. It was because of the changes in Taiwan’s immigration policy, we were no longer able to stay. At the same time, we did not want to return to Hong Kong. In the end, we chose to come to the UK. For me, it was a very painful decision. At the time when I felt most helpless, God gave me this verse:
You have never been this way before.
(Joshua 3:4)
Taiwan was a place our whole family loved very much, but I came to realise that it was not where God intended us to settle.
I remember very clearly it was 13 June 2023 we arrived in the UK. That following Saturday, 17 June, our family went to the Winnersh Fete.
It was a beautiful and sunny day. Our children were happily going around the different stalls. Everywhere I looked, people were smiling and enjoying themselves. But as I stood in the middle of the field, I felt deeply sad.
Fred was standing beside me, and I said to him: “I feel like an outsider. I feel like a foreigner.”
Fred said, “But you were a foreigner in Taiwan too.”
“It’s different,” I replied, “in Taiwan, even I didn’t speak, nobody would know that I was from Hong Kong. But here in the UK, people can immediately tell that I’m not local. I really feel like an outsider.”
What happened next was amazing. Less than a minute after I had said those words, two local people walked towards us. The first thing one of the ladies said to me was:
“Do you speak English?”
I wasn’t in a very good mood at the moment, so I simply replied, rather half-heartedly, “Yes.”
They then introduced themselves. It turned out that they were both church pastors — Pastor Joanna and Alastair, whom we have now come to know and love. They gave me a handmade card with Psalm 23 written on it:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures…
As soon as I received that card, tears rolled down my face. I wasn’t crying out loud. My tears just kept quietly falling.
I told them: “We have only just arrived in the UK. We were living happily in Taiwan. We loved the place and we had completely settled there. But because the immigration policy changed, we could no longer stay. I honestly don’t understand why I have had to come here.” Pastor Joanna then said something to me that I still remember vividly:
“Nobody knows the reason why, but God knows. And God surely has a good plan for your family.”
When I heard those words, I could no longer hold my tears. Then she gave me a big hug. I still remember that hug today. It was warm and at the same time it carried such a strength. And that was how I came to know the church I attend today — The Gate. Later, many people asked me: “Why did you choose The Gate?” My answer has always been very simple.
Actually, I didn’t choose The Gate.
God led me to this church.
And I am truly thankful to our Heavenly Father for His wonderful work.
Three years later, I still do not fully understand why God brought us here.
And today, 30 September 2026, as I am writing this testimony, my father-in-law has passed away and gone home to be with our Heavenly Father. At the same time, my own father is also seriously ill. Sometimes I find myself wondering, “if we were still living in Taiwan, so much closer to Hong Kong, perhaps I could fly back whenever I needed to and to spend more time with my family.
There are always so many “what if” in my mind.
But now here in the UK, thousand miles away from my parent, there are so many things that, no matter how much I want to do them, I simply can’t. That sense of guilt, that feeling of helplessness — sometimes I honestly don’t know how to quiet my heart.
Three years ago, I asked, “God, why did You bring me to the UK?”
Three years later, I still do not have a complete answer.
But I still choose to trust Him.
In His Time.
Everything happens in His time. Lord, please strengthen my heart and help me keep my eyes fixed on You. When there are so many things in this world that are beyond my control, please remind me,
I may not be able to control tomorrow, I know that You are in control. I am in Your hands.
Because I believe that, in Your time, You have the best plan for everything.
Amen.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
(Romans 8:28)