Faith Story by Shereen Soo
Four years ago, I made a complete career shift from accounting to baking and art. Before the shift, I was unemployed for 6 months while recovering physically until God opened door for me to pursue baking and art. That was interesting because I’ve never baked before, nor ever pursued art as a career. So in the beginning, it was very challenging due to lack of inspiration. But once it happened, it brought so much joy into my life.
In July 2023, I felt a divinely inspired to create an illustration for a tote bag with the theme of Light. The phrase “Be the Light” kept coming up to me in prayer, worship, and sermons. So I asked God for a colourful image, and He gave me a vision of a disco ball. I was very excited to draw it. After it was done, I had some difficulty with the image conversion and printing. Despite the challenging process, I was surprisingly very calm. I kept reminding myself that “God will take care of it because this is from Him, and for Him”. When I finally received the sample, it was so beautiful and vibrant, and I could really see God’s touch in it!
On 29th October, a few days later after receiving the sample, a friend from Perth texted me asking to meet up in December during her trip to Kota Kinabalu. This would be immediately after her mission trip in Thailand. I thought this would be a good opportunity to show her my sample tote bag, hoping she would be my first customer.
Isaiah 55:8 The Lord says “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways”. I thought my friend would support me by buying 1 bag. Instead she asked to buy 50 tote bags to fundraise her December mission trip in Thailand! God is so good! What’s even more amazing is that the illustration God placed on my heart mirrored a vision she had received during a mission trip in Thailand the year before about being a light in the darkness. During that trip, she was surrounded by disco balls while walking down the street at night. As we shared, we were amazed at how God had obviously orchestrated everything.
While I was supposed to be excited and happy, deep down I was also filled with fear and worries. I had only 15 bags in hand, and I had no idea how to ship them to Perth in 23 days (the deadline was 21st November 2023). It all sounded impossible to me because I had to place my order with Shopee and that usually took 2 weeks. I was very tempted to convince her that this was impossible. But having a friend with strong faith is very important – she said, “Let’s trust God and pray.” I don’t know why I agreed, “Let’s do it!”.
I ordered the bags right away, and praise God it arrived in 5 days! Then, suddenly, her friend’s brother, who happened to be in Kota Kinabalu for a wedding, agreed to carry an additional 10kg to Perth without requesting any payment from her. God really made a way and provided us everything; even financially!
The bags arrived safely on 19th November 2023, 2 days earlier than we expected, and just in time for the fundraiser. In December, the bags also travelled to Thailand for her mission trip.
Reflecting on this journey, I see how God made the impossible possible, confirming the truth of Luke 1:37: “For with God, nothing shall be impossible”. Whenever I face something that feels impossible, I will always look back at this testimony as a reminder that God has done it before, and He will do it again.
Shereen Soo