LIFE IMPACTS LIFE – KEEP THE TORCH GOING
LIFE IMPACTS LIFE – KEEP THE TORCH GOING 
By: Rev. Paul Lai
Translated by Stephen Li
My life was deeply impacted over 50 years ago by a missionary couple from North America who were sent to Cambodia by the Christian and Missionary Alliance. The love they manifested and the message they preached greatly encouraged and changed me. Just as the Bible records Paul’s words to Timothy, this couple greatly influenced me and Yvonne into stepping into this way of full time ministry.
Rev. Thomson’s preaching greatly touched and moved me into experiencing salvation and new birth, into experiencing the joy that came with forgiveness from the Heavenly Father, and into tears of repentance before the Lord. In 1960, Cambodia no longer allowed American missionaries to stay, so Rev. and Mrs. Thomson had to move to Vietnam to share the gospel, and were later martyred for the gospel, being killed by Viet Cong machine guns. Their son, after completing his medical studies, continued the heritage of his parents, and became a missionary doctor in Africa. Rev. Paul Ellison and Rev. Merld Graven were my spiritual counsellors and spiritual fathers, and served in Bible College. Mrs. Thomson, Mrs. Ellison and Mrs. Graven all taught me piano. Because of their instruction, I was able to do music evangelism on the streets of Cambodian villages and played accordion in Chinese school in Trinidad, attracting village children to come to hear the gospel. This was very effective. Thank the Lord, even though these 3 missionary couples have rested in the Lord, their ministry in Cambodia and among Cambodian refugees in North America bore much fruit.
Another person who impacted me deeply in my ministry is Rev. and Mrs. Gentle Lee. Thank the Lord, I was able to pioneer and pastor in Ottawa, Canada (1973-1986), due to the fact that Rev. Gentle Lee and the Hong Kong C&MA Hebron Mission sent and supported me. Rev. and Mrs. Lee were my life exemplars in missions and in nurturing youths toward full time ministry. Therefore, while at the Ottawa Chinese Alliance Church, I established a Dedication Fellowship, and over time 15 youths dedicated their lives to full time ministry and missions.
Yvonne and I served in OCAC, establishing the church for the Lord with brothers and sisters for 13 years and 8 months. There were periods of sowing in tears and there were periods of reaping with joy. By the power of the Gospel, we witnessed so many precious souls released from the power of Satan and enter into the loving care of the Lord. As their spiritual lives grew, many of these youths then dedicated themselves to the Lord, entered seminary, and are now serving diligently and faithfully both locally and overseas. We watched as many of these new young believers started sharing the gospel and serving so soon after receiving Jesus as Savior and Lord. Their vigorous lives and beautiful testimonies were most moving and brought many friends and family members to Christ. Brothers and sisters of OCAC loved one another and fervently shared the gospel. In addition to supporting evangelism in neighboring towns and missions overseas, the church sent short-term mission teams to France twice (1979 and 1984), as well as partially supporting the two of us for 6 months as we helped Cambodian churches in California to share the gospel with refugees.
Because of the influence of God’s faithful servants described above, I gladly followed their footsteps and dedicated my life to the Lord. Upon entering this life of service, I then continued to imitate them in the way. Life impacts life. The passing on of the ministry torch from one to another by sharing the Gospel with lost sheep and pastoring flocks is like providing the nurturing care of a loving father. This bears much fruit, showing increases of thirty-fold, sixty-fold, or a-hundred-fold, as more and more people can both hear of and experience the sacrificial love of God.