Foreword and Preface

Is there a God in this world? Does God exist? Many people have these questions in their hearts. Many search for God, yet few know for sure that God really exists.

Jesus is the only begotten Son of God through whom God mani­fests His power, mercy, lovingkindness, and divine nature. The proof of God’s love is found in Christ, whose life “explains” God’s reality.

Jesus is the firstborn of the new creation, and we Christ­ians are the new creation who follow in his pattern and foot­steps. Our new life must likewise show forth God’s reality and divine nature.

The Lord Jesus says, “You are the light of the world.” The apostle Paul says, “You are a letter of Christ!” These statements pose a great challenge to every Christian. Looking back at Christ­ianity from past to present, there have been few such Christians. We are hard pressed to find extraordin­ary Christians because to be this kind of Christian, one needs to be holy and to submit to God’s molding. On­ly then can one’s life be transformed so as to display God’s love and holiness. But how many of us are willing to yield to God’s molding?

Pastor James Ho, the author of this book, was brought up in the Roman Catholic trad­ition from childhood, and became antagonistic towards Protest­ants. But after a series of miracles and after gaining a better understanding of the Bible and Christianity, he was rebap­tized as a Christ­ian. He has since experienced God’s deliv­er­ance in help­less, even life-threatening situations. This made him humble before God, while acknowledging His reality and power. Eventually Pastor James com­mitted his life to Yahweh, the only true God and the Most High. He was willing to forsake everything, submit to God’s rule, and be molded by God.

This book, I Am The Work of Your Hand, is his account of how he had come to know God, starting with his child­hood as a Roman Catholic opposed to Protestants, going on to his university days when he was an atheist, and finally to his commitment to God after exper­ienc­ing His deliv­erance. The book recounts the life chal­lenges that he faced after his commitment to God, from his decision to join the full-time ministry to his experiences while serving in the ministry. In the face of spiritual battles, he sub­mitted to God’s will and allowed Him to mold and refine him.

The book is written in a simple and readable style. As the events unfold, the reader’s heart will be lift­ed and filled with memor­ies that refresh the spirit.

While reading the book, my spirit was lifted, for I felt as if I were ex­per­iencing God myself. This testi­mony will likewise lead you into God’s presence and attest to His reality.

I thank God for the blessing of knowing Pastor James and of co­working with him and his wife Kathleen in building up the church of God. Our time together has not been long, yet I see God’s leading in his life. I can test­ify that God’s holiness, loving­kindness and mercy have been imprinted in the lives of Pastor James and Kathleen. God’s sacrificial love manifested in their lives has “explained” God’s reality.

Enoch Zhao
August, 2014

While I was serving in Sydney, Australia, I was leading a series of Bible studies about knowing God. To­wards the end of the series, I shared about how I had come to know God. The sharing was recorded on tape. Years later, we were approached by Noa, a newly-baptized sister in the Lord. She had a desire to serve God, and won­dered in what area she could con­tribute. I thought that it might be good for her to transcribe my recorded testi­mony into text. She was thrilled with the idea, and her transcription project began to take off with the assist­ance of another sister in the Lord, Lillian. I here offer my heart­felt thanks to Noa and Lillian for their work.

In 2003, Kathleen’s nephew Wang Yi came from Shanghai to study here, and he was staying with us. He excelled in writing. The tran­scription had already been done, but because my original sharing was in Cantonese, the sentence structure had a very colloquial Hong Kong style. So I asked him to proofread and refine the sentence structure in the transcription. At the same time, we were planning to leave Sydney the following year to launch out into another exciting ministry.

In Sydney I was involved with the prison minis­try. In my last visit to the prison before we left Sydney, I printed my testimony as book­lets which I gave to the inmates as my parting gift. I also made print copies for our church members and friends. My readers have given me positive feed­back on the book, and some asked whether I will continue to share my testi­mony in my full-time ministry. I kept that in mind.

I would like to thank our nephew Wang Yi who, while pur­su­ing his postgraduate studies, laboriously spent his pre­cious spare time in proof­reading and refining the transcribed mater­ial. Eventually he designed and produced my testimony (in Chinese) into a booklet.

Every now and then, as we visit church families in var­ious places, we would meet brothers and sisters who have read my testimony. They would raise the same question as to whether I will continue to write about my experiences in serving God. Recently, as I meditated before God on all these years of serving Him, a flame was stirred in my heart, creating a yearning to testify of His wondrous work in our lives. I cried out to Yahweh my God to mold me, shape me and make my life a miracle. Eventually, I chose the title of this book, “I Am The Work of Your Hand,” which is based on Isaiah 64:8:

I hope that I—and all believers—can testify of God’s mir­acu­lous work in our lives. May He con­tinue to mold us so that we may be a channel of blessings to others, bringing glory, honor and praise to His Name.

The English version of my testimony was first proofread by Lee Sen, our dear sister in the Lord. I express my deep thanks and appre­ciation to my dear coworker Enoch for writing the Foreword; and to my dear sister Elizabeth and my beloved niece Stacy who, despite their heavy work­load, sacrif­icially helped in proof­reading this sharing. Finally, I owe it to my dear friend and coworker, Pastor Bentley, who volunteered to be the final editor of this book.

Most of all, I thank my beloved wife and soulmate, Kathleen, who stood side by side with me, relentlessly fighting the fight of faith, constantly offering her support in riding through life’s every trial. In dealing with her own life-threatening health issues, she re­mained un­de­terred in spirit, endured the pain, and clung on to God for deliv­er­ance. Her own testimony of faith touched many hearts and was a true inspiration to me too. I part­icularly give thanks to Yahweh my God for pro­viding me such a helper for accomplishing His ministry. I will to God that I can be as much a helper to my dearest wife Kathleen as she has been to me.

James Ho
August, 2014