The Oriental Pearl of Great Price

By Millie Leng Ngoh Rook

div> Why does poverty live next to wealth? Why does one school child have books and the other sitting next to her does not? Why does one come to school in a big car with a new uniform and posh bag while the one sitting next just looks on with envy, wondering when she can have the same? Why is it so easy for one whilst the other struggles? This was me as a young girl in Penang!
Then everything changed when I was in Bradford, England; what and who made the amazing changes?
This is a touching andI hopeamusing book based on my life events, from the unspoilt, tropical paradise that was Penang in the 60`s to the cold, autumn, grey London in the 70`s, onto the post war St. Lukes Hospital Bradford as a student nurse and then a midwife.
Alone, in foreign surroundings, with strange English foods and even stranger Yorkshire accents, my deep fear, anxieties, and insecurities were highlighted.
Moving upwards both in career and location to `Bonnie` Dundee, Scotland then to the bright northern lights of Aberdeen throughout the 80`s and 90`s shaped my identity with an ongoing relationship with Jesus.
Finally, I returned to Malaysia to live in one of those big houses that I enviously walked past as a child!
You are made for wonders to possess your promises! This book will reveal and confirm that you are a precious jewel! You are His treasure of great value; that valuable pearl of great price!

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490861494

Millie Leng Ngoh Rook

This is Millie Rook`s first novel. Millie is a trained nurse, midwife and health visitor with an MSc in Public Health Research. She lives in Kuala Lumpur with her husband, Melvyn, and has two daughters studying in Sydney. A daughter of poor Buddhist parents, now a daughter of the King of kings!

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Copyright © 2014 Millie LN Rook.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6148-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6150-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6149-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014921436

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/29/2014

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: Childhood Days

Chapter 2: School Days

Chapter 3: The Open Door

Chapter 4: Farewell to Penang

Chapter 5: My First Encounter with the Pearl

Chapter 6: Daily Treasure

Chapter 7: True Treasure and Riches Ahead

Chapter 8: Aberdeen—The Granite City, 1985

Chapter 9: The Reward

Chapter 10: Sharing My Treasure in Newtonhill Village

Chapter 11: Return to Malaysia, 2006

Chapter 12: The Fulfillment of God’s Promises

Conclusion

Scripture Verses

About the Author

For my children, Annabelle and Sophia, and to a generation not yet created. May they all continue to praise the Lord for all His love and blessings from reading my memoir!

Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord.

—Psalm 102:18

Foreword

Millie’s story is one that testifies of God’s faithfulness through the different seasons of life – a story of hope, restoration, and sustenance by a loving God.

As a young Penang girl struggling with the poverty surrounding her, Millie’s life is transformed leaps and bounds by a Heavenly Father who yearns to be known and longs to surround His daughter with more than she could ever ask for or imagine.

The Oriental Pearl of Great Price is one of those stories that can seem ill-fated at first glance, but becomes beautiful from the aerial view of eternity; wherein, God the Potter holds the life of His beloved daughter in His hands and molds her into the person He intended her to become, despite the circumstances defining her formative years.

Only in hindsight do we begin to see the beautiful image being formed in the tapestry of her life, as it is woven together by unique, seemingly unrelated threads. Through Millie’s life, the experiences which seemed dismal and hopeless have each played a part in making her who she is today; culminating in the crafting of this masterpiece.

Be blessed as you journey through Millie’s story. Search your heart and let God begin to unveil the beautiful tapestry He is weaving through you and for you – one that impacts not only your life but also generations to come.

Let it touch your heart as it did mine and remind you to be thankful through the good and difficult times, knowing that your life is safe in the hands of a Good, Gracious and Loving God who is pursuing you with all His heart.

Pastor Mark Varughese, Founder and

Senior Leader of Kingdomcity.

Preface

Eight years ago God said to me, Millie, I want you to write two books before you’re sixty years old. This year in December I will turn sixty! What have I done? It is so easy to see so many books on the bookshelves and wonder, What difference will mine make? God said to me, It isn’t about adding or subtracting. It’s about hearing My voice and doing it Millie. So I searched for Scripture verses that support His voice, and in the next page I have listed some of them. I finally realized that I had to start what He had told me to do.

My purpose of writing this book is primarily to obey the Lord as well as to thank Him for His amazing treasure and splendor, His glorious riches, and the mystery He put in me and a future generation! I was encouraged by Luke in Acts 1:1 when he wrote to Theophilus and said, In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. Luke’s writing is inspired, and God breathed! We have his writings today to remember!

Deuteronomy 8:19 says, Lest I forget Lord that all good things have come from you. Lest I forget all that He has done for me that I should forget You and Your Hand upon my life.

Deuteronomy 8:10 says,

When you have eaten and are satisfied, Praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt out of the land of slavery.

I know how easy it is to forget the one where all wealth, goodness, prosperity, treasures, and good things come from. So I write to remind myself to always be thankful and grateful to the one who has given all things freely to me.

Originally from Penang, which is known as the Pearl of the Orient, I consider myself a special oriental pearl, privileged and honored to be saved and called a treasure by my Lord, Jesus Christ. This journey of discovery has taken me all my life so far, and I am excited daily that there is still more to uncover.

Wealth and treasures are truly found in the words and person of Jesus Christ, who says, I will never leave nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). Paul had found his treasures and riches when he said, Rejoice in the Lord. I will say it again. Rejoice (Philippians 4:4).

Pastor Brian Houston, the founder of Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia, wrote in his book How to Maximize Your Life!,

A great legacy to leave your children or grandchildren goes way beyond a house or a lump sum of money. A great legacy is the successful example of your life, which enables them to build on the foundation you have laid. Our capacity to live powerful and effective lives can transcend our own and impact future generations.

Proverbs 13:22 says, A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children. That is exactly my aim—to leave a legacy to my children and grandchildren of the wonderful works of God in my life.

In his book Every Day a Friday, Pastor Joel Osteen says, When God puts a dream in your heart, when He puts a promise on the inside, He deposits in you everything you need to accomplish that dream. That encouraged me to say, Yes, I will arise and start believing that the dream and passion of mine will be in print soon.

The Holy Spirit spoke to me as I read Henry and Richard Blackaby’s book Reality: The Seven Truths from Experiencing God, which says, If God has spoken to me, then God expects me to bear witness to what He’s done in my life and to trust God to begin to touch others’ lives.

First Thessalonians 5:16–18 says, Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus!

I believe that it is in the routine and mundane daily activities I found Jesus’ words to be true and saw why Paul encouraged those of us in Christ Jesus to rejoice always in the Lord. I pray that whatever circumstances you find yourself in today, you can rejoice and give thanks because God is unraveling your treasures, riches, and splendor in, through, and for you!

It is never too late to ask Jesus Christ to come into your life as your Lord and Savior and to see your treasure, riches, and splendor unearthed in Christ Jesus daily through every situation! Unto God be the glory! There must be more of Him and less of me! My desire is that you, too, will find the greatest treasure, the pearl of great price in the one who truly loves you!

Acknowledgments

I am forever indebted to my heavenly Father, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit for choosing me to be His treasure.

I am thankful to my late parents and my late uncle and auntie for all the support and love they gave.

I am especially grateful to my dear husband, Melvyn, for his ever-faithful love, encouragement, and financial support in helping me fulfill my dream.

Introduction

I was born on Penang Island on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, also known as The Pearl of the Orient, in 1954 to poor parents. Mum and Dad had five children, two boys and three girls, and I was the second youngest. In my book I tell of the root of my envious heart living next door to a licensed moneylender. I envied the rich and struggled with inequality between the haves and the have-nots in my growing years.

My mother was the daughter of a medium who practiced the occult and witchcraft, worshipping gods from Confucianism, Buddha, and Taoism to Catholicism, etc.

Poverty brought its curses—that is, until God brought me into contact with an unknown uncle and auntie at a relative’s funeral to sow a seed of hope in my life. That hope became a reality and an opportunity that would lead to many more doors opening for me so that I could possess my real treasure and riches.

Matthew 14:44–46 says,

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for the pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

Jesus Christ found His treasure in me as the merchant looking for pearls found me, this pearl of the orient, this pearl of great value. He counted me Millie Leng Ngoh, His joy, and He endured the cross, scorning its shame to buy me, a pearl of great value, with His own life on the cross.

This book is my journey of discovery from my life as a child and school days in Penang to my nursing career in United Kingdom and then back to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I am happily married with two children.

What happened to this envious girl from the Pearl of the Orient in her journey?Thanks for your company in traveling with me to find the pearl of great price, Jesus Christ, in whom we can find the true treasures, riches, and splendors for which I am eternally grateful!

Chapter 1

Childhood Days

Penang Primary School

LengNgoh, what does your dad do? asked the teacher.

Oh, my father works as a painter, I said.

Is he commercial painter?

Yes, he’s an artist. He paints and gets lots of money, I answered, trying to impress my teacher.

Teacher said, Ah! Yes, I see. Your house must be big and nice with this posh address. She looked at her register as she spoke. I know of a millionaire and some rich people who live there.

Hmm, she probably thinks my father is a rich artist and owns a lot of land. My, I wonder how many servants she has. She must be brought to school by drivers in fancy cars. All these thoughts went through my mind as I stood close to the teacher’s desk, trying to peer at the papers on her desk. Hey, Ngoh, I thought. You’re talking to this authoritative figure, your teacher! I must impress the teacher. The teachers only like wealthy girls.

It was my first day at school. I was wearing a pink dress with a bow hardly attached to the material. It could have dropped off at any moment. The dress was made from heavy lace and starched until it was rock hard. It was scratchy and irritating and made my skin red, and I felt hot and sweaty as I walked around. I was frightened and insecure among all these other children. I was briefly reassured when I caught a glimpse of my mother, who was peering through the door, trying to keep her tears back, signing with her hands as if to say, All is well. Just do what the teacher says.

If only I could tell the teacher that we only rented a very tiny space