Gangs to God

By Steven Boi

Is "gangsta" real, or is God real?

Is it better to know the truth now or never? 

Want to know about the truth of why God uses evil for good? Then check this book out! It doesn't matter who you are, "gangsta" or not. As long as you are human, you will understand the purpose and me

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Jul 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887381206

Steven Boi

I am a Chinese-born refugee fleeing from Vietnam. I came to America for a better life and freedom of choice but got caught up in the gang life in Los Angeles, California. I thought this was the way to get rich fast and to live a good life, but I found out the hard way that there is no shortcut in life. "Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow" (Proverbs 13:11, NIV). Fortunately, God entered and showed me the way, the truth, and the life!

Book preview

Introduction

My name is Steven Boi, my Chinese name is Seng Boi, or on the street my ‘aka’ name is Seng Boi.  Today is Wednesday morning, December 1, 2021. I have been wanting to seriously try to finish up this book since I started writing on October 27, 2015. Wow, that was six years ago. Man, how time flies when you don’t think much of it and keep editing and rewriting it.

I’m pretty much finished. I’m just going to let go and let God handle it. Many brothers (homies) and Church family encouraged me to finish it up so they can read about my ‘gang to God’ story. I remember I promised to finish it up within three years. I guess I can’t keep my own promise. Today, I am going to write, review and edit every day before I go to bed until I finish it! Hopefully I get it done before 2021.

Before I continue to write, I want my readers to know I’m inspired by God to share my testimony in this book. I have no other motive. I hope and pray the reader be encouraged and inspired to know the truth that life without God is meaningless because we are all going to die!

I would like to say a prayer before I start, Lord, give me truth and accurate memories and your inspiring words to write about my life journey experience with you, that may draw your creation (mankind) back to you so they may know the truth and the truth shall set them free. Thank you, Lord. In your mighty name Jesus Christ we prayed. Amen!

Chapter 1 – In the Beginning

I was born on July 19, 1967, in Vietnam, a city of Vung Tau. Vung Tau is near the capital city of Saigon, which is now called Ho Chi Mihm after the North Vietnamese (Regime) that took over the country in 1975. I’m Chinese, and I was born in Vietnam. Born in the year of the Ram, according to the Chinese zodiac sign which I believed in when I was young. The Ram are gentle, docile, sincere, and kindhearted. A pacifist. Fueled by comparison, they admire all nature’s beauty. Ram strived to create a secure and tranquil environment. Compatible with rabbit, horse, and boar, I ended up marrying a boar. My wife is a boar sign, which is pretty interesting if you believe in the Chinese zodiac sign. It sounded pretty accurate describing my nature.  

Chapter 2 – My Family and Fun Time

Let’s start from when I was about 6 years old.

I have five siblings – three older brothers, one older sister and one younger sister. We all went to a private Chinese school in Vietnam. We rode bikes to school. I loved to ride with my second older Wen to school. I sat on the back of the bike. Every school day we stopped by the street market to have breakfast and eat some yummy foods, like hot porridge, hot beef noodle soup (Pho), or a Vietnamese sandwich. My family was well off. We owned a big supermarket in our town, which is near the ocean. Our town is a beautiful city now. 

Chapter 3 – Kids Play

I remember my father always told me and my third older brother Chi not to go to the ocean by ourselves, but we didn’t listen. We always snuck out there to play with friends or go fishing.

I remember one incident very clearly. It was a high tide and windy season. We went to the ocean fishing with friends, and it was a good time to fish. We would catch these little puff fish using just line and hook. We would step on the puff fish, making them pop, which was fun to us.

One time somehow, I dropped my line and reached out for it when I suddenly felt a hard wind blow my back and knock me down to the water. The worst thing was that I couldn’t swim. I screamed and swung my hand up and down calling out for help, screaming out, Mommy, Mommy, help! While I was going down, down, down, a lot of water was flushing into my mouth, and my body was going down fast. Then suddenly I felt two hands catch my feet, pulling me up.

I felt someone carrying me around. I could hear voices, commotion and mumbling. Isn’t this the Chinese kid whose family owns the supermarket? In our town, everyone pretty much knew everyone. Especially since there is only one supermarket in town and it being Chinese owned, we stood out.

I was more scared about how my dad was going to punish me for disobeying his word than worried about the identity of the stranger carrying me around. When our dad disciplined us, he would take us outdoors in front of people, take off our pants and whip us with a bamboo stick or, worse, with some kind of long thin fishtail that really burned and was painful. The whooping was not just painful, but it was also embarrassing in front of all the people passing by looking. I believe it was for that reason I didn’t want to wake up. I pretended to be fainted and somehow truly knocked out sleeping. I guess I was a sneaky little kid already.

Sometime later, I woke up and found myself sleeping on top of a heated wok, my stomach face down, throwing up those little puff fishes. I smelled some type of herb, some kind of Chinese medicine, on my body. I heard lots of voices and commotion going on, then I went blank again and cannot recall anything from then on. I don’t think my dad ever punished me for that incident. If he did, trust me there’s no way I would have forgotten it.

I also remember a different time my dad punished us. My brother Chi and I always played together and got in trouble together even though he is two years older than me. My dad tied my brother Chi and me up and left us in the back house and wouldn’t let us eat dinner. Our mom did come to our rescue. She brought us food. I think most likely my dad knew she brought the food. It was one of those good cop, bad cop strategies. My mom has always been the good cop. Her mouth is hard, but her heart is soft. My dad is the bad cop.

We always seemed to get in trouble, but Chi always got spanked and scolded more than me. I guess that was because he was supposed to look after me and not get in trouble with me. In Chinese tradition, the youngest and the oldest son are the favorites in the family. (Yes, I am the youngest son—lucky me.)

Chi and I played all kinds of kid games, like shooting marbles, hide and seek, fighting crickets, tag, kick the cans, cowboys and Indians, and many other games that kids play. Thinking back, some games we played were dangerous. One time when we were playing hide and seek, I hid inside these big ice shredder machines without knowing the danger. It could have easily shredded my whole body into pieces if it was accidentally turned on. I guess as kids we didn’t think before we acted. 

As a kid I was sneaky, especially whenever I needed money. I would go underneath our supermarket cash register table because there was always a lot of money dropped on the ground when it was busy. I would pretend to clean up and pick up trash but instead I was picking up the money on the ground. I guess I knew how to hustle already as a kid.  

Chapter 4 - Vietnam War

and Fleeing by Boat 

In the 1960s, the Vietnam civil war started. By 1975, the North Vietnamese, who were communists, pretty much took over the whole country. My dad hired a fishing boat to flee out of the country. I remember seeing a lot of people running and rushing here and there on the street. I saw a lot of South Vietnam soldiers leave theirs weapons behind. I even saw a deserted battle tank on the street. I guess all the soldiers were fleeing too.

The North Vietnamese came and took over our town. The boat my dad hired was small, and we had around 20 people on board. We first sailed out to another city in Vietnam, thinking and hoping