“We all understand human tragedy. We all know what it is like to feel sorrow, loss, disappointment, and pain. And while bad things may happen to good people, it shouldn’t define who we become. We can still choose to believe that God has a divine plan. We can still choose to love and forgive.”

On the night of February 7, 1995, several armed men broke into the house of Joy Tan-Chi’s family – they looted their belongings, and raped her & two other friends. Joy was only 15 years old when this happened, and it left her with an overwhelming sense of loss, having felt that her innocence and purity were taken away from her. The loss, she describes, felt like a hole that no human person or solution could fill or remedy.

As she and her family wrestled with the reality of what happened, they recognized that the only way to survive was to turn to God. “We made a decision to believe that God had a purpose, but we couldn’t see it then. So, we clung to the truth about who God is — his sovereignty, goodness, love, and faithfulness. I chose to believe that God was good, that He still had a plan for my life. I clung to the promise in Romans 8:28 which says, ‘All things work together for good for those who love God’,” Joy shares.

What good could ever come out of rape?

Joy didn’t know how God would redeem her tragedy, but she made a personal choice not to allow the tragedy to define or determine who she would become. She wanted new memories. She wanted to move on and move past what happened to her. Even if she was victimized, she didn’t want to live like a victim. So, she chose to forgive the men who violated her.
Joy and her two other friends decided to “bring things into the light” by telling their story and God’s safekeeping of their lives so that it could be a testimony to others. This decision marked the beginning of their journey towards healing. “We wanted to talk about God’s goodness, to thank Him for sparing our lives, and to acknowledge that He spared us for a reason. It’s common to lose hope when you go through bad things. I know the feeling of losing hope — hope for the future, hope for acceptance, hope for security and protection, hope that you can ever be whole and undamaged again. However, I claimed promises,” Joy says.

When Joy looks back at her life, she sees how she has been a recipient of much good. The dark memories of her past have been replaced by beautiful ones that speak of the wonders and faithfulness of God in her life. Joy tells us, “The Lord is a Giver. He wants to give us hope for the future — eternal life, hope for today; peace, and hope for our past — a new beginning.”

Today, Joy is happily married and blessed with six children. She has the privilege of serving the Lord alongside her loving husband, Edric, and together they are enjoying the adventures of parenting and homeschooling their children.

God purposes to write each person’s life story. The question is, will we let him hold the pen? Joy claims that, “It is His authorship that makes a life beautiful. When we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, we let him be the writer and the editor. (Hebrews 12:2), and we can entrust to Him our life’s good ending.”