“I was a living zombie – I could only eat veggies and rice”

Jewel Chang’s parents fought and quarrelled for years.

Amid their conflict, she often felt: “They didn’t have the time to talk to me or find out what I was going through.

“A lot of times, I felt like I was alone,” recalled Jewel, now 23.

Jewel and her family during happier days.

Unable to reconcile, her parents divorced in May 2019.

On one hand, Jewel felt relieved; they no longer needed to argue all the time.

“I was just very heartbroken even though I was telling myself, ‘It’s fine because it’s better for them.’”

Yet, she couldn’t escape the grief. She was crying almost every day.

“I was just very heartbroken even though I was telling myself, ‘It’s fine because it’s better for them.’ But it wasn’t better for me.

“I wished that my parents could have communicated better and loved each other like other families do.”

A “functional” relationship

Jewel’s new home life now centred on her mother, grandmother and brother.

At that time, her relationship with her mother was “functional” at best.

“It was ‘you better do this, you better do that’ – very normal instructional stuff – but not much heart-to-heart talks,” Jewel recalled. 

While she appreciated her mum, Jewel often felt their relationship was “functional” but not expressively loving.

Not wanting to burden her mum further, Jewel kept her heartbreak over the divorce to herself.

“I felt: There’s no point, nobody will understand,” Jewel said. “I kept a lot of emotions inside but I couldn’t really deal with any of them.”

An allergy out of nowhere

A few months after the divorce, Jewel noticed that when she ate shellfish, angry red welts would cover many parts of her body. They were itchy and uncomfortable, keeping her awake at night.

“I was a living zombie – just waking up, moving through the day, eating vegetables and rice.”

She soon discovered she had hives.

Over time, foods containing gluten or eggs, even garlic, would trigger outbreaks which became more regular and severe. 

Severe hives covered Jewel’s body whenever she ate most foods – a chronic allergy that plagued her for years.

Soon, the only things she could eat were vegetables and rice.

Jewel was distraught. She’d never had any allergies prior to this.

Her forced diet of veggies and rice also failed to give her the energy she needed. She often slept – but hardly ever felt refreshed.

“I felt so emotionally tired. I was a living zombie – just waking up, moving through the day, eating vegetables and rice.

“I couldn’t really function at all.”

No hope in sight

For two years, Jewel was desperate to find a cure for her chronic hives.

She went to both Western doctors and Chinese medicine practitioners. Neither were able to help her. Antihistamines provided only short-term relief.

“I wanted my life back. At that point I was super sian.”

Looking elsewhere, Jewel also tried New Age treatments and various other fringe therapies.

Nothing helped. Her hives remained.

“I was tired because I didn’t get the answer I was looking for. I wanted to be cured. I wanted my life back. At that point I was super sian (sick of it).”

Left with no cure in sight, Jewel lost hope.

A life-changing meeting

One day, Jewel’s mum, Chen Si Jing (now 54 and a personal assistant), insisted that her daughter join her for dinner with a friend.

Jewel agreed – with great reluctance.

Photo taken at the dinner with Jewel, her mum, and Anna*.

Over dinner, her mum’s friend, Anna (not her real name), suddenly turned to Jewel, asking her a curious question. 

“Why don’t you give me a chance to share with you what God wants to tell you?”

Confused but curious about the woman’s bold question, Jewel let her go on.

Anna took Jewel’s hand. She told Jewel that she was full of stress. Anna also asked her if she felt an unusual heaviness in her legs.

Jewel was surprised. She had indeed been feeling an odd weight in her legs for the past few days.

“There’s no way she could have known about what I was going through.”

Anna then told her, “There’s something piercing your heart.”

Again, this was true. On prior occasions, Jewel had experienced piercing pain in her heart that doctors were unable to diagnose.

Jewel’s thoughts swirled: “How could this lady know these things?” After all, she’d never met Anna in her life. 

She added: “There’s no way she could have known about what I was going through. I don’t even talk to my mum about all the things that I’m struggling with.”

Finally, Anna said: “Actually I know why you have hives.”

Anna told Jewel that it was her unforgiveness towards her parents that was behind her chronic allergy.

She shared that negative emotions – such as disappointment and hurt – could actually cause bodily harm.

In this specific case, Anna told Jewel that it was her unforgiveness towards her parents that was behind her chronic allergy.

“What nonsense!” Jewel initially thought. “How do the two even relate?”

However, unable to hold back the emotional pain she had bottled inside, Jewel began sobbing.

Jewel realised she had not yet forgiven her family for the hurt she felt.

Amid her tears, she still wasn’t sure how Anna could possibly know these personal physical and emotional details no one else knew.

Anna then explained to Jewel that these were truths that were shared with her by God; revelations meant to help her overcome her ailments.

“When she put her hand on my head, I felt so much love rushing into me.”

Jewel was very sceptical

“When she started talking about Jesus and God, I was thinking, ‘Are you sure? How do I even know that God is real?'” Jewel said.

At the same time, she pondered the possibility: “Maybe what this lady is saying is true.”

Anna then offered to pray for Jewel.

That’s when something remarkable happened.

“When she put her hand on my head, I felt so much love rushing into me. It was unlike anything I had experienced before.

“She prayed for God’s love to fill me. And it really did happen. I felt really loved at that moment. And it really helped me to recognise that maybe God is trying to bring me out of this.”

Desperate for a miracle

Anna advised Jewel to write a letter to God: “You need to give all your sadness and all the things that you feel towards your parents to God and ask Him to take it away from you. Ask Him for His healing.” 

Jewel doubted if this would work. Was there really a link between her chronic hives and her unforgiveness? It didn’t make much logical sense.

Still, desperate for a miracle after years of searching, Jewel went home and did as Anna suggested. She wrote a letter to God. She had nothing to lose.

On a humble piece of paper, Jewel poured her heart’s plea into words.

Jewel decided to write a letter to God – something she’d never done in her life.

She asked God to help her learn to forgive her family and anyone who had hurt her in the past. She asked Him for strength to let go of all the pain she’d kept inside for years.

“God, if You’re real, help me with all these things. If You’re real, show me that You can do all these things for me,” she wrote.

The impossible made possible?

Jewel didn’t expect much.

At best, she felt that reaching out to God was worth a shot. Yet, a genuine cure for her hives still seemed like a horizon she’d never reach.

However, within a week or two of writing the letter, Jewel was surprised to find that she could eat meat again – with only minimal outbreaks.

Hope filled her heart. Was this the start of the cure she’d yearned for for years?

“I could finally eat whatever I wanted again!”

Sure enough, Jewel’s began to see fewer and fewer ugly red marks appearing the more she ventured to eat.

And within a month, her hives vanished entirely. Her diet returned to normal. She was no longer restricted to eating mere vegetables and rice.

After less than a month, Jewel was completely healed from hives. She could again eat whatever she liked.

“I could finally eat whatever I wanted again!” said Jewel, her face glowing.

After two long years, Jewel’s struggle was finally over. She was a living zombie no more.

Hearts healed

Once uncertain if God was real, Jewel now sees her sudden cure from hives as a miracle.

“I knew that it was God, because I didn’t do anything at all. All I did was write it down. All I did was pray. All I did was put it in His hands. I didn’t do anything at all.”

Along with her physical healing, Jewel also felt the closing of old wounds in her heart.

Within weeks, she was able to speak to her parents with far less hurt and baggage.

Her relationship with her mother, once fraught with misunderstanding and distance, was also made new.

“There wasn’t so much pain inside. I felt God was lifting it from me.”

Her relationship with her mother, once fraught with misunderstanding and distance, was also made new.

“My mum and I used to fight all the time, but as we got to know God together, He started to change the way we see each other,” said Jewel.

“We started to talk a bit more. I was able to reconnect with her again, without all the frustration, without all the anger from all the sickness and all the things that happened before.”

In addition to her physical healing, Jewel and her mum are now able to communicate far better in love.

In a voice cracked with emotion, Jewel said: “When my mum shared that she saw all my struggles, and she was very worried, in that moment, I realised that my mum loves me so much. I’m very blessed to have her.

“God has physically healed me, but He also healed my relationship with my mum. Although we are still growing together, it’s always getting better.” 

“I realised that my mum loves me so much. I’m very blessed to have her in my life.”

No longer just “functional” in their bond, her mother, Si Jing, has also learned to express her deep love for her daughter.

“When Jewel believed in God, she really became happier … I’d like to thank God because through God, I found back my daughter,” said Si Jing tearfully.

With her daughter’s arms lovingly wrapped over her shoulder, Si Jing adds: “I think that my girl is a very awesome daughter. She really loves me a lot.”

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