Hi All, I want to share this powerful testimony with you about my great friend and brother, Tony Anthony. Tony has been such a great influence to my life and I know his story below will touch you and inspire you. I will appreciate you spend 5mins of your time to read this:
𝐓𝐎𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐒 𝟑𝟎 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒
𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐉𝐄𝐒𝐔𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐌𝐄!!!
I was born in the UK to a Chinese mother and Italian father. Tragedy struck our family when I was born, as my father contracted Multiple Sclerosis (a severe neurological disease affecting the nervous system), and my mother suffered from post-natal depression, which caused her to reject me as a child. When I was 4 years old my mother was not willing to look after me any longer, so she arranged for me to be trafficked to mainland China. I was raised in Southern China for 8 years by a man who I thought was my grandfather – but he was not. Every time he would speak to me, he would hit me on my head with a bamboo cane making me bleed every day. He woke me up in the early morning by throwing water over me, and then beat me when I cried. He was a grandmaster in Kung Fu, and his aim was to raise me as a Buddhist and rigorously train me his family tradition to pass down to the next generation. He abused me so much, he treated me like an animal.
I returned to my parents in the UK when I was 12 years old. My father was much worse, and my mother still rejected me. I continued training Kung Fu into my teenage years and returned to China each year to fight in many underground tournaments under a Chinese given name. I excelled in Martial Arts, never losing a fight, and entering the world championships where I held the world title in my style for 3 years in a row. I was highly sort after for my unique fighting skill, and I soon entered the security industry, working in the higher echelons of close protection. I guarded several high-profile clients including a Saudi Arabian Ambassador travelling regularly from North America to North Africa and the Middle East.
It was at this point where I met Aiya. A beautiful Swedish girl studying law in London. We were in love for three years, she was the best part of my life at the time, and I asked her to marry me. She said yes, and so we were preparing for our wedding. A few weeks later, however, while I was working in Rome, I received tragic news that Aiya had been killed in a car accident in England. I was enraged. The one thing that made my life worth living had been torn from my hands and I was powerless to alter the outcome. Overnight, I became a violent and reckless man, engaging in private debt collections for my client, violating all protocols. I got involved in major crime and monstrous violence. Finally, when I was working in Cyprus, my father asked me to help him pay for a trial medical treatment that could possibly help him – it cost tens of thousands of pounds. I didn’t have the amount needed, but I got it for him by breaking into luxury hotels and apartments and committing a number of robberies. If anyone got in my way, I hurt them badly. Soon after I gave the money to my father, the police in Cyprus arrested me – and I was later sentenced to 3 years in Nicosia Central Prison.
A barbaric and violent prison where inmates were attacked, abused and killed. Each day was a fight for survival. One day I received a letter from a stranger named Michael Wright. He told me that he saw my picture in a newspaper. Working in Cyprus as a Christian missionary, he told me his was praying for me and offered to visit me. I was not interested but heard in the visit room you could get Coca-Cola. This is the only reason I invited him. Initially, I did not like Michael, but he visited me week by week and we eventually became friends. He never judged me but loved me like a son. Michael visited me every Thursday for 3 years.
I remember one day, Michael telling me that God is real and loves me so much that a long time ago He sent His own Son to the world to die on a cross to take the punishment for my sins. He told me that as Jesus was the Son of God, He was raised back to life – and in so doing has overcome death and provided a way for me to be forgiven. Michael told me that if I put my faith in God, turn away from my sins, and surrender my life to God, then my life would completely change, and God will set me free from the grip of sin. A Bible verse that he shared with me is, “If the son (Jesus) sets you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).
That same night, I was in my cell staring at the cross-shape that the prison bars made at their intersection. I tried to believe in God but failed miserably – because I struggled as a Buddhist to understand this strange Christian belief in a God that I could not see with my eyes. I lost interest, and all I really wanted was Aiya. I missed her so much and felt angry that she was taken from me and for what my life had become. It was here that I remembered how she loved me, and yet she had never even seen me – as Aiya had been blind from birth. She was very beautiful, smart and fun to be with, the only thing is that she was blind. It struck me for the first time that if a blind girl can love someone without ever seeing them, perhaps that is how I can know God – not by seeing Him but using faith. I prayed to God for the first time in my life, and as I spoke out to Him in the darkness of my cell, I felt guilt and shame for the first time. I knew that I had to say sorry to God and ask Him to help me. It was that night, on 3rd May 1991 when I gave my life to Christ in tears. I woke up the next morning, and I felt completely free. I gradually stopped swearing, smoking and hurting people, and I began to share me young faith with others. This was the beginning of my journey where I was truly set free indeed! (The drawings were made for a Flip Book that is used in the mission field to tell my story.)
It has been such an honour to minister the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the last 30 years, and I SHALL CONTINUE TO DO SO until the Lord calls me home.
The Gospel simply put is the Good News about the gift Jesus has made available to every human being. To view this short message about this good news click this link: https://youtu.be/NjtjGPLzD8Q
God bless you all and keep on keeping on…
Tony Anthony
https://www.greatcommissionsociety.org/product/taming-the-tiger/