“I was born and bred on temple grounds,” said Linda Khoo.

Petite, polite and with twinkling eyes, the 83-year-old dug into a plate of chicken rice as she shared her story.

In the 1900s, her grandparents came to Malaysia from China in search of tin ore. They purchased a piece of land and settled in Taiping, Perak.

Over the years, they began to notice a series of strange, recurring events. Whenever her grandmother gave birth to a son, the infant would not survive. This happened several times.

In his desperation for a male heir, Linda’s grandfather travelled back to China to seek the counsel of a famous medium.

“My grandfather was told that the land he had bought was a cemetery. He had to cleanse the land, then build a temple on the grounds for a deity. Otherwise, every son he had would die,” she said.

Upon his return, her grandfather dug up all the human bones he could find and built a temple as instructed.

Soon, his wife became pregnant again. This time, the baby survived.

“That son was my father, and so our family grew up there. It was therefore only natural for my dad to take over the position as a temple medium,” Linda said.

Taking over the reins

For some reason, Linda’s parents sent her to a Methodist girls’ school.

She was intrigued by the Christian faith and, at 15 years old, wanted to give her life to Jesus.

However, her cousin threatened to tell her family if she ever said the Sinner’s Prayer. So she let the desire go.

The years went by. After school, she became a clerk in an insurance company and eventually a certified claims adjuster in Kuala Lumpur. She got married and had four children.

Linda with her husband, David, in 2011 – seven years before they encountered God.

Then one day, her aunt rang her up. The time had come: Linda had been selected to take over as the temple medium.

It was a position she would hold for more than 40 years.

Rising the ranks of the spirit world

“I had been dedicated to a deity as a teenager, but taking up the post meant I now had a very different kind of authority,” Linda said.

Her connection to the spirit world grew stronger. Devotees would consult her in soothsaying, seeking healing, exorcism or advice.

She would enter into trances and often had to spend many hours in deep meditation at night to re-energise herself after consultations throughout the day.

“My strength and unique area was finding lost girls. Desperate families would come to me and I would pray over the photograph, and they would soon be found,” she said.

Every year, Linda would lead a ceremony in which she would enter into a deep trance. In that state, the deity would “take over” and other mediums of lower ranks would bow to her.

It was power, but it came at a cost.

A praying daughter

After consultations, Linda would be physically and mentally exhausted. She also had to go through rigid cleansing rituals regularly.

“I always had to please my deity. If he was not happy, I would be in torment. I would not be able to sleep or eat, just suffering,” she said.

God, however, had not forgotten the desire she had had as a 15-year-old all those years ago.

One of Linda’s daughters, Ai Lin, became a Christian and started praying for her parents’ salvation.

Whenever Ai Lin tried to talk to Linda about Jesus, Linda would tell her gently: “You have your way, I have my way.”

Her daughter, however, persevered in prayer for 10 years – until a breakthrough came in 2018.

“You are ready”

On February 11, 2018, Linda and her husband, David, accompanied their daughter to church.

After service, they were having lunch with other church members when suddenly, one of them pointed a finger at David and said: “You are ready.”

Said Linda: “My husband somehow knew she was talking about accepting Jesus and without hesitation answered: ‘Yes.’

“Then Evelynn, one of the church leaders at the time, came over to me and told me that God loves me very much.”

Linda and David with their daughter, Ai Lin (in yellow), who prayed for their salvation for 25 years, and Evelynn Tan (left), their leader who is discipling them.

Evelynn also shared a vision she had of gold dust falling all over David, and a burning flame radiating around his heart.

He was astonished because two nights ago he had seen gold dust falling on him in a dream.

“After that, Evelynn quietly told me things I had kept in my heart about my son. She couldn’t have known that,” said Linda.

“So I started asking my deity to release me from bondage since I had served him loyally for 40 years.”

The battle for her soul

As Linda wrestled in the spirit realm, she became hysterical and entered into a trance.

In the physical world, she was screaming, writhing and thumping the table until teacups flew and cutlery clattered to the floor.

Meanwhile, Evelynn and other church members were deep in prayer for her.

“My deity was reluctant to free me but eventually nodded. Evelynn then saw a spiritual python resting on the back of my head. It slid to the floor and slithered out of the restaurant,” Linda said.

At that point, Linda fainted and slumped on the chairs.

When she regained consciousness, she realised that everyone in the restaurant, including the kitchen staff, had witnessed the entire episode.

“Nine restaurant staff members approached us to ask that they be saved. It was a beautiful scene as 11 of us (including my husband and I) gave our lives to Jesus that day,” Linda said.

None too far for God

After accepting Christ, Linda had to go through several deliverance sessions before being fully liberated from her past.

“For the first two to three days, I went through so much anxiety and confusion. I could feel my deity holding on to me. But I belonged to God now,” she said.

A week later, she was prayed over and began speaking in tongues.

“Today, David and I are so happy and peaceful. We finished 48 discipleship lessons. We’re in love with God’s Word and have no time to argue because we’re praying all the time! I also communicate only with the Holy Spirit,” she said with a grin.

No longer living at the behest of the deity she once served, Linda (left) enjoys teatime conversations about God with David (in blue), Evelynn (right) and her daughter, Ai Lin (in white).

Despite being in their 80s, their faces are youthful and radiant.

The couple share their story freely and often, ministering to others both inside and outside church through prayer and encouragement.

Linda even carries printed copies of her testimony to give away when the opportunity arises.

“They said it was impossible for us to be saved. Even I never thought it possible. But God did it.”

RELATED STORIES:

Terrorised by spirits at night, she was at the end of her tether – until God met her in a club

“Mum died in an exorcism”: His family suffered demonic attacks till one prayer set them free

When one man’s search for power took him through darkness and danger