Speaker: Pastor Caleb Chiu
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It all began in 1997, on a cloudy day when Mama May was sitting at the beach of the Sea of Galilee, waiting and expecting the Lord to speak. As she was sitting there, she told the Lord, “I know you want to speak, what do you want to say?” She didn’t hear anything, but the dark, cloudy sky opened up and a ray of light shone on the the Sea for a moment, then closed right back up. So Mama May asked again, “Lord, what is it that you want to say?” And once again, the cloudy sky opened up, a ray of light shone onto the Sea of Galilee and closed right back up. Then she prayed a third time, “Lord, dare I ask one more time for you to speak?” This time, the sky didn’t open up again, but she picked up a small rock. The rock had a hole the shape of a heart, and looked like a hand had pressed it to form its shape.
This rock soon became very precious to Mama May.
Fast forward to 1999, to the gathering in Winnipeg. It was a time of sacrifice and repentance to the Lord, and part of building that altar included asking people to bring stones from all over the world as stones of remembrance. Mama May felt that she was to offer her precious pebble to the Lord at this gathering. Despite the deep love she had for the stone, and her heart being more willing to give up her wedding ring than this rock, she put it in a ziplock bag, and added it to the pile of 1000s of stones at the gathering.
Fast forward again, 10 years later to the gathering in Ottawa in 2009. All the Winnipeg stones were brought to Ottawa, and Mama May took the opportunity to see if she could find the stone. She looked, and it wasn’t there, but then, a ziplock bag caught her attention under the stage, and there it was, her precious pebble! She took a picture of it, and put her stone offering back on the pile, thanking the Lord for this gift of seeing her pebble among the 1000s of stones.
Fast forward again, August 2025, the Longing gathering in Abbotsford. The stones were brought to this gathering as well, and people were asked to take the stones home as a sign of the Lord’s faithfulness. Mama May once again tried to find her precious pebble, but there was no sign of it this time.
The leftover stones were brought to Transform Central Church and kept in their prayer room. Pastor Michael from Transform had heard the story of the precious pebble and decided to look for it in the crates of leftover stones. He looked, and surely enough, he found the ziplock bag with the precious pebble two weeks ago! Pastor Micheal was able to present the precious pebble as a gift to Mama May!
Why is this important?
A testimony is a reminder of what the Lord has done and a declaration that He will do it again! This specific testimony reminds us that: He sees, He remembers, and He’s building a house of living stones.
We are being invited to own this testimony of the precious pebble as a stone of remembrance for this house. It is a reminder of the faithfulness of the Lord and His calling over this house to be a dwelling place where His presence can come and rest.
“You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 2:5