A Citizen of Heaven

Photo by Kathleen Rodgers

Dr. Filip To's Story of Redemption & Growth

You don't often see immediate results when you're on missions. But Dr. Filip To is one of those results. He'll happily tell you that himself.

Filip grew up on the island of Lombok, Indonesia. As a third-generation Chinese immigrant living in Indonesia, life was very difficult. He and his family were not citizens, and they were not allowed to do very much or participate in Indonesian society. To go anywhere, they had to be issued special passports; even just to go from one island to the next, they would need to file for special permits. Most of the Chinese immigrants living in Indonesia were only allowed to work in the marketplace, buying and selling goods. Because of this, Filip lived on a compound with about 100 of his relatives, where he worked in his grandfather's business and learned martial arts in order to defend himself.

Filip did have the benefit of going to school, and like most students, he wanted to go to college after graduating high school. He filled out all of the proper paperwork to be able to travel from Lombok to the city of Yogyakarta (JOHG-jah-kar-tah), where he hoped to be able to attend the university. What Filip quickly discovered, however, was yet another restriction placed on him because of his status as a non-citizen: only citizens were allowed to attend college in Indonesia at that time.

That is when Filip realized, if he was going to go to college, then he would just have to become a citizen of Indonesia. To apply for citizenship, he would regularly board a train for Jakarta, traveling 14 to 20 hours to the capital city, just to fill out the proper paperwork. He might even slip a little something extra to the official every now and then to help expedite his paperwork. After repeating this process for three years, Filip's request for citizenship was denied and he was still unable to enroll at the university.

He was angry. He was frustrated. Life, it seemed, became too unfair, so Filip took matters into his own hands, using his fists to get by. He channeled his anger and frustration into becoming a vigilante, using the fighting skills he had learned as a young boy to beat up bad guys. But when he wasn't out looking for a fight, he was paying other university students to teach him what they had learned in their classes, he learned mathematics, chemistry, and physics from the very same people who could have been his classmates had he been given the chance.

Then one day, while on the prowl for someone to hurt, Filip passed by a Baptist student center with a banner out front that said "Learn English for Free." The class was taught by John and Nell Smith, two missionaries from Brookhaven, Mississippi. They had been sent to Indonesia by the International Mission Board (or IMB, known as the Foreign Mission Board at the time). In class he learned simple English phrases, like "good morning" and "what is for breakfast," but John and Nell would also spend time talking about Jesus.

Eventually, John gave Filip a small bible, but Filip was still very suspicious. He was raised Buddhist, and growing up, he and his family had a very low view of Christians. The only ones they had met were the Catholic missionaries who would come by and give them books or religious tracts that they were unable to read, either because they were illiterate or couldn't read another language.

Nevertheless, Filip took the bible, intent on reading it and finding something he could use as an excuse to continue not believing in God. He even thought he might find something in there that would give him a reason to return and beat up John. But he continued to read the small bible, and he continued to talk to John. Practically speaking, John told him, citizenship was his biggest problem. Without it Filip couldn't go to school, he couldn't find a job, and he can't do much more than work in the marketplace, buying and selling goods to make a living.

But, John told him, Jesus is King. And in his kingdom, citizenship is free.

As Filip pondered that idea, he realized that spiritually he did not have citizenship. If he were to die, he did not know where he would go. Life had felt so purposeless for Filip; like he was at a dead end. If there was a God, he had thought, then it was not fair for him to let these bad things happen. The more he studied the bible, the more he realized that God had, in fact, made him and because God does not make junk, Filip knew that God had a purpose for his life.

Then one day, Filip To accepted Jesus as his Savior and received a hope and peace like nothing he'd experienced before. On that day, he says, he was able to forget about the burden of not having citizenship status and could praise God for giving him the only citizenship that he needs. Now instead of channeling his anger and frustration into fighting, he discovered a joy for painting. The outpouring of his changed soul created beauty instead of destroying out of anger.

The Smiths continued to disciple Filip, helping him to learn more about his new found faith and taking him along to the villages to witness and share the gospel with other people and helping Filip to witness to his own neighbors and family. But while his citizenship in the kingdom of God was secure, his earthly citizenship and its limitations still posed a problem for Filip.

That is when John introduced Filip to his friends, William and Jane Nutt. William worked for an electric company that did a lot of business in Indonesia at the time. They would also partner with the missionaries and help out with their mission work. It was William's idea to sponsor Filip and send him to the U.S. to enroll at Hinds Junior College. So with his grandfather's permission, Filip moved to Mississippi to finally attend college. From Hinds, he went on to study at Mississippi State University, working odd jobs fixing televisions and lab equipment to put himself through school. Filip has been at Mississippi State for nearly 40 years now, finishing a PhD in Engineering and working as a professor in the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department.

Filip had been on the road to six feet under because he was always looking for trouble, but because of the IMB missionaries who introduced him to Jesus, he was able to walk a new path. For Filip, it was very easy to destroy people, but he is thankful that God taught him how to love people; to help people, to heal them, and to lift them up is more difficult, but it is what the Lord wanted Filip to do. It is what He wants all of us to do.

People really do change lives, whether they're giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering or going on mission trips. You may not see the results immediately. "But I am one of those results," Filip To says, "I am a changed life."