When Jeremiah Tay and his wife, Steffi, came back after leaving CERC, everyone was shocked. Jeremiah, a young man ablaze with conviction. Steffi, a young woman everyone saw as Jeremiah’s strength. Once integral members, their departure years ago had seemed final. But now, they were back.
A zeal that fizzled
Jeremiah had once embodied the spirit of a young man with zeal for God. Jeremiah became serious about God after his brother, Marcus, and Jerome Leng (now CERC’s Youth Pastor) read the Bible with him. While an undergraduate at International Medical University, he started and led a Bible study, encouraging others to pursue God with the same fervour. His path seemed clear: leave for Australia to pursue a Masters in dentistry, return to Malaysia, and join CERC’s Ministry Training Strategy programme (now known as the Church Ministers Apprenticeship).
Jeremiah Tay (right) in 2011 helping to clean and set up CERC’s gathering place
But after furthering his studies in Australia in 2016, he didn’t return.
“I thought I had it all figured out,” he admits. “But I hadn’t thought beyond those three years. I was just assuming it would somehow work out.”
Jeremiah arrived in Australia with a heart full of convictions. But Australia presented challenges he hadn’t anticipated. The pace of life there was slower, and the demands of church life were lighter. In Malaysia, he’d been at the centre of an intense Christian community; in Australia, church was just another item on the weekly to-do list—Sunday services, a Bible study, the occasional get-together. “I started losing focus in ministry,” he says. “I lost the basics.”
“Australian Christianity was laid-back. It made you think about God, but it wasn’t as intense as what I’d experienced at CERC. CERC was intentional and focused on growing, evangelising, equipping, and training. They provided evangelistic events so I could share the Gospel and follow up with others, and structured training to equip me for ministry. There was a purpose, a structure, and a calendar laid out. In Australia, my life was much more relaxed”, said Jeremiah.
While Jeremiah wrestled with Australia’s laid-back Christian culture, Steffi—then his girlfriend—grappled with what felt like an overly demanding faith.
From passion to burnout
Steffi’s path to Christianity had been gradual. Raised in a non-Christian home, she committed to Christ when Jeremiah introduced her to CERC at 18. She was drawn to the church’s mission: bringing friends, leading Bible studies, and investing heavily in university ministry.
Steffi (right) in 2012, engaged in pre-sermon discussion with one of CERC’s member, Joo Hui
She had the same fervour as Jeremiah—she brought many friends to CERC, got heavily involved in a Bible study at HELP University, and threw herself into university ministry.
But after her graduation, the ministry crumbled.
“When I finished my studies, there was no one to take over, and it didn’t take long for everything to fall apart.”
Feeling responsible and wanting to compensate, she overcommitted—full-time work, church, and para-church obligations—until she was stretched thin. Overwhelmed by exhaustion and struggling with her own sins, she doubted who she was before God. This doubt festered and soon gave birth to bitterness and anger towards her ministry partners.
The guilt, the exhaustion, the quiet, unspoken doubts—she told no one. She had never been the kind to share her emotions. So, she bottled them up. And by the time she set up a meeting with Pastor Robin to talk about leaving, she had already convinced herself: I am not a Christian.
“If I cannot love the church, then I am not a Christian,” she thought. Convinced she had failed, she left both CERC and the faith in 2017.
Finally together, but…
Steffi’s departure from God and the church shook Jeremiah to his core. Without the anchor of their shared faith and vision, he found himself adrift. “I failed her,” he says. “I failed to lead her. I failed to keep her holy. And in losing sight of her, I lost sight of God. It was because I lost the intensity, the clarity, and sharpness I needed to stay faithful while in Australia.”
Eventually, his own faith wavered, and he walked away from God, too.
By 2021, they were married and thriving in Australia. Jeremiah, now a dentist specialising in complex surgeries, and had financial stability, professional success, and freedom. But an emptiness lingered. “We had everything people wanted—but it wasn’t fulfilling,” he reflects.
“Every day, I’d ask Steffi, ’What do we want in life? What have we achieved? What’s next?’” Jeremiah recalls, the unease settling in after years of living in what seemed like a perfect existence.
The pandemic, with its lockdowns and forced isolation, brought these questions into sharper focus. Cut off from the world they knew, the couple began streaming sermons from Jeremiah’s brother’s church in New Zealand to look for answers.
Jeremiah and his wife, Steffi, with their children on a picnic in a golf course in Moranbah, Australia
They both admit that, over the years, they had never truly abandoned their belief in God. But living in a way that ignored those truths had allowed them to pursue a lifestyle that felt easier in the moment. With the increasing void in their lives, however, they came to a profound realisation: only God could bring them the fulfilment they sought.
“We knew where we were heading. We could no longer deny this truth because Jesus Christ is coming back again to judge the living and the dead,” Jeremiah says, the weight of their rediscovered conviction evident in his voice.
Full circle: Back to CERC
Jeremiah and Steffi decided to return—not just to Malaysia, but to CERC.
For Jeremiah, CERC was the best choice for him and his family.
“I’ve experienced the love and care for God and His people at CERC,” Jeremiah shares. “I’ve seen firsthand how intensely they take God’s Word. Sure, there are churches like that in Australia, but God has already given me a great church—one that’s rooted in my own culture and context. It makes more sense to do ministry where I feel most at home, where my faith has been nurtured. And I want my kids to grow up with God at the centre of their lives.”
Steffi, who once left feeling overwhelmed, now sees Christianity as the only life worth living. “Yes, it’s hard being Christian. Yes, it involves suffering. But it’s not a bad thing to suffer. Because my life is not my own—it belongs to God. And the God we serve has high standards and expectations. I want my kids to understand that too.”
Jeremiah, Steffi, and their second child, James in CERC Camp 2024
Their return is more than a homecoming; it is a testament to God’s enduring grace. As they step into a new chapter—as husband, wife, and parents—they do so with renewed conviction, determined to love God and His church, whatever the cost.
