From errant teen to evangelist: How God called Raymond Mooi into his global healing ministry

When Raymond Mooi was born in Ipoh, Malaysia, he was put up for adoption. At the time in 1959, adoption policies were loose and far less structured than they are today.

A temple priestess, who had taken a vow of singlehood but desired a child, paid a contribution fee to the hospital and took him home. She became his adoptive mother. Raymond took her last name.

“Until today, I do not know who my biological parents are. I have no trace of my ancestral roots, and am not certain regarding the circumstances around my adoption,” said Raymond, now 66.

He does not have a birth certificate, only a certificate of adoption.

In an unusual childhood, young Raymond grew up on temple grounds, surrounded by strict rituals and rites. All the priests were women. There were only two other children there, who had been adopted by another priestess.

A truant and thief

When he was seven, his mother placed him in a Catholic school so that he could learn English.

“In that environment, I felt very different from the others, having no parents and being surrounded by women. I soon started acting out. I became stubborn and rebellious, (and was) a very difficult young boy,” he recounted.

At a loss for what to do, his mother sent him to mediums and various temples in hopes that whatever was causing his behaviour could be driven out.

However, the young boy’s conduct only grew worse. He would get caned in the principal’s office at least once a week. At home, he would face a second round of caning by his mother.

The beatings only made him more rebellious, and he grew in notoriety as a rascal, truant and thief.

When he turned 12, his principal recommended that he be sent to a school for juvenile delinquents. However, Raymond’s adoptive mother loved him too much to be separated from him.

A life, transformed

In secondary school, one of Raymond’s classmate invited him to church. “I thought, ‘Why not?’” shared Raymond.

His adoptive mother, having tried everything to change him, allowed him to go.

In church, Raymond was a “goody-two-shoes” who won everyone over. “It was a happy time for me, because everyone loved me,” he remembered.

“They didn’t know that the minute I stepped out of the church door, I became my true self – a cheat, thief, and one even sought after by the police.”

For two years, the young boy lived a double life. But then his turning point came.

One night at a youth camp, the speaker said: “It doesn’t matter if you’ve done everything right, or been in church since you were born. If God hasn’t changed your life, none of it matters.”

The words hit Raymond hard. In that moment, he whispered to God: “If You can change me, I will follow You all my life.”

Strangely, he walked back to his seat with a firm desire to start anew. He began to abhor his past ways and found a strength he had not had before to withstand temptation.

After this encounter, Raymond grew fervent in his love for Jesus. His heart had a singular cry: To be used by God. “I didn’t know then what I was asking for,” he said.

Finding his good Father

Shortly after Raymond accepted Christ, disaster struck. His adoptive mother passed away suddenly. The 15-year-old was begrudgingly taken in by another priestess.

“Everyone blamed me for my mother’s death. At the funeral, the narrative was, ‘You killed her. She died of a broken heart.’ Their words cut me deeply, and I lived with their curses raining on me every day for years: ‘You good-for-nothing, you’ll die young, you’ll be found on the streets.’”

They also took away his Bible and barred him from attending church.

However, in hindsight, that season was instrumental in helping him to mature in the faith.

“I had a supernatural encounter with God one night, and poured all my questions before Him. Where was the peace and joy He promised?” recounted Raymond.

It was then that a verse from the Bible came to his mind, reminding him that God is a Father to the fatherless (Psalm 68:5). Suddenly, he heard himself cry out: “Father!”

Having grown up in a temple of priestesses, Raymond had never called anyone Father before. The walls within him came tumbling down, and tears fell freely.

“It was a real touch of God to my heart. I realised I had a Father. He was my Father. That encounter changed my whole life,” he said.

A growing heart for Asia

By the time Raymond turned 17, he had experienced three calls to full-time ministry. Unable to deny it any longer, he spoke to his church elders, who encouraged him to go to seminary.

In God’s perfect timing, news of the Morris Cerullo School of Ministry reached Malaysian shores. It was not a conventional seminary, but one that focused on evangelism, preaching the Gospel, and carrying out the supernatural works of God.

“I knew Morris Cerullo was an evangelist, and that was what I wanted: To return to the people who had raised me and offer them the chance to believe in Christ. They had given me life, and all I’d given in return was pain and heartache. So, I wanted to be a blessing by helping them come to know Christ,” he said.

With a heart for people, Rev Raymond hopes he will always carry God’s compassion for the lost, sick and hurting.

His church elders offered to send him to San Diego, California, for the six-month course. He also obtained a scholarship from the school that covered his tuition fees, accommodation and living expenses.

On the first night, the atmosphere was charged with the power of the Holy Spirit. Raymond fell on his face, and when he got up, it was past 2am. He was astounded.

That night he prayed: “God, I want what I’m experiencing now to happen in my part of the world. In Asia.”

From that day, Raymond sat in the front row of class every day. While his coursemates explored tourist attractions on the weekends, the young man stayed on campus, weeping and praying over a map of Asia.

Stepping into the healing ministry

Upon his return, he became a pastor at his home church in Ipoh. In nine months, the congregation tripled in size because of his zeal for evangelism and the lost.

He then worked in Morris Cerullo’s ministry for seven years. A year after he resigned in 1993, he opened the School of Acts in Malaysia, which trains believers to do the supernatural works of God.

Since then, Rev Raymond, as he is now known, has organised hundreds of healing rallies, where he prays for the sick to be healed. Over three decades, he has prayed for hundreds of thousands of people and witnessed God move powerfully, even in areas that are resistant to the Gospel.

Rev Raymond rejoices with a man (in yellow) who was able to walk again after receiving healing from the Lord in Miri, Sarawak.

Blind eyes have been opened, the crippled have walked, deaf people with no eardrums have heard, bones have grown or been reconstructed, and the mute have spoken.

People battling chronic illnesses for decades have also testified to miraculous healing, confirmed later by doctors and medical reports.

Through it all, Rev Raymond is mindful not to touch people when he prays for them. This is to make it clear that God is the One doing the healing, not him.

Knowing God changes everything

From an angry, misunderstood boy who felt he had no place, Rev Raymond has been transformed by God, His loving Father. He hopes that, through his ministry of healing, others can experience this love too.

While it can be easy to become mechanical in his ministry, his desire is to always carry God’s compassion for the lost, loving each person the way God does.

Rev Raymond with his wife, Li Meng. They have been married for 39 years.

“My prayer is always, ‘Lord, I want Your heart for them’, so that I can give my all every time I preach the Gospel,” he said, with tears welling up in his eyes.

“I don’t want to miss even one opportunity for someone to come to Christ. Knowing God changes everything.”

Reverend Raymond Mooi will be in Singapore on September 7, 2025 for HEAL SG, a national healing rally at Arena@Expo, 7pm. Admission is free. Pre-registration is closed but unclaimed tickets will be released on a first-come-first-served basis.

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