“Many only see the sacrifices, but I see the rewards”: She gave up a physiotherapy career to serve stateless children in Malaysia

In a sleepy riverside town surrounded by the dense jungles of Sarawak, Malaysia, Pastor Dorothy Yet’s story began.

She was born in Kapit, a remote settlement along the mighty Rajang River, a 3.5-hour boat ride from the nearest town, Sibu. Life there felt like living in a bubble, far removed from the noise and modernisation of the outside world.

The youngest of three siblings, Ps Dorothy grew up in a humble home provided by her parents, both civil servants who had started working at 18.

Her mother was the family’s spiritual anchor, who raised her children in the ways of God. It was a faith that had been passed down from her grandmother – Ps Dorothy’s great-grandmother – who had journeyed from China to Sarawak decades earlier and was a dedicated follower of Jesus.

Throughout her life, this great-grandmother had clung to a single prayer: that at least one of her great-grandchildren would serve the Lord in full-time ministry.

She did not live long enough to see the outcome of that prayer. But God did not forget.

The indisputable call

In her early adulthood, Ps Dorothy received a government scholarship to pursue a certificate in physiotherapy. “I did not enjoy studying at all, so everyone was surprised,” said the 36-year-old.

After graduation, she spent a year at Sarawak General Hospital in Kuching. She thrived at work and built strong relationships with her patients and colleagues.

In 2013, however, she received an unexpected transfer order to Kapit Hospital.

Life, once filled with comfort and camaraderie in the city, turned into frustration and spiritual numbness. “I asked God, ‘Why are you doing this to me?’” she recounted.

In Kapit, her heart turned cold toward God. But later that year, something changed.

Growing up in an obscure, hidden settlement in the interiors of Sarawak, Ps Dorothy and her siblings did not know they would one day be the answers to their great-grandmother’s prayer.

During a short mission trip to Julau, a town made up mostly of people from the Iban tribe, Dorothy had a vision. “While praying, I saw many Iban people filled with a passion for Jesus and a deep desire for God’s Word. But there was no one to guide them,” she recounted.

The Iban people are an indigenous ethnic group native to Borneo, primarily found in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, Brunei and parts of West Kalimantan, Indonesia.

“The Lord convicted me during that trip. I realised so many people have a desperate desire to find the one true God. And I know Him. I had been selfish, angry and distant,” she admitted.

That day, she repented. With tears streaming down her face, she gave her “yes” to the Lord.

On a 2016 mission trip to Ulu Julau, an Iban village, Ps Dorothy (centre, in pink) was shaken from her spiritual slumber to embrace God’s call upon her life.

In that moment of surrender, God reminded her of a remark she had made when she was 17: “No matter what work I do, I’ll end up being a missionary.”

At the time, it had just been a passing thought. Life had since taken a different course: She was pursuing her physiotherapy degree, drawing a steady salary, and living out the path her parents had envisioned for her.

She had long put aside the call – until now, when it could no longer be ignored.

An education for stateless children

The next year in 2017, she began preparing for full-time ministry, reading the Bible cover to cover, and seeking the blessing of her parents. But it was not without cost. Her father did not speak to her for a year, deeply disappointed that she had chosen what he thought would be “a life of lack”.

In 2018, she enrolled in a Master’s in Missiology at Sibu Methodist Theological Seminary. Three years later, she graduated only to find herself facing closed borders amid a global pandemic.

“I was supposed to go to Indonesia as a full-time missionary, but with closed borders, I ended up being appointed as a pastor in a local Methodist church in Sibu,” she said.

While serving in that season, an unexpected door opened. She was offered to serve with ElShaddai Centre Berhad, a Christian non-governmental organisation in Klang, Selangor, focused on providing education to stateless and marginalised children.

Bridging faith and social impact work, Ps Dorothy is both a pastor and education officer with ElShaddai Sabah, an organisation serving stateless children in Sabah.

Many of these children are born to undocumented migrants, refugees, or indigenous groups without proper registration. Without legal status, they often have no access to public education, healthcare or legal protection, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and systemic neglect.

“I told everyone I would never, ever become a teacher. I don’t like studying,” Ps Dorothy said. Yet she spent the next two years as a secondary school teacher, waking up at 4.30am every day to wrestle through lesson prep and nearly quitting more than once.

Despite this, it turned out to be a season of grace. Though she had doubted her abilities, her experience proved that with God, what once felt impossible was not only doable, but transformative.

Ps Dorothy believes that education and missions go hand-in-hand: “When people are literate, the Word of God becomes accessible to them.”

In 2024, she applied for a transfer to ElShaddai Sabah, where she now leads education efforts across the state and oversees seven schools for stateless children.

“God led me into the education field, and I now see how education complements missions because it empowers. When people are literate, the Word of God becomes accessible to them. They begin to believe that God loves them,” she said.

“God is indeed real”

Close to a decade since she received the calling into full-time ministry, Ps Dorothy described her journey as filled with “faith and joy”.

“Faith because I am learning to trust God for everything, big and small. Joy, because I can see the rewards of my labour,” she reflected.

To her, missions is not a special assignment. Rather, it is a call for every believer. A transformed life, she believes, should point others toward Jesus and lead them to transformation too.

While this calling often comes at a cost – of time, resources, convenience – the fruit, she says, is more than worth it.

One story that stands out is of a stateless community teacher Ps Dorothy once worked with. Within a year, her life had fallen apart.

Complications marked her pregnancy, but her family refused medical care until she was eight months along. During labour, she suffered seizures, and only hours later was taken for an emergency C-section, where doctors also found a hidden heart condition.

Soon after, her husband, pressured by his mother, divorced her and took their child. Though Ps Dorothy shared the Gospel with her , the young woman, broken by loss, could not believe in a loving God.

Yet, His grace met her in unexpected ways.

When she could not afford an echocardiogram, a cardiologist at her next check-up offered to do it for free. Later that year, authorities returned her child from her ex-husband’s family, following reports of abuse.

“I kept reminding her of God’s goodness every step of the way. She has since accepted Christ and recently told me, ‘Tuhan memang benar’ (God is indeed real),” Ps Dorothy shared.

Miracles, big and small

Now in her fifth year of full-time ministry, Ps Dorothy says she has no regrets. When she left the healthcare field, many thought she had thrown away a good life, trading a steady career for a path of hardship and obscurity.

“Many only see the sacrifices that come with serving God. But I have seen the rewards,” she said, her voice steady and her eyes full of conviction.

Ps Dorothy and Ps Roger Lim met in seminary, both initially set on lifelong singleness to serve God. In 2021, Roger began praying for a partner in ministry, and Ps Dorothy came to mind. After prayer and fasting, they started dating. On May 30, 2025, they married surrounded by loved ones.

She has experienced miracles in her own life, both big and small. For example, Ps Dorothy shared how God had healed her of a condition that had baffled doctors for over a decade.

“My menstrual cycle stopped when I was 17. There was no warning, no trigger, no pain. I visited OBGYN specialists in Sarawak and Kuala Lumpur, and even traditional doctors. No one had an explanation because in all the tests, everything came out normal,” she said.

Then, out of nowhere, her cycle resumed 12 years later, during her second year of seminary.

She smiled as she recalled another example of divine provision: “I managed to save more money in one year of being a pastor than I did in six years of being a physiotherapist!

“You know why? I never had to worry about breakfast or dinner. An elder’s wife cooked for me every day, and other church aunties kept my fridge full. If I bought eggs, it would take me more than a month to finish the dozen!”

For Ps Dorothy, these small provisions prove that her loving Father pays attention to every detail.

A great-grandmother’s answered prayer

During the year she started studying in seminary, her father, who had once resisted her choice to go into full-time ministry, quietly affirmed God’s hand in her life.

He told Ps Dorothy: “Even though we came from nothing and I could not leave anything behind for my children, all three of my children hold Master’s degrees and are independent.”

It was more than academic success. Her father was beginning to see something deeper: the unfolding of a spiritual legacy.

A family legacy: Ps Dorothy flanked by her parents, brother (right, a Baptist minister) and sister (left, a Methodist pastor) at her wedding in 2025.

Indeed, all of Ps Dorothy’s siblings are doing well. But more remarkably, they have all become an answer to their great-grandmother’s prayer.

Her sister is a Methodist pastor in Sarawak. Her brother, a Baptist minister in Penang. His wife is a pastor too.

“My great-grandma prayed for just one (great-grandchild in full-time ministry), but now there are five of us, including Roger (my husband) and me, in full-time ministry,” she said, her eyes shining.

“God did not forget the prayers of one faithful woman in the little town of Kapit. She left us a spiritual inheritance, and we are her legacy.”

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