How God Turned Abused Woman into Real Estate Powerhouse

DIFFICULT BEGINNINGS 

Margaret was born in early 1941 in Chongqing (central), China, during an extremely tumultuous period. There were three wars going on at once: the second Sino-Japanese War, the Civil War between Chinese Nationalist Party and the communists, and, of course, World War II. 

“On my second day of life on Earth, my mother was carried out of the hospital on a bamboo stretcher as patients were being evacuated to a bomb shelter,” Margaret said, worried that her new baby might fall off.

Things remained difficult for years. “It was a time filled with fear, deprivation, and danger,” she recalled. Despite these conditions and having very little materially, Margaret said, “I had a stable and wonderful childhood. My parents loved me.”

As the Japanese took over many private and government enterprises, Margaret’s father, who worked as a banker for the China Central Trust, lost his earnings and knew it was time to flee their homeland.

“We escaped to Hong Kong on one of the last boats in November of 1948, with just an overnight bag as the People’s liberation army was marching south to Shanghai. The first ten years in Hong Kong were financially very hard as my father lost his job. If he had not escaped to Hong Kong, he would have been executed by the communist party as he (had) worked for the KMT (Chinese Nationalist Party),” she explained. In 1949, her parents welcomed a baby boy into the family.  

COMING TO FAITH 

When Margaret was 13, her mother instructed her to go with her aunt, who lived next door, to an evangelical meeting because her mom did not wish to go. Margaret had never heard the gospel in her life, she said, and had no understanding of God, Jesus, sin, or the redemption He provides.

“All I heard was God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but will have eternal life and that He will forgive us our sin,” she clearly remembers to this day. “It was simple, powerful, clear. The Holy Spirit convicted me of my sinful nature and with my heart pounding, I raised my hand and walked forward to accept Jesus as my Savior. I was so filled by God’s love. It was unspeakable joy and an experience full of glory,” Margaret attested. She was later baptized and joined the youth group and choir of the Kowloon Baptist Church.  

MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN

At age 17, Margaret came to America to study chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. By her junior year her father was pressuring her to marry. She had a number of suitors and was drawn to the one who worked the hardest to woo her. She was impressed with his intelligence, seeming devotion to God, and enjoyed being lavished with his compliments and attention. They married when Margaret was 22.

Not long after, her husband became distant and soon began criticizing her for nearly everything. Though she did her best to become a good housewife, learning all she could about cooking, cleaning, and home management, her efforts were never adequate to him. “He would insult and attempt to humiliate me at every turn,” she said.  

Though Margaret was increasingly unhappy, she continued to try to be a dutiful, obedient wife, as her Chinese culture taught. “I constantly prayed for God to help me, for Him to soften his heart.” She says the psychological and emotional abuse was painful enough to endure alone, but when a daughter came along, and a son four years later, it was unbearable. “Divorce was much less common in those days and I feared the children would suffer if he and I parted. I became isolated, withdrawn from friends and community, and without a church community,” Margaret said. “He was menacing and threatening, occasionally physically – a cowardly act of a man toward his wife and children.”  

When her kids were 11 and 7, Margaret’s husband threw their young son, Samuel, across the room in a fit of anger, his body hitting the wall with a thud. She could take no more. Though she’d always believed divorce was wrong in every circumstance, she pleaded with God to rescue them. Her answer came in less than a week when her husband served her with divorce papers, something he said he’d never consider. “On top of gaining freedom from an abusive husband and father, I was spared the act of going against the teachings of my church and the expectations of my family, causing them shame. It was more than I could ever have hoped for.”  

Margaret later came to believe that some of those church and cultural teachings were erroneous, that God wouldn’t require her to stay in an abusive situation. 

A NEW CHAPTER

As a single mom with two kids to raise and very little help from her ex-husband, Margaret asked the Lord for guidance and provision. By then, she was teaching school and her modest salary didn’t stretch far enough to meet all their needs. She also figured she would eventually need $100,000 to put them through college, which seemed utterly impossible. Margaret prayed that God would enable her to take care of her children and herself and received an answer that stunned her.

“With crystal clarity, He told me to go into real estate.” She had never even thought about real estate as a career and was confused. “I had no credentials, no experience, and never had any aim to enter this field,” she says. Despite being perplexed, Margaret continued to pray and then acted on what she believed to be God’s clear direction. Within a few months, she took several real estate courses, obtained her realtor’s license, and took a job in a real estate office.  

It took time and patience to learn about the business, but eventually Margaret closed a large home sale that made her the top salesperson in the company. That seemed to be the door that led to many more large deals. Though she worked hard and applied herself, Margaret knew the Lord was answering her prayers to provide for her family. Word of her budding success spread to the wealthy community of Chinese people in Hong Kong, and before long she had listings and facilitated sales of many millions of dollars. “Within five years, I had moved from buying my clothing at the Salvation Army to becoming a millionaire, with exactly the abundance that God had told me I would achieve.”

In 1978, Margaret opened her own realty and management companies and continued to find fabulous success in residential and commercial real estate, and investments. The same year, she also met an attorney through her business dealings named Ted Collins. She found him a kind and loving man of great character, and a few years later, they married. 

She is adamant that her success has not come from unusual abilities on her part, but from seeking the Lord in all decisions and having the right heart motivation in her business dealings. Her genuine goal has always been to help her clients and to advance God’s kingdom in her giving. Regarding praying about all her decisions and transactions, she refers to God as her “General Partner.” Margaret also admits to times when she ignored the lack of peace from the Holy Spirit about business dealings, which, to her regret, did not turn out well.    

Looking back over her amazing career, Margaret says, “The real secret to my financial success has nothing to do with trade secrets; it has everything to do with seeking, listening to, and heeding God’s voice. It has everything to do with trusting God and obedience to Him.” As to wealth itself, she adds, “It is crucial to note here that the only purpose of wealth is that we can use it to further the mission of God’s Kingdom here on Earth.”