I was born in China and immigrated to the US with my family when I was seven years old. I was not born into a Christian home, my parents often worked late hours and I was the youngest out of my two siblings. I would describe my early childhood to be independent and quiet. I taught myself how to do a lot of things, learned what was good or bad, and learned to do a lot of things alone. I’ve always feared falling behind or disappointing people. But deep down, all I wanted was to be surrounded by friends and friends. My relationship with my father was not the best either. He was someone I feared growing up because our exchange was only about education and witnessed arguments between him and mom. My mom was also diagnosed with cancer and I didn’t know how to express my emotions at such a young age. While all of this was happening, my junior high school friend Juna invited me to church with her because her cousin had just started a fellowship so I randomly tagged along. When I first attended church, it was mainly to hangout. However, what I witnessed was something different than I had seen or felt. I saw people caring for one another, share a meal together, hug or even shed a tear for someone through prayer. This was all new to me. Everyone around told me that God loved me, but I had a lot of doubts and questions. How does He love me if He doesn’t even know me?
As I attended church more, I became very curious about this God and started talking to Him myself. During one of the fellowships, one of the leaders offered praying for me and deep down in my heart, I confessed that I was a sinner, boldly asked Jesus into my heart and save me. It was at that moment when I prayed those words out loud that I knew I no longer wanted to live the old life but pursue the one and only God whom I know loves and cares for me. I was baptized on April 12, 2012 in Spruce Lake as my declaration to the Lord.