I started attending church in the fourth grade but eventually drifted away. Even though I stopped going to church I never stopped praying.
The biggest turning point in my life happened on September 10, 2016 when I received a call from my mother informing me that my grandmother was in the hospital and the next day I was on a flight heading to FuZhou, China. With no concept of how long I would be there or what I would encounter, I landed in China and was immediately rushed to the hospital and was greeted with a stack of bills. My relatives were so delighted to see me, it was almost like I was there to relieve their shift and told me that I was to stay there until my grandmother was discharged. The choices that were presented to me was to either rent a bed slot that was next to the toilet or to sleep in front of the ICU with all the other patient's family. After a dreadful two weeks in the hospital we were finally discharged from the hospital and were instantly hit with a typhoon. My thoughts of being able to rest in a bed disappeared as I was scooping water out of the apartment at 4am and having to go to the well to fetch water. The water and the food in China was actually making me very sick and I could not sleep at night. The feeling of loneliness started to sink in, especially when I called home to my parents and was met with cold shoulders. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months and eventually the loneliness turned into depression, and I finally broke. By December, the relative that had accompanied me to China was heading back to the states, and took every penny I had on me and left. I remember that night, it was raining really hard and I was staring out the window overlooking the waves crashing into the rocks and I thought to myself “if I can end this misery, all I have to do is jump into that ocean and I can end all this suffering.” I remember crying and the feeling of despair and helplessness was so overwhelming that I fell to my knees and I started praying, I begged Jesus to save me and to give me strength to make it back home. Almost instantly my tears stopped rolling down my face and this warm feeling surfaced and I can almost hear Jesus telling me I wasn't alone.
Six weeks later we were finally preparing to come back to the US, but I was denied a ticket because I overstayed my visa. I was escorted to the police precinct and my passport was cancelled and I was thrown into a holding cell. Later that day I was taken to an area to have my mugshots taken and fingerprinted. I started negotiating with the officer and even asked to be deported back to the US in which he responded by threatening me with the death penalty. When I was sitting in my holding cell, I prayed again and said to Jesus, “please take me home.” Although I was cold and alone in the holding cell, this time, I was not afraid because I felt that He was with me and 4 weeks later I was home.
I started church seeking and with the help of a friend, I attended Church 180 for a while. This church helped me heal and pulled me out of depression. I was still very depressed with everything that happened in China, and on top of that, the MCAT changed. I watched the one dream I had for 18 years crumble in front on me, I felt worthless. The pastor shared with me Proverb 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. In August 2017, I was hired to work at a hospital and a year and a half later, I was promoted with absolutely zero IT background. This was God’s grace, and this was where He wanted me.
COVID hit soon after and I was no longer able to travel to church and again, I stepped away for a little bit. In the year 2022, Pastor Ma approached my mom asking her if she would like to do family worship and even though I felt reluctant, I knew I had to. In November of that year was when Pastor Ma led me by a prayer to believe in Lord Jesus. In the prayer I confessed my sins and accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. Since then, Pastor Ma has continued to help me grow in Christ through zoom meetings on Tuesday nights along with Mrs. Ma.