My name is Changqing Song, I am 70 years old and I am from Kaifeng City, Henan, China. Our generation grew up in an atheistic environment, and we know nothing about the religions. Therefore I didn’t feel much when my mother joined the church and became a Christian in the 1990s.  The only thing I knew about Christianity was from looking through my mother’s booklets introducing the Bible and Jesus Christ.

Later, Lin Song came to the United States to study and quickly became a church member. When we came to visit, Lin Song took us to the church, and that was the first time we were truly touched by Christianity. Then we attended some church events and it has become a very natural thing going to church, and gradually I have a deeper understanding of Christianity.

People have sinful nature. Jesus dies on the cross to save us. We need to wash away our sin and be the follower of Jesus Christ. We were guided step by step towards God’s way by the light of Jesus Christ and the church brothers and sisters.  My mother’s baptism is actually like a seed planted in my heart, and it will blossom and bear fruit at the right time. Because of the pandemic, I stayed in the US for longer period and I also got the chance to be baptized. After several lessons  taught by Pastor Tan, some of the long time doubts in my heart were resolved, my knowledge towards Christianity was deepened. All of these have strengthened my determination to become a Christian. When Pastor Tan told me that I am a Christian now, my heart is full of admiration and worship for the Lord. The sinful me can finally have the eternal life under the leadership of God.

My name is Nathan Zhao, and I am a 7th grader at the Pembroke Hill School. I was born in Kansas City Missouri and have lived in Kansas my whole life. 

For as long as I can remember, I have been going to church with my family. My mother has always taught me to pray, told me stories from the bible, and put me in vacation bible schools. My mom told me that when I was about 2 years old, one day at daycare in church, I cried so hard telling people that Jesus died to save me. My mother says I was touched by the holy spirit at a very young age. I was a surprise to my parents and my mom always tells me that I am a constant reminder of God’s grace for her. My name even supposedly means “Gift of God” in Hebrew, as a representation of God’s grace.  

I grew up with Christian beliefs and values. I’ve always believed that God sending his only son to die for us was an act of his great grace. Because of his death, my sin is forgiven, I am saved and can have a new life. My family often talks about current events and I’ve realized that many people have gone astray from the ideas taught in the Bible. I want to help show these people God, as I’ve seen how people’s lives can be changed when they hear His word, and I want to share it to as many people as I can. 

I know that I have not always put my time into serving God. I am willing to commit to living for God and to serve him to the best of my ability.

Hello everyone, my name is Fulian Mo from a small rural village in Guangxi Province, China. We have our own traditional beliefs there. We worship Buddha during holidays or when there are special requests. When there are special circumstances, we sometimes pay for people to help solving our problems by praying for blessings, returning blessings, and so on.  At that time, I didn’t realize or understand the matter of worshiping Buddha. I just followed the customs. When I grew up, I kept following what everyone did in my hometown. When something bad happened, I would ask people to help tell the fortune, and also ask for a happy family, a happy marriage and disease-free. However, the reality has not developed in the direction I requested. My children have been sick since childhood, and my marriage was not happy. I lived as a monk ringing the clock everyday. When I had a conflict with my husband, we would be silent to each other for a few days and then kept our life going as usual. When there was a problem disciplining our children, I would do nothing but just hoping that everything would be fine when they gets older. This is how my original family is like. No one taught me how to love people, how to get alone with my husband, and how to educate my children. Everyone in my hometown would just go to worship and pray for the Buddha when something bad happened. The need of self-change never occur to my mind.

I was lucky to know sister Min Zhou in 2016. I knew she is a Christian but I thought Christianity is just like Buddhism and I was not interested. In 2018 my parents came to the United States, and sister Min Zhou  and I became colleagues. We chatted when we were not busy during working. Whenever I mentioned the conflicts in my family, sister Min Zhou always said: “Dear, You have to go to church, you have to believe in the Lord, and only the Lord can help you. Human abilities are limited, and God is almighty”.

After that, she kept telling me stories from the Bible. Whenever I told her something happened in my family, she answered me with stories and words from the Bible and asked me to read the Bible. I felt like I couldn’t communicate with her until one day she offered to take my mother to the church after I mentioned my mother was bored at home. Therefore, my mother came to the church before me.

What surprised me was that my mother really liked going to the church. Every time she came home from the church, she was happy. Then I go to the church with her since I didn’t want to upset my mom. One time Pastor Tan’s sermon about the relationship of husband and wife (Book of Ephesians chapter 5 ) touched me and let me know how the correct interaction between the couple should look like. Besides, the brothers and sisters from the church were very warm-hearted and helped me selflessly such as Andrew & Helen Chan, Bonnie Cage, Isabella and so on. They all acted like Jesus and touched me deeply.

I have been going to church ever since. One time in the end of Pastor Tan’s preaching, he called people to raise their hands if they were willing to believe in Jesus Christ and he wanted to pray for them. The holy spirit touched me so I raised my hand. After the sermon, Ms. Xu came to me and asked if I had time to learn the essential truths of Christianity. During the learning time between Ms. Xu and me, she helped me make a decision to trust in Jesus Christ and realize He is the true and faithful God. We are all sinners and meant to be dead, but God loves us, he sent his only son to save us and be crucified for our sins. Then he was resurrected to let us see hope again. As long as we believe in Him, we will not die but have eternal life.

After several months of studying the Bible and participating in fellowships, I deeply experienced the power and love of God, and realized my sins and shortcomings. I began to change myself and learn about love, tolerance, forgiveness, and humility, and more importantly, learn to pray. We can know God’s will and earn wisdom and strength only from prayer.

Last month, there were some conflicts between my husband and my daughter. I didn’t know what to do. If I were the old me, I might lose my temper, and keep silent to them for a few days. But now since I have taken off my old clothes, and put on new ones, I shouldn’t deal with the problem like the way I did before.  I started to pray for the calming heart, and then I asked for advice from the brothers, sisters and pastors of the church how I can handle this situation in a way which would please God.

The Bible says that there is God’s will behind everything. If we want to know God’s will, we must pray. Since God allows things to happen, there must be His good will. They all prayed for me and asked God for wisdom, strength, and peace of mind. Thank God for providing the unexpectedly perfect results and  I really felt His presence. Not only are there no conflicts arised between my husband and my daughter, but we have better and closer relationship in my family now. The Lord is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. He Is my Lord, I want to follow Him all my life until the day I meet the Lord in heaven. Thank God.  Amen.

Dear brothers and sisters, peace be with you!

My name is Yasu. I’m from Inner Mongolia, mainland China. I’m a Mongolian. The traditional belief of the Mongolians is Buddhism and Shamanism. My ancestors The Onggud were Turkut people who believed in Nestorianism before the sixth century. Today I am standing here in response to the call of God and extending the mission of my ancestors to complete my sacred Christian baptism. Now I feel extremely honored and excited.

I remember when I experienced the down time of my marriage six years ago, suffering from extreme sadness, a stranger spread the gospel to me and told me everything will be fine if I chose to believe in the Lord. It’s a pity that my spiritual life was still immature at that time so I missed it. However, the Holy Spirit guided me to meet sister Xiaoqing last spring. It was like the Holy Spirit planted a seed in my heart six years ago and today it sprouted. It’s amazing that God has already arranged everything for me, and I met Tan Qi, Michelle, and other sisters in the fellowship through sister Xiaoqing. After I came to church, I met more brothers and sisters. With their help, care, and leadership, after more than a year of study, I am standing here today, Emmanuel Chinese Baptist Church, accompanied by everyone’s blessing, I want to testify my determination and choice to open the door of light and go on to the eternal path. I heard God said, I am here to give the sheep life and richness. My lost lamb finally found her way home.

Thank God for letting me realize I am a sinner and playing back the first half of my life in my mind like a projector without missing any details, I am forty years old now. I used to ridicule at my husband, use the highest decibel rate to yell at my children, arbitrarily complain and blame my parents, hurt and misunderstand my friends’ feelings regardless of the consequences. Once I was dissatisfied with something, I complained and blamed everything but myself. I used to evaluate the world by the price and appearance of everything. Vanity and materialization used to be my rules of value. Such a sin-filled me was resurrected today by the Lord’s salvation and became a brand new person. God told me that if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. Dear God, I want to praise you now. Your almighty power changed my life. When I patiently disciplined the child without scolding and spanking, it was because you told me that love is patient and kind. When I served my husband with humility and affection, your words rang to my ears: You wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife. When I can achieve a harmonious relationship with the people around me, it is because you said that you should treat people the way you would like to be treated. When I no longer resented my father who had abused my family, and forgave the childhood pain he caused me, this is because my Lord Jesus said that we are all sinners and should forgive each other, not only seven times but seventy times seven!

Today is July 7, 2020, the most important milestone in my life, just like the day I became a mother. Today, I have another sacred mission in my life, I have become a Christian. I will carry my own cross every day and follow you. Because of your words, I will live the life that pleases you. May God bless me, and may the Holy Spirit help me to grow in Him. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

I am from Wuhan, China. My father is an atheist. He is stubborn and strong willed, and is the authority of my family. My mother is gentle and kind, and her personality is relatively weak. She first came to believe in Buddhism when I was in high school, and often took me to temples to worship Buddhas for blessing. Because of various doubts and confusions about Buddhism, I did not become a Buddhist and just go to the temple to accompany my mother. I focused on science subjects in high school, majored in economics in collage, and majored public administration in graduate school. My job is stable as well. The whole learning experience in education and the job field has made me a person who pursues perfection and is highly motivated. I feel that I must rely on my own efforts in everything. It also caused me to constantly worry about all kinds of things and to plan everything in advance.

Since I came to the United States to know and accept Jesus Christ, all this has changed.

The beginning of the change was that I accidentally saw a beautiful church in Grand Teton National Park online. I didn’t believe in the Lord back then, just want to see the beautiful scenery so I went there with pleasure. The moment I walked into the simple designed little church in the beautiful mountain, I was surrounded by a magical power. The light in the church was very dark, and there was only a transparent glass window facing the entrance. The light and scenery from outside penetrated into the church became the flowing scenery inside the church. This made the black wooden cross in front of the glass window particularly eye-catching. An old saying “there’s always God three feet above us when you raise your head.” suddenly appeared in my mind, and I unconsciously kneeled down in front of the cross. My heart was unprecedentedly calm and gratified. This was my first close encounter with Christianity . Looking back now, I think it was the Lord’s calling to me.

After coming to Kansas, one Sunday, one of my classmates asked us if we would like to attend church activities. We went with curiosity. The atmosphere of the gathering was particularly harmonious. From time to time there were people talking to me, caring about my pregnancy and asking if we needed help. I found that this group of people was different. Everyone of them had a sincere and warm smile. I didn’t see tiredness, depression, and anxiety on their faces. What I saw was their happiness, satisfaction and sweetness overflowing from their hearts. This is a magical thing for the young people like us who have just entered the career rising stage and are facing all kinds of pressure. Therefore, I started to participate in some church activities since first, I can enrich my life and second, I was very happy to be with this group of people. Before Thanksgiving, my classmates took us to participate in an outdoor church activity called “Journey to Judea”. The stage props and the real natural environment were cleverly integrated to simulate the classic scenes and important historical events of the Old Testament and New Testament. Suddenly a thought came into my mind. “This is Christianity, and Jesus Christ is real!

Since then, we have longed for knowing more about Jesus. By chance, we were introduced to Emmanuel Chinese Baptist Church. This was really God’s beautiful arrangement again. After several Sunday worships, we were sure that this is what we are looking for. We made our minds to believe in Jesus Christ! Afterwards, the time we spent in church was really the most belonging, joyful, and peaceful period of time for us during our stay in the US. I had a lot of communications and prayers with my church brothers and sisters. We saw the difference between Christians and the ordinary people when facing difficulties, challenges, and setbacks in their lives. They do not compare, be prideful, be anxious, or be greedy. They have calmness, humility, joy, strength, warm hearts, and love! Every small group meeting, Sunday worship, fellowship and Bible study are the things I was looking forward to the most.

Having fellowship, singing songs, and learning the Bible at Sister Mei Rong’s house not only giving us chance to eat good food, but also giving us a sense of comfort and home. Sister Xiaoyan Qu’s family has always been helping and caring about our daily needs. Through church brothers and sisters, the Lord provided us our physical needs and also the spiritual guidance and nourishment. I remember the first time I met with sister Lian Xu for lunch. During chatting, I learned that she was training herself for running recently and planning to participate in the marathon. I was surprised by her confidence and courage because I knew how much perseverance was needed for running the marathon. Furthermore, sister Xu is not a young woman in her 20s. She told me that every day she followed and completed the training plan designed by the sports watch. This watch recorded her various physical parameters like a coach, and adjusted the sports plan according to these data to ensure that her goals could be achieved. Just like our God, He is so powerful, He has long-term plans for each of us, He knows our needs and our limits, He gives us beautiful arrangements, all we need to do is to trust Him firmly and follow Him, then we will be able to achieve His beautiful plan! This is the secret of how the brothers and sisters in the Lord have the joy and peace! In this eschatological age, Christians will have suffering, but their attitude towards suffering and the principles of treating others allow them to be justified by faith and deed, so that they can enjoy the joy and peace in Christ.

Looking back at the journey in this foreign country, we stumbled and encountered many difficulties. For example, our visa is about to expire due to COVID-19 pandemic. We were clueless and did not know what to do, besides we also had to take care of our babies. Right at this time, sister Cuihua and sister Qu provided us information for applying visa extension. I encountered some obstacles during the application process. Sister Qu was always with me, gave me support, and contacted brother Dai to solve the problem in time, allowing me to successfully complete the application process. Sister Qu told me, “Everyone will face difficulties. Whenever we worry about the unknown, inner peace is replaced by anxiety. In fact, when we look back after everything passes, we figure out that we should’ve had more trust in God. God’s grace is enough for us. Those difficult experiences have become the wealth of our lives! ” Since then, whenever I encountered difficulties again, I recalled the passage that sister Qu shared with me. I prayed to the Lord, and my heart became more peaceful. Although the difficulties still need to be faced, I have peace in my heart, and I have more confidence to deal with everything. Thank God, He is by my side. He knows everything. When I am in trouble and need help the most, He provides the righteous people who surround me like clouds to help me. He cares for me, He loves me, He never leaves me!

Looking back at this journey, I feel that God is leading me step by step in the path of salvation, helping me to know Him, to accept Him, to turn back to Him, and look up to Him! Indeed, “What God has prepared for those who love him is that the eyes have never seen, the ears have not heard, and the heart has not thought of it” (1 Corinthians 2: 9) At first I just hoped that getting close to Christ would make my life in a foreign country less boring, but God always gives us more than we can imagine! During this journey of ups and downs, God taught me a lot of lessons. I am no longer greedy for prosperity, I no longer fight for victory and not admit mistakes, I am no longer angry with my family, I no longer worry about tomorrow, I no longer suffer from looking for superiority among comparison … Thank God! Thank God for working in my heart, not only transforming the outside of my life, but also constantly purifying and renewing me from the inside! What I believe in is the only God. Unlike the idols of others, He is a true and living God. His words not only changed my life in the world, but also promised me an eternal hope!

According to the verses I saw in the book of Hebrews “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Before I have no faith, He became the founder of my faith and let me have faith; now that I believe in the Lord, I experience him being the achiever of my faith every day in my life!

I am a native of Wuhan, Hubei. I grew up in an ordinary family with only one child, and my parents are atheists. Education in China we believe in materialism and socialism. So I have not thought about why all things in the world have this wonderful law, as if everything can be understood scientifically.

I chose marketing in college, so I worked in sales after that. My life was full of business trips, drinking, sales performance, mortgage, children’s education, and husband-wife relationship. Feeling tugged in the heart, I woke up every day just to deal with pressures from all directions. All these changed after coming to the United States.
We came to Kansas under the recommendation of our friend in Kansas. Later I learned that our friend is a Christian. I remember one day in November, a friend asked us if we would like to go to church together. Just came to the United States and wanted to meet some friends so we agreed. In the church, sisters and brothers came to greet and asked us if we needed help. To be honest, we were not sure in the beginning. After all, everyone in China kept a certain distance. Later at lunch, I found out that they were sincere, not just one, but everyone was full of joy. This deeply touched us who came to a foreign country, but also made me question? Why help us in vain? Why do you support each other and communicate joyfully without any benefit? All of this was something I hadn’t seen before. However, I found the answer later. We stopped going to the church for two months, but we did some researches about Christ and watched videos about the life of Jesus.

In January, Jingjing and I decided to go back. At the recommendation of our friends, we came to a church closer to where we live, ECBC, which really saved us.
With the help of Brother Li Erxi, we came to the church. A few days later, COVID-19 broke out in Wuhan and the whole country, and Wuhan was closed. Our family members and our firstborn were in Wuhan. We were worried, frightened and at a loss.

Our church prayed for Wuhan and donated money to the affected areas in the mainland. Singing the song “Healing China renewing the land”, I was moved and wept. The mercy and love of the Lord was witnessed and glorified in these Christians. The prayers of the brothers and sisters were sincere. When they were weak in the heart, people around feeling the same made us stronger. Every time I met sisters and brothers, they expressed their concern and condolences to us and our family. This time, I felt the mysterious power of prayer. At first, I was embarrassed to speak in front of everyone. Slowly, after calling and confessing to the Lord in the name of Jesus Christ, I felt a sense of relief. It turned out that releasing our burden to the Lord was so relieving. Thank you, Lord. In this pandemic, my family is well!
We participated in fellowships, love feasts, and enjoyed life in the Lord. Along the way, we were constantly moved by the Lord. Because we didn’t have a car, Sister Qu Xiaoyen and Brother Li Heng transported us back and forth every time. During the epidemic, they also fulfilled our daily needs. This must be a beautiful arrangement of the Lord … Just like what the Lord said “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap no gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Sister Mei-Rong and Brother Tony opened their home for fellowship gatherings and meals. She said she was helped by someone and would do the same once she had a house.

Brother Johnny Jiang’s testimony, about his walk from unbelief, his salvation, his illness, and his rest in the Lord, helped me to see the change of a person who believes in the Lord. There is not only joy in the Lord, but also hope!

There are countless testimonies in the Lord, a lot of love. I seem to feel the heartbeat of everyone. The touch of the Holy Spirit gives us compassion, so that we don’t hide anymore, making us live a true life, because we rely on a true God.

By confessing that Jesus is the Lord, and believing in the heart that He resurrected from the death, I am saved. The wall in my heart is pushed down, and the duckweed without roots disappears, because I have a strong support from the Lord.

Thank the Lord for giving us this wonderful experience. I feel that every step of ours is planned by the Lord. I was always afraid the uncertainties. The wonderful work of the Lord led us to the road of salvation and kept us peaceful on it.

In the past, Jingjing and I would have quarrels, and each time we would stop communicating for a while. We were having a fierce quarrel over a little thing about cooking. We did not compromise with each other and turned over old accounts. But with the help of the Lord, we were able to confess our mistakes by praying, and sought forgiveness from each other, and our relationship was immediately repaired.

In the Lord, I am no longer the one who depends on myself in all things. I have learned to relieve myself from the burden and entrust myself to the Lord. I feel unprecedentedly relaxed. In the Lord, I pray in all things, confessing to Him and people what I did wrong. Take off the old self, put on the new self. I feel so joyful every day with gratitude for life. My interpersonal relationship is also improved.

Thank the Lord for saving me. You have prepared not only my way in this life, but also my way after that. In the future, there may be some back and forth, stumbles but I believe that through the word of the Lord, through prayer and the help from the Holy Spirit, I will bear witness to glorify Him and He will help along my life.