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Personal
Testimonies
He really is a Friend closer than a brother My mother's mother died when my mother was very young. She became a Christian through her teacher in a Junior High School. This teacher later became her godmother and her spiritual mother. Ever since I could remember, I went to a Free-Methodist church in the south part of Taiwan. I was quite naughty and always very bold. I was not afraid of anyone, but Jesus. I knew He was my Lord, and an awesome mighty God. I was always very proud of my Savior Jesus. At then, I often argued with children from different religious background and said," My Jesus resurrected from the dead, how about your god, what can they do?" When I couldn't win an argument, I always said to them, " I will pray for you," because I knew Jesus was my Defender in life. People can do all kinds of wrongs to you, but no one can really touch me because God was with me. Throughout the years, I became closer in the Walk with the Lord, and I always love Him very deeply. Often I can't live up to what He teaches, but I know He still loves me just as the same and He will never give me up. He has taught me and disciplined me many times. Sometimes I would said to Him," Lord, why do you pick on me all the time, there are problem people every where, even in your church, Why don't you work on them?" He will answer my complaint in many different ways, but in ever so gentle ways, He always let me know I'm His sheep. I belong to Him; that's why He teaches and disciplines me. A lot of times, I really don't understand what he is doing. But I know it is good for me. I love to pray to Him and talk to Him. Throughout my life, through many difficulties and suffering, I know Jesus is a miracle--working God. He heals sick people, extends His mercy and gives them life. He provides all the food, clothes, and shelter, even during the seasons of famine. He is a God of peace. Whenever I pray, He always comes to me and brings peace into my life and home. He talks to His sheep, through His words, circumstances, and His people. He really is a Friend closer than a brother. The Song of Songs say," My Lord is the Fairest of ten thousand." He is so glorious and beautiful, so holy and good. I'm still very proud of my God just as when I was 5 years old of age. And He is still very good to me.
I had been searching for God on my own terms Christianity has always been apart of my life. Both my parents became Christians years before I was born. As a child, I remember Sunday as a routine of waking up, getting dressed and going to church. Then, I would memorize bible verses for stickers and listen to all the stories they told about God and Jesus. There were stories about God's power over the world and Jesus, love for the people of the world. I don't quite remember what I thought about those stories at the time. I had treated them as fairy tales and yet I also believed that they were real and important in my life. I believed that because my parents believed in them. Then, my faith was based upon my trust in my parents, what they believed in, I would believe. With this, I accepted Christ as my savior in fourth grade and was baptized in fifth grade. After I was baptized, one could say I got fired up for Christ. I was so excited about it that I practically announced to my friends that I was Christian. After that, I had entered middle school and joined the youth group. When I joined the youth group, I became more active in my church activities to the point that I wanted to integrate it into my school life. Eventually, one of my friends from school asked, "why are you a Christian"? I had been so caught up in all the activities that I was participating in at the time that I didn't really think about it until then. During the summer of 1995, my family went on a trip to China. We went with my cousin's family and a family friend of theirs. These other two families were also Christian. While we were there, I was worried about being deported if the communists found out we were Christians. When I think back to it, there really was no threat, yet at the time, I didn't know. During our tour, we got the opportunity to ride down the Yang Tze river before they built up the dam. On that ride I remember very distinctly the two other families freely talking about Christianity and singing praise songs with all natives around. I was shocked by their boldness and this event made me start to think that there must be something about God that they know and I don't, and I want to find out what it is. After that, I was still wondering around in my faith trying different ways to search for God. It was not until the time my youth councilor decided to disciple me when my eyes were open to see God working all around me. Before I had been searching for God on my own terms. Now God has taught me submit to His terms to experience Him. For the past two years, He has been molding my heart to become more and more similar to His and I pray that He continues until it is like His.
I grew up in a small village in Taiwan. I went to church as a youngster mainly to get cards with glistening sprinkles. Later on in high school, I befriended some nice Christians. I went to church with them out of curiosity especially because they went to an English-speaking church attended mostly by foreigners. Again I heard the name of Jesus. I also learned some hymns in English. But Jesus was never real and never had anything to do with my life. |
