Like many young believers, I grew up in a Christian family. When I was a baby, my babysitter shared the gospel with my parents. The Lord saved my mom first and then used a traumatic car accident to begin working in my father’s heart to bring him to salvation as well. Some of my earliest memories are of myself playing with the kids at church. I grew up hearing Bible stories at Sunday school and singing songs that are usually accompanied by a lot of exaggerated hand motions. But, what was mere head knowledge began to make more sense when we began a survey of the Gospels, Acts and Romans. Sure, some of the parables still seemed a little cryptic to me, but through these studies, God was gradually revealing to me the good news that a sinner like me, who looked so moral on the outside but was constantly practicing lawlessness in the heart, could be saved. Before, I was subconsciously living my life in fear, always trying to push the looming cloud of hell farther back into the recesses of my mind. It was draining, and I quickly grew weary and disheartened with the burden I was carrying. My sin was clear to me, but I didn’t truly believe I was saved. After the group study though, everything finally clicked. I had a major “duh” moment when I realized that when the Bible mentions salvation as a free gift, it REALLY means a free gift. To think otherwise was to doubt Christ’s sufficient atonement on the cross and to do my Savior the greatest disservice. I was saved because Jesus Christ is God, and He died for me – nothing else.
I continued going to church in my junior high years. Since I never felt very connected with my peers, I knew that the only reason why I kept on going to church was an unadulterated desire to worship the Lord. I was thankful that though the situation was unfavorable, I could see my pure motives. In my high school years, the lack of discipleship, accountability, and strong teaching, coupled with various wordly influences, seemed to stop my Christian walk. Although preoccupied with the empty promises of this world, I knew something was wrong but did not quite know how to correct my circumstances. It was only until my senior year in high school that God planted in my heart the desire to pray that He would place me at a college with a strong on-campus ministry and at a Bible-teaching church. He also humbled me, graciously giving me exactly what I needed by not granting me acceptance to my top-choice schools. The summer before I came to UCLA, I “coincidentally” met Beland and Priscilla, two staff members at Grace on Campus fellowship group (GOC) at UCLA. They encouraged me to check out GOC, and I did. I visited the Thursday night of Zero Week and never looked back.
The past four years have been so good for my soul. By God’s grace, I have grown in spiritual maturity and discernment under the faithfulness of godly women pouring their lives into mine. I have been able to sit under the teaching of learned pastors who love the Lord. I have met many brothers and sisters who have made the command in 2 Timothy 2:22 a reality for me. God has been good to challenge me as well, permitting me to serve in different ministry groups and lead small group for two years. Now, as I prepare to graduate, I am glad to be a part of this STM for the purpose of proclaiming the riches of the gospel to the Japanese people.
I continued going to church in my junior high years. Since I never felt very connected with my peers, I knew that the only reason why I kept on going to church was an unadulterated desire to worship the Lord. I was thankful that though the situation was unfavorable, I could see my pure motives. In my high school years, the lack of discipleship, accountability, and strong teaching, coupled with various wordly influences, seemed to stop my Christian walk. Although preoccupied with the empty promises of this world, I knew something was wrong but did not quite know how to correct my circumstances. It was only until my senior year in high school that God planted in my heart the desire to pray that He would place me at a college with a strong on-campus ministry and at a Bible-teaching church. He also humbled me, graciously giving me exactly what I needed by not granting me acceptance to my top-choice schools. The summer before I came to UCLA, I “coincidentally” met Beland and Priscilla, two staff members at Grace on Campus fellowship group (GOC) at UCLA. They encouraged me to check out GOC, and I did. I visited the Thursday night of Zero Week and never looked back.
The past four years have been so good for my soul. By God’s grace, I have grown in spiritual maturity and discernment under the faithfulness of godly women pouring their lives into mine. I have been able to sit under the teaching of learned pastors who love the Lord. I have met many brothers and sisters who have made the command in 2 Timothy 2:22 a reality for me. God has been good to challenge me as well, permitting me to serve in different ministry groups and lead small group for two years. Now, as I prepare to graduate, I am glad to be a part of this STM for the purpose of proclaiming the riches of the gospel to the Japanese people.