Two years ago, when I was studying at Johns Hopkins in Washington DC, I came to visit my aunt once and she took me here. That was the first time I went to a church, to witness the Christian faith. It was also the time that I started thinking about applying for the Analytics program here at NC State. After I told my aunt about this, she and Pastor Chen began praying for me, and they kept praying until I actually got here. After I graduated from Johns Hopkins last year, I went back to China. I was thinking that if I can find a decent job there, then I would probably not come here for another Master’s degree. Because both of my parents wanted me to stay with them, and life in China seemed to be a lot easier. I pondered back and forth, struggled a lot, and still could not decide if I should come to the States again. But when I entered the job market, God closed every door. As I went through the job hunting process, my anxiety about the future grew drastically. I kept having this feeling that I should go back to school to learn more technical skills instead of finding a normal job and wasting my God given intelligence. This feeling became so strong that I gave up job hunting and decided to come here. It turns out I made the right decision. I am learning exactly what I wanted to learn, and living a happy life here. The anxiety about the future is gone and my mind is at peace. Additionally, I met my boyfriend here at church. He gives me so much love, lifts my confidence and alleviates my anxiety. I consider him my life-long love and a gift from God. I started to think that maybe all of these factors are God’s working. He wanted me here, so I couldn’t feel at peace when I was in China. And He was right, He prepared me a path here, and what He gave me was more than I imagined. I decided to become a Christian, to thank God for His love, and to serve Him for the rest of my life. At church, I observed how Christian faith took away my aunt’s pride, how it changed her to be strong, to have hope and faith. I also witnessed what it’s like to be blessed, what it’s like for one with an unbelievable amount of work load to raise a kid to be so successful, to master so much skills and to be so outgoing and positive. To me, Christianity is all about love and faith. I received lots of love from God and friends from church, and I cannot help but pour out my love to others. I feel so happy and blessed ever since I became a Christian, and I am going to live in God’s way and listen to His words. I became a Christian with the help of my aunt, my boyfriend, my Pastor, Esther, Holly, Juliana, Justin, Hausen and Sarah, and I will help others to become a Christian in the same way: by giving out love, and showing faith. Here I’d like to quote my favorite scripture from I Corinthians 13:4-8: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves. Love never fails.
By
Jiajing Hu
2017/10/29