By God’s grace, I grew up in a Christian home and attended Chinese Grace Bible Church (CGBC). Because of this, I haven’t had one large conversion experience. Instead, I feel my relationship with God developed gradually in my life.

I first accepted Jesus into my heart when I was three years old. I prayed the “sinner’s prayer” with my mom and dad, repeating the prayer after my parents line by line. As a three-year-old, I didn’t understand what the gospel truly meant. Growing up, my goals in life were to be the best in school and other activities so I could receive praise from people. I wasn’t really interested in church or in having a close relationship with God. I quickly answered questions in class and memorized verses during Sunday school so I could then go outside and play a game with my friends. I saw myself as a good person and believed that as long as I went to church, prayed, and was nice to other people, God would let me into heaven. It was during the Vacation Bible School (VBS) gospel presentation at church in second or third grade that I again accepted Jesus as my Savior with the VBS leaders. At this point, I started calling myself a Christian. However, I wasn’t sure if I was truly saved, so I prayed to accept Jesus many times during my elementary years at VBS or by myself at home. I accepted the gospel, mostly because I wanted eternal life with God and I feared going to hell. I still had a limited understanding of the gospel. I didn’t see myself as a helpless sinner in need of God’s grace. Until middle school, the gospel didn’t really make a big difference in my life.

As I started middle school, God allowed me to experience the gospel in a new way. I started going to a youth group on Fridays, Teens in God’s Service (TIGS), where I was able to gain a deeper understanding of God and the gospel. Various experiences, from weeklong Chinese Bible Mission (CBM) camps to daily devotionals, helped me grow closer to God. I learned about the reality of my sin and that no matter how good I was, it would be impossible to be right with God on my own power. My salvation could not be achieved by myself, no matter how many times I went to church, prayed, or did good deeds. I needed Jesus Christ to atone for my sins. Only by God’s grace, through faith in Christ’s sacrifice, am I made right with God. He deserves all of the glory. I am so thankful for the gospel, because I did nothing to deserve God’s grace and favor.

I am taking the step of water baptism in order to publicly confess my faith to the church and to nonbelievers around me. Through baptism, I want to die to my selfish fleshly desires, have new life in Christ, and share the gospel with people around me. I want to share Hebrews 12:1-2:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (NIV)