John Lei_My Testimony

For 2005 Taiwan Mission trip

I was first introduced to Christianity as a 10 year-old boy just arriving to the U.S. from Taiwan. Our family of four was graciously cared for by Mr. Nagai, pastor of a local Church of Christ, and his wife, Mrs. Nagai. We attended Sunday services and children's Sunday school. Although I learned Bible stories and had wonderful friends at the church, I did not profess my faith in Christ. Sadly, science and evolution taught in school later proved to be a snare as I believed science rules out God. I went on to pursue academic excellence and my dreams to become successful and wealthy. Academic success did come and it appeared that I was on track to attaining my dreams of attending UCLA/UC Berkeley. I became an arrogant person who thought I was better than most people around me and that I can accomplishment anything with my brain and hard work. I looked down on classmates who had poor GPA's and are on their way to community college. Little did I know that this would prove to be the soil that the seed of my faith in Christ is planted.

Things turned sour quickly. I discovered that because I didn't have a greencard (my family came to the U.S. on student visa), I was required to pay non-resident tuition at UC schools. Furthermore, I could not qualify for any state or federal financial aid/loans. Almost all scholarships closed their door to anyone who is not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. With my Dad unemployed and my Mom working at a minimum wage job, there was no way I could afford to go to UC's even though I was accepted to UCLA and UC Berkeley. I ended up going to Santa Monica Community College, the very school I despised, in hoping that 2 years later I can transfer to UC's. It was a very humbling experience, but in hindsight, I know God was breaking me to soften my heart. Subsequently, my family moved to Las Vegas, and I transferred to UNLV to study. Las Vegas may seem to be the last place someone would come to meet God, but that's where I did.

One day my brother and I were playing tennis at a local park when a Chinese couple came and talked to us. They were very friendly and it turned out they are serving in a local Chinese church, Living Word Christian Church (LWCC). They invited us to their youth group and a couple of months later, we did visit. I remembered clearly that I was so impressed by the sincere love shown by the youth group members towards each other and us. This kind of love was something I've never seen or experienced in the secular world. That Christ-like love combined with God's softening of my heart through the college experience provoked me to open myself to read the Bible and attend Sunday services and Friday night youth group fellowship. I remembered being touched and awed by the stories of Jesus' miracles and teachings. I began to accept that Jesus was not human like us but He is the true Son of God. Winnie, the youth group leader, invested much time and effort to teach God's words to my brother Mike and myself. Shortly after, my brother and I professed our faith in Christ during an evangelistic event. We were both baptized on the same day on Easter Sunday that year.

LWCC provided the foundation of my faith in Christ. However, my spiritual maturity came through my involvement with UNLV's Intervarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF). IVCF was where I attended leadership training sessions, weekly worship fellowship and weekend retreats. Spiritually I grew in leaps and bounds and I was so joyful being a Christian. That growth prepared me to become co-leader of the LWCC youth group after Winnie became ill and had to leave. As a co-leader, I personally saw the power of our living God as we applied the principles of Nehemiah (seek and wait on the Lord, fast & pray) and saw a strong "revival" in the youth group. The group grew from about 10 youths to more than 40 at one point. I will never forget the many youths who did not know God before coming to our group who later became servant leaders of the youth group.

I later moved to San Jose, CA for work and was glad to find my current church, River of Life Christian Church (ROLCC). I was attracted by the four visions of the church: Praise & Worship, World Evangelism, Cell Church and Renewal of the Holy Spirit. I have attended and served at ROLCC for the past 5+ years. I am a co-worker and help lead worship for a couple of cell groups, co-worker for our English-Mandarin service, and children's Sunday School teacher. God has blessed me with many testimonies here in CA from getting my greencard, to provisions in my career, to help leading people to Christ. The most wonderful experience of all has to be the unity of my family in Christ. After my brother and I go baptized, my Mom became a Christian a couple of years later. It has taken my Dad more time, but in the past year, we have clearly seen confirmations that the Spirit of God touched his heart. God truly has answered our prayers. He now regularly prays and read the Bible with my Mom. All praise, honor, and glory to our awesome God!

I am excited to have this opportunity to go on the Taiwan mission trip with CCC, this will be the first time that I go on the same mission trip as Mike. I have gone on two mission trips with my church, one to Tibet and one to Cambodia. Both of these trip left deep impressions in my mind and are life-changing. I hope to see the powerful work of God in Taiwan this year during our trip.

In Christ,
John Lei