What a blessing to celebrate with these FriendSpeak/ESL readers who gave their lives to Christ and publicly declared their faith through baptisms on this Resurrection Sunday at Grace Fellowship Church! Praising God for the wonderful works He is doing in FriendSpeak/ESL in bringing home Elsa (Marta Abbott Burthold‘s reader), Qiaonian (Kathey Huckabee’s reader), and Zhaoyun (Martha Lindsley‘s student) into the family of God and changing these lives for eternity.
Welcome home Elsa, Qiaonian, and Zhaoyun!
Here is Elsa’s testimony:
Today’s theme is baptism and why. Let me share my experience. Before I came to America, I was an atheist and I had no religion. After arriving in the United States, I wanted to take English classes. However, due to my immigration status, I could not attend English classes at the regular school. My friend Nicole told me about an English class offered by Grace Fellowship Church. She invited me to attend the class with her. That is when I met Sarah.
January 22, 2023 was the first time I walked into Grace church. I stood in awe during the worship service. I couldn’t understand what they were singing but I couldn’t control my tears. I cried, at the same time my heart was incredibly calm and peaceful. Now I know, it was God’s divine moment for me to experience Him.
Then I started to attend the Chinese Alpha class. In the Alpha class, I had the privilege to meet Marta. She volunteered to be my FriendSpeak partner. That’s when God opened up a new path in leading me to Jesus Christ. Marta shares her life experiences with me. We meet every week to read stories from FriendSpeak Luke workbook. I learned so much about Jesus and understood my need for Jesus. I needed a savior to save me from the eternal separation from God because of my sins. Jesus died on the cross to forgive my sins. Marta patiently shared Jesus love with me. She is not only my English teacher but also my best friend now. Sometimes she is like my mother. There is a Chinese saying, 一日為師，終身為父 (“Even if someone is your teacher for only a day, you should regard him like your father for the rest of your life”). I hope you understand my emotion. I have so many questions in the beginning but I thank God for providing Marta to help answered many of my questions. God also brought other Christians to my life to help me deal with other issues I have. He gave me a sense of direction for my life and eventually directed me home into the arm of Jesus.
I am so excited that I found Jesus and I can’t wait to make my faith in Jesus public through baptism.
- Announcement: Even though I only learned about Jesus for 2 months, I believe in God, our Heavenly Father and I put my faith in Jesus and declaring my faith through baptism. It’s like a child growing up, and when she reaches a certain age, she needs to go to school to grow academically. For me, to be baptized is to announce to everyone that I have grown up and I have made my decision to follow Jesus and live in His love to glorify Him with my new life.
- Change: After my decision to accept Jesus, the Holy Spirit come into my heart that caused a deep hunger in me to get close to our Heavenly Father and a strong desire to want to be like Jesus!
- Desire: After becoming a Christian, my desire has changed from desiring knowledge to desiring to imitate Jesus. After learning that Jesus was baptized, it is my heart desire to get baptized to proclaim to the world that I belong to Jesus. This desire brings me peace, joy and happiness to my heart.
The above are the three main reasons why I want to be baptized. I hope you will continue to pray for my walk with Jesus. Thank you.
