TESTIMONIES OF CHRIST - JING AI

Hi! My name is Jing Ai, and I am a sophomore at Penn studying Management and Technology. Today, I am here because I want to share about how Jesus came into my life, and I want to declare before all of you that Jesus Christ is my Savior and my Lord.

I was born in a nonreligious family in China. Marxist philosophy is very pervasive in China and I was taught that believing in God was superstitious, and that everyone should just be self-reliant. I believed that there was no God, and that people’s future is within their own control.

However, during my last two years of high school, I started wondering whether the worldview of China was the right one. After all, I had never heard views from outside of China. All of the media was under government control. So, I started thinking about coming to United States for my education. Although my parents wanted me to stay in China, when I got the acceptance letter to Penn, they allowed me to go study in America.

When I first got here as a freshman, I was very confused. I did not even know what a quarter or dime was when I was trying to use the laundry machine. I felt like I was trapped in a maze, but still believed that I should be self-reliant, just as I was taught in China.

During the first few weeks, I met some friends who invited me to their church. I was really bored. I told myself I would never waste hours like this again. To me, religion was not scientific and could not be logically proven. I thought to myself, “Why would I come all the way to America to waste time on religion?”

First semester came and went without me ever thinking about religion again. I just didn’t care. Second semester began and I just continued with my studies. One night, I was eating dinner by myself in Hill dining, when two girls came and sat next to me. One thing led to another and I asked them how they became Christians. They openly shared their testimonies with me. I thought they were nice stories, but I didn’t think that would apply to me.

After that, I just kept on running into one of them. We shared more meals together, and when she asked me to come to church with her, I went because I did not want to hurt her feelings.

In the past, I did not even have the patience to listen to stories about Jesus from other people, but since she was my friend, I listened to her. She spent a lot of time patiently explaining the basic concepts of Christianity to me. To make her happy, I just kept going to GCC with her. Even though I did not believe in it, I began to be more open towards religion.

Seeing so many people at church made me wonder what attracted everyone to Jesus Christ. I began to think that maybe religion did have some merit. I kept on going to church because the messages were good; especially the ones by the round – faced pastor.

Because my friend and I live in the same hall this year, we began to meet once a week to study the Bible together. My friend had explained to me a lot about sin, and how even the good things we did were tainted with sin.

I began to think about it and examine my personal life. Sometimes I felt jealousy or had an unforgiving heart, but I did even more good things. I never thought I was a bad person.

One Friday large group, we had an extended time of prayer. The sermon I remember was about how God loves His people, whether they believed in Him or not. I had thought religion was a way of fooling people and controlling their minds. But the fact that God still loved me despite my hatred towards the concept of God touched me so deeply that I just started crying.

Even though neither I, nor my family, nor my friends believed in Jesus, He still died for our sins. That day, I decided to accept Jesus Christ into my heart. I was very thankful that I could finally see that God was my Savior and Lord.

Having accepted Him into my life, I am changed. I don’t worry about my future anymore, because I know Jesus is in control. It is easier for me to forgive others more quickly. I understand that my happiness is not a result of circumstances, since Jesus is my inner, constant joy. I am no longer self-reliant, but completely dependent on Jesus. I feel content and secure in Him

Unlike other religions, Christianity is God coming to men through Jesus Christ offering them a relationship with himself. Christianity gives people the possibility of being loved unconditionally.

This feeling really amazed me, and my belief that Jesus is a living God that saved us became stronger. If it were not true, there would never have been such change in my life. This makes me desire to hold on to the Cross even more.

I thank God for really coming into my life, offering me the greatest gift of eternal life with Him. My family and my friends back home are still not touched by Christ, but it is my prayer that God would open their hearts, that they would know Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

Please keep them in your prayers, and pray for me that I would learn how to pray, and grow deeper in my relationship with Christ.

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