My journey to Christ has been anything but conventional. I grew up in a Chinese orphanage with many children, most of whom had special needs or physical disabilities. Born with a cleft palate myself, I had little expectation of ever being adopted. Yet, against all odds, I was adopted by a Christian family in Oregon just two days before my fourteenth birthday – China’s legal age limit for adoption at the time. Summer 2024, China ceased all international adoptions, making my adoption even more evidently providential.
Although my adoptive parents faithfully brought me to church, I remained skeptical for years. First as an atheist, then claiming agnosticism. However, I came to realize I was never truly agnostic. I couldn’t reconcile getting out of bed each day while maintaining an “I don’t know” attitude about life’s fundamental questions. The parable of the blind men and the elephant illuminated my contradiction: by claiming “I don’t know,” I was actually claiming to see the whole elephant while denying that others held pieces of truth. What I thought was humility was actually pride.
During my graduate studies, God used my professor, an apologist and the founder of a local Chinese church, to patiently answer my questions through Friday night gatherings at his home. I was also nourished by teachings from Cliffe Knechtle, Tim Keller, John Piper, John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, and Gavin Ortlund, etc,.
But what truly brought me to Christ was brokenness. On January 18th, 2024, during a painful crisis within my family (something not uncommon in adoptive families that struggle with intimacy), I found myself sobbing on the phone with my parents, then kneeling on the ground afterward. In that moment of complete helplessness, I realized I desperately needed Christ. That night, I surrendered my life to Him.
Today, I stand amazed at God’s faithfulness. He orchestrated my adoption against impossible odds, patiently pursued me through years of unbelief, and used my brokenness to draw me to saving faith. Looking back, I see that every part of my story – protection, adoption, and salvation, was God’s sheer grace from beginning to end. I am now serving in ministry and sensing His growing call on my life toward missions.