I think it's time for an update for this blog! What have I been up to the past year? Not too much, been busy with school. Learning how to study for the first time, seeing some drastic improvements in my grades (much better than first year =), started my own business last summer, and I'm going to be taking a break from school next year and start working.

A lot of people have been asking me how I became a Christian in the first place so I'm going to be sharing a bit of that:

I grew up in an atheist family. When I was young, I was very interested in science and soon became a strong believer of Darwinism. When I was 5, my great-grandfather passed away, and that was when I learned what death meant. From that point onwards, I felt very empty, because I thought that this life is all there is. If so, then why bother working so hard? Why bother accomplishing anything in life at all? When you die, it's all gone. That left a lasting mark on my attitude towards school, and I stopped trying hard in school. I was smart enough to still keep up with my school work, but didn't really put much effort into it anymore.

When I was 9, I moved to the Twin Cities with my mom. My aunt at the time was a new Christian and would take us all to church every Sunday. I hated church. I had a hard time making friends in Sunday school, and I felt utterly alone. Every Sunday I would pretend to be sleeping, and they would drag me out of bed and drag me to church. I hated it.

Then one day Ivana, a friend of mine at my elementary school invited me to a Christian event. "It's a party! It's gonna be fun!" She told me. So I went with her. At the event, I met her Sunday school teacher, Deborah. Deborah started telling me about this God that she knows so well, and this guy named Jesus who loves me. That was the first time I've ever heard the Gospel in my life. Who is this invisible God that I can't see, can't touch, can't feel? I thought those people were crazy, hypnotized. Deborah asked me whether I would like to start attending church with her and Ivana. I didn't want to, but at the time, I was so eager to get rid of my old church that I thought "at least here I'll have friends" So I said yes.

When I started attending Edina Grace Church with Deborah and Ivana, I got my first glimpse of heaven. The people were so friendly and caring, the things they described about God sounded so wonderful. I loved it and wanted to come back every week, so I did. But as friendly as the place was, I still couldn't believe in God. Not without solid proof. There were times I felt God's presence, but those were merely feelings; and feeling isn't solid proof. I didn't want to believe in something that didn't seem logical, at least not without absolute solid proof.

When I was 12, I moved to Canada with my mom and dad. I attended church for a little while longer before completely stopping in grade 9. Over the next few years, I poured out my heart in research. I looked into all the scientific and religious books I can find, and researched into as many religion as I can get my hands on. I read countless books and articles on "Errors in the Bible", "Errors of the Quran", "Proofs of God's existence", "Miracles that happen to People", I read through the Quran, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, as well as others, and tried to find out about as many religion as possible. I looked into tough questions such as "Why do bad things happen to good people" and "why would a loving God send people to Hell?" I read through so many scientific "proofs" of God's existence and people's personal encounters with God. I tried to look at both sides of the story, kept as open a mind as possible. I just wanted to know two things:
1. Does God really exist?
2. If He does, then who is He? Which religion is the truth? And why did He create me? What's my purpose in life? If He does not exist, then my existence is only a coincidence and life has no real meaning, then should I supposed do with my life?

I read through so many documents that I finally became exhausted of all this research. I finally decided to just pray. "You know what? If there is a God, if I cry out, perhaps He will answer me and tell me who He is." so I did that.

The 3 months immediately following this prayer were mind-blowing. 7 consecutive miracles happened in my life. If it were to happen to someone else, I might have been skeptical, but they happened to me personally and I couldn't deny it. (ask me for testimonies). In fact, my family were SO amazed they became Christians too. (I shared some of this in the entry below called "I want to know You more, no matter WHAT THE COST") Not only that, but God gave me evidences of His existence from fields of biology, to bio-chemistry, to physics, to astronomy, to cosmology. He also answered a lot of tough questions I had logically that kept me from believing in God such as "Why would a loving God allow pain and suffering in the world?" He really opened my eyes and showed me that He is real and it IS possible for a logical person like myself to believe in God. In fact, there is SO MUCH overwhelming evidence that I find it hard for a logical person to not believe in God. And miracles didn't stop after those 3 months, they are still happening today in fact, just less frequently. From that point on, I never doubted Him again.

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
- Jeremiah 29:13

[next post: answering some of the tough questions about God, plus misconceptions of Christianity, remind me to write it soon.]