OUR PICTURES:

Danielle's Testimony:

I was born in a Christian family, so I went to church since I was a baby. As I grew up and when I was around 8 years old, I asked myself why I should believe him and have to go to church everyday. I was always curious why so many people believe in him when there’s no specific evidence except for the bible and some places in the bible. Whenever I ask my parents or my bible teacher about those kinds of questions, their answers didn’t satisfy my curiosity. I just followed my parents and went to church to see my friends and hang out without knowing why I should believe in Jesus. However, when I turned 13 years old, I went to America and experienced many things that I’ve never had in Korea including my life with Jesus. I went to Korean church to see some Koreans and make Korean friends because there weren’t any Koreans at my school. Every Sunday, I was very excited about going to church because I made lots of good friends there. I had a bible teacher named Ms. Kim and she helped me a lot to get closer to God and she also helped with some problems I had struggled in my life. I’ve never thought of God deeply before in Korea, but I realized so many things about Him while I was staying in America. I was also very sad, depressed and lonely at home because I was staying at my aunt’s house. I never expressed my feeling a lot when I’m at school or with my friends and I tried to not show them how I feel when I’m alone at the house. I missed my family so much and Korea. I sometimes felt like killing myself, especially at night asking myself why I should live and what should I live for. Nobody really knew how I was at my aunt’s house but it was actually a great chance for me to get closer to God. Ms. Kim, my bible teacher helped me and talked about my life a lot and I just started to love God and believe in Him no matter what kind of evidence there is about Him. I seriously prayed every night asking Him to help me and make me feel better. Relationship between my aunt and me didn’t get better, but I definitely felt much better! I made lots of friends and joined many after school activities. When I was alone at my aunt’s house, I stopped feeling depressed because I felt that God is always watching me and He is with me.

Rachel's Testimony:

2 Peter 1:21 says, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

While I sit down to write this, I want this verse to be true in my life. I want my words to be from Him and not from myself, so it is with this that I start my testimony.

I was born to Christian parents and was raised as a pastor’s kid and also as a missionary’s kid. Even when I was a small child I believed in God. I prayed to Him, but I did not really know Him. I was like most kids in my situation. I was considered a well behaved child by most of the world’s standards, but I knew that I wasn’t as I appeared to be. I was living in my parents’ shadow. I was just a cute little girl who knew about God and cared about Him, but I did not place Him above everything else in my life. I went to church I said my prayer at meal times, but that did not satisfy me.

My parents taught me about Christianity and they chose my 9th birthday to share with me about the love of Jesus Christ. They shared the verse, Romans 3:23 with me and it says: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That verse is what God knew I needed to hear. That verse showed the true nature of all people and puts us all on the same level, which was really important to me, it didn’t matter if people were rich or poor, popular or outcast, pretty or ugly, we had all sinned. That night I became a Christian and accepted Jesus Christ into my heart.
My life did change but I was fitting the description in Revelation 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. I was not on fire for Jesus. But as I grew older and went on day mission trips, I felt God working in me. He wanted me to be on fire for Him. He didn’t want me to just sit back and enjoy the ride, but rather live for Him and His service. This was such an important time in my life because it’s when I started to really give everything in my life to Jesus. Also during that time I began to take Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:19-20 more seriously, they are: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." I was so shy especially when I was younger and used that as an excuse for not telling other people about Jesus. But when I was getting ready to go on my last day mission trip (I was in eighth grade) to this deaf school in the Philippines, it was canceled. I was disappointed because I had really felt God calling me to share my testimony and instead of ignoring that call I had committed myself to fulfilling that. But as with all things, God took this situation and made it something totally amazing for His glory. He opened up the doors for us to go to an elementary school and help out and also share my testimony. I was so nervous but I also felt a peace when I was saying it. I felt God’s strength and that gave me more confidence. I tried to make the verses above mottos for my life.
From then on I really began to start seeing things in a different light. I began to rely on God more and had a desire to know Him better. He taught me many different lessons but here were two things that really stuck out to me. The first would be that everything happens for a reason. This concept is so amazing. Its hard for me to fathom that EVERYTHING that has happened in my life has happened for a reason. I would understand things such as living in a certain place, or having a certain family, but the fact that everything we see, say, do, touch, experience happened for a reason. This is also amazing cause it just shows how much God cares about our lives that He would plan every single millisecond out. The next concept is peace of mind. I felt this when I learned we would have to move again after living in a place for four years, and I learned I may never come back to South Korea. This was difficult for me, every other move I had been fighting and asking God why He had made me leave all of my friends, and I blamed my parents and their job. But this time instead of feeling anger I felt peace from God. This has been so important to me because it took me to a new depth in my relationship with God. It’s such a relief to myself to know that I have Him to rely on and that He gives me that peace.
To explain why I love God I must first begin with a story. When I was a child I was often scared of the dark, in fact, I was terrified. I don’t know why I was so scared, but there was something about the feeling of being alone and vulnerable that just took over me and petrified me in fear. I used to make up stories in my head, happy stories and sad stories, but whenever I would get scared I would think of God. I used to imagine that I was sleeping not on a mattress, but on God’s hand. I think I got this idea from the song He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands and I would just focus on that and the fear would go away. God is our protector, our Father, our best friend, and a million other things, in short He is everything. This is part of the reason I love Him. There are endless reasons I could name for loving Him, but there is one that stands above the rest. That is He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us. That just blows me away because it’d be like a man sacrificing his son for an ant, but that doesn’t even accurately show how insignificant we are compared to God. Also, He didn’t just die for us, but for our sins! Every single sin we ever committed. These are just two of the reasons I love God.
To end this I just want to repeat what I wrote earlier: for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21

Peter's Testimony:

I always was a Christian because I was born in a Christian family. The first time I realized I was a sinner and needed God’s forgiveness was when I was in China. This pastor from Korea came to my youth church and preached. His preaching just went in my head I felt really bad so I asked for God’s forgiveness through praying. The first time I confessed my sin was when the preacher came to my youth church and preached. I believed that Jesus died on the cross for my sins was in 2nd grade. The time I was baptized was in 6th grade when I went to America for 6 months. My life changed after I became a Christian because I know that someone is watching me and is helping me. I feel safe because I always know God is here to help me. When I am in hard times I prayed to God and He helped me. Some of God’s goodness in my life is when my family moved to China and I adjusted quickly. Also how God helped me to make a lot of friends in China. Another goodness is God sending me to TCIS and helping me adjust really quickly. He also helped me to make a lot of friends here too. One other goodness God did in my life was giving me an older brother. If he didn’t give me an older brother I wouldn’t be the person I am now. Another goodness he gave me was just keeping me safe. Also giving me the ability to do anything in life I guess. I love God because He sacrificed His one and only son to die for our sins. I love Jesus because He died on the cross for everybody’s sin. I once had a time that I felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit. When I was in 6th grade one of my friends wasn’t a Christian. I really wanted to tell him to go to church but I was afraid so I held back. But later while playing I had this urge to just tell him, so I told him about it and I think he goes to church now

Minji’s Testimony :

After my parents got married, they were not able to have babies for seven years. My mom prayed so hard for those seven years and she finally got pregnant. She was so happy to have me and she thanked the Lord. After I was born, she didn’t have any other children, so I was an only child who was and still is so precious to both of my parents. They loved and cared for me so much, but also, they had a high expectations on all the things I do as well. When I was in elementary school, I was young and didn’t know anything so all I wanted to do was just do what I was told and make my parents happy. Then when I went to the middle school in Jeonju, I started meeting new friends who always wanted to just hang around and chat with each other. At that time, the only reason I went to school was to hang out with my friends, talk or sleep during class. Even though I was born in a Christian family, and was a secretary at my Sunday school, I lived like that, which now if I think about it, it makes me feel very ashamed. I don’t think I have ever acted like a faithful daughter of Jesus Christ and my parents. I never thought of how my actions and words would hurt and disappoint God and my mom and dad. Actually, I didn’t care. Unlike how I live now, I had no future goals or anything after I graduate. My life was basically hopeless and meaningless. My mom and dad always prayed for me crying and crying to come back to how I was before. Whenever I talk with my church pastor or participate in summer camps at church, I would cry and cry while I was praying and repent, but right after the next day, I would go back to my own life. Friends were everything to me at that time and I rarely cared about my family. Then, one day, on the last day of school in my 8th grade year, I got in a very big fight with my friends and I came back home with uncomfortable and empty feelings inside me. Now, I didn’t know what to do, and I didn’t know who I can talk to because they were the only ones that I spent most of my times with. This was because even though my parents always had their minds and everything opened for me, I never approached them. Anyway, so after that last day of school, vacation started, and while everyone was having so much fun hanging out with their friends and families, my vacation sucked. Then suddenly my church pastor took the council members of our Sunday school to a short retreat near our city to a beach. At night, we got to pray for each other, sharing our hardships and any worries. I suddenly started thinking about my life, and everything was awful for me. I cried and cried talking about my situation, and everyone there started praying for me praying in tongues, crying, and blessing me with every actions and words they can do. Then, as I kept sobbing, I started to feel the love of Jesus Christ and I felt so sorry for Him and my parents for how I have lived for the past one to two years. I really wanted to change to a new person that would make my family and my God happy. I got to have the feeling of joy and happiness again; however I was still feeling so sorry for my parents especially. I was picturing all the moments when I was betraying, ignoring, and disrespecting them. What made me sadder was that they still loved me just like they did before, no, more than they did before. God showed me His unfailing and unconditional love through my parents and He still is right now. Moreover, I learned His great power that could make anything possible. This was because He let me change my whole life by sending me to Taejon Christian International School, where I am right now. I met a true friend who I can talk to about anything starting from spiritual stuff to relationship problems, and this was definitely different from my life in Korean middle school because I never got to do this with my friends there. They were not “true” friends who desire to listen to my problems and pray for me. However, my true friend – her name is Grace- , knew how to do this, and she was desiring and desperate to do this for me. Not only this, but I got to appreciate every single thing that my parents do for me. I got to love and trust them so much that now, they are like my best and the most special part of my life. My attitude and mindset changed completely and I got to get much closer to God. I learned how to talk in tongues, and share my testimonies with others, even non-Christians. I also learned how to forgive and love my enemies. Overall, God is great and He is powerful. With Him, we can do anything, ANYTHING though Him. He has changed many people’s lives and He still is right now, and He will, forever. I am so excited and happy to think of His plans for more people in the future!

YAE CHAN’S TESTIMONY:

I’ve recently accepted Jesus as my Christ. It was about 1 to 2 months ago. Even though my parents were Christians, I wasn’t a true Christian until now. And before I became a Christian, I have had times of rebellion with God. When my mom was gone for work after my school times, I was tempted to play games in secret, even though in my heart I knew it was wrong. And I knew this was the calling from God that I shouldn’t do this. But I played games still. I think that was kind of a rebellion.
I knew from my head that I was a sinner and that I needed forgiveness. But I didn’t actually repent at all actually before I became a true Christian. The first time that I truly repented was in a night. I was praying, I just wanted to receive God as my savior because I needed someone to rely on that time. And then the Holy Spirit reached me. All the evil doings that I’ve done for all these years came to my mind, and started repenting.
My life changed a little in the way I saw things. Like the conflicting forces between evolution and creationism. And now I think that creationism has to be true, because Christianity is true.
I love Jesus because he created me and gave us his one and only son, Jesus.

Grace’s Testimony:

Ever since I came to my school right now, TCIS, my life changed very much. I was born in a Christian family; both of my parents are Christian and so literally I’m a Christian. But the time when I accepted Jesus Christ with all my heart, was when I was fourteen years old. My parents were involved in many services and teams at church. So I had to follow them; I went to church at least two days in a week, every week. Going to church was something that is not optional but mandatory thing. Where ever I was in this world, I went to church following my parents. Of course I love praising and praying to God, but I really didn’t know much about God. Even though I knew all the stories in the Bible, I didn’t know what the true message was. Later on, I entered middle school, and I became a troublemaker. My life wasn’t happy and I looked angry all the time; I couldn’t find the reason why I live and everything was just very annoying. Whatever I did was something that God would not be pleased. Then, I went to a Christian camp when I was fourteen years old. This camp totally changed my life. The church where I went to and where I still go is a very big church; more than thirty thousand people go there. So the Christian camp for the teenagers was also a very big event; more than thousand people went together. During the worship time and when the pastor spoke to us, I met God with all my heart. It felt like God was speaking to me and it felt like he was always inside my heart; at that day I totally felt and accepted him. This night is probably the night that I cried the most; my tears just wouldn’t stop. I realized how sinful and immoral person I was. God touched my heart and made me to repent, I was very thankful for God coming into my heart. The fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross for me was just very grateful and thankful. That he died for me to forgive my sins and that I am his daughter; I also realized that he promised me that I will go to heaven someday for I am his daughter. This night was the turning point in my life; I prayed so hard bending down on my needs, my leg felt like it was paralyzed. After three days of camp was over, I was given a new life from God. This turning point made me to make new goals and decided to live like a true Christian. If I didn’t go to this Christian camp, I would have been living a spoiled life. Even though I considered myself as a Christian I would not have lived like a Christian. It is hard to live as a true Christian because there are so many distractions in the world; but I really think that if I try, God will definitely help me. Honestly, after the camp was over my spirit didn’t stay that strong for a long time. But now, as I live my life I try to live like a Christian, in a way that God will be pleased with me. To become a true Christian, we all need to live our lives as a living sacrifice; sometimes we need to sacrifice ourselves and don’t do something that we want to do, if it is something that God will not be happy. Now when I think about my past I can see that I’ve changed a lot, in a good way. And I’m very thankful and glad that God changed my life. That he is working for me, that he has plans for me and using me. Nowadays, I pray for people who do not know God. Ever since God has done all these amazing things for me it is awesome to know God, and I wish everyone can experience God’s love. The fact that he is alive working for everyone makes me excited and joyful. At the time when I share my testimony with people, I hope that they could also meet God. Later when I go to heaven, I wish I could meet everyone.