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Welcome to our site for friends and family. We are thankful that you are visiting our site and we hope you are amazed, as we are, of God's grace in our lives. Hopefully, this will give you a glimpse of the adventures our family has seen in Newfoundland, Canada. We are humbled to be starting two churches in the midst of this beautiful province. The icebergs, whales, puffins, rugged coastline, and even the occasional moose all point to the glory of God. We hope you enjoy!
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Check out our Christmas 2009 Video
See Testimonies from Eric and Tina under "Read More."--->
Eric’s Testimony
Before I came to Christ, I was trusting in myself and depending on my own wisdom to face the world, trying to solve every problem through my own strength. However, whenever I saw things were getting out of my control, I got mad.
When I lived in China, I always considered myself smart and lucky. I thought I have enough power to make detailed plans for every single part of my life and realize them step by step. I believed that in this way, I can totally control my life by my own hands. It appeared to be true: I was graduated from Zhejiang University - it’s one of the top universities in China. My degree in Computer Science helped me to find a good job in Shanghai, which is the largest city of China. I was the head of the software development section in a big insurance company, in charge of developing software systems for the company’s daily business. Because the company’s business largely depended on the software systems, my position was very important and I earned a high salary. It seemed that I have a bright future in my career and in my life.
However, I was dissatisfied with my life. I worked under constant pressure. I warned myself everyday that I couldn’t make any mistake in my work, or it could become a real disaster – in the worst case, the whole company’s business might be interrupted for hours and millions of money would be lost. I constantly worried about my work and tried to manage everyone in my team to be on the right track, but it was really hard. I must try my best to keep everyone work efficiently for my decisions and my plans, and before that, I must convince myself that I didn’t make any wrong decision! In this way, I realized that I was becoming more and more impatient and irritable, not only to my co-workers in the company, but also to my wife at home. Though I didn’t realize this was a serious sin at that time, I felt very bad about it and couldn’t find a way to deal with it.
I heard the gospel after I came to St John’s, from the bible study offered by Steve and Adam. My first reaction was that I considered it to be a questionable fairy tale. I thought it couldn’t make any sense and there were millions of why’s in my head. I kept going to the bible study afterward for two reasons: first, I wanted to practice my English; Second, I wanted to ask these ‘why’s. Thanks to Steve and Adam, I got most of my questions answered reasonably and the gospel became more and more reliable to me.
But I still had a lot of questions and I thought it’s unwise to consider accepting Christ before reading the whole Bible. What if I find something I dislike or disagree in the Bible someday? I thought if I could read the whole Bible first, and get the answers to all of my questions, then it’s the good time for me to make a wise decision. Obviously, I made a plan again and thought I was in control of it.
However, God took my plan away and showed me that he is the one in control of everything. Then on March 29, on Sunday morning, when I sat in my seat during the worship service, I couldn’t help keeping thinking about the story of Adam and Eve in the garden. God prepared the tree of life, which means the eternal life for them, but they rejected God’s offer and ate from the tree of wisdom, by trusting their own wisdom and own judgment. This wisdom tree is a symbol of human’s wisdom, which in fact is limited and incomparable to God’s wisdom. But when we get the fruit from this tree, we think we acquire the power to control everything, the power of god. So we start to make ourselves to be our own gods and forget who the real God is. This is why Adam and Eve sinned and today we are still sinners for the same reason. On that morning, while I saw this truth, suddenly I realized this story is for me. God is using this story to tell me not to follow the wrong way which Adam and Eve chose. He is asking me to choose eternal life! At that moment, a strong desire possessed my heart. I stood up and announced that I decided to accept Jesus Christ into my life, to be my precious savior. On that day, I was saved!
It’s less than two months since I came to Christ, but Christ has made a lot of amazing changes on me. First, I understood that I have no wisdom before God and my plans are also incomparable to God’s plan. I can’t control everything but God is always in control. So now I can have the peace when things go out of my control, because whatever is not in my plan, it is in God’s plan. Second, I stopped to worry about my future because I know that God has a good plan for me, and he will provide everything I need. Third, I learned what love is. Love is kind and patient. I learned it not only from the first Corinthians, but also from a lot of Christians I have met. I said I was impatient and irritable, but by learning about love, it’s much easier for me to control my anger now.
In Matthew 11:25-26, Jesus said,”I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, father, for this was your good pleasure.” These words revealed the truth that we cannot approach God by our own wisdom. God is not a theorem which can be proved by logical reasoning. God is our heavenly father, we should, and we can believe in him just like the little children who believe in their own parents. By faith and love, we can finally return to our heavenly father’s garden, and have the fruit from the tree of life.
Hanze Liu
May 12, 2009
Tina's Testimony
Before I came to Christ, I considered my life to be successful from a secular point of view. When I was a child, my goals were to be the best student in the class, to be admitted to a good university and to find a good job. I did achieve all of my goals. I was always one of the best students in the class during my school years. I was admitted to a very good university and got a good job after graduation. I set these goals because I thought I can gain satisfaction and security from them. However, I was wrong. I still felt unsatisfied and lacked security. I found these were not what I was looking for. For so many years, I have been working very hard without knowing what I worked for, what the purpose of life was. What’s worse, after living so many years in an atmosphere full of intense competitions, I got worried easily because I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. I cared about myself only and didn’t have the ability to love.
When I worked for my first company, one of my colleagues, and also my roommate was a Christian. I was interested in her religious beliefs and thought maybe I could find something from her. But we didn’t talk much. The job things, relationship things distracted us. She gave me a Bible, but I found it hard to understand and couldn’t concentrate myself on it. Then my roommate moved out and I changed a job later. I was busying with my job and never opened the Bible again.
Then I came to St. John’s for my master’s degree. Here I met Rolly, Adam and Steve. By attending the Bible Study provided by Adam and Steve, I got to know the love of God, the Son of God Jesus, the Gospel. I learned and I found it was not that difficult for me to understand it. Gradually I realized this is what I am looking for. I remembered one preaching really well, saying that the deepest desire in human’s hearts is to find the Lord who created them. And I finally found my Lord.
After I came to Christ, I realized how terrible my life used to be. I was self-centered. I didn’t have the ability to love. I didn’t have criterions in my heart. If most people thought something was right, I thought it right. I worried badly because I thought I can depend on nobody but myself, but there were so many things out of my control. Thank God! Now I understand my life is not about me but about Him. I understand what love is and try to love others. I know the Bible is the truth in life. As Ephesians 4:14 said : “ Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming”. Although I still don’t know what will happen tomorrow, I don’t worry now because I know I have a heavenly father who will always take care of me. I trust Him and by this trust, I receive peace and happiness in my heart. |
