Yolanda's First Easter - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

Today has been the best Easter I have ever had! God has given me a fresh revelation of and appreciation for the wonder of Christ's death and resurrection. He has shown me that because Jesus voluntarily allowed God to forsake him for my sin, I will never be separated from God. What joy! What grace! I am in awe and in love. Thank you, sweet Jesus.

Furthermore, I was able to celebrate this special weekend with a new friend, Yolanda. Yolanda is from China and is in her freshman year at Furman. God worked it out so that we would have a class together this semester, and fairly early in the semester, she asked me to get lunch with her.

I will never forget that first lunch. Within minutes, our conversation just naturally turned towards the Gospel. I've never before met someone with such a straightforward hunger for Jesus. She was a completely blank slate, eager to hear about what God had done for her. I drew the bridge diagram on a paper napkin and she asked if she could take it back to her room and hang it on her wall. I was overjoyed and humbled that God had opened a door for me to share the Gospel with someone who was so interested in Him!

"Yolanda, what were your thoughts during our first lunch together when I shared the gospel with you? What was going through your mind during that lunch and in the days to follow?"

"During the lunch, I was thinking through how Jesus build the connection between humanity and God. I was carefully considering if it make sense to me or not. In the following days I posted the napkin you drew on my wall in front of my desk. My roommate saw it, and we had an wonderful deep talk:) I guess I was just talking to Ben, James, Monica, Julia and many other friends, asking them what believing in Jesus means to them."

After that lunch, I remember praying, "Ok, God, I would love to continue discipling Yolanda, but I am a little overwhelmed. How do I share the entire Bible with someone who has never heard any Bible stories before? Where do I start?" I went back to my room and shared the story with my upcoming World Race squad mates. One of them commented on my post and said that he had a beginner's Bible Study in Chinese and English from his mission work in Taiwan! God was continuing to open doors for this relationship, and I just continued to walk through them.

"When did you decide to put your faith in Jesus? How did your life look before and after that decision? What changed in you?"

"I think that's when I told you during lunch. The moment you asked me:" Did you put your faith into Jesus.", I heard myself saying yes in my mind. After that decision, I just stop worrying about a lot of things. I don't eager to find a boyfriend any more because I know God has a plan for me. I don't worry about other people's view about me anymore, because it doesn't matter. I don't care about buying new and pretty stuff or doing make up every morning anymore, because as long as I am in God's family, what I wear and how I looks like don't matter. I just give myself 100% to Jesus and become more alive spiritually."

Over the next several weeks, Yolanda and I began meeting for weekly Bible Studies. We talked about being born again and becoming a part of God's family. We talked about the security found in Christ. Then, last week, we talked about baptism. I remembered that my home church, Bethel, was having a baptismal service on Easter, and since I had already invited Yolanda to come home with me for the weekend, I asked if she would like to be baptized on her very first Easter Sunday!

"Why did you decide to become baptized? What was your experience like being baptized this morning?"

"I knew I want to get baptized after I put faith into Jesus, but I seriously thought its a complicated and hard-to-reach thing. I thought I have to get baptized in my church, but I don't have a church yet. I thought I need to waiting on a list for a few months. So I was so surprised and so happy that you actually asked me if I wanted to get baptized this easter ( in 6 days). I liked the whole process this morning so much. The lady called D who got baptized also this morning was telling me that it took her forever to make the decision to get baptized. There was always something holding her away from this, but she finally made the decision. I was so happy and proud of her. She also told me that her little daughter asked her: " Mama, is it okay if I love God more than you?" She said: " Of course sweet heart." "

Here is a video of Yolanda's baptism this morning… I wasn't prepared for her to thank me for leading her to Jesus from the baptismal pool, so I sort of start sobbing and lose complete control of the video camera for a minute. Bear with me when the video gets shaky. I promise I get it back together during the prayer!

"Overall, how have you enjoyed your first Easter? What will stand out in your mind about this weekend?"

"I enjoyed my first easter, the first time dyeing eggs and first easter basket 🙂 The thing cross my mind these days is what eating and laughing means to me. I was watching funny Chinese shows all day long and eating all the time even I was not hungry. I felt I was doing them because I was homesick and feeling empty without chinese foods and language environment. I was struggling about my identity. Am I half American half Chinese? Both Chinese and American or neither? But this morning , when we were singing in church, I just realized my identity is Jesus. Again, I just found peace in my mind. :)"

Here are a few photos from our weekend together… Enjoy!

Yolanda cooked us a vegetarian Asian dinner!