Max, USA
I was born in the USA in 1994 and my mom and dad were both Chinese. My mother was a typical successful career woman and was very independent and capable. I loved my mom very much. When I started second grade, my parents brought me back to China so I could learn Chinese, and I also began to learn about the Lord Jesus at that time. I remember it was one day in 2004, I got out of class and went home to discover that we had a guest. My mom introduced her as a pastor who had come from America. I was really happy, because I knew that my mom had already believed in the Lord Jesus for a while. On that same day, this American pastor told me some stories about the Lord Jesus. Shortly after, I was led to the bathroom, and without even waiting for my response, the pastor dunked my head into the bath with a splash. In an instant I was again pulled out of the water by the pastor. I just heard my mom and the pastor saying to me at the same time: “Welcome to the embrace of the Lord Jesus. We are all the lost sheep.” Just like that, I became a believer in the Lord in a way that was unfathomable. After that, I went to the church every week to attend services, to hear the pastor tell stories from the Bible, and to read the scripture. I was always happy, and was very steadfast in my heart, feeling that the Lord Jesus was truly good.
In 2008, I came to America to study, and my dad went with me to accompany me. The whole time I was there I kept going to the church to take part in gatherings. In 2012, when I graduated from high school I returned to China to visit my mom. When I was about to leave, my father talked to me in a heartfelt and meaningful way. He told me that my mom back in our home country had begun to believe in something called “Eastern Lightning,” and hoped that after I went back I would talk to my mom about it and get her to give up her belief in Eastern Lightning. As someone who was about to begin university, I of course could not just hear my father’s side of the story. So, after that, I got online and searched a little for information about Eastern Lightning, wanting to really understand it a little bit. As a result, I found some remarks spread by the Chinese Communist Party and the religious pastors and elders accusing and slandering Eastern Lightning. I was a little worried about my mom while I was preparing to go back to China and see my mother’s recent situation. After I got back, I saw that everything was normal, and she hadn’t changed at all in her love and care for me. She had especially grown in her faith in God, and had become even more pious than before. I set aside my worries about my mom.