Author: Jayden Liu  
Date: 05/25/2026
Category: Thanksgiving Testimonies

Hello, my name is Jayden Liu. Since I was young, I grew up in church – going to Sunday school, memoriz-ing Bible stories, and learning many Bible verses – but I never truly understood the power of the gospel.

That changed during a winter retreat in my freshman year. The guest preacher, Pastor Byron, illustrated the gospel in a way that truly showed how great God’s love is for us, and the significance of the cross. For the first time ever, I truly felt a sense of conviction.  However, over the next two years, I rarely came to church, barely prayed, and almost never read my Bible.  Eventually I started to return to a life of just doing whatever I wanted. I still believed I was a Christian, but at the same time I just wanted to continue with my old way of life.

That however changed in the middle of my junior year, when I lost multiple close friends because of my Christian beliefs. I started praying consistently, asking God why this happened and if I was wrong about speaking up for my belief. When I didn’t receive any answers, I began to doubt if there was really a God, if Jesus truly resurrected, or if the feelings I experienced at the winter retreat were just a placebo effect. So, I started researching more about the Word of God and started watchin g debates between atheists and Christians. I spent so much time doing this that my “For You” page in Instagram and YouTube was filled with Bible content instead of Donald Duck singing “Let It Go”.

In the summer, I attended World Changers and met a youth pastor in my group named Daniel. He had a pleasant demeanor, and one day on the worksite, I found myself asking him a lot of controversial questions about the Bible that had been bugging me. His answers gave me a whole new perspective of the Bible. From the conversations I had, one of the things that impacted me was that God gives people many chances to turn towards Him, but those chances are not infinite. Later that week during a “Night of Prayer”, while I was praying up front, Daniel unexpectedly put his hand around me and started praying with me, asking God to help me keep pursuing Him. After we were done, I stood up and gave him a hug. At that moment, I truly felt the presence of God, and I wanted to take this chance God was giving me to truly follow Him. After that, I started turning away from my old habits ––such as cursing––and pursuing a God-centered life. 

Getting baptized was always a dream of mine, but through all the tests and opportunities God has presented me, I am now truly ready for a public declaration that Jesus is my Lord and Saviour, and he did indeed defeat the grave.

As I go off to college this fall, I not only want to continue learning and following God, but I also want to be a proud, confident, living example of a person who has the Holy Spirit within him.

 

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