From Forgotten to Chosen | 从被遗忘到被拣选

I was adopted from China through Living Hope at 11 months old. The first 11 months of my life is essentially unknown, but I realize that the life, family, and culture I could have grown up with in China would have looked much different than the way my life looks today. The nature of being adopted can lead to thoughts of feeling like I was unwanted and unloved, at least at one point in my life. The idea of being lovable is definitely something I have struggled with in the past, along with other uncertainties that relate to identity, but I know those are all lies from the enemy. I was loved and chosen by my adopted mom, but more importantly, I have always been loved and chosen by God, and my identity is found in Him and who He says I am.  

I am currently attending a church that I love and am surrounded by a church family that I am proud to be a part of. I have served in many different ministries at church, and I was even recently elected to serve as a member of the church board, which is a huge honor. It is so cool to be a voice that helps guide the church in the way the Spirit is leading. I have actually found myself in a lot of leadership positions recently, which is ironic, because I never saw myself as a leader, but God has a funny way of using you in ways you may not have thought possible. While I am loving where God has me right now, it has been a long journey to get to where I am today. Past me would not have believed that current me was even a possibility.  

The single greatest and most loving thing my mom did for me was introduce me to Jesus. Even though I grew up going to church, I did not take my faith seriously or even really grasp what that meant until more recently. My family was attending a different church for a while, but returning to Immanuel Church helped me develop and grow in my faith and grow socially in ways that were not possible without God. I was the extremely shy girl who did not really speak to anyone but still showed up because deep down, I desired community. I just didn’t know how to get there. God placed the right people in my life; people who were patient with me and kind and loving enough to show me how to be a good friend by modeling that to me. These are also people who live out their faith well, and it is a blessing to get to learn from them. They were a big contributing factor to my decision to get baptized in October 2023. The transformation that God has done through me over the past few years is truly a miracle.  

At Immanuel, I learned the beauty of community and what a church family is, and God sure has blessed me with a great one! I am one of those people that has a hard time saying “no,” but I truly love serving in the church and helping wherever and whenever I can. I do get busy, but the time and effort put in is meaningful to me. We were made for community, and God places people around us that we get to do life with; people we can encourage, love, serve, and support as we walk with Christ and grow towards Christlikeness.  

The beauty of serving as the body of Christ is seeing all the different gifts and talents God has given to each individual and utilizing them to complement each other and serve Him together (1 Corinthians 12:18-26). Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to see the unity of the body of Christ in action on an international level in Honduras by being a part of my first mission trip. I couldn’t pass this opportunity up as I knew God was calling me to serve in this way and challenging me to take a step outside my comfort zone. The decision was further solidified as I knew the trip was co-led by Samuel Fang (Living Hope) and Andrea Sawtelle (Immanuel Church), both of which have played pivotal roles in my life.  

While it has been a long and messy journey at times, I know God had a plan for my life from the start. He continues to walk with me each step of the way, and I am excited to see what He has for me next.  

我是在11个月大时通过 Living Hope从中国被收养的。我生命最初的11个月基本上一篇空白。但我意识到，如果我在中国长大，我的生活、家庭和文化都会和现在完全不同。被收养的身份有时会让我产生一些想法，比如被遗弃或不被爱的感觉。这些年，我也曾怀疑自己是否值得被爱，还有一些关于身份认同的困惑，但我知道这些都是来自仇敌的谎言。我的养母深爱着我、选中了我。更重要的是，上帝一直爱着我，祂拣选了我。我的身份在于上帝，是祂定义了我是谁。

我现在正在参与一个我非常喜欢的教会，并且被一个我引以为荣的教会大家庭包围着。我在教会里参与了很多不同的事工服侍，最近甚至被选为教会执事会的一员，这是一个极大的荣誉。能成为一个在圣灵带领下，为教会指引方向的声音，真的很奇妙。其实，我最近发现自己在很多领导岗位上，这是我完全没想到的，因为我以前从来不认为自己是个领导者，但上帝就是会以你意想不到的方式来使用你。虽然我很享受上帝如今带领我所在的位置，但一路走到今天真的经历了很多。过去的我若是看到现在的自己，根本无法相信这是可能实现的。

我妈妈为我做过最伟大、最充满爱的一件事，就是把我带到耶稣面前。虽然我从小就去教会，但其实一直没有认真看待我的信仰，也不太明白那意味着什么。我们家曾经去过另一间教会，但回到 Immanuel Church后，我的信仰才真正开始成长，我的社交能力也在上帝的帮助下有了突破。曾经的我是那个非常害羞、几乎不和任何人说话的女孩，但我还是会去教会，因为内心深处我渴望有一个属灵群体，只是我不知道该如何融入。上帝把合适的人带到我生命中——那些对我有耐心、充满善意、有爱心的人，他们用自己的榜样教会我如何成为一个好朋友。他们的信仰也非常真实，我从他们身上学到了很多。他们在我2023年10月决定接受洗礼的过程中起到了非常重要的作用。过去几年，上帝在我身上的改变真的是一个奇迹。

在Immanuel Church，我学到了属灵群体的美好，明白了什么是真正的教会家庭，而上帝真的赐给我一个很棒的教会！我是那种不太会说“不”的人，但我真的很喜欢在教会服侍，愿意在任何有需要的地方尽力帮助。虽然有时候会很忙，但我知道我的时间和努力都是有意义的。我们是为群体而造的，上帝也把我们放在一个群体中，让我们可以彼此鼓励、相爱、彼此服侍、互相支持，一起走在通往基督样式的路上。

作为基督的身体，我们一起服侍的美好在于能看到上帝赐给每个人不同的恩赐和才能，彼此配合，共同事奉祂（哥林多前书12:18-26）。今年上半年，我有幸第一次参加宣教之旅，前往洪都拉斯，亲眼见证了基督身体在全世界范围上的合一。我无法错过这个机会，因为我知道上帝呼召我以这样的方式来服侍祂，并挑战我走出自己的舒适圈。这个决定也因为Samuel Fang（Living Hope）和 Andrea Sawtelle（Immanuel Church）共同带队而更加坚定，他们两位在我生命中都有非常重要的影响。

虽然这是一段漫长又有时坎坷的旅程，但我知道从一开始，上帝就为我的生命定下了美好的计划。祂一直都与我同行，我也满心期待祂接下来要在我生命中做的事。