My Story
My Family History
It all starts with my grandmother. She was the first believer in our family. She grew up in Guangdong Province in China but moved to Hong Kong (in Yuen Long) when she was a young woman in her 20s. Someone shared the gospel with her in Hong Kong and she accepted Jesus as her personal Savior. My grandparents immigrated to Bolivia, taking my mom and her siblings on a long journey and a new beginning for the family. My mom grew up learning about Jesus, she went to a Christian school and served at church in her youth. After many years in Bolivia, the whole family moved to Venezuela in the 1970s as it had one of the best economies in Latin America at that time. My parents met at their workplace (a restaurant, popular business for Chinese immigrants), fell in love, got married, and then 7 years later, I was born!
Growing Up
I grew in a loving, Christian family, it was not perfect but I felt very loved and safe. I went to an international Christian school from kindergarten all the way to high school. I remember my first-grade teacher sat our class on the carpet during Bible class, she shared the gospel with us and asked, “Would you like to accept Jesus into your heart?” and I remember saying yes.
My childhood was full of good memories. I remember using so much imagination and creativity as I played with my friends or my sister at home. I was a Bible nerd, I learned a lot of Bible verses in elementary school as we were required to learn one Bible verse each week! I knew so many Bible stories as a kid and I would think, “well, if my parents are saved, then I am saved.” It was during high school, the moment I realized and recognized that being a Christian was more than just a religion or more than just being a good person. Around the age of 14 and 15, I started to know Jesus more as a personal God, and I started serving in the church through worship and children’s ministry, but it got to the point that I was serving mostly to get the recognition from people at church. I started feeling burnt out and frustrated at myself.
I battled with comparison and pride at school and at church, even to the point of having negative thoughts about my friends for being “better” than me in many areas - whether it was academics or in skills. I had low self-esteem, which made me a very shy person, insecure in my speaking - thinking that I was not a very interesting person. The only thing I was good at in school was arts. I started learning to draw, watch animated shows, and read lots of comic books. A lot was influenced by Japanese culture and other Asian cultures. I started to create my “online” person. For many years in high school, I was part of online communities, online games, and chats. I was so extroverted, outspoken, and confident while talking with people online, but in person, I would hide in my little shell and pretend I had nothing to say, always letting others speak for me.
My First Cross-Cultural Experience
When I was 17, I went on my first cross-cultural mission trip. We were a small team of high school students and 3 teachers and we visited the Warao people in a village along the Orinoco River called Arature in Delta Amacuro. It was my first time meeting Warao people and very few of them spoke Spanish.
We lived in a missionary home, slept in hammocks, no electricity and our toilets were a wooden board with a hole. It was in the middle of the jungle and you needed to have a “pooping buddy” with you. We spent a week with our contact, Peter Jimenez, and served with the Warao children, taking care of wounds, washing lice out of their hair, and planning VBS activities at their local church. The Warao people had church every day in the afternoon. Their community had a long bridge that connected all their houses and every day, we would yell “IGLESIATA” which means “church” in Warao.
We had quiet times and team time, and it was during those times that I would look at the sunrise, the jungle, the river, and be in awe of God’s creation. I remember having my first most personal encounters with God during those times. Growing up in the city, I had never experienced such a simple way of living - in the way we lived as we served the Warao people that week. I remember telling God, “I want to live for you and serve people of different cultures!”
Passion for Missions
During that same year, I had first heard of YWAM when an outreach team from YWAM Newcastle came to visit my school for a couple of days. They led our youth group, engaged with us through games and testimonies. When I heard about their testimonies with missions and Discipleship Training School (DTS), I was amazed and I immediately told my friend next to me “I want to do a DTS.” I remember going home super excited, telling my mom about this group of young people doing missions, and wanting to do a DTS after graduating high school. My mom was happy to hear the testimonies but she suggested I should pursue my university degree first. I didn’t question my parents much after that.
I applied to art school, got accepted right away, and moved to the state of Florida in the United States for 5 years. I was always eager to look for opportunities to be involved in missions and with my church in the US, I was able to join a scouting trip to Mexico and do evangelistic mission trips in different states every year. I served in different areas of ministry and ended up at a Spanish speaking church, discipling young people from Latin American cultural backgrounds. I felt so at home there even though I was the only ethnically Chinese there.
I was saving up money by taking freelance jobs, internships, and finally, was hired at my first official full-time job. My goal was to save up enough money to cover all my DTS expenses. My student visa was only up to 5 years, so I knew something new was coming up for me as my season in the US was ending. Many people, including my family, suggested for me to look into a job that would sponsor me with a work visa. It sounded very tempting, finding a high paying job (as a recent graduate) and live a very comfortable life in the US, but I just knew that was not for me. I had heard of friends that had stayed illegally in the US, and I just did not want to risk doing things like that for the sake of a comfortable life.
I remember in my second year in art school, I was looking for different options of YWAM bases. Two cities called my attention. San Francisco (my dream city at that time) or Hong Kong. Since high school, I had this huge passion for Asia (I wonder why?!) and even all my design projects were mainly about Asian cultures, cities, and traveling. I had gone to Hong Kong three times with my family. My fourth time traveling to Hong Kong was at the age of 20 - that trip stirred up a desire to connect with my Hong Kong culture and Chinese heritage.
In 2016, I researched the three YWAM bases in Hong Kong and I really liked YWAM Harbour City’s website the best, so I went for it. Haha just kidding (not kidding). I watched some of their videos and testimonies, and I knew a Bilingual DTS was coming up, so that really helped me make a decision. DTS at YWAM Harbour City. 2 years later, I had saved up enough money to finally do my DTS and moved back to Venezuela for half a year as I transitioned in between.
I did my Bilingual DTS (Cantonese and English) in 2018 and it was the best life experience I’ve had so far. For so long, I was always afraid of opening up to people, afraid to trust others, and communicate my struggles. I was afraid to show people when I was not okay. During DTS, I experienced God’s love, His Father’s heart, and a safe community where I was able to just be myself. To set apart those 6 months was the best decision I had ever made. It was during Destiny by Design, where God spoke to me strongly about serving in full-time missions. I was always giving an excuse and running away from that calling, but I remember during that week, the question: “What are the dreams God has given you and where can you start? Who can you join or partner with to walk in those dreams? What’s the first step?” and that’s when I heard from God to consider joining staff at YWAM Harbour City after my DTS. Obviously, after the last week teaching “God’s Global Missions”, my heart was fired up and pumped to go into the nations. That final week of teaching brought a lot more confirmation in my decision.
Even now as a staff at YWAM Harbour City, I’ve been learning and growing in many different areas in my life. My heart desires to grow deeper in my relationship with Jesus as I serve Him. I’m thankful for the community of YWAM Harbour City, they have become a family to me and I love that we are from so many different cultures and nations. Our community has the passion and vision to see young people encounter Jesus in a personal way and rise up as people who are willing to live for Him! I pray that the Lord will continue guiding me through this journey of loving Him, loving people, and using the gifts He has given me to bless others, make disciples who make disciples and build His Kingdom!
If you would like to learn more about DTS at YWAM Harbour City, feel free to message me personally or visit ywamharbourcity.org
