How I Found God at Columbia
Tom
Tom Tan, Columbia College ’07
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 2 Corinthians 5:17
I love nature. Since I was a little boy, I have enjoyed looking up at the azure sky and listening to joyful birds chirping. To my eye, nature is incredibly beautiful. I had always believed that there was some spirit of God above this boundless world and the blue sky, who created it all in the inconceivable reaches of history.
Was he the mud idol my grandma often worshiped and murmured with? I wondered. Not until I met my English teacher Abraham from Australia and his wife Sarah, did I start to realize God’s actual existence and begin a new life. In my first class with Abraham, I found him evidently different from other teachers. His smile was so peacefully angelic that I saw in him a magnificence from out of this world. He was also especially conscientious in his work. I still remember all kinds of encouragement in his grading of my assignments. I truly enjoyed his lessons.
Later on, I began to visit Abraham’s home weekly so that I could talk more with this extraordinary teacher. I believe it was by the arrangement of God that I heard the good news about Jesus from him. Affected by my family tradition of Buddhism, I did not fully understand or trust the concepts of resurrection, salvation and eternal life. I even doubted whether it was possible that Buddha and God could co-exist. At the same time, I did not dare tell my parents about my new beliefs since I thought it could ruin the amity of my family. I turned to Abraham and Sarah and told them of my “mental pain.” It was they again who cheered me up. They quoted 2 Corinthians 5:17, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” They said, “Love your parents more than ever before, Tom. Be even better behaved. Let your parents see the difference believing in Jesus Christ makes. You are their best witness.”
I did what I was urged to do. Though my family are still Buddhists, they are not against my believing in God. The whole family gets along even better. I am their best witness.
Time flies. When Abraham and Sarah left to teach English in a suburban area, they left me a New Testament with this handwritten inscription, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! Don’t doubt like [Jesus’ doubting disciple] Thomas.” I don’t doubt like Thomas anymore. Instead, I witness His love everyday. I have taken Jesus as my Lord now and forever.
Anish
Anish Souri, Columbia SIPA ’03
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.” (Luke 6:32)
I grew up in India, but when I was ten years old I started stealing money from my grandmother. I stole from her every week and soon I could not stop. Later, I stole from stores on a regular basis and soon I was addicted to stealing. As my family was Christian, we went to church and I knew it was wrong but I just could not stop. Soon, I started cheating on almost every test and exam at school. I stole and cheated for seven years; my parents disciplined me several times but to no avail.
Just before I went to college, for some reason I began to read the Bible more than ever before. While reading, I realized that God was not taking my cheating lightly and I became fearful. But wonderfully I felt God was giving me the strength and resolve to stop stealing. Over the course of two years, I gradually stopped cheating and stealing.
I also read in the Bible that God gave up His Son Jesus on the cross so that we can be forgiven and set free from our addictions. Human efforts often bring small gains but Jesus is able to bring about a transformation in us. The good news is that God has sent His Son Jesus to bring us forgiveness of sins and freedom from our faults, and to show us a new way to live.
The new way is God’s way, not ours. Very often these two ways are in opposition to each other. Today, I have received the forgiveness that Jesus offered me and this makes me have an intense desire to live my life pleasing to God. For example, I am learning to be forgiving to my family, co-workers and acquaintances. Jesus reasoned in the Bible (Luke 6:32), what credit is it to us if we only love our friends? For even drug dealers and criminals love their friends. When we care about people we dislike or people with a different ideology we do it God’s way.
Paul
Paul Clewell, Columbia Law ’02
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. John 14:1
Jesus Christ has changed my life. He wants to change yours, too.
I grew up in a rural area of Ohio and went to public school. I attended football games, Boy Scout camp-outs and, occasionally, Sunday services at our local church. If you had asked me whether I was a Christian, I would have said “yes.” But there is a difference between going to church and having a personal, saving relationship with Jesus Christ, as I found out.
Reading the Bible, I came to understand that I was a sinner, alone in the world. God was not pleased with me. Yet how could I escape what I was? Thankfully, several people told me how Jesus had changed their lives and that He could do the same for me. I came to believe in Him. He forgave my sins, made me a new person, and gave me the assurance of living with Him forever in heaven.
The Bible says, “Whoever believes in the Son [Jesus] has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” (John 3:36)
Which have you chosen: to believe in Jesus, or to reject Him? Jesus loves each one of us, and He does not desire that any person should be separated from God for eternity. That is why He chose to lay down His life on the Cross for you and me and to take upon Himself the penalty for our sin. The Bible tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17)
Friend, I urge you to accept what the Bible says about this Jesus. Won’t you choose to believe in Him right now?
Riko
Riko Yokoyama, Columbia SIPA ’03
You are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Ephesians 3:19
I come from Japan, where the Christian population is less than 1%. However, I was among the lucky few who are given an opportunity to visit a church in early childhood.
As I got older, I was separated from this first conviction about the existence of God. But in 2000, God sent me a woman who brought me back to Him. She was an English missionary and soon after I met her I joined her Bible study group. This time, I also began to pray to God to send me people who could lead me spiritually. Soon, I left Tokyo to study in the U.S. Far away from home, I felt God’s presence stronger than ever. I realized how stupid my struggle was, trying to get rid of Jesus who so easily appears Himself everywhere in the world. Now I know that Jesus is always chasing after us.
Philippians 3:20 says that Christians have citizenship in heaven. Ephesians 3:19 also says, “You are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” I took a long time to truly come to Christ and I know that I still have a long way to go. However, today I thank God for leading such a small creature like me to the way of life and hope.