Real Testimonies: Phillip Wong, "God has a Better Plan"

God has really shown Himself to me through my job and my workplace. About six years ago I was laid off due to a restructure at my lab research company. I had never met failure at such a high stake. The idea of losing a job because you were not adequate compared to others was a hard thing to grasp. This job loss was crucial, however, for God to humble me. The job I had at the time was taken selfishly; it was actually something that I picked up and just decided to stick to because nothing else better had come along. During this struggle, God showed me that He had bigger and better plans for me. I realized after my layoff that God was calling me to do something that had a direct impact on people’s lives, and that turned out to be teaching.

Not only did I feel called by God to become a teacher, but everything related to teaching just seemed to fall in place. I was able to go to school part time and provide for my family at the same time when I picked up a teaching job in San Bernardino. Two years down the road, I am now a credentialed teaching looking towards tenure. God’s plan for me has not stopped there. I first felt that God had put me here to make an impact on students’ lives. I have now realized that God has not only put me here for these students, but also to teach me lessons in life as well as from my students. How ironic that God put me here as a teacher, and yet I am getting schooled by Him at the same time!

Real Testimonies: Kris Fong, "Wait on the Lord"

One of the things I've felt the Lord putting on my heart is patience. Most recently through my schooling. Last semester, I was looking to transfer from my Community College, Goldenwest College, to a CSU. Due to various circumstances, I was unable to transfer to a CSU for the Fall 2010 Semester/Quarter. So I decided to take some classes, mostly interest classes, at GWC, to boost my Grade Point Average and to have something to do. I applied for transfer again, but upon recommendation changed my CSU choice from Long Beach to Dominguez Hills. Again I ran into obstacles, the state budget. The lack of a budget for California left many students in a state of limbo because it stalled transfer students and made it difficult for people to know if they could get financial aid. My application and proper paperwork was submitted back in September. I finally found out my Spring 2011 school at 2:00 AM on a Thursday in November. Come Spring 2011, I'll be at Dominguez Hills. This is one of the many times I've seen His hand at work in my life. I feel that He used this experience to really emphasize the point that I must wait on Him for everything, not just for ministry and church stuff. He will provide all that we require at all the necessary times so we have nothing to worry about.

Real Testimonies: Anh Trinh, "God's Love"

Trinity church has been my home since I was 13 years old. I first attended Friday night youth group by invitation from my cousin who attended the Saturday Chinese language school at that time. I was quite the troublemaker and probably raised a few eyebrows with my antics but the youth leaders were very welcoming. They showed a very different and loving side of humanity that I did not expect. I soon realized this unusual treatment I received really stemmed from the love of God. Every progressing week, I was being mentored and nurtured by the leaders and youth group members. Their investment in my life resulted in my acceptance of Christ at age 14. I soon became aware that taking up the cross was no easy task because I faced persecution from my Buddhist family. My parents gave me strict warnings about getting baptized as they feared my newfound religion was cult-related. But through time and observation of the big change in my life, they became more accepting of my faith. Since my acceptance of Christ, I have been involved in a handful of ministries at Trinity but my passion has always been with youth ministry. God has impressed upon my heart to advance his kingdom by reaching the hearts of young people and help raise up new leaders. I have seen many youth come and go but God has taught me that his word is true and He is faithful to his people. As a result of his promise, I've also seen quite a few former youths become leaders in their respective ministries.

As much as I love serving God, my only regret is that I have not been bold enough to share more of my faith with my parents and family. Thankfully, God has recently presented me some opportunities to share a few gospel stories and several key Bible verses with my parents and grandmother. I hope that there will be more opportunities. Please pray for the salvation of my family as God uses me to be a good witness.