As a young man in China, Shawn ran with the wrong crowd and lived a life focussed on himself.
He thought Christians were brainwashed and manipulative.
He has no interest in Christianity and instead, preferred Buddhism which seemed more caring and less judgemental.
When Shawn lost his job in China, his auntie told him about a friend who had an apartment in Calgary that he could live in.
He only knew two cities in Canada – Vancouver and Toronto.
He didn’t even know where Calgary was!
To prepare for his move to Canada, Shawn began taking ESL classes from a teacher in the Philippines.
The Filipino teacher taught him English and, more importantly, gave him a taste of the goodness of God.
She was a wonderful woman who lived her Christian faith in real and practical ways.
In fact, her generosity to those around her meant she worked with a broken keyboard that she couldn’t afford to replace.
Shawn was a little shocked.
He had never known someone like this.
It sparked curiosity for him.
When Shawn moved to Canada, he googled churches in the neighbourhood and Varsity Bible Church popped up in his search.
He sat through sermons and 2 hour Bible studies, not understanding a word.
Even though God gave him extraordinary patience, he still didn’t get it.
Until one day.
Suddenly he just started to speak and understand English.
He could understand the Bible and could follow the sermons at church.
It was like a gift from God.
With amazement and gratitude, Shawn could grasp the gospel and began to know God for himself.
Photo credit: Josh (Unsplash)