Shin, a freshman from Glendora, CA

“I’ve made my decision,” Shin said with a huge smile as he walked up to me (Jeff).

I had met Shin for the first time back in September.  In middle of his first few days of college, he told me that he didn’t have much of a spiritual background, but that he could see himself becoming a Christian in college.  Yet, he knew hardly anything about Jesus.  After sharing the Gospel with Shin, I recommended that he read the book of John.  While he was reading, I told him to ask if Jesus was someone who he thought he could trust.

Shin and I began to meet up a few times per quarter.  On top of our meetings, he was involved with a church’s college group, where he attended bible studies and church on Sunday.
Every time we would meet, Shin would come with a ton of questions for us to walk though.  At the end of most of our meetings, I would ask where he was at in making a decision of giving his life to Jesus.  Although he was having his questions answered, he still couldn’t make the leap to entrust himself to Christ.  I understood and even admired his hesitance about jumping into something quickly.  After all, if you’re going to give your whole life to someone, you probably want to know the person to whom you’re giving it.  However, committing to Jesus, I told him, is kind of like saying “I do” at a wedding.  When you say those words, you don’t know everything about the person you’re marrying.  From what you do know, however, you’ve decided that this person is trustworthy, and you enter into a covenant relationship based on that knowledge.

At one point along the way, Shin had made a decision that Jesus wasn’t for him.  Yet, by the grace of God, Christians around him kept pursuing him, and his investigation resumed.
A few weeks ago, Shin asked me to meet up.  This was unusual, because I was usually the one to initiate.  He didn’t specify what he wanted to talk about.  But, it became obvious the moment he saw me.

“I’ve made my decision,” he told me as he approached me.  “I decided to become a Christian!”  Shin told me he went to his church’s retreat the past weekend.  From listening to the sermons, for the first time he understood at a deep level that he was a sinner who needed to be rescued by Jesus.  It was then that Shin decided to trust him.

I am so thankful for God’s pursuit of Shin!  It is so evident that he was stirring in him from the moment he got to UC Davis in September.  I am also thankful that Shin is being followed-up through intentional discipleship in his church.

Thanks so much for being part of what God is doing at UC Davis!!

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