How ESL and Bible study class influenced my life

This is a piece a student of mine wrote.  The student wants to share it with you all.  I pray this encourages you if you have been sharing your live with others, and if you haven't, that it causes you to stand up and engage in mission.  God has humbled me much in the last 2 years through many of them.

May their voice bless you, challenge you and lift you up too!

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Sandy has been  my ESL class teacher and also has taught me about the Bible for one and half years already. 

I always think I am a lucky woman, because I met  her only after landing in Canada three months. I still remember it was winter of 2018, just  before Christmas. When I entered the ESL class, many students were discussing Christmas parties with Sandy. They had learned a unit on Using Western cutlery. I was attracted immediately and joined the party the next class. Sandy made a lot of different types of cookies for her students. During the celebration, Sandy gave us a speech. Her speech delivered many thankful and memories. Her emotion drove me to follow her and what she was saying. The photos in the slideshow showed much joy in the ESL class. She was bright and attractive on the stage. At that moment, I was touched deeply by her speech and her golden heart.

In the following month, she taught us many customs, for example how to bake Christmas cookies, and how to play crackers. We even read a whole book. We not only learned new words through many types of practice but also understood some typical things about Western culture. During spring, she taught us gardening. During this section, we learned many types of flowers, tools, and fertilizers. The atmosphere in her ESL class was always joyful and harmonious. Classmates and Sandy made friends with each other.

In March 2019, I was lucky to join her Bible study classes; all of my classmates were from the ESL class. We were excited. This was the first time I had this holy book. When I touched it, I felt it was incredible. Before I came to Canada, I knew nothing about Christians; I didn't know Christmas was a day to celebrate Jesus' birth. And now, this holy book is about Him. At that time, in my mind, religion was mysterious. I was curious why so many foreigners believed in God. Why do they have strong faith? 

I thought God did not exist. I was just like an infant. I knew nothing about the Holy Spirit. I did not know how I could begin my prayer, how I could end my prayer. After a few classes, I began to learn some basic knowledge and followed Sandy to go to church.  When I heard people sing and worship God, my tears couldn’t stop like a stream.  At the beginning I went to church, not because I trusted God, but because of four other reasons. One,  I heard from my mom that my father’s health was terrible and was getting worse. Second, my husband wanted to divorce me. Third, my daughter started feeling dizzy and vomited frequently and could not go to school. Fourth, I had to face huge economic pressures. 

I didn’t know what I should do. I felt hopeless and overwhelmed. I prayed hard to God that it would not be necessary for my father to get any surgeries and that He would not  let him feel pain; he was a very nice person. I prayed He would let my daughter get well soon. I said, “Please give me strength and wisdom to face all these situations, guide me to go through all these troubles, give my mom a nice sleep every night, otherwise she would not have enough energy to take care of my father and herself. About my marriage, give me more time to figure it out.” 

I remember  I lived under huge pressures all day and all night, but Jesus gave me a lot of strength and peace.  He was staying with me and carrying me. Three months later, during summer vacation, my daughter and I flew back to our home country immediately. I was so worried about my parents and also needed to check my daughter’s brain in the hospital. After I went home, my father told me he had pancreatic cancer. He told me he did not feel any pain and also could not get any surgeries because his health was weak. After one week, my father had another ultrasound. Fortunately,  the doctor told us his situation was stable. Before, his situation had deteriorated fast, so my mom thought I might never see my father again.  My daughter was fine too.  Perhaps she had problems because of the dramatic changes in our lives and perhaps these affected her deeply. Suddenly, I realized God had answered me. I appreciated God, and was very encouraged. I knew I needed to pray more accurately. 

After summer vacations, my daughter and I went back to Canada again. One of my friends took a few brochures from her church to me. She said usually she did not pick up these things, but this time she was thinking about me so she took all of them. I was so thankful and opened one of them. The article attracted me directly. It recounted  one Christian’s father had gotten cancer and was quite sick. This person prayed for her father and then a miracle happened. 

That is exactly what I wanted to see. I was excited and followed her prayer words. In my mind, it was crazy. But I prayed to God and said, “please heal my father completely.” Every time, when I prayed, I repeated this sentence without a doubt. In Dec 2019, almost half a year had passed, and through another ultrasonography, the doctor said it was incredible, she double checked again and said to my mom that my father’s cancer had shrinked by  50%. Not only was all of my father’s blood and urine tests regular, but also his thrombus disappeared. Back in 2017, he had accepted two surgeries for thrombus, but they reappeared soon. Although my father was drinking Chinese traditional medicine everyday, I believe this  was a true miracle! 

I was so excited and touched, because of almighty God. He is merciful and graceful. His unfailing love is encouraging me, protecting me and guiding me. He is my stronghold, my rock and my light. Psalm 68:5,6 reminds me that He is “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.”

When I began to trust God, I felt everything began changing. Although sometimes I am still in the same situation, I understand more. For example, I went blueberry picking last year and this year on the same farm. Last year, I was excited because it was the first time I picked up blueberries. This year, I was touched and quite thankful to God. Because this is a gift from him. He created everything. He is an amazing God! These blueberries sent a message to my daughter and I. God loves us. God loved humans. I looked up at the sky, the sky showed different blue colors, there was fresh air and a light wind that blew my face. “Thank you God from the bottom of my heart!”

Today is Aug 2020, I am happy, because I turned to God. Because through Bible class, I know more and more about God. The more I know, the deeper my respect and the more I want to praise him. We are so lucky to live in Canada. We are so lucky, because we are chosen by God, and we are loved by the Holy God.