Tao Lu never laid eyes on the Word of God until he came to the United States to study advanced computer engineering.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not unusual in China where Tao grew up, even though his father taught English in a major city. The Chinese Christian movement may be growing rapidly amid periodic crackdowns, but it has yet to reach hundreds of millions of people in the vast communist nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only did my father never mention the Bible to me, but as far as I can remember my high school and college English teachers never talked about it either,\u201d recalls Tao, 30, now a doctoral student at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, where he lives with his wife and 2-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, in the first 26 years of my life … I never even saw a Bible.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of his English textbooks mentioned Christmas and Christianity as a part of \u201cWestern festivals,\u201d but that was about it. Tao wasn\u2019t hostile toward Christianity or any other religious faith; they just seemed irrelevant to his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarxism is the dominant philosophy of China,\u201d he explains. \u201cBelieving in God was beyond my understanding and even considered ridiculous. I didn\u2019t try to seek God because I didn\u2019t realize that I was a sinner or that I needed a Savior. You tell me there\u2019s a God? Unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Tao arrived in Richmond, he sought out a Chinese Baptist church and began attending a Bible discussion group near the university — but only to practice his English and socialize with other Chinese.<\/p>\n
Or so he thought. The more he read the teachings of Jesus Christ, the more intrigued he became.<\/p>\n
He was amazed by Jesus\u2019 command to \u201clove your enemies and do good\u201d to them (Luke 6:35). The question Jesus asked in Luke 6:41 — \u201cWhy do you look at the speck that is in your brother\u2019s eye, but do not notice the log that in your own eye?\u201d — challenged him to stop judging others so harshly. He was moved deeply by Christ\u2019s teaching not to be anxious about our needs, since God arrays the lilies of the field in grandeur and loves us much more (Matthew 6:28-32).<\/p>\n
\u201cThese teachings are not only persuasive, they are beautiful!\u201d Tao marvels.<\/p>\n
But becoming a believer is not easy for a modern Chinese scholar.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Christianity is correct, that means the things we learned in China are wrong,\u201d he says. \u201cThey are two totally different systems. One claims Marxism and atheism. The other claims [Jesus is Lord].\u201d<\/p>\n
Tao studied apologetics. He examined the lives of the disciples before and after Jesus\u2019 resurrection. He read \u201cFrom Pagan to Christian,\u201d a book by Lin Yutang, a renowned Chinese author who embraced faith in Christ. He systematically listed the teachings of Jesus and found he agreed with all of them.<\/p>\n
He also experienced the love of God in the lives of people who had befriended him: a pastor at the Richmond church where the Chinese fellowship meets; a Christian couple who welcome and mentor Chinese students at Virginia Commonwealth University; and a Christian lawyer, Jim Fiorelli, who volunteered time weekly to help hone his English. Their textbook: the Gospel of John.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was obviously a very sharp guy,\u201d Fiorelli recalls. \u201cHe was ready to grab hold of the truth. There\u2019s almost no substitute for giving someone the chance to read Scripture, think about it and talk through it. If you can get people into the Word, to read it for themselves, the Word will speak for itself and go deep into a person\u2019s heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
The time had come for Tao to make a decision. In June 2015, he made it.<\/p>\n
He prayed the sinner\u2019s prayer with his pastor friend and immediately shared the news with the couple who welcomed him and with Fiorelli, who led him through a series of lessons on assurance of salvation.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I realize that it was the Holy Spirit\u2019s work that helped me finally decide to follow Jesus,\u201d Tao reflects. \u201cIt was not based purely on my rational, logical consideration. There was also emotion. I knew that I was a sinner. I believed that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died for me and His blood cleansed my sins, and I accepted Jesus as my Savior. I was sure that I had eternal life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, his day-to-day life has changed radically. He hungers for prayer and has seen his prayers answered. He helped lead his wife to faith in Christ. Their marriage has become stronger. His studies are more fruitful. And he is discipling other young Chinese believers in Richmond.<\/p>\n
Whether Tao returns to China or stays in America, he\u2019s now a committed follower of Christ. There are hundreds of thousands of other international students like him on U.S. campuses, waiting for someone to tell them spiritual truth.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many here are open to being reached,\u201d Fiorelli says. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing more fulfilling than seeing people like Tao come to Christ and grow in their faith.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tao Lu never laid eyes on the Word of God until he came to the United States to study advanced computer engineering. That\u2019s not unusual in China where Tao grew up, even though his father taught English in a major city. The Chinese Christian movement may be growing rapidly amid periodic crackdowns, but it has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1193,58,129,2446,2595,391,2594,374,1088,2597,2596,2598,722,1654],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7504"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7504\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}