Hello church family! My name is Caleb Kuo and I’m currently 15 years old. I just finished my freshman year of high school, and let me tell you, all of it was by God’s grace and mercy. I would not be who I am today if it was not for God.

I grew up in a Christian household coming to Chinese Grace, and I was that typical church kid who would come on Fridays and Sundays. However, I treated church as a hangout location where I would come and play with friends. I didn’t know what the church actually meant until this past year when I attended Wednesday Bible Study. There I learned that church is not an event, rather it’s the gathering of believers. I didn’t understand the Gospel until much later. Growing up, I heard the Gospel many times, but it wasn’t personal for me. It never hit home, and I still had a lot of questions. I knew that Jesus died for my sins on the cross, but it kind of just went over my head, and I said so what? Why does it matter that Jesus died for me, and why should it affect my life? I think part of the reason why the Gospel wasn’t a reality to me during my elementary school years was that I didn’t think I was a sinner. I was too prideful and didn’t understand why I couldn’t save myself through good works. I thought I was a good person and that I didn’t need God. I thought to myself, “if life is just going to school, coming back, doing homework, eat, sleep, repeat, then life is a breeze! Why do I need God?”

My middle school years were filled with many doubts about if Jesus is really worth following. I was trying to be the most popular kid at school and wanted to be accepted by my non-Christian friends. Since I was in middle school at that time, I started attending Teens in God’s Service (TIGS) on Friday nights and learned about God’s great love for us; a love so great that God would send His one and only son Jesus to die for our sins.

Life started to get tougher the summer of 8th grade going into 9th grade. I fell into one particular sin, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t overcome it by myself. I found myself trapped and seeking freedom, and that was when I looked to Jesus because Jesus was the only one that could set me free. Before that moment, I was so caught up in my own pride I thought I didn’t need God, but now that I was struggling with sin, God’s forgiveness and love became surreal. How God could still love and forgive me despite my sin, even stepping down to earth to die on a cross? That was when everything clicked. I knew that I could not save myself through good works because no matter how hard I tried, I fell short of the glory of God, as it says in Romans 3:23-25, which reads “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith.” That’s when I repented from my sins, turned to Christ, and received this free gift of salvation with faith. The word “Gospel” means good news, and it really was good news to me.

Around that same time, in 9th grade, I started attending Wednesday Bible Study. I definitely learned a lot, but one thing I took away from the bible studies was this: prayer. Prayer is powerful and that was exactly what I needed in my life. I saw God working through my grandpa, who was diagnosed with cancer over two years ago and is still alive today. And with the limited time he has to live, I saw God strengthen his faith and transform him into a God-fearing man, a man who is not afraid of death because he knows of a greater hope in heaven. Although sometimes I felt like God wasn’t answering my prayers, I knew that God has a plan, His timing is perfect, and that He’s working all things out for my good. I started incorporating more prayer into my life, and it gave me comfort knowing God answers prayers. It gave me comfort knowing that salvation is a free gift from God and not something I had to work for. A life full of sin, trying to please man, and gaining approval from friends was in the past. I realized that sin and worldly desires were empty and will never satisfy, but faith in Christ provides true freedom from the bondage of sin. I chose to accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior because Jesus is better than anything this world had to offer.

I thank God for all the people He has placed in my life that have helped me walk with Christ and grow my faith. I thank God for Pastor Glenn, Pastor Tranwei, and everyone else who taught at the Wednesday Night Bible Studies. I truly gained a lot of wisdom from your teachings. I also thank God for Chris Chu. For the past year or so, Chris has been discipling me, Jireh Owen, and Samuel Oen, and I just want to say thank you for your commitment to helping all three of us grow into becoming Godly men. I hope that I can disciple others in the future with the knowledge and wisdom I have gained over the years.
After accepting Christ into my life, I didn’t see a reason why I should wait another year to be baptized when I have put my faith in Christ Jesus today. That is why I am taking a step of obedience to publicly proclaim my testimony and be baptized. Thank you.