Hi, my name is Youngsik, and I’ve been going to New Life for 4 years now. I grew up in a household where my mom is Catholic and dad is atheist, so I was exposed to church and Catholicism for a bit as a kid. Nothing really stuck with me and I don’t remember much from it other than the free donuts. Although when I entered college, it just so happened that the first few friends I made happened to be Christian. When the friends invited me to a fellowship, I initially went for the free Korean food and to hangout with my friends.

Over the next two years, I gained a lot of friends and got a lot of exposure to stories about God. I was just someone who attended the fellowship and church but didn’t really reflect on my faith or my belief. As COVID and the subsequent lockdowns impacted my last year of college, I stopped attending church and slowly stopped attending my virtual small group meetings. After graduating, I moved to Seattle in 2021 to start my new job. Now whether it be coincidence or God leading me to a church, in hindsight, I’m so lucky to have had friends from that college fellowship move out to Seattle at the same time. Even though I haven’t been to a church or fellowship for a year, the friends pushed me to church hop and search in Seattle. Not able to find a community I truly enjoyed for another year, I thought about stopping until I was invited to check out New Life.

Even though I joined in the last quarter, the friendly and welcoming environment that Dan & Suz’s CG created, for even a newcomer like me, made me want to continue going to church. Over the next 2-3 years, I got to witness and see the growth of the CG and New Life’s community. Thanks to the help of my many CG leaders (Jhuree, Audrey, Aaron, and Vivian,) and the members of those CGs, I gradually understood what it meant to have a relationship with God. Through these communities, I saw genuine sincerity, forgiveness, and love for each other the way Jesus has done for us. What was initially sparked by curiosity from friends and free food has now turned into a belief where I can accept that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. Things I used to accredit to myself and coincidences, I now thank God for. These years spent in New Life’s community have helped me accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

Obviously, I still have a lot to learn and grow in my faith. But over the past couple of months, everyone in the men’s ministry led by Dan & Jung have helped me make prayer something that comes more naturally to me and reading the gospel more accessible. I want to thank this group for their prayers, commitment, and patience with me. Most importantly, they have helped me reflect and think on what kind of brother, partner, and member of the community I want to become.

My commitment going forward is to keep growing in my faith and learning from God’s Word. I can’t stress how fortunate and blessed I have felt over the past 4 years. It’s because of this community; I’ve come to realize I want to live my life for Jesus. To all the great CG leaders I’ve had and to friends who created a welcoming environment and to everyone who makes New Life the community that it is, I ask that you continue to pray for me and encourage me as I grow in my relationship with Jesus. Thank you for being part of my journey of faith.

-Youngsik