Hi, my name is Jocelyn Chow. A little background information about me: I’m 14 years old, I’m in 9th grade, and I have a younger brother and two parents who have raised me in a Christian home. I was born into SJCAC and I’ve attended pretty much every VBS, every Sunday School class, every Sunday morning service, as well as every Saturday night E2 (our Youth Group, Elijah Elisha), just because my parents signed me up or made me. I’m not saying I hated going, it’s just that I didn’t realize the purpose of it all. Before middle school, I had always thought of church and Sunday School as simply a time to learn about stories in the Bible and hang out with my best friends. I never really thought much about God or my faith or my relationship with Him until the Youth Winter Retreat in 2016, during which I was in 7th grade. It was my first Winter Retreat because I hadn’t been able to attend in 2015, when I was in 6th grade. Throughout the time between the Winter Retreats in 2015 and 2016, all my friends kept talking about how much fun the Winter Retreat in 2015 had been and I felt left out. So, I went in 7th grade, looking forward to a couple of days of pure enjoyment. It was really, really fun, but it was also a turning point for me. It was the first time I tried to talk to God and listen to Him on my own will. Before, I had only prayed when I was told to and I had only accepted Jesus because everyone else was doing it. After that retreat, I knew for sure that God was someone really special and I knew that He was truly there for me at all times, but I didn’t understand how to grow my relationship with Him and how to incorporate Him into my daily life. I looked forward to going to the next year’s Winter Retreat so that I could experience God’s presence again. I went, and on one of the nights, I could really feel Him right there with me. I desperately wanted to know Him better, so I tried to talk to Him at home, but I just couldn’t seem to be able to. Let me just say, honestly, that I rarely did TWA (Time With Abba) or read the Bible, and I feel that this prevented me from getting to know God. I want to be able to see God everywhere I go and not just at the Winter Retreat.

Ever since my first Winter Retreat two years ago, I’ve believed in Jesus more than ever because of what I saw there. I saw joy in the people who talked to Him, and from then on, I knew He was real. Being baptized iis my way of saying that I want to follow God for the rest of my life and that I want to give my life to Him. I want to be born again and I want to be able to truthfully say that I believe in God.