Eric’s Baptism: A Transformed Heart

How Jesus Transformed Eric’s View of Relationships

Eric Xiao grew up agnostic in a culturally Buddhist family. Coming to UW Seattle, he pursued a career in software development and described himself as ambitious and competitive. Freshman year of college became challenging for Eric as he found it difficult to make genuine connections and struggled with loneliness. 

“What I found was that in all of these attempts to get close to others and build relational closeness–joining clubs, networking with alumni, even getting into the dating scene–none of it lasted,” he said. “After the excitement of my first quarter died down, I felt a profound sense of emptiness and what felt like a void in my heart. It felt really lonely.”

A turning point came when he encountered mentors from the International Student Ministry (ISM) tabling for “Husky First Steps.” This led him to befriend many Christians and experience open homes and community, making him curious about their lives and beliefs.

“As I spent more time with the group, I asked a lot of questions to myself, like: “Why are Christians so friendly and nice?” and “Although they have solid jobs, why would they spend their extra free time on not-so-practical things instead of building their career and families?” 

He decided to explore the Bible for the first time by coming out to ISM’s Friday Bros Nights. During the first few Bible studies, he learned about sin as a relational rejection of God. 

“What struck me the most was relational sin; I reflected back on my time in elementary and high school and realized that I was loveless towards my friends, mostly seeing them as rivals that I had to “beat” when it came to the race to college.” he reflected. “I was preoccupied with pride and accomplishment, and I realized that the Bible had lots of wisdom on human nature that I didn’t realize before, so I started treating it more seriously.” 

The Bible studies helped Eric learn about who Jesus is, what the cross means, and slowly addressed his doubts and questions in Christianity. He made his salvation decision on a hike with his life group, finally struck by his need to make Jesus Lord and Savior of his life.

“I experienced God working in powerful and timely ways; what I realized around that time was that the transformative power of the gospel wasn’t an instant change, but rather one that takes time.” 

The gospel shaped and changed Eric gradually as he took small steps of obedience, cooking for his housemates, being an older brother to younger students, and pouring out God’s love to others. As he tried to be more relational with his parents, sharing about his church life, his parents started to see his gradual change and slowly became more accepting, even occasionally asking him to pray for them.

One big thing Eric learned about Christian life is that following Jesus doesn’t mean that life becomes free of difficulties or fears.

“I still worry about the uncertainties with potential job loss and immigration issues here in the US, disagreements with close ones, and regressing into sinful behavior. But I find myself grateful instead of resentful that I got to experience these setbacks in life, as they put my faith to the test and sharpen my trust in God and His kingdom that lasts.” he said. 

“I will continue to love the people around me, no matter how tough it gets, and I want to trust in Jesus even more despite my fears and the mess and uncertainty of the world.” 

Thankful that we got to celebrate Eric’s baptism this September!