My name is Babara Zhang Zhianing. I am a nursing student from China. I trusted in God for about 3 months after I came to Singapore. I dread to think how I would be today if God had not saved me.

I want to share with you what kind of person I was before becoming a Christian. When I was a student in China I suffered lots of academic stress and emotional trauma from my family. I even contemplated suicide 3 times . In addition, I had a bad temper and complained about almost everything that happened to me. I lived in a world of selfishness and sadness.

Then Jesus came and found me while I was sitting in a prison of lostness and hopelessness. God began to work in me when I got the admission letter from Parkway College, which is a part of God’s perfect plan. I flew to Singapore and accepted God’s love.

In Singapore, God introduced me to Ms Lily Lang who is my first teacher and guide in my encounter with God. At that time I was confused in my studies and I had fears of not being able to obtain my scholarship. She encouraged me and suggested to me to trust God and gave me a New Testament bible and CDs to listen. I began to listen to the Bible CDs everyday night. It gave me confidence and I believe and am convinced that I am not alone in Singapore as God is with me.On Good Friday , I together with Ms Lily went to Doctor Boey’s home where I made friends with a sister Teresa Luo who often cares for me and strengthens my faith in God. God put me in a small, warm and traditional church where Teresa attends.

Let me share with you some testimonies of how God worked His almighty power in me.

I still remember my first semester subject was Microbiology. At that time, I was unable to adapt to the lessons which is in English. Actually, I absorbed nothing of this subject and preparation for the coming exams was extremely taxing. I felt very nervous and had a premonition of failure. So I prayed to God to help me. On the exam day, to my surprise, the teacher said the exam had been cancelled. God not only blessed me in the first exam but also helped me pass all the exams with good marks in all of them. Every time before my coming tests & assessments, I always pray to God to give me wisdom and knowledge . Fortunately, every time the test questions are within the range of my preparation. So I thank God for giving me such satisfying academic performance.

The next testimony is about the Bible. Alhough Ms Lily gave me an English Bible,it was only a New testament bible. I wanted a whole Bible. So I prayed God to give me a whole Bible. What is amazing is that on my birthday which is on Sunday, my pastor presented a Chinese Bible to me. I actually longed to have an entire English Bible. Then I prayed. To my surprise, 2 weeks later, Ms Lily offered me an English-Chinese Bible which is in two languages. I was deeply touched that God always keeps his promises, “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours”.

There are many other amazing and interesting things that happened to me. For example, one day my landlady asked me to leave by the following month . I know it is illegal and unreasonable as we had signed a contract with her. I did not want to argue with my landlady, but I did want to move away as well. So I prayed. When night came, I asked her again whether I can stay on.Unexpectedly, she said OK without hesitation.

Another funny thing that happened was in church. After a Sunday service I went to have lunch near my church. I ordered a bowl of soup and a plate of rice with meat. However, when I opened my purse, I suddenly found that there was only one dollar in it which could pay for the bowl of soup. “It’s OK, never mind. I would just take the soup and not eat the rest,” I told myself. When I came back to my seat I found that a plate of rice with meat on my table. Later I found out that that it was my pastor who bought for it me. I knew then that God is never far away from us. He cares and blesses me whenever and wherever I am.

What’s more, the last weekend was the final day of my semester holiday. I prayed for a good rest so as to prepare for the coming second semester. After Bible study on the Saturday morning, one of my group members, an elderly madam asked me whether I was free as she wanted to bring me to Science Centre to visit the place. I accepted her invitation happily. We planned to take the MRT there but Madam Feng told me that it would be difficult for her to walk a long distance. Fortunately, the other group members offered to drive us to the center. Thank God. However whilst watching the 3D film, Madam Feng felt dizzy and vomited. But she persisted in guiding me during the visit and even played several scientific games with me. I felt so touched that she continued explain many science principles to me and played with me , even though she was extremely tired. I thank God so much for giving me a wonderful Saturday, which is an answer to an earlier prayer.

Finally, I want to share a meaningful story about my prayer for my clinical attachment. Several weeks ago, I had my first 2 weeks’ clinical attachment. In that first week, I almost cried every day night. Not for being tired but for the culture shock and being sneered at by a young staff nurse at my poor spoken English. Then on that Saturday night, I shared my ordeal with my care group members of the church. All of them prayed for me. Then on that Sunday, more friends prayed for the rest of my one week’s clinical attachment. One of them gave me a book mark on which is written ’So do not fear, for I am with you; Do not be dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.’(Isaian 41:10) Yes, God comforted me when I was upset and encouraged me when I was in trouble and promised me that He will always be with me . After that, my second week’s clinical attachment went very smoothly and I got good comments at the end. Thanks be to God.

I shared that I was previously a selfish person and always anxious. But I cannot begin to express the peace and love I felt today. Now I thank God every day for His Son’s blood cleanses my sins; I thankful for His mercy; His love keeps me at peace, and with His Body, the church, I am learning how to glorify our Jesus Christ.