Coco and Vivian's Story

Coco and Vivian are roommates and exchange students from China; Erin (my teammate) met them at an International Students Afternoon Tea at one of our Geelong campuses, and I was introduced to them shortly afterwords. Because we're American, they right away asked if we were Christians, and they were super excited to find out that we were. Vivian said that she has a few Christian friends back in China and they are like sunshine to her soul (honestly, that's a direct quote). They were super interested to hang out with us and hear more about our faith, so we got to go through a CE with them. It was so fun to go through the basics of Christianity with students who had barely heard the name of Jesus before, let alone knew anything about him. We could tell that what we were telling them was so contrary to and unlike anything else they had heard; sometimes I swear I could actually see the wheels turning in their heads as they processed everything that we were talking about.

I so wish that I could tell you that they both decided to follow Jesus with their lives, but they have both yet to make this decision. They have all of the head knowledge, they hang out with people that follow Jesus, and they know the steps they need to take, but there is still a very big disconnect between their heads and their hearts. Both Erin and I feel that we have done all that we can do and said all that we can, but it's ultimately their decision and there's only so much we can do. As hard as it is to see them so close but still so far away, it has been a sweet reminder that God is ultimately the only one that is going to change hearts. We can say and do all the right things, but it's still up to the Spirit to really change and prepare their hearts. And praise the Lord that we still have the very powerful tool of prayer. Vivian even told us that she feels a tugging on her heart (!!!) and she knows in her heart that this is true, but her head just hasn't quite gotten there yet. I know that we have laid some good foundation for them to fall back on when they finally do give into that 'tugging', and I'm excited to hear about the day when their heads and their hearts finally do connect.


Me, Coco and Vivian at a winery in Geelong. Please be praying for these sweet girls!