No words can describe how grateful I am that I can finally attend LIFEgame. I know Xinyu (my wife) has been praying for me to attend 2 1/2 years ago. In fact, the weekend in October 2016 she went to New Jersey with Chii & Binwei to attend LIFEgame is when Xinyu and I started dating. You can imagine for these past 2 1/2 years, she has been constantly telling me about how great and how impactful LIFEgame was to her that I had to go myself. I am so glad Xinyu went and has been involved in bringing LIFEgame to the Bay Area. When I came back home from LIFEgame, Xinyu and I have talked all night, hours and hours about my experience. And now finally Xinyu can share about her experience when she did it in New Jersey. All these years, she has been holding it in, a 'good news' of experience she couldn't share until I attended LIFEgame myself.

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to have a full experience of LIFEgame since it is still primarily in Mandarin. But I am glad I did attend, because I want to say, the volunteers did an extremely great job in accommodating to the English discussion community group. Thank you for John, the girl that came up with Selene (don't know her name), the girl volunteer for our community group (don't know her name either...), & Tony Liu for making sure that me, Casper & Natalie all have a translator. I really can feel their compassion and heart in making me really feel the full experience despite the language barrier... I didn't expect to experience LIFEgame to the fullest because of the language barrier. I am going to be real honest, I didn't expect to make any friends at all and even had the desire to make any friends. But for some reason, I felt I experience LIFEgame to the fullest and got very close to many people during my time.

I want to stress that implementing an English discussion & community group was a success. Maybe I am biased, but I think our discussion & community group got very close together from the start into the end. It was probably the best community group we possibly could ever had. We took care of each other and we made sure everyone didn't feel left out. The rooming & community group assignment were great and can see the diversity and purpose between each group. I was able to also talk with my roommate and brief with him each night.

I was impacted greatly. I would like to share two of my main convictions.

Throughout my life in LIFEgame, I thought I was doing good. I was honest, and I treated people with respect. But the experience changed me at a very fundamental level. Although doing good things for others, and taking care of people with their physical needs are nice and all... I wasn't helping them spiritually. I wasn't impacting their soul eternally. It made me realize, whether at work, or at church, I can be serving, I can be nice, I can do good things for others, but am I really going straight to their soul. So, it convicted me that there is a difference between doing nice/good things vs. leading people to Christ/sharing the Gospel. Yes, we are to be compassionate, yes, we are to be forgiving, to be nice, to do good. But truly, are we in the end sharing the Gospel to these people at the same time?

Second thing that hits me was persecution. I had NO idea about persecution ... If we are Christian, and we are not experiencing any sort of persecution, are we even Christian? That was what I realize during my time in LIFEgame. It occurred to me... that there is a difference between sharing the Gospel and sending people to church. I have this good news in my heart, I believe in the Gospel... I encounter hundreds of people every day, every week, every year...but do I share the Gospel?

And for these convictions I experienced and the ways I was impacted, I am grateful that I attended LIFEgame. There is no excuse, but being a Christian for the last 15 years...serving in multiple ministries, multiple churches, led people to Christ, served in many ways, etc., etc. I can lose sight of the main purpose in life. I can lose sight of the Great Commandment & also the Great Commission.

But with that said, many thanks to many people. Thanks Chii, Binwei & Xinyu for attending LIFEgame in New Jersey in 2016, so that everyone in the Bay Area can start experiencing what you experienced. Thank you for your tireless promotion and marketing the first Bay Area LIFEgame in 2017, so that most of LGCC people can attend. And it is because most of the people from LGCC attend, they can serve for LIFEgame in 2018. And by that time, for me to attend LIFEgame in 2019, I had friends who were able to translate for me in English and that you guys were able to test out having an English-specific community discussion group. So that maybe in 2020, Bay Area LIFEgame can grow into not only in Mandarin but in English and other languages as well. (maybe even Hindi!)

This is the fruits of your labor.

So much to share, but again, thank you for each of you. Your labor in serving and preparing for this LIFEgame was tiring & exhausting, but I truly feel the fruits of such labor is not in vain and that the Lord our God is using it faithfully. May God encourage you all to continue to run the race and fight the good fight. More workers will come to help and serve and continue to spread LIFEgame around where life needs to be impacted for Christ.

God is good.

Philippians 1:3-6 - 3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, 5 in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Blessings,
Jeffery Jair