Starting Point (2) Testimony - Joey Yoo

Hey guys, so I’m here to share my testimony about my 8-week starting point journey but before I do anything else I would like to thank pastor Caleb for opening up the opportunity for me to partake in this amazing session.

So, Just a brief touch up on who I am as a Christian. I’m not your stereotypical Christian boy who goes to church because he’s so devoted and he wants to be so involved with the community. I’m a very delusional person with life making my Christian life more difficult. Many things that a “stereotypical Christian boy” should be obeying I tend to rebel against it. I felt really restricted because I was in this community. Everything I felt wrong made me feel extra guilty because I knew I had to come back here every Sunday. It was just too much pressure for me to live up to my own expectations with my Christian life. That’s why I took starting point. I know I’ve gone to church for almost my whole life. I know I got baptized. and I know that I’m an intern. And I also know it looks like I should have already experienced a “starting point” in my life before but honestly, I guess I really needed to take this thing called “starting point”. I mean, who would have thought I would have texted Caleb in the middle of the night asking him if I can take this session. I genuinely felt like it was my call.

That’s why I took starting point. The starting point was different compared to my other experiences. Caleb was there to guide us throughout each week but it was mostly us, the youth members talking or should I say this one “particular” (cough) member was talking most of the time. Anyways, I went in expecting to be judged and I felt like I was going to get my fingers pointed by Caleb and the other members. But honestly, every one of us had our own problems and I was actually shocked to how indifferently everyone else was thinking like me about their faith. To a certain extent I felt like I was able to connect with the other members and through that, I was able to open up more about my inner feelings towards my view of Christianity and god.

Walking into starting point, I had many doubts and uncertainty of whether or not I deserved to join. I was scared through past experience that nothing about me will change again. My expectations were always shut down by my own standards but funny how after these 8 weeks I finally learned that God loves us even if we have nothing to offer. I asked myself after, why I was ALWAYS setting my own bars high then become depressed by not reaching those standards. This helped me finally realize that I didn’t need to be that standard and I can be who I am.

I didn’t take starting point to try becoming that 200% faithful person. I also did not go in there to magically feel this special heat from god. I think ultimately there are infinite reasons to why people take starting point but I personally went in there to become educated and let go of my rebellious and ignorant feelings towards God and let him do the work just for that special hour. I didn’t turn into the perfect person I desired to become but my perspective I had before changed and I finally have certainty that God loves us no matter what. It’s truly amazing how my perspective changed and that’s what I needed for my starting point. Thank You