Hi, I'm Sawako Yamaji, so let me present my testimony. So I was born and raised in Japan and moved to United States four years ago for my job in California. I first heard about Christ when I was middle school, and I remained interested about Christianity since then. I attended a Christian school for 10 years from middle school to college in Japan.

When I was in my third year of middle school, I was strongly impressed by a pastor's sermon. The sermon was based on 1 Corinthians chapter 3, "For we are God's fellow workers, you are God's building." The pastor told us that we always need to do our best in daily life because we live for God.

That gave meaning to every question I had at that time, such as what is the purpose of studying, why am I here. After I heard that, I started to go to a church outside of the school and started to read the Bible enthusiastically. However, I didn't have many friends or family members to talk about Christianity or the Bible, and I was also hesitant to speak to others about how I felt about Christianity.

As I reflect on my life now, maybe I cared too much about the people and events around me and couldn't focus on what Christianity meant or how it could impact my life. During that time, I was attracted to the teaching of God, and I am thankful that I was introduced to Christianity early on, even though I didn't have a saving faith in the gospel yet.

After I graduated college, I stopped attending church until I came to Bel Air in Irvine. During that period, my interests were largely focused on my work. My attitude toward others, especially my co-workers, was kind of competitive, and even when my friends and family gave me helpful advice, I was resistant.

At that time, I was just focusing on how to be better than others, how to improve my career, and how to be successful in my job. I was turning away from God for a long time, and my attitude toward others and my relationship with my friends and family was not optimal.

I regret my selfishness and the time without God, and I won't go back to that time. After spending time without God, I returned to Bel Air Community Church in Irvine. Through the Bible, sermons, and communication with church members, I realized how sinful I was during the time I stopped attending church.

Even though Christ gave me a chance to come to Him when I was a student, I didn't follow Him. And I realized the way I was communicating with others was very selfish and self-centered. Jesus always gave me great instructions about how to live life. I regret that I had lived without God, and I tried to be humble, be kind, love others, and respond to someone as Christ would.

In Matthew 6:33 in the Bible, it says, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." By following these words from the Bible, I realized that my relationship with others was significantly improved. I felt everything in my life was very tough to deal with, but after I changed the way to think and my behavior, everything turned out well.

I'm thankful that after spending a sinful life without God, God still forgave me after this time and guided me to His path. I felt how merciful He is. Now I really appreciated Jesus' mercifulness and trust in Him, so I really wanted to show my commitment to following Christ's path for my life that I need.

I have been praying for forgiveness of my many years of sins. Moreover, I am grateful that He died on the cross to show that He had taken all my sins. And He came back to life to verify that His work on the cross was complete. For these reasons, I would like to be baptized.

And after receiving Christ, I felt that I could be more open-minded and communicate with others actively. Moreover, I trust Jesus and no longer have any hesitation to share my honest feelings about Christianity with others. In conclusion, I confess my time without God and ask forgiveness for my sins. I would like to refocus my life on God.

As such, I would like to turn away from sin and turn towards God. To further pursue my life in God, I would like to express my faith in Jesus and be baptized. Thank you.