I grew up in a Christian home in Hong Kong and reluctantly went to church with my parents until I left home to go to university when I was 17. I found church to be boring and irrelevant and had no interest in being told what I could and couldn't do. Although I was attending church and involved with the Sunday school there I was leading a double life when I was with my friends.

Once I was at University I was obviously free to do whatever I wanted, so I did. I stopped going to church and chose to do things that while they were fun at the time were very destructive to others and myself. I smoked and drank heavily and experimented with various drugs, just like most of my friends. I was looking for anything that brought pleasure. During my three years at university my behavior became gradually more and more extreme as I sought to find new experiences and new highs.

After graduating from university I was fairly un-ambitious and returned to Hong Kong hoping to get a job in bar. Through a friend I landed a very good job and began to see the attraction and power of money and success. I became obsessed with success. I was willing to anything to have the best job out of all my friends and to be earning the most money. For 4 years I worked very long hours and traveled wherever and whenever I had to. I was earning a lot of money and I loved spending it. I wanted my friends and family to see how well I was doing.

Amy and Bob knew each other from school, and Amy is one of Bob's sister's best friends. After Bob's company closed at the end of 2001 he felt God calling him to work for a year at Mother's Choice as a volunteer and it was there that they became friends and had an opportunity to get to know one another better. Amy's parents were 2 of the founders of Mother's Choice and she continues to work there as the Volunteer Supervisor for both local and overseas volunteers.

Even though things were going very well for me I felt empty and unsatisfied. As I looked around at my peers and superiors I felt like I could see into the future to what I would become and I knew that I did not want the life that they had and began to ponder the purpose of it all. Surely there was more to life than trying to make as much money as possible. Around this time a friend invited me to attend an Alpha course. I had no intention of going but said that I would. Somehow a few weeks later I found myself at the first week of an Alpha course.

During the weeks that followed I realized that I regarded myself as a pretty decent person, fairly honest with respect for others. I had always been friendly and helpful and I thought that these things were important. When I actually thought about it I felt like I believed that there was a God but didn't really know how that affected me. I thought that I could live in a grey area I had created for myself, but Alpha showed me that relationship with God is black or white, and I need to make a decision.

After about 6 weeks of the course we went away for the Alpha weekend where we learned about what the bible says about the Holy Spirit. I had been avoiding the issue of whether or not I wanted to take Jesus seriously. One of the men on the course prayed with me and I went back to my room and got down on my knees. I said out loud "God I don't really know you but I know I need you. My life is in a mess and I need your help." At that point I was overwhelmed with a sense of God's presence and I began to weep uncontrollably. I think I cried for almost 20 minutes. When I returned to the group I told them what had happened and everyone was overjoyed and a number prayed with me to receive Christ and the Holy Spirit, which I did gratefully.

Since that day my relationship with God has grown. I no longer look for satisfaction from alcohol, drugs or relationships, but in God. I have experienced the unconditional love of God and His forgiveness. I have definitely had some hard times and wondered where God was, but He has always been faithful and has never let me down. Last year I was made redundant from my job and God told me to become a full-time volunteer at Mother's Choice, a local orphanage. I worked and lived there for the last year.

Through Alpha, God has completely transformed my life and I am so grateful that my friend invited me to go.