By Kristine Whitnable

God uses a Faculty Member

 

As a freshman at the University of California at Davis, Yan had often come for academic help during Dr. Enderle’s office hours. She also attended a “Faith vs. Science” lecture that he sponsored on campus. Shortly after that lecture, Yan told Dr. Enderle that she knew she worried too much about getting good grades. She was driven to get A+ in all her classes. Yan knew this was not a healthy attitude and that it was causing her anxiety.

 

When Yan first asked Dr. Enderle how she might stop worrying, he said that he would think about the problem, and asked Yan if she would come back the next day. When Yan returned, Dr. Enderle shared a Scripture that addressed the issue of excessive worry. Yan saw value in what Dr. Enderle told her, and arranged to continue the conversations.

 

 

One clear blue day Yan, Peggy Koa, a student involved in InterVarsity at UC Davis, and Dr. Enderle, went outside to look at the trees and the flowers. They were beautiful and appeared not to have a care in the world. Yan, Peggy, and Dr. Enderle came inside and read what God had to say in Matthew 6, “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.…Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6: 25-26 NIV) After that, Dr. Enderle told Yan that Jesus was the answer she was looking for; and that to truly overcome her worry, she would need to know Jesus.

 

 

Yan and Dr. Enderle continued to study about Jesus through the spring of 2003. After summer at home with her family, Yan returned to campus in the fall of 2003 and again came to Dr. Enderle to study the Bible. At that time Dr. Enderle introduced Yan to Amanda Hilton, a sophomore in InterVarsity. Together the three of them studied the miracles of Jesus in the Gospel of John as signs that point toward who Jesus is and how we can know him.

 

 

A few days later, Yan saw Amanda in the student union. Amanda asked Yan if there was anything that she would like prayer about. Yan said that she and her roommate were having problems. Amanda prayed that God would give Yan and her roommate a good relationship. Yan and Amanda made arrangements to meet again the following week.

 

 

When they met again, Yan was excited to report that their prayer had been answered. She and her roommate were getting along better than ever. Yan saw this as a sign that God did exist, and that he was interested in her life; but she was still not sure about yielding her life to Christ.

 

 

The next time Yan talked with Dr. Enderle, he realized that Yan did want to become a Christian, but she was shy about praying aloud in front of others. So he said a prayer as Yan prayed silently. That day she became a Christian.