This here is Brother Hua, he was born in Hong Kong and is currently residing in California with a successful career in finance. He and his beautiful wife have built a warm and loving family with three kids, now eight, six, and three years old respectively.
Fifteen years ago, Hua finally came out of his struggle with homosexuality, and soon after he met his now-wife. Remembering past pains and triumphs, Hua choked up several times as he shared his life’s journey with a reporter from The Gospel Herald (GH).
The interview was originally conducted in Chinese, it is translated and recorded here below (edited for brevity and clarity):
(Click here for Part 1)
(Click here for Part 2)
GH: What happened after you saw the vision of you coming out of homosexuality?
Hua: I returned to Hong Kong. I made the determination to leave, and I really thought I had it this time. I thought that Hong Kong didn’t have (homosexual) issues, but that was far from reality. I still had a lot of struggle in my heart.
After going back to Hong Kong, I joined a young adults brothers’ group. Soon after, I shared with them honestly about my journey and my struggle during a sharing session. My cell group leader patted me on my shoulder and said: “It’s ok, we’ll go through this together, we’ll walk this path together.”
This cell leader was the youth group pastor. I remember I told him many times that I wanted to give up. I remember very clearly, once, I was at his home and we were talking, and he told me: “Hua, did you know, even if you give up on yourself, Jesus and I will not give up on you.” I am really thankful that I had this kind of leader to guide me in my journey.
For the four, five years I was in Hong Kong, I will still rolling in the deep with sin. I got engaged with a guy, and thought that we’d be together forever. I often mustered up the determination to leave this sin. There was even one time I grabbed an opportunity to get onstage and confessed my sin to everyone, because I heard that if you confess openly, light will enter your life, and God will completely wash my sin away.
After this open confession, I could clearly feel that my struggles were gone, and that I had the ability to overcome this sin, I had the authority to say “no” to my homosexual tendencies.
GH: Which year was this?
Hua: It was around 2011 when I had an opportunity to go to Israel. I was standing on the banks of the Jordan, and someone suggested baptism. At that time I thought, I have already been healed and set free, I want to return to God once again, I want to set up a covenant with God once again. So I made up my mind to be baptized in the Jordan a second time, and devote my life back to God.
After that baptism, I remember this well, I was able to stop alcohol. And I also started a 40-day prayer and fast. My fasting was that, I would only eat vegetables for the first twenty days, only drink liquids for the next ten days, and for the last ten days drink only water. I experienced that kind of period.
GH: Did you feel completely different after the 40-day fasting?
Hua: After this period, a girl (my now-wife) suddenly showed up in my cell group. I had not dated for so long already, and I didn’t have any relationships with the opposite gender. When the girl came, I thought that she was so special, so beautiful. I had never felt something like that. That feeling pushed me to want to know her and get closer with her. So under the protection of the church, we continued to develop our relationship, and we started dating.
After dating for two years, we got married, and afterward we returned to the U.S. for work.
Ten years ago, I left the U.S. in my struggles. Ten years later, I brought my wife, and our newborn, to testify on stage. The vision became a reality. The second week we were back, I did the testimony. The very people that saw how I fell now saw how I stood back up.
GH: There are studies now that show one out of six Gen Zs identify as LGBTQ, which is quite a high ratio. There are many people who sympathize with the LGBTQ community and believe it is a biological predisposition that cannot be changed. What are your thoughts on this?
Hua: I also used to think like that. But God told me, in Jesus Christ, I am a new creation, everything is new. Even if I was born with this (same-sex orientation), and there is nothing science can do to change that, still, in Jesus Christ, you will be a new creation, there will be new hope. If you really want to get out of this, Jesus will surely help you. Everything can be turned around, and in your moment of deepest despair, Jesus can give you the greatest hope. I never would have imagined that I would be married to a woman, that I would have my wife. I also never thought that I would have my own children, but now I have three.
GH: The LGBTQ community is expanding, and there are some who see them as the church’s unreached people, and that the church should accept and embrace them, not seeing them as “others”, what do you think about this?
Hua: They are seen as “others”. But I feel that in Jesus Christ, we are all equal sinners. Even Paul himself said that he was the worst of all sinners. Everyone has their struggles, has that something that pushes them to despair. But no matter who you are, as long as you know Jesus and follow Him, He will not let you be. I gave up on going to church, but still Jesus listened to my prayers. No matter what situation you are in, as long as you are willing to keep following Him, to build a relationship with Him, He will surely lead you. Everyone has their process of building that relationship with Christ. I am really thankful for the two spiritual leaders in my life. They never once said “sorry church doesn’t welcome you because you’re gay”. Instead they have always walked with me.
