The World At NorthwesternWeb exclusives by Tamara Fynaardt

Joy

DOUG BURG

He speaks quickly, his mind darting, searching for the English-language superlatives that will express his excitement—his eager enthusiasm—for all the things he’s experienced since arriving in the United States: things like rabbit hunting and finding acceptance in a mostly white American community. Things like praying before meals and getting baptized.

As a high school student in China, Jia Wei (Leon) Li had several American teachers, including one from Le Mars, Iowa. He hung around them to practice speaking English and observed they followed a faith different from his.

His teachers noticed Leon was outgoing, passionate, even charismatic. He influenced those around him with his infectious joy. “I think they knew if I became a Christian,” he says, “Jesus’ light would shine brightly through me.”

Invited by his teachers to church, Leon learned about Christianity but stayed a seeker for a long time. Abandoning Buddhism for Christianity would mean leaving an identity almost 20 years in the making, he explains. But, he adds, “Every time I went to church, I had tears swimming in my eyes. Something was stirring. It was the moving of the Holy Spirit.”

Eventually, the Spirit’s fire consumed Leon. He uses recently learned adjectives to describe his newfound faith: “God dramatically, splendidly, profoundly transformed my life with his redeeming love,” he says, adding that his baptism last April was a life-defining moment.

That moment was more life-defining than his decision to come to Northwestern—although finding a college where he can be an enthusiastic Christian is a close second. Leon’s Iowan teacher had known Ming-Chen Lo Rohrer from Northwestern’s intercultural affairs office and connected Leon with Grace, as she’s known on campus.

Since enrolling, the junior business major has recruited his best friend to Northwestern. “We laugh, we fight, we cry,” Leon says. “It’s a blessing to have him here.”

Both only children, the two Shanghai natives think of themselves as brothers. But they aren’t brothers in Christ—yet, says Leon. “He knows me better than anyone. He knows my faith.” And, Leon acknowledges he knows from experience how hard it will be if his “brother” ever abandons Buddhism for Christianity—“like killing yourself,” Leon says.

After graduation, Leon hopes to remain in the U.S. for several years—exploring the less Dutch parts of the country, he jokes. He’s eager to understand “the West” better before he returns to “the East.” His parents are getting older, and it will eventually be his responsibility to care for them.

Leon hopes for a career that will involve serving as a translator for Americans in China. Grateful to the American teachers who influenced him, he also wants to teach someday and is focused on junior high as an age when students are impressionable and excitable.

Only seven percent of Leon’s countrymen are Christians, and his culture is reserved. Out of sensitivity and respect, Leon will have to be less exuberant about his faith. Still, he says nothing will dim his spirit—or keep him from sharing his joy.

Faith

DOUG BURG

According to Mark Twain, who visited the island of Mauritius when he wrote Following the Equator, “… you gather the idea that Mauritius was made first and then heaven, and that heaven was copied after Mauritius.”

Located east of Madagascar, this veritable Garden of Eden is 30 by 40 miles and home to 1.3 million people, including Davina and Devarajen (Dylan) Ramasamy.

Ethnically Indian, Davina and Dylan’s family has lived in Mauritius since their great-grandfather immigrated to raise sugar cane. Nearly everyone came from somewhere else. It’s characteristically Mauritian to understand and accept a wide variety of cultures and religions.

The Ramasamys were raised Hindu, worshipping a number of deities and visiting temple. They attended a British-style school and were academically tracked as eighth graders—she into economics, he into the sciences.

The siblings planned to attend college abroad, and Davina’s interest in actuarial science—a rarely offered major—led her to Northwestern College.

During preparatory tutoring at the U.S. embassy, Davina met someone who intrigued her: a Christian. “Even though we’d grown up in this very multicultural, multi-religious community, we didn’t know much about Christianity,” Davina says. “It was the first time I heard anything about Jesus dying for me.”

Davina hadn’t chosen Northwestern for its Christian perspective, but God’s providence became clear when opportunities like daily chapel provided answers to her growing number of questions. “I loved worshipping God,” she says, “even though I didn’t know God much.”

Davina felt something—a tugging—but she resisted, loyal to Hinduism. Then, during her sophomore year, International Club members were hosting chapel, and Davina was asked to read Scripture in French, one of the languages she speaks in addition to English and Mauritian-Creole.

“I was excited to participate,” she remembers. “Before the service, Chaplain Van Oort prayed, asking God to be with us as we delivered his message. I’d been thinking about my role, reading some verses from Ephesians—but I hadn’t thought about the fact I’d be speaking God’s words.”

Weighted by the responsibility, a nervous Davina started reading, keeping her eyes on the back of the chapel. Her voice grows reverent as she describes what happened next: “I saw a bright light in the doorway. I didn’t sense anyone around me; I didn’t feel tense. I was just convicted that Jesus is the way, truth and life.”

Awed by God, Davina shared her miracle with her brother, who has since become a believer too and joined her at Northwestern, enrolling in the college’s joint engineering program with Washington University in St. Louis.

Davina waited until last summer to be baptized in Mauritius. She wanted to explain her choice to her parents in person. Dylan hopes to be baptized next summer.

Their parents have been cautiously accepting. “They have questions,” says Davina, “and the Holy Spirit has given us the words to answer them. We don’t want to hurt them,” she adds, “but I want them to understand: Something wonderful has happened to me.”