‘A scary dream changed my life’

I was born and raised in China. Like most families, we had no interest in religion. We didn’t go to church or temple. Being an atheist is very normal, because it’s a communist country. 

As a child I was very naughty, and I didn’t want to go to high school. I used to be very unpopular and was bullied quite a lot. I wanted to be a musician, so I stayed at home playing music all day long. That angered my father. My relationship with my dad broke down and we hated each other. But he gave me one last opportunity – he paid for me to go to a culinary arts school so I could learn to be a chef. I studied very hard and I got my first job at a four-star hotel in China. 

After many years, I owned my own restaurant in Chengdu. I met my wife, Arleen, in the restaurant and soon afterwards we got married. 

Arleen had recently become a Christian. She was converted in a house church and remembers having to sing quietly during worship times in case the neighbours heard and reported them. But by the time we met, Arlene’s faith had become lukewarm, and she had questions. 

Doing business in China is tricky, because it is not a transparent or fair environment. You have to maintain good relationships with lots of government administrative departments. It can be really complicated. Arleen and I were both craving a new lifestyle. Arleen had always wanted to live oversees, and I wanted to be a top chef and work in a world-class kitchen. 

We could have gone anywhere, but we choose London because we were inspired by the famous quote: “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford” [Samuel Johnson]. 

Dragged to church

As soon as we landed, Arleen had a strong feeling that she wanted to go to church. We found a shared apartment in Islington, and she asked the people we shared with: “Do you know any churches nearby?” Our flatmate, Rocky, said: “Are you a Christian? I go to a church every Sunday near the BBC building. Would you like to join me? I can take you there.” 

I gave up my fight with God and surrendered 

I couldn’t speak English at the time, so I was dragged to [All Souls Langham Place] by Arleen and Rocky. It was the first time I’d ever walked into any religious venue in my life. 

After some time, because of the language barrier, we also started visiting a Chinese church. Arleen and I went for three or four years, and her faith was reignited. But I still wasn’t a believer. 

Fear of death

I’ve always been afraid of death. A genetic disease runs in our family and my mum died at 67. I always thought I’d die young. I was going to church meetings and Bible studies, but it wasn’t real for me. It wasn’t making sense. 

Then one night I had a dream and everything changed.

In the dream, I had died and was lying in a crematorium. I could see people saying goodbye to me. Then I heard a voice say: “chapter six, verse nine”. During the dream I sensed this voice was from God or the Bible, but I didn’t know what it meant. 

As soon as I woke up, I told Arleen my dream. I was excited and curious, saying: “Can you tell me which Bible book these numbers are from?” 

I thought it was from the New Testament. So, we started going through, book by book. Eventually we figured out it must be Romans 6:9 which says: “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him” (ESV).

When I read that, I had goosebumps. I was excited and scared.

Arleen encouraged me to read the verses around it. In verse 8 it says: “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him” (ESV). And in the following verses, it says: “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (v11, ESV). Arleen said to me: “This is the time for you to seriously consider your options. You can’t stand in both worlds at the same time. You have a choice to make.” 

Surrendering all

At that point, I gave up my fight with God. I said to him: “I cannot escape. I surrender my life.” 

Arleen was so excited. I had been attending church every week, but I was stubborn for a long time. Arleen immediately grabbed her phone and told everyone, and the whole church was so excited because they had been praying for me. 

Before I became a Christian, I was an angry man with so many questions. Every time I encountered problems, I’d get angry. I complained about everything. But after I became a Christian and got baptised, I had a change of mindset. I accepted my weaknesses. I have a new perspective on the world. I am now at peace.

Shi Ray Luo was speaking to Sam Hailes