Her story is a familiar one. Overcoming adversity. Rising above a difficult past. Redemption. Love. The saving grace of Jesus Christ. For Brittney Yip, Northwest Christian University has provided the backdrop for a tremendous example of the intense struggle between letting go of sin, and finding a transformative experience through the miraculous power of Christ. This is her story:
For me it all began while I was still a baby. I was born in Long Beach, California on August 18, 1989. When I was just one, my dad passed away from cancer. After he died, his side of the family left, disowning my brother and I. You see, my father was Chinese and my mom, Japanese and Mexican.
My mom was left to raise a one and two year old on her own, and relied a lot on her family. I grew up with the Mexican side of my family and was raised in a catholic home. All I remember of religion from when I was a kid was falling asleep in church. I knew there was a God but I was very angry with him because he took my father away. Why did God do this to me? Why Me? I did not understand.
Because of my anger, I began to stray far away from God and anything he had to offer. I rebelled at a young age; dating boys in middle school, drinking in high school. It really became out of hand and I was sneaking around and lying to my mom, barely having a relationship with her.
During my sophomore year in high school I dated a boy who started to take me to church. That is when I became a Christian, during a Harvest Crusade. The boy and I eventually broke up, but I continue to go to church without him. This is when I realized that I was doing this for myself and not for anyone else. My family didn’t go to church, it was not a priority for them.
I struggled with this, and I was still struggling to connect with God. I began to pray that he would reveal himself to me. Everyone always talked about God’s grace and the power of prayer, but nothing like that ever happened for me…or so I thought.
When I turned 17, my dad’s family contacted my brother through MySpace. They told us that they had been looking for us for a long time. God was clearly working in this, giving me a sign of the piece of myself that I had always been missing: my dad. I came to find out that I had 27 cousins and even a half-sister. This whole experience left me on fire for God and there was no turning back.
When it was time to decide on where to go to college, I knew that I wanted to play soccer and I wanted to go out of state. Northwest Christian had sent me letters, so my mom and I decided to make a road trip out of it. I scheduled an appointment with the soccer coach, came up and tried out. I made the team and was offered a scholarship. I thought that it was perfect. I would play soccer and be out of state and be at a Christian college! By this time I had faith but I knew that my relationship with God was not as strong as it could be so going to a Christian school would help me…or so I thought.
Immediately I felt like they were just forcing religion on me, “go to chapel, take bible classes”. Also back then, as an athlete, I felt like I was considered an outsider. “They’re just here to play sports.” That is the way it seemed. I felt like we did not fit in, that we were looked down upon. I remember the cafeteria being distinctly separate, athletes at one long table and the non athletes watching our every move surrounding us. All of this began to push me away from my relationship with God. I got caught up in drugs and alcohol again. I was getting in trouble in the dorms. It was not too bad at first but as the time went on, it got worse. I started to drink on a daily basis. I started taking Adderall to study and even worse, I started taking ecstasy pills whenever I had the chance. I knew that I needed to stop but I just could not let go. Even my mom noticed a change in me but she did not know how bad it had become.
I heard God calling me but I kept running. I needed to stop running and just let God catch me, but for some reason I was not ready. After a year of doing all this I told myself that it was time to stop. I did not know who I was anymore. I did not recognize myself. Going in to my sophomore year I thought I was done with it. But I had a lot of the same friends and I fell back into drugs and drinking.
God continued to tug at my heart and midway through the fall semester, he finally broke through during NCU’s 15 Hours of Prayer, an all-night prayer and worship experience in the Chapel. That night I took a piece of paper and wrote down all my sins that I have done. Not only did I write down my sins but I wrote down people in my life that were struggling like I was. I prayed that God would somehow open their eyes like he had opened mine, so that they could find peace in him. I just remember hearing God tell me that I was forgiven and that everything was going to be okay. I knew that it would not be easy, but it would be something that would change my life forever. God believed in me the whole time and he never once gave up on me.
Aaron Dilla and Rob Bell from the men’s soccer team were there to talk me through my situation. They were really happy and told me that they always saw the good in me. They prayed for me and encouraged me not to put myself in a situation where I am tempted.
Aaron and Rob helped me get through that night. I knew that I would never be turning back. I also took their advice to heart, no longer putting myself into bad situations. Little did I know that it meant I would lose friends as well. I lost some of the best friends I thought I had. I became a child of God, but I struggled with the outcome of my decision. Could I really let this go? Yes. I can. I will and I did.
For a long time I was by myself. With no close friends, this had to be the hardest time in my life. Going to class and then going straight to my room. Thankfully my teammate Karli Vath noticed my struggle and asked me to come home with her over Thanksgiving break. No questions asked she took me under her arm. Karli was and still is a huge blessing in my life. She uplifted me when no one else did. She always stayed positive and I could just see the love that she had for God. She was someone I knew I could count on to be there for me no matter what. If I ever felt tempted to go out and party, I would just hand out with her.
Once I started living right and changing my ways, people here started to notice. My Resident Assistant came up to me and asked if I had ever thought about applying to be an RA. Ha! Yeah right...me? There is no way that they would let me be an RA. After everything that I have been through, there is no way that they would trust me. So I prayed about it. I gave it to God. Around the same time, I decided to apply to be both an RA and a counselor at a Christian camp in Santa Cruz, California called Mission Springs/Frontier Ranch. I didn’t think there was any way that God was going to bless me with both these jobs. But what do you know, God is that good!
I ended up getting both jobs and from there I knew that God had something great in store for me. He has given me the power to stand here today, strong and not ashamed of who I was or who I am now. I am able to talk about this because I am healed from my past and I am forgiven for my sins.
One bible verse that kept me going was 1 Peter 4:3-5 “You have had enough in the past of the evil this that godless people enjoy-their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties and their terrible worship of idols. Of course your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do so they slander you. But remember that they will have to face God, who will judge everyone, both the living and the dead.”
The thing that I have learned is that God is always pursuing you. He loves us at our worst. We just have to open ourselves for him and let him in. With the grace of God I am standing strong today and I would not go back. Not ever.
