How Susie Found Her Place in Georgia Worship Choir

From half the world away to a home away from home – Xiao Bai, known as Susie, found her place at Georgia Worship Choir after a long and winding journey.

“Thanks to the influence of my dad, God has been familiar to me since I was a kid,” Susie said. “Every Christmas, my parents brought me to the International Community Church for service and took turns waiting for hours in the whistling winter winds before the service started. The line outside the church would often extend several blocks, because people from all over the city came for the big service renowned for its beautiful Christmas carols.

“I also remember that when I played the piano every day for over eight years, I always saw the two statues my dad put on top of the piano,” she said. “One showed Christ and the words ‘Jesus is the Lord of my family’ and the other one showed a suit of armor with the verse, ‘be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.’”

Through the first Sino-American university ever to be approved in China – NYU Shanghai – Susie got the chance to change her life forever. After being accepted and eventually coming to study at the New York City campus, God began to work even more, both through good and challenging times. 

“From the very beginning of my journey, God provided and led. I found a loving student fellowship in Christ which I’d call my first ‘home away from home’,” she said. “This first time in the States created memories of much joy; the second taught me to lift up my eyes to God in loneliness and to wait in perseverance. 

After the outbreak of COVID – and my graduation from a painfully overloaded master program in May 2020 – I was caught completely unprepared in the freezing job market of deadly silence after many job applications, as an international student on temporary Visa with no previous full-time work experience.

For eight months, Susie – without friends, family, or any sort of support system nearby – weathered many difficult days, with the stress weighing heavily on her mentally, emotionally, and physically.

“Amid confusion, desperation and dread, I couldn’t help questioning and even complaining to God, ‘Why me?’,” she said. “‘Why this cup at this time? Is this really the ending after my years of dreaming?’ But God said to me ‘Stay calm. I will get you through this.’”

As a music lover since childhood, the only way Susie saw out of her anguish was to sing.

“I felt God’s invisible hug through the timeless truths of my favorite hymns,” Susie said. “And over time, I realized that God hadn’t turned His face from me but I’d actually stayed away from Him sometimes, lingering in pride, self-fulfillment, and self-dependence.

“Through the biggest chaos and identity crisis I’d ever known, I saw He’d not given up on me, His child.”

Finally, in February 2021, God blessed Susie with a job – and her story keeps getting better. 

“This February, I made the most important decision of my life and got baptized at Peachtree Baptist Church,” she said. “I’ve become involved in the church since then and started serving instead of merely being served myself. 

“I also heard a whisper in my ear that nudged me to pick up playing music and singing again, but this time, for His glory.”

Without a choir at her church home, Susie wasn’t sure where she’d be able to use her gift. But as He does, God provided a way. Through an announcement in her church’s newsletter, Susie found out about and ended up joining the Georgia Worship Choir. And it’s been an encouragement to her more than she could have imagined. 

“I think we as the choir benefit from the songs more than the people attending our concerts,” Susie said. “After listening to the tracks and reading each song again and again, they’re more likely to stay on your heart. And some of the lyrics, along with their inspiring melodies, really speak to me.”

“I struggle with low confidence and anxiety. And some days, I’m still confused at what God is exactly doing at this season of my life, as well as in this world,” she said. “But I trust that God is doing new things and that every season is in His best timing. After all, ‘You have every failure, God; You have every victory.’”

By letting the words of the praise songs she loves saturate her heart, Susie has found new hope. 

“Once, there were many chances that I would not be here anymore. But a few years ago, I could never have imagined how much God has shown me His goodness,” she said. “I’ve learned that your worth is not in what you own or achieve – you’re worthy because of His precious blood that has purchased you.

“Dear friends, when trials come our way, when life is strange with constant changes and doubts, when the devil starts talking to you saying ‘Who do you think you are?’, know that there’s a God who loves you to the end.”