In the West, Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy, happiness, and good times with family and friends. But the truth is that Christmas is a time of sadness, depression, and even gloom for many. Though this sense that one should feel happier at Christmas time than other seasons of the year does not really apply in China, it is interesting that not only at Christmas but all the through the year, hundreds of thousands of Chinese deal with depression and thoughts of suicide.

My name is Emily, and I’m going to be contributing to the field blog on a regular basis. I’ll be sharing stories of how I have personally seen God working, and I will also share the stories of some of my co-workers in Asia. Today I’d like to tell you a story about my young atheist friend, Dylan.