Twenty-three-year-old Satomi Sugo visited a few Japanese friends in Georgia during the winter break and was impressed by their passion for exploring the Scriptures during their free time. The group consistently attracted many international students to its weekly Bible studies. Sugo, a student leader for Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship at Nicholls, met with Joshua Manning, Chi Alpha’s president, when she returned and asked him if she could start a Bible study for international students. Manning, an English junior from Houma, said yes and agreed to assist her.

“I once thought that I had to be popular and talented to make a positive impact on people, but I realized I don’t have to be popular to be effective, only if it’s to a few people,” said Sugo, a soft-spoken psychology junior from Japan. “I just have to do what God wants me to do. I’m thankful for the opportunity I have.”

The Bible study became a reality during the second weekend of the semester when a couple international students joined Sugo and Manning in Ellender Hall’s lobby. It also birthed the International Student Ministries, a national sub-organization of Chi Alpha. With Sugo appointed president, as many as eight students have attended the meetings held on Saturdays at 2 p.m.

“Satomi is an amazing individual, and she’s very determined,” Manning said. “She’s one of the hardest working students I know, and she will do a great job reaching out to international students for Christ.”

While Sugo has become a Christian influence on campus, things were not always that way. She lived most of her life as an atheist. It was not until she read a book in high school about Mother Theresa’s faith in God and her willingness to help the poverty-stricken people of India that Sugo first seriously thought about God. She soon forgot about it, though.

“For me, that was so weird to think about God, and it was hard for me to comprehend a supernatural being,” Sugo said. “Many people grow up doing what they want to do, not what God or someone else wants us to do. I wanted it my way.”

After studying economics at a university in Japan for a couple years, she decided to move to the United States to learn fluent English and pursue a degree to become a counselor. While attending a college in Georgia, she regularly showed up at International Bible study and church — only to practice speaking English. She thought about God more, but she was still not convinced that the Christian faith was valid.

“I thought I wasn’t all that bad,” Sugo said. “I didn’t drink, and I did good things. I thought if there was a heaven then that would be good enough to get me in. I didn’t need Christianity. I didn’t understand it.”

After transferring to Nicholls two years later, Sugo visited the Baptist Collegiate Ministry one day at the invite from a close friend of her host family, the Rev. Tim Lafleur, director of the BCM. There, she made a few new friends, including Candace Bourgeois, one of Sugo’s closest friends today.

“Candace was awesome,” Sugo said of the nursing junior from Houma. “I started seeing her almost everyday, and she invited me to go to church with her. I just knew there was something different about her. I could see it.”

Sugo started attending church with Bourgeois, but she was still skeptical about Christianity. Then, with Bourgeois’ young adult church group, she attended “Final Exit,” a Christian walk-through drama depicting scenes of how daily choices can affect lives. During that spring 2002 night in Baton Rouge, her life changed.

As she watched the final scene of a bloody Jesus Christ hanging from the cross with a cast member passionately sharing the Biblical message of eternal salvation though Christ, she finally believed that Christianity was real. But she was too frightened to tell anyone — at least, until she had no choice.

“A counselor at ‘Final Exit’ asked me what I thought about it, and I couldn’t say anything,” Sugo said. “But then it felt like something came from my stomach, and I said aloud, ‘It’s true; Jesus is true!’ Right there, I knew it was the truth, and I immediately felt different. I felt a new peace and a joy and assurance. My life finally had a meaning.”

Some family members and friends have disowned Sugo because of her decision to become a Christian, but she’s willing to follow her faith at all costs. She hopes through her new faith and lifestyle, she can influence even those who have turned their backs on her. She goes back home every summer, and calls regularly.

“I used to depend on feelings a lot before I became a Christian,” Sugo said. “But now when things aren’t going so well, I have joy regardless. I used to depress a lot for long periods of time, but now that only lasts maybe two hours, then I’m OK and over it.”

Besides having better career opportunities by studying in the United States, Sugo enjoys having many Christian friends and the freedom to discuss religion openly, something she was unable to do in Japan, even as an atheist.

“People here are so friendly and talkative,” said Sugo, claiming it had been a dream of hers to visit the Unites States during her youth. “But the best thing about America is the real freedom people have here. There are many freedoms, but I believe the ultimate freedom is having the opportunity to worship God and talk about him freely.”

Although she’s grown to love being in the United States and at Nicholls, she aspires to one day go back to Japan to become a full-time junior high and high school counselor after she finishes her undergraduate and graduate studies.

“I can’t say I’ll be leading a Bible study or that kind of ministry, but I believe God will open many opportunities to share my faith through counseling,” Sugo said. “My passion now is to help people and share the love of Christ with them.