Louie and Meifeng Lu honored to be piece of the Southwestern puzzle

Editor’s Note: The following article originally appeared in the fall 2025 issue of Southwestern News.

Forty years ago, Louie Lu arrived in the United States from China with just $40 and what he calls his “PHD—Poor, Hungry, and Driven,” and no knowledge of or interest in the Gospel.

“It’s a very humbling experience that I come with nothing,” Lu says of his arrival in the states. “But God from day one, I have no doubt, God has His gracious hand on me.”

Through a scholarship opportunity he was able to further his education with a master’s degree in physics from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, completing the program in 1987.

After working for a time in California as an engineer, he moved to Fort Worth with a desire to start his own business. But before that dream was realized, he visited a church and was led to Christ by the pastor and Southwestern alumnus, Miles Seaborn (’57), who shared the Gospel with him in his apartment next to the church in 1991.

“As someone from China, I was always taught you find your way to heaven, so you are saved by good works and not by faith in Jesus Christ,” Lu says. “I told Brother Miles, ‘I don’t think I can be part of the church because I am not good enough to be in the church.’ And he said, ‘Well, nobody’s good enough. We’re all sinners saved by grace.’”

In 1992, Lu was able to start Yangtze International, Inc., an import and export business focused on supplying niche products to American businesses, particularly in the automotive industry. The company has found great success and Lu and his wife Meifeng of Taiwan have been able to invest in local developments as well, constructing medical buildings in Parker County west of Fort Worth.

But early in those years as a businessman, Lu recalls a request from Seaborn, who was chairman of Southwestern’s Board of Trustees at the time, asking the congregation to pray for Southwestern Seminary when Kenneth Hemphill became president in 1994. Lu visited Southwestern and saw an opportunity to partner with the institution, saying he appreciates the conservative and globally engaged tradition that Southwestern has held since its founding by B. H. Carroll.

“My burden is to share the Gospel with my fellow countrymen, the Chinese,” Lu said, which led him and his wife more than 20 years ago to establish a scholarship in honor of Miles and Jeanne Seaborn that would be used to provide financial aid to Chinese-speaking students.

In 2014, Lu developed a further desire to provide theological education to Chinese students who did not know English and may not ever be able to come to the United States. After years of discussing that possibility with administrators, translating hours of lectures into Chinese, and raising the necessary funds, Lu’s idea was fulfilled when Southwestern graduated its first Master of Theological Studies in Chinese students in the fall of 2022.

Lu says the “solid biblical teaching that Southwestern provides is first class,” and the program helps overcome barriers such as finances and language.

“I just want to give God the glory,” Lu says, saying he wants to take no credit for himself. “I’m part of what God is doing, certainly God used me as someone from China. … That’s part of the puzzle, to put us together.”

Lu has been able to be involved at Southwestern in other ways as well, such as playing a major role in bringing the Lottie Moon artifacts displayed in Mathena Hall from her time as a missionary to China. He has also served on Southwestern’s Advisory Council and currently as a member of the Board of Trustees.

In 2023, Lu and Meifeng were named recipients of the B. H. Carroll Award, which recognizes an honoree actively engaged in the life and ministry of the seminary who has given sacrificially to the seminary.

“The Lord uses ordinary people to do His extraordinary work,” Lu says. “I’m just very blessed. I never thought I’ll be serving at Southwestern in this capacity. The thing is, the Lord uses just a humble servant, humble people, ordinary people like me. He saved me, and now I just pray, ‘Use me, whatever you want to use.’ … I’m hoping my story will encourage others.”

While he was still a young believer, Lu recalls taking classes at Southwestern for a time as he considered whether God might want him to be a minister, but instead he recognized that God could use him in a different way to partner with Southwestern through his work as a businessman. He also enjoys being an encourager to administration as he makes efforts to take leadership out to breakfast each year.

“You have to be sensitive to God,” Lu says. “Not everyone has to be a minister or a doctor. It’s just average Joe like me. If you are just faithful to the Lord, God can use you in a way beyond what you can imagine.”