Elder Fangbiao Lin was born in Fujian Province, China. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Hydraulic and Hydropower Engineering from Hohai University. After graduation, he taught at Fuzhou University and worked for the Fujian Provincial Electric Power Bureau. In 1992, he came to the United States to study at The University of Iowa, where he earned his Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering in 1996. Since then, Elder Lin has worked at engineering consulting firms and contributed to the development of several industry standards under the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Prior to his retirement, he served as Vice President of Stantec Inc., overseeing the company’s global hydraulics consulting practice.

On Thanksgiving Sunday in 1995, Elder Lin and his wife, Minxia, accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and were baptized at the Chinese Church of Iowa. Before moving to Seattle, they worshiped and served at the Chinese Gospel Church of Toronto and the Chinese Gospel Church of Massachusetts. After relocating to Seattle in 2005, Elder Lin continued to worship and serve at the Evangelical Chinese Church of Seattle (ECC), including its Redmond, Seattle, and Edmonds campuses.

He was ordained as an elder in 2024. In 2025, he responded to God’s calling to serve as the pastoral elder of the Edmonds Campus Mandarin Congregation (non-salaried). In August 2026, he took early retirement from his professional career to join ECC’s pastoral team and begin theological training.

Elder Lin and his wife, Minxia, have one son and two daughters, and they are blessed with four grandchildren.