Warm, cozy lighting, carefully made décor, beautiful background music, deep sharing of delicate emotions, and testimonies full of grace all weave together into a one-of-a-kind event specially arranged for singles.
Upon entering the venue, the first thing that caught the eye was the banner that reads, “Seven Aspects of Inner Growth.” As we grow up, things such as work, marriage, and family will all bring us different degrees of growth and change. Also, because of these experiences, we can learn to be grateful and tolerant, to place our trust in others, and to give, accept, and forgive.
Moving forward, we then arrived at the “Museum of Love.” Here, a couple shared with us the objects that are of landmark importance to them, from love to marriage. With beautiful voice narration and description, they recorded the wonderful moments of their love and married life in the presence of God.
As an idyllic English hymn sounded, we were at the main stadium. The event's organizer invited a long-married couple who experienced hurt in their love and married lives to share their testimony about the leadership and grace of God in their marriage. The couple reminded the listeners with their comforting songs and intricate stories that even in the sweetest love and marriage, obstacles are inevitable. As God alone is our only true love and sees us as the most precious thing in the world, our lives will be much happier and more fulfilling when we center our love and marriage on God.
The above was a singles' event in which I had the privilege to participate more than six months ago; the event was held by an Eastern China church, especially for single Christians. It was an innovative attempt, hoping to help young single Christians understand the true meaning of marriage and have the courage and proper values to enter into marriage.
Many Christians are having difficulty getting married these days. Furthermore, some Christians often decide to marry non-Christians due to a lack of suitable partners. However, such a choice will lead to other problems after marriage, including quarrels and conflicts caused by incompatible core values (world view, sense of value, and life outlook), as well as the giving up of faith as their spouse does not support it.
However, Christian couples may not have fewer marital problems than non-Christian couples. Problems often appear when the couple needs to establish a biblical view of marriage before getting married. Therefore, churches must hold seminars and activities to talk about marriage and love relationships.
Nowadays, many single brothers and sisters in the church are millennials and Gen Z, who are often the most trendy bunch. So, for the pastors of churches, these creative and stylish activities may be a win-win move, as these events not only help the younger generation establish a mature and correct view on marriage but also attract more young people to the church.
Therefore, these activities for singles that are innovative and creative can be attempted and made into future goals by other churches as well, just as the Eastern China church mentioned at the beginning of the article.
- Translated by Joyce Leung
