The Chinese Spring Festival holiday is drawing to a close. Here are the seven Christians’ holiday lives.
Y, a female Christian, is a white-collar worker occupied with work. There is not much time for her to worship the Lord except for Sunday services. When the Spring Festival came, she did not return to her hometown but decided to read the Bible and various spiritual books. She feels she has a deeper understanding of the scriptures, and her spiritual life is growing.
W is the first Christian in his family who did not believe in the Lord until last summer. This is the first time that he has returned to his hometown after losing his faith. He was worried that his family would make him worship idols, so he kept praying for it. But instead, his family did not get him involved in superstitious activities, but thought it was a good thing, as it would guide him in the right direction. He has a much better temper after believing in the Lord. He also refused the village gambling, which made his family feel gratified.
Similar to W, a female Christian Z believed in God less than two years ago. Because of the pandemic and other matters, she did not visit her relatives for several years. After she believed in the Lord, she hoped to share it with her relatives, so she took the initiative to visit some of her relatives who had quarrels before. Through communication, they cleared up the misunderstandings and put aside the past. The relatives thought it was good to believe in God, but they did not accept the gospel. Z thought that it was still good as their relations had been repaired.
Female believer A, who is nearly eighty years old, was in poor health because of a serious illness recently, so she could only stay at home during the Spring Festival and communicate with others through WeChat. Many brothers and sisters sent her messages of blessing through the internet; some even came to visit her. She said that when she recovered next month, she would hold a Thanksgiving service for those who care for her.
L, a male believer, is a traveling lover and has been to many scenic spots at home and abroad. After the pandemic, he hoped to visit more churches in his lifetime. So he came to Gulangyu during the Spring Festival. Walking through the crowds, he prayed silently in front of churches, filmed, and listened to their histories.
For Christian X, the church where she has gatherings stopped all activities during the Spring Festival as most believers returned to their hometown. She cannot go to church except for Sunday worship, but she invited some church co-workers who stayed in the city to her home to share the wonderful testimony of the past year. They prayed for the new year, planned, and enjoyed a love banquet together.
After Sunday service on the second day of the new lunar year, I met S, a Christian man who had not contacted me for more than ten years. He did not return to his hometown for the Spring Festival because he could not get the plane ticket. So I took him to a community library. The other day, S sent me a message saying that he was very grateful as he spent all the holiday there. He read many interesting books, including The Story of Christianity by Gonzalez.
(Note: This article is written by a Christian and freelance writer in Xiamen.)
- Translated by Oliver Zuo
