MINISTRY//Ring the bells and open the doors

A few of 316NOW's online Bible institute students are new Christians or people who are investigating Christianity. One of those investigators told his teacher about his experience with Christianity.

When I was a child, I lived beside a church. Every time the chiming sound from the church bells came into my ears, I felt such comfort and peace. Even now, as I discover more about Christian culture, history, and arts, I remember the church bells, so neat, pleasant, and attractive.

But one thing bothers me about setting foot inside a church. It is a memory from childhood. That one day after my sister and mother came back from the neighborhood church, my sister told me, "Today, we ate Jesus' body and drank his blood!"

Those words scared me. They made me feel uncomfortable. They even stopped me from going to any church to discover more about the beautiful, chiming sound.

Eating flesh and blood has happened in China during the wars and the nation's hard times. Eating flesh and drinking blood is a symbol of the savage part of human nature. “How could the beautiful chiming sound and the bloody scenes of barbarous times happen in the same place?” I asked myself. It puzzled me. It kept me from becoming a Christian. 

This man's teacher is 316NOW's liaison, our "bridge" between the Western part of our ministry and our friends in China. (Learn more about our liaison here.) In our blog posts, we call him “Si.” Si says he learned a lesson from hearing the man's story.

This story interests me. As a Christian from childhood, I never thought the Lord's Supper was related to a bloody and barbarous scene. It is a sweet, holy sacrament. It is a miraculous way God gives his love and mercy to a sinner like me. But this student's experiences showed me that this precious, heavenly miracle can be horribly misinterpreted because of our experiences in our corrupt, sinful world.

Church bells, as well as the good Christianity contributes to civilization, are attractive to non-Christians. But churches need to open their doors to people. But not only the physical doors to their buildings. Christians must provide a warm invitation to come and see. And Christian churches need well-trained pastors and teachers to faithfully preach the Bible's wonderful good news.

This is 316NOW's calling. We work to raise up Chinese church leaders and to develop sound churches. Through them, church doors swing open for  Chinese who seek to learn more about God's grace. Through them, people who are not yet believers see what the Bible actually teaches. Through them, the comforting message of God's free love and forgiveness comes to thirsting Chinese souls.

May God bless our ministry!