SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE 钟静薇
I started going to church when I was in Primary 5 or 6. My uncle and aunty would bring my brother and I along with some other cousins. But church was just like another Sunday outing; more fun than anything.
I only started being serious about my walk with the Lord when I was in Secondary 4. I was really stressed about my O Levels. So I began to attend church more regularly and was in a community that cared, loved and prayed for me. I felt God’s love and concern through the people that He placed in my life and that built my faith and trust in the Lord.
After I started working, my colleague invited me to the 9am service at St. Andrew’s Cathedral. Later on, I joined Cathedral’s new church plant - St. Andrew’s Community Chapel (SACC) - and spent 12 years there. It was during that time that I pulled David into the Anglican Church (we had met at the workplace; in fact, when we came to COR, I found another old colleague here - Jonathan Lee!), and the rest is history.
When we first came to COR, my younger daughter, Clara, attended the children’s camp. I was amazed that the youth were so willing to help out in the camp. It was like a big family and everyone was involved in one way or another. I like the culture and vibes of this church!
Joining a new church family is always challenging. I am actually very introverted and slow to warm up to others. Nevertheless, I thank God that I was able to settle into COR pretty quickly. One of the challenges I had was remembering all the names of the members. So during my first year, I tried to sit in different sections of the Sanctuary to get to know the members. That helped a lot, but I still cannot remember all the names!
Serving in a ministry also helped me to get to know more people and build relationships. I've always liked playing with children since young. So naturally, the best place to be in is the Children's Ministry. The children remind me to have simple childlike faith. I wouldn’t say I’m a good teacher, but I always tell God that these five loaves and two fishes are all I can give Him.
Now that we have been here for 2 years, I've discovered that there are many talented and gifted people in this church! The musical and creative talents are obvious. There are also people with very sharp minds and great organisational skills. Several of the ladies love to cook and they are very good at it, some are very good at crocheting/knitting and they use what they have to bless others and as a creative way of outreach.There is so much potential in this church and I can’t wait to see how God is going to use this church to do greater things for Him!
小学五、六年级,我和我哥哥开始跟着叔叔阿姨和和表兄弟姐妹一起上教会。对当时的我来说,教会就像一个星期天和亲戚的外出,比任何外出都好玩。
念中四那年我才开始认真对待我的属灵生命。那一年,因为O水准考试,我承受很大的压力。也正因如此,我开始固定出席主日。通过教会会友在我的生命的关爱与代祷,使我认识到上帝的关怀和祂的爱,并且建立我对上帝的信实和依靠。
开始工作以后,我的同事邀请我参加圣安德烈座堂早上9点钟的聚会。随后我便加入由座堂建立的支堂 – 圣安德烈社区教会 (SACC),并在那里度过了12个年头。当时David和我在同一家公司上班。加入了SACC以后我也把David带到那里去。事实上,来到复活堂以后我又碰到一位旧同事,而他就是Jonathan Lee!
初到复活堂时,我的小女儿Clara马上就参加了当时的儿童营。过程中我看到这里的青少年毫不保留地付出时间和精力照顾比他们年幼的孩子,让我感到十分惊讶。复活堂就像是一个大家庭。大家不分彼此,只要能力所及都会互相帮助。我太喜欢这里的文化和浓厚的人情味!
加入一个全新的教会对于内向和慢热的我来说具有极大的挑战性。感谢主,我还是很快地适应了复活堂这个新环境。对于初来乍到的我,记住所有会友的名字是一个大挑战。在第一个年头,我尽量在聚会时坐在礼堂里头不同的小区。我发现这样的做法可以帮助我认识更多会友。然而,两年后的今天,我依然还是记不住所有会友的名字!
在主日学服事给了我更多机会接触会友,并且和他们建立友谊。我一直以来都很喜欢和小孩相处,所以很自然地就选择在主日学服事。看着那些孩子,上帝总是提醒着我无论年纪多大都要保持孩子般的信心。虽然我不认为自己是很棒的老师,但我常常告诉神说:“这是我的五饼二鱼”。
两年过去了,我发现复活堂有许多充满才华和恩赐的人!最明显的就是富有创作天份和音乐天赋的会友们。另外,我们当中也不乏思考敏锐、组织能力强的会友。同时我也结识了擅长烹饪、钩编和编织的姐妹们。她们运用自己的巧手和巧思祝福身边的人,还非常有创意地以此融合布道和服务社群。我迫不及待想看上帝如何利用这个充满潜力的教会为祂完成更多的事情!
This article first appeared in Issue 20, December 2019 CHORUS Magazine.
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