As my wife and I are preparing for baptism on Easter Sunday, the fullness of our spiritual journey has come to mind. Today, some 50 years later, I can still clearly remember how my grandma shared with me the story of Jesus Christ when I was five, just before the Cultural Revolution. She shared with me how Jesus Christ was betrayed, suffered and died on the cross, and was raised from death. My grandma told me that Jesus Christ is our living Lord. In those days, we had our grandparents’ Bible in our home. But when the Cultural Revolution came, the Bible became illegal and disappeared from our house. After that, no one in the family ever talked about Jesus Christ.
Many years later, I went to work in Australia. It was there that I had a chance to get to know more about Christianity from the Chinese Christians from Malaysia. The love of those Christians and their honest lifestyle impressed me deeply. When I returned to Shanghai I shared my experience with my wife and told her that my grandparents were Christians.
There was only one church in our area, and it stayed closed the whole year except for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Each year we attended the Christmas celebrations, but had no church to go to on Sundays. While we were in Shanghai, my wife met a Christian named Shengyun Hu, a colleague at work. Hu even gave my wife a Bible, but did not talk much about her faith. Hu impressed my wife with her patience, forgiveness, and the love she showed other people. Both of us loved the Christians we met and the lifestyle they followed.
Since coming to PazNaz, we have learned so much about the Bible and how to be a follower of Jesus Christ. We have committed our lives to Jesus Christ and pray that God will lead us in our lives. Now, no matter what the situation is, we seek first the Lord’s will and try to decipher what he is teaching us.
A couple of years ago we moved to LA and had more opportunities to go to church. We visited three churches before we were introduced to PazNaz by Brother Zhao Yong. My son, David, my wife, Sofia, and I loved PazNaz the moment we came here. David, 9, loves Sunday School at PazNaz and all the children’s activities. Every Sunday morning, David is the first one to remind us to prepare for church. Initially David loved the toys and the playground at PazNaz, but now he is learning to pray to the Lord for help and encouragement in his life. One time David had an argument with me, and Sofia encouraged David to pray to the Lord asking for help. The next day I approached David and said I was sorry for what happened. David was encouraged and told his mum that his prayers were answered by the Lord. We are so happy to see that David is enjoying his life at PazNaz and is growing in Jesus Christ.
Since coming to PazNaz, we have learned much about the Bible and how to be a follower of Jesus Christ. We have committed our lives to Jesus Christ and pray that God will lead us in our lives. Now, no matter what the situation is, we seek first the Lord’s will and try to discern what he is teaching us.
At PazNaz, we have the opportunity to hear the testimonies of brothers and sisters and have been encouraged by their stories. We feel that PazNaz is like a family where we have good friends and enjoy fellowship with each other. Although PazNaz is a bit far from our home, we like to come every Sunday to worship our Lord and enjoy the family life at PazNaz. We are excited to be baptized this Easter Sunday to declare to all that we are grateful for the salvation of Jesus Christ, and we are proud to be the children of our Lord.
We continue to learn about the significance of baptism from Pastor Min Xiao. Sofia said that she feels like what has happened in her life is just a dream. In the past, we always appreciated the Christians we met and the lifestyle they followed. Today we are the ones called Christians. We consider it an honor and blessing from the Lord and are grateful for what the Lord has done in our lives. We would like to give thanks to Pastor Min for his help in Christ and Brother Zhao Yong for his introducing us to PazNaz. Last, but not least, we would like to follow the Lord all of our lives and grow in him. Praise his name!
– Louie Wu and Sofia Cao Wu
认识耶稣基督的历程
我和Sofia, 我的妻子现在在准备于今年的复活节的主日受洗。此时，我们想起了我们认识主的经历。我现在还记得50年前我5岁的时候，那是文化大革命前，我的外婆给我讲耶稣的故事。外婆告诉我耶稣被人背叛、受苦、受难被钉死十字架上，他复活了，他是永活的主。那时我们家里还有外公和外婆的圣经，但文化大革命来了以后，圣经成了非法书籍，圣经就从我们家里消失了。从那以后，我们家里也没有人再谈论耶稣。许多年后，我去澳大利亚工作，在那里我有机会接触到从马来西亚来的华人基督徒并参加了他们教会的活动。他们对我们的帮助和爱，以及他们诚实的生活方式给我留下深刻的印象。我从澳大利亚回到上海给我的妻子分享了我和基督徒交往的经历，并告诉我妻子我的外公和外婆就是基督徒。我们的那个地区有一个100年历史的教堂，但平时不开放，只有在圣诞夜举办圣诞节活动才对外开放。那几年，我们每年都在圣诞夜去教堂参加圣诞庆祝活动，平时我们没有教堂可去。在上海的时候，我妻子第一次在生活中遇到的一个基督徒，是她工作中的同事，她的名字叫胡声澐。胡声澐在生活和工作中表现出的忍耐、对他人的饶恕和爱给我妻子留下非常深的印象。那时我们非常欣赏我们所遇到的基督徒和他们诚实的生活方式。几年前我们来到洛杉矶，有了更多的机会去教堂。我们到了不久，遇到了摩门教的信徒，他们一天打5个电话，让我们没有平安。 后来我们还去过3个教会，有一次我们的好朋友赵勇介绍我们来第一宣圣会。来到第一宣圣会后， 我儿子、妻子和我就非常爱这里。 我儿子David 9岁非常喜欢这里的儿童主日学。现在每个星期天的早上，我的儿子就会提前提醒我们准备到教堂。刚开始的时候，David喜欢主日学的玩具和教会的活动场地，现在David开始学会向神祷告。有一次，David和我发生争执后，我妻子鼓励David来到主面前祷告寻求主的帮助。第二天我找到David，就昨天发生的事向他表示道歉，David得到很大的鼓励，他相信这是耶稣听了他的祷告。我们非常高兴地看到David非常享受教会的生活，看到他在耶稣基督里的成长。来教会后，我们知道了更多圣经的教导和如何成为一个主的门徒，我们愿意并决志把自己的生命交托给主耶稣并请耶稣基督来管理。现在不论做什么，我们都愿意问主对我们的教导是什么，我们愿意跟随主的旨意。在教会里，我们也听到弟兄姐妹许多的见证，并被他们的见证所感动和激励。教会离我们家比较远，我们仍愿意来教会敬拜主并和大家一起享受在主里的团契。我们在准备在今年的复活节受洗，肖敏牧师给我们讲解受洗的意义和信仰的基本道理。我们对将到来的受洗充满了激动，Sofia，我的妻子甚至说她感觉好像还在梦里一样。过去我们常常谈论我们所认识所尊敬的基督徒，现在我们自己成为了基督徒，我们以此为荣，并相信这是主给我们的恩典。我们要谢谢肖敏牧师在主里对我们的帮助，谢谢赵勇弟兄把我们介绍到第一宣圣会。最后，我们还想说，我们愿意一辈子跟随耶稣基督并在他里面成长。赞美主在我们生命里的工作！荣耀归给他！
吴利敏和曹征，第一宣圣会国语团契
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