My Hope for the Chinese Church in Canada

*中文版在頁面底部（繁體）

Below is the conclusion to Pastor James’ paper, "Learning the Culture of Our Family: Addressing Intergenerational Challenges in Chinese-Canadian Churches.”

“In my prayers and preparation for this paper, the Lord gave me hope.  Foundationally, this hope is rooted in the fact that the Church belongs to Jesus Christ who bought her with His blood.  Jesus continues to sustain the Church, leading her as the Chief Shepherd.  This blessing of the Lord’s hand does not mean passivity, but it is an invitation to trust.  There is additional hope because as I reflected about my parents’ love and sacrifice for my sister and me so that they brought us to Canada many years ago, I realized that such love and sacrifice also exist in the hearts of the 1st generation Christians for the younger generation of believers.  My parents’ decisions may not have been perfect, but I am learning that their intentions were for our good.  They made such a sacrifice because they loved their children.  In my prayer for the Chinese-Canadian Church, I have come to the conclusion that there is also hope because just as Chinese parents made sacrifices for the material future of their children, I believe that Chinese Christian parents will respond to the call to make sacrifices for the sake of the spiritual future of their children by the grace of God beginning with a deeper cultural understanding of their needs and perspectives.

To the 1st generation Chinese - I want to plead with you to not give up on the 2nd generation nor think that the leadership baton of Chinese churches unavoidably must fall in the hands of the Mandarin-speaking believers rather than to the 2nd generation Chinese-Canadians.  To quote one EM interviewee who gave a word of encouragement for the CM: “Be strong, be courageous.  Please be patient to hear us.  We also yearn to hear from you too.  Be willing to let go; there is a joy in letting go...  Trust that even though you are not hanging onto us, we are ultimately being held by God.”

To the 2nd generation Chinese-Canadians - As a young pastor, I can recall that early in my ministry, I thought to myself that those who knew me best such as my family, relatives, or home church would not see my spiritual growth because they would remember all my weaknesses.  I put myself in the shoes of the Lord Jesus who said that “a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.”  More recently, when I was listening to my mother share about her walk with the Lord, her devotional life, her participation at church with my aunt, and even her ministry through sharing her testimony, I came to the realization that it was I who had not recognized my mother’s spiritual growth.  We need to see that God is at work in our parents’ generation.  Their spiritual growth may be colored by their culture (so is ours), but the Lord is still bearing fruit among His people, so for that we should be thankful.  Chinese churches are not perfect; no church on this side of heaven ever will be.  But the Lord is preserving His church, raising up godly brothers and sisters to serve in leadership, giving them a heart for the Scriptures, for evangelism, for missions, and for good works. 

By taking this step toward cultural awareness of our own generation’s culture and the culture of the other generation, we learn to love the other by growing in greater consideration, more patience and knowledge to discern and address conflicts.  By seeing the evidences of grace in the Chinese church from a cultural perspective, it makes all of us, 1st and 2nd generation believers more patient, more hopeful, more joyful, and more willing to pray and commit ourselves for the good of the Chinese church where He has placed us.”

加拿大華人教會的盼望

在我為這篇論文禱告與預備的過程中，主親自給了我盼望。這份盼望的根基，是因為教會屬於主耶穌基督——祂用自己的寶血買贖了教會。耶穌至今仍是教會的主牧，親手扶持、帶領祂的群羊。這樣的祝福並不是要我們什麼都不做，而是邀請我們學會信靠。

我還看到另一層盼望：當我想到父母當年為了我和妹妹，願意放下香港的生活、犧牲一切帶我們來加拿大時，我就明白，那種愛與犧牲的心，也存在於第一代華人信徒的心中——他們同樣渴望為年輕一代付出。父母的決定雖然不完美，但我漸漸明白他們的出發點是為了我們好，他們願意犧牲，是因為愛自己的孩子。如今當我為加拿大華人教會禱告時，我深信仍有盼望——正如華人父母願意為孩子的物質未來犧牲，他們也能在神的恩典中，願意為孩子的屬靈未來而犧牲，從學習更深地理解、傾聽孩子的文化與需要開始。

給第一代華人信徒的心裡話

我想誠懇地請你們：不要放棄第二代。不要以為華人教會的領導權遲早只能交到講普通話的一代手中，而不是交給在加拿大長大的第二代華裔信徒。
有一位英文堂的弟兄在訪談中說了一句非常感人的話，我想轉述給中文堂的弟兄姊妹：「要剛強，要勇敢。請有耐心聽我們說，我們也渴望聽你們的聲音。願意放手吧——放手的過程中，其實也有喜樂……要相信，即使你們沒有緊緊抓住我們，我們最終仍在神的手中。」

給第二代華裔加拿大信徒的提醒

作為一位年輕牧者，我記得剛開始服事時，我曾想：「那些最了解我的人——像家人、親戚或母會的弟兄姊妹——恐怕永遠看不到我的屬靈成長，因為他們只記得我的軟弱。」
那時我想到主耶穌說過：「先知在本鄉本家是不得尊敬的。」
但最近有一次，我聽媽媽分享她和神同行的經歷，她的靈修生活、和阿姨一起參與教會服事，甚至分享見證時的感動，我突然意識到：原來是我沒有看見母親的屬靈成長。

我們需要學會承認——神也在我們父母那一代身上工作。他們的信仰表達也許帶著文化的痕跡（其實我們的也一樣），但主仍在他們生命中結出果子，這是值得我們感恩的。

華人教會不是完美的，但沒有一間地上的教會是完美的。主仍然在保存祂的教會，興起敬虔的弟兄姊妹在領導崗位上服事，賜給他們愛慕聖經、熱心傳福音、支持宣教和行善的心。

當我們願意更了解自己這一代的文化，也更用心去理解另一代的文化，我們就學會如何在愛中彼此接納——變得更有體諒、更有耐心，也更有智慧去分辨與化解衝突。
當我們從文化的角度，看見神的恩典在華人教會裡運行，我們——無論是第一代還是第二代信徒——都會變得更有耐性、更有盼望、更有喜樂，也更願意為華人教會的成長與合一，長久禱告、忠心委身，因為這正是神把我們放在這裡的心意。