I am by no means alone in our youth fellowship as I am surrounded by the power of role models that touches me. They have a godly quality, a Christian heart, and a vision of faith. Like a pine forest in winter, the spirit of our fellowship is always erect and green in its chill.
In the youth fellowship, there are some young people born in the 1980s and 1990s. In the beginning, my impression of these young people was “pompous and not stable enough, lax and not rigorous, proud and not patient”. But in my second month with them, I began to change my mind. What I see in them is the persistence of young people, and the faith and perseverance of young Christians.
A sister, born in the 1980s, is a good wife and a loving mother. In the church, she serves as the leader of the reception service team. In every reception, she always serves with a smile. Even in times of trouble and disappointment, she never frowns at the believers and friends who come to church. As she said, “A smile can win credibility for the church, bring warmth for everyone, and help me grow. I’d like to express my faith in this little church service. Because I see everyone whom I serve as Jesus, I serve Jesus when I serve others, and I serve God when I serve the church."
A young brother of the church accounting group is a careless boy born in the 1990s. At first, the pastor was very worried about whether he would be able to take on the important role of “church treasurer”. However, after a period of investigation and practice, the performance of this brother won praise from all of us, and to us, it feels like he can handle very well the burden of accounting.
One day, at 8 o’clock in the evening, this brother was counting the content of the special donation box (each donation in the box was accounted for by the accountant, one by one, and the invoices were issued. The donation would be used for the renovation and repair of the church). However, after repeated counting, there was 200 yuan more than the recorded number. This brother said to himself, “It must be that some believer gave 200 yuan more than his recorded donation, so we must make a thorough investigation.” So, he took the initiative to find the church surveillance video data, and carefully looked at it. As a matter of fact, he was very tired after a whole day’s work, and his eyes were already red. Still, he kept staring at the monitor to see what was going on. After more than an hour of investigation, he finally found the problem - an old brother dedicated 1200 yuan, but our accounting personnel recorded 1000 yuan instead of 1200 yuan. He immediately entered the operating system and quickly reissued the receipt invoice for the old brother. Then he himself delivered it to this brother’s house.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
在我们信仰的团契——教会里，我绝不是一人在孤军奋战，我的身边有太多让我感怀的榜样力量。他们有着敬虔的品质，基督的情怀，信心的眼光。我们青年团契的精神力量，也像冬日的松树林一样，在寒栗之中，永葆挺拔青翠之气势。
在青年团契，都是一些80后和90后的年轻人。一开始，我对这些年轻人的印象是“浮夸而不够稳重，松懈而不够严谨，骄傲而缺乏忍耐”。但是，在与他们相处的第二个月，我就开始转变了观念。因为我在他们身上看到的是青年人的执着与坚守，还有年轻基督徒的信心与坚忍。
一位80后姊妹在生活中，她是一位贤妻良母；在教会，她担任服务接待小组的组长，在每一次的接待中，她始终坚持微笑服务。即使在她遇到烦恼和失意的时候，她也不会向来到教会的信徒和朋友皱眉头。正如她自己说的：“微笑为教会赢得信誉，为大家带来温暖，为自己带来成长。用小小的教会服务来表达我的信仰，因为我将接待的每个人都看作是耶稣，所以我接待他人就是在接待耶稣，而我侍奉教会就是在侍奉上帝。”
教会财会组的小弟兄，是一位大大咧咧的90后男孩。一开始，教会牧者非常担心他是否能够承担起“教会财会”这一重要职责。但是，经过一段时间的考察与实践，大家都对这位弟兄是赞不绝口，觉得他不负于身上这副“会计”的担子。 晚上8点钟，弟兄正在清点专款专项奉献箱（该奉献箱是会计一笔一笔记账的，且开具发票，用于教堂改造、修缮工程）。可是，数来数去，里面还是多了200元。弟兄心里对自己说：“肯定是某个信徒在奉献的时候多给了200元，必须彻查清楚。”于是，他主动找到教堂监控影像资料，并进行仔细地巡查。其实，干了一天活，弟兄已经很累了，他的眼圈已经是红通通的了。但是，他还是一眨不眨地盯着监控看，非要看出个究竟来。经过1个多小时的排查，他终于找到了问题所在----原来是一位老弟兄奉献了1200元，而我们的记账人员却将1200元记成了1000元，我们给老弟兄的奉献款少写了200元。他又立即进入操作系统，迅速为这位老弟兄重新开了收款发票，并亲自送到老弟兄家里。
团契中两位80后90后弟兄姊妹的感人小事
I am by no means alone in our youth fellowship as I am surrounded by the power of role models that touches me. They have a godly quality, a Christian heart, and a vision of faith. Like a pine forest in winter, the spirit of our fellowship is always erect and green in its chill.
In the youth fellowship, there are some young people born in the 1980s and 1990s. In the beginning, my impression of these young people was “pompous and not stable enough, lax and not rigorous, proud and not patient”. But in my second month with them, I began to change my mind. What I see in them is the persistence of young people, and the faith and perseverance of young Christians.
A sister, born in the 1980s, is a good wife and a loving mother. In the church, she serves as the leader of the reception service team. In every reception, she always serves with a smile. Even in times of trouble and disappointment, she never frowns at the believers and friends who come to church. As she said, “A smile can win credibility for the church, bring warmth for everyone, and help me grow. I’d like to express my faith in this little church service. Because I see everyone whom I serve as Jesus, I serve Jesus when I serve others, and I serve God when I serve the church."
A young brother of the church accounting group is a careless boy born in the 1990s. At first, the pastor was very worried about whether he would be able to take on the important role of “church treasurer”. However, after a period of investigation and practice, the performance of this brother won praise from all of us, and to us, it feels like he can handle very well the burden of accounting.
One day, at 8 o’clock in the evening, this brother was counting the content of the special donation box (each donation in the box was accounted for by the accountant, one by one, and the invoices were issued. The donation would be used for the renovation and repair of the church). However, after repeated counting, there was 200 yuan more than the recorded number. This brother said to himself, “It must be that some believer gave 200 yuan more than his recorded donation, so we must make a thorough investigation.” So, he took the initiative to find the church surveillance video data, and carefully looked at it. As a matter of fact, he was very tired after a whole day’s work, and his eyes were already red. Still, he kept staring at the monitor to see what was going on. After more than an hour of investigation, he finally found the problem - an old brother dedicated 1200 yuan, but our accounting personnel recorded 1000 yuan instead of 1200 yuan. He immediately entered the operating system and quickly reissued the receipt invoice for the old brother. Then he himself delivered it to this brother’s house.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
Touching Stories of Two Millennial Christians
