An online interview on How to Pass on Faith to Younger Generations was held in a church based in China's southern-coastal Guangdong Province.
On June 8, Guangzhou Guangxiao Church held Episode Four of the "I Love My Family" online interview entitled, "Overcome Obstacles, Pass On the Faith". Pastor Guangyao Song was the host with a female believer named Xiaohui Ou as the guest speaker. After she became a Christian in 2014, Ou led her children and granddaughter to believe in God within a few years.
In the beginning, Pastor Song said that he and Ou both belonged to the "grandparent" generation and that the great challenge for them was to pass on their faith to younger generations. He mentioned the generation gap and the influence of social media on young people.
With this in mind, Ou talked about how she introduced her children to God and that what she did while her son was addicted to video games. She also explained how she educated her granddaughter coupled with her faith journey.
When leading children to God, Ou believed that the most important thing was to teach through words and deeds. She once forced her son to attend church services, just finding that he did not want to believe in God. He did not see the difference in his mother as a Christian, wondering why people must have faith.
A staff member told her that maybe it was not her son’s time to have faith. After that, Ou did not force her son to become a Christian but simply prayed for him, paying attention to live out God’s word in her life. Surprisingly, two months later, her son and daughter-in-law were willing to accept Jesus into their lives.
Ou also dealt with the internet addiction of her son. “My son was deeply influenced by the Internet during his study time, locking himself in his room to play games,” Ou said. She did not intervene too much in case invoking his aversion that he went to the internet café to play games. At that time, she just reminded him to “take good care of his body and rest well.”
Regarding her granddaughter's education, Ou mostly prayed for her. She prayed that her granddaughter would follow God in her lifetime and walk according to God’s will with a heart of love, compassion, faith, patience, and reverence.
In the last part of the interview, Ou shared her faith journey. Once on a trip abroad, with language problems, she received selfless help from some Christians, which touched her heart. At the same time, her friend shared the gospel, which she thought was a good thing. She decided to believe in God with an idea of helping those in need. After she went back to China, she was committed to a church. Besides serving in the church, she led her family to God.
- Translated by Katherine Guo
6月8日，广州基督教光孝堂举办了《我爱我家》线上访谈活动第四期：“胜过拦阻，传承信仰”。本期活动由宋光耀宣教师主持，特邀嘉宾欧晓惠姊妹。欧姊妹于14年信仰，至今短短几年的时间，她带领她的儿女孙女都来到了神的面前。
交流一开始，宋教师介绍他和欧姊妹都是爷爷奶奶辈的了，在他们这一辈的信仰中，如何将信仰传承给下一代，是面临很多挑战的。其中，他提到了时代之差和网络社交的影响。
对此，宋教师围绕此话题，邀请欧姊妹依次分享了“是如何将自己的儿女带到上帝面前的？”“孩子沉迷网络游戏，你是怎样做的？”“如何做孙女的教育？”和“个人的信仰经历”等。
对于儿女的信仰，欧姊妹认为最重要的是“言传身教”。她曾按己意，强行让孩子信仰。但，她把孩子带到教会后发现，他并不想接受信仰。儿子没有看到信仰在妈妈身上有什么不同，也不明白人为什么一定要信仰。
与其交流的同工对欧姊妹讲，也许现在还不是他信仰的好时候。欧姊妹听后就不再强求儿子信仰了，而是将其放在祷告中，也更加注重如何活出神的话语。让欧姊妹感到意外的是“两个月后儿子和儿媳主动要求信仰”。
对于孩子沉迷网瘾，欧姊妹也深有体会，“儿子在上学的时候就深受网络影响，将自己关在房间打游戏。”欧姊妹分享，她没有过多干涉孩子，怕引起孩子反感，转去网吧玩。当时能做的只是提醒他“要注意身体，注意休息”。
在孙女教育上，欧姊妹更多的是为其祷告。她每天都为孙女有爱心、怜悯之心、信心、耐心、敬畏之心……希望孙女能一生跟随神，走在神的旨意里去祷告。
最后欧姊妹也分享了自己的信仰经历。在一次国外旅行中，因为语言不通，她得到了基督徒无私的帮助，她被这些人的帮助感动到了，同时，她的朋友也向她传了福音。了解后，她觉得信仰很好，“回国后我也要去信仰，也去帮助身边有需要的人。”欧姊妹不仅这样想，回去后她也找到了现在委身的教会。并且一直在这里聚会，参与侍奉，也将家人带到了神的面前。
广州基督教光孝堂《我爱我家》线上访谈活动第四期：“胜过拦阻，传承信仰”
An online interview on How to Pass on Faith to Younger Generations was held in a church based in China's southern-coastal Guangdong Province.
On June 8, Guangzhou Guangxiao Church held Episode Four of the "I Love My Family" online interview entitled, "Overcome Obstacles, Pass On the Faith". Pastor Guangyao Song was the host with a female believer named Xiaohui Ou as the guest speaker. After she became a Christian in 2014, Ou led her children and granddaughter to believe in God within a few years.
In the beginning, Pastor Song said that he and Ou both belonged to the "grandparent" generation and that the great challenge for them was to pass on their faith to younger generations. He mentioned the generation gap and the influence of social media on young people.
With this in mind, Ou talked about how she introduced her children to God and that what she did while her son was addicted to video games. She also explained how she educated her granddaughter coupled with her faith journey.
When leading children to God, Ou believed that the most important thing was to teach through words and deeds. She once forced her son to attend church services, just finding that he did not want to believe in God. He did not see the difference in his mother as a Christian, wondering why people must have faith.
A staff member told her that maybe it was not her son’s time to have faith. After that, Ou did not force her son to become a Christian but simply prayed for him, paying attention to live out God’s word in her life. Surprisingly, two months later, her son and daughter-in-law were willing to accept Jesus into their lives.
Ou also dealt with the internet addiction of her son. “My son was deeply influenced by the Internet during his study time, locking himself in his room to play games,” Ou said. She did not intervene too much in case invoking his aversion that he went to the internet café to play games. At that time, she just reminded him to “take good care of his body and rest well.”
Regarding her granddaughter's education, Ou mostly prayed for her. She prayed that her granddaughter would follow God in her lifetime and walk according to God’s will with a heart of love, compassion, faith, patience, and reverence.
In the last part of the interview, Ou shared her faith journey. Once on a trip abroad, with language problems, she received selfless help from some Christians, which touched her heart. At the same time, her friend shared the gospel, which she thought was a good thing. She decided to believe in God with an idea of helping those in need. After she went back to China, she was committed to a church. Besides serving in the church, she led her family to God.
- Translated by Katherine Guo
Guangdong Church Hosts Online Interview on 'How to Pass on Faith to Younger Generations'
