Pastor Wayne Kwok – Engage Beyond
Mandy Yam 任敏嫦 – 中學老師
Every night around 7:45 pm I would start getting my three young kids upstairs to start their bedtime routine. Part of their routine is a reading time where they would each pick a book or two in addition to the Bible and we would read with them. On one particular night, my girl was exceptionally ecstatic because we have reached the last book in our Bible reading. She came running with enthusiasm, eager to dive into the story for that night. My baby girl seeing her older sister with such exuberance put her own book down and came joining in on the fun. I sat down, turned the Bible to the book of Revelation…
“Now, before we start reading today’s story, we need to understand why the Apostle John wrote this book. More importantly, we need to understand the book of Revelation is written differently than all the other books we have read so far in the Bible. It is what one theologian calls an apocalypse, a prophecy, and a letter–meaning it uses a lot of symbols and imageries, things we read are not necessary for a literal sense. What’s more, is that John is trying his best to use words to describe the vision God is showing him at the time, and he is conveying all these to the churches that are suffering from harsh persecution.”
“Sigh… Daddy… Can we just read?!”
“Not yet… we will read about dragons and riders on horses, you need to understand what those means before we begin or else things will get crazy really fast.”
“Daddy!!… Can we just READ??”
“Oh…. okay…”
I believe this little episode sums up my life as a pastor thus far. It is a constant balancing act between headful theology and grounded practicality. It is the search for the equilibrium between concepts and actions. It is in essence our faith in life. It is the intersection point between our decisions in life and our worldview as a follower of Christ. Being a pastor is a reminder that I answered the call to make the gospel the core message I will preach with my life. Being a father is a reminder that I can only do that when the gospel finds relevance to each person who hears it.
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Mandy Yam 任敏嫦 – 中學老師
一直以來都會被很多人問在公校教書如何見證上帝？如何傳福音？
直至有一次，學生的外婆過身，對她的打擊很大，因為她自小就由外婆揍大，傷心得不能專心讀書。她向我請假時也忍不住哭起來。我問她可以給你一個擁抱嗎？她說可以。抱著這個女孩子，我真不知道說什麼安慰她的話才對。我只知道我所信的上帝為安慰人心，於是我再問她：「我可以為你禱告嗎？」她說可以。這樣我們在課室門外流著淚祈了一個禱。這也是我第一次這麼大膽在校園內同學生開聲祈禱。我盼望她日後會記得上帝曾經在她的人生低谷中出現過，她是可以相信和倚靠這位上帝。
