Dear friends and supporters,
Thank you for being our co-workers by means of prayer and giving.
We have a small missiological problem in the International Baptist Church (IBC). After our Sunday worship services, our congregation naturally divides into smaller groups, speaking either Mandarin or English. To some degree, in my thinking, this hurts our fellowship. We become two fellowships, and as a pastor this concerns me. I would rather we speak the one language we all know on Sunday’s, and speak the language of our birth in small group Bible studies. The IBC family is not all of one mind concerning this, but we will resolve this issue as a fellowship of Christians who love one another.
The importance of worshiping God and fellowshipping in the language of one’s birth was clearly communicated to me last evening during a small group devotional Bible study—a study where we practice doing personal devotions. During this study, we regularly listen to hymns and choruses as a means of quieting our hearts before God. Last night, we listened to Chinese Christian music. I watched as our Chinese friends went into their world of worship in the language of their birth and with the music of their culture. I am at a loss for words to describe what I saw and sensed at that moment, but God helped me appreciate the need for our Chinese congregation to know God in their heart language. Please pray for us as we learn to worship together.
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We love you,
Bill and Deb