Introducing Your Chinese Partner to Christianity

[jim_julian]

Mick and Paul ... thoughtful and helpful (to me) responses. It's taken the Christians among us a while to show up.

[david_dawei]

Are you trying to infer that some others of us posting are not christians ?

Edited October 26, 2005 by DavidZixuan (see edit history)

[jim_julian]

Are you trying to infer that some others of us posting are not christians ? Be careful of judging, particularly wrongly 

163420[/snapback]

Good grief!

 

I'm not a judging sort, David. What I meant was, if you go back to the beginning of this thread, there are a series of posts from people who basically did not participate in Christian churches in America, seemed interested in or practiced Buddhism, etc. I remarked that I was surprised, to that point, there were no posts from people who actually tried to introduce their Chinese partner to a Christian church in America. Now we are seeing some posts from people who did try to introduce their Chinese partner to a Christian church in America.

 

Perhaps my words were poorly chosen ... I meant no offense to anyone.

[Joanne]

We understand, Jim. No hard feelings.

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

To be sure there are many flavors of Christians. I once followed it very closely having graduated from a Christian Bible College with a degree in Theology. The fact that I've moved on to other ways of thinking has really not impeded my ability to interract with Christians, but often times it has affected their ability to interract with me....

Edited October 26, 2005 by ShaQuaNew (see edit history)

[david_dawei]

Are you trying to infer that some others of us posting are not christians ?   Be careful of judging, particularly wrongly 

163420[/snapback]

Good grief!

 

I'm not a judging sort, David. What I meant was, if you go back to the beginning of this thread, there are a series of posts from people who basically did not participate in Christian churches in America, seemed interested in or practiced Buddhism, etc. I remarked that I was surprised, to that point, there were no posts from people who actually tried to introduce their Chinese partner to a Christian church in America. Now we are seeing some posts from people who did try to introduce their Chinese partner to a Christian church in America.

 

Perhaps my words were poorly chosen ... I meant no offense to anyone.

163455[/snapback]

sorry jim.. I started to put in parens that this was a joking comment, but hoped the emoticon conveyed it.. I'm going to delete the comment...

[izus]

wow this is a strong topic i wish i saw it earlier.

i just can not let this one slide by without opening my mouth and shoving my boot in....

 

being raised in a christian family and attending church every week from as long as i can remember. i suppose i have been lucky with the churches ive been a member of.

 

Jim i can not stress how important it is for you to indroduce Jesus to your SO. talk to her like you are telling basic stories about Jesus to a child. being raised around Him all my life and is like second nature to me, but trying to convince someone that has no beliefs, well my work is cut out for me. i am in the same boat as trying to give ChunYan some basic ground work on God. You are right on the money in you dont want her to just follow you because it will make you happy....

im worried about that as well.

the best thing you can do for her is pray for her, i pray for ChunYan everyday to begin to let her feel the Spirits presence so that everything will fall right into place by the time she gets over here.

 

i often wonder why God introduced me to someone so perfect on the other side of this planet and i think this is one of the main reasons.

its all about the Great Commision.

[jim_julian]

the best thing you can do for her is pray for her, i pray for ChunYan everyday to begin to let her feel the Spirits presence so that everything will fall right into place by the time she gets over here.

 

i often wonder why God introduced me to someone so perfect on the other side of this planet and i think this is one of the main reasons.

163499[/snapback]

I pray for her and for my understanding every day.

 

You last comment is interesting to me ... fairly early in our relationship, when her English was a little rougher, I was musing how amazing it was that of all the people in the world that the two of us would find each other. Her rejoinder was simple, she said two words, "the God". It was before we had discussed much about Christianity and religions in general, and of course at that time I couldn't be sure of her meaning, but it made me feel very warm and close to her.

[BuffaloPaul]

One idea if you have it in your area is a course called ALPHA. Some churches offer this to new Christians as a way to get acquanted with Christianity and find out some of the basic teachings. Theres a video and then group discussion. If your SO cannot speak English at all it may not be appropriate. My SO gets the jist of it and loves listening to other peoples discussion in the small groups. People share their struggles with their faith. My SO has surprised me several times sharing things I never knew about her faith.

[izus]

One idea if you have it in your area is a course called ALPHA. Some churches offer this to new Christians as a way to get acquanted with Christianity and find out some of the basic teachings. Theres a video and then group discussion. If your SO cannot speak English at all it may not be appropriate. My SO gets the jist of it and loves listening to other peoples discussion in the small groups. People share their struggles with their faith. My SO has surprised me several times sharing things I never knew about her faith.

163531[/snapback]

very interesting might have to look into this alpha.

Chunyan has a very open mind. i speak with her about it and she always says that she is all for getting involved in something like this because its all about doing the right thing. (im so proud of her)

i go to a really great church with alot of young people that know our entire story and ask about her each week. its going to be interesting what happens.

if anyone else is in this situation just pray.

DONT THINK!

just pray and have faith.... and if you believe, everything will work out on way or another for the best.

isnt this entire relationship based on faith afterall.

[warpedbored]

To be honest I kinda have a problem with all this talk about converting your wife to Christianity. I can understand how religion can be a big part of your life but the idea of converting your fiancee/wife to your religion smacks too much of not accepting her for what she is. If she were already a Christian as some here have stated then there is no conflict but Christians are a very small segment of religion in China. If it is really important to you that your wife share your religion and becomes a devout Christian then I think you are asking for trouble.

[jim_julian]

If it is really important to you that your wife share your religion and becomes a devout Christian then I think you are asking for trouble.

163605[/snapback]

I think that's very accurate Carl. As I've said in other posts the farthest I would go is to gently expose her to Christianity and Christian church. What happens after that is her choice.

[Joanne]

I don't know how difficult it is to convert your Chinese SO to a devout Christian. However, in my (a Chinese woman's) opinion, it will not be nearly as difficult as you imagined to get her to attend your Church activities with you.

[izus]

I don't know how difficult it is to convert your Chinese SO to a devout Christian.  However, in my (a Chinese woman's) opinion, it will not be nearly as difficult as you imagined to get her to attend your Church activities with you.

163657[/snapback]

im not planning on converting her myself all i can do is act as a Christian would allow her to see that this thinking is alot like the her thinking already. (which it is) she knows there is a Creator an ultimate power. her mind is open and wants to learn western ways. shes tells me she looks forward in going to church with me.

[nygatl15]

This is an interesting subject. Many different opinions. I personally redicated myself to Christ 3 years ago an became a member of my church. I feel religions are a personal decision. If someone wants my advice I willl give it. If they are having a hard time in life, I will offer Christ as a way to deal with the problems, it worked for me. I don't feel it is fair to force it on someone. Wenjie had an understanding of Christianity, but was not very involved. It is not very easy to find Chinese churches in China. Her parents do follow Christ. When I was there in May, a Christian family came over to meet me and pray with me, they only sang and prayed in chinese and of course, I understood nothing, but still I enjoyed myself and was very happy they came.

 

Wenjie and I have prayed many times together and we just went to my church this past sunday together. She was very excited about going and she indicated she wants to get into the bible study groups as we have discussed before. She even wrote a note on the frige noting her first time going to church with my daughter and I. I don't push her, there is so much I stilll don't know. But I do beleive that Christ has been in my corner all my life. I grew up on the mean streets of NYC and there are many reasons I didn't get caught up and hurt like many I knew of... I'm sure non Christians would say there are a variety of reasons and I would agree, but I personally feel the biggest reason is because of Christ. I agree with Dave there are many small differences between churches. But, It is my goal to follow Christ and set the example for my family, since I'm the head of the house. Christians aren't perfect or sinless, if they were, the church would be totally empty on Sunday.

 

I guess it comes down to the personal choice and what you or I choose to beleive. That is the beauty of living in the USA.