彩虹小品

By:  Paul Lai  

Translator: Henry Lam

Even though this illness came with much bodily pain, you still had unending thankfulness.  Before your illness, you were a doctor’s secretary and your pay helped with the household finances.  Afterwards though, you were not able to move freely and could no longer work.  However,        God wonderfully supplied for us in every which way.  

Once you read about a woman restricted to a wheelchair.  Because she was unable to go out and work, the woman began to teach storytelling and English.  After reading this story you were very happy because you saw that you could teach French in the same way this woman taught English.  It was from this moment that you started teaching – beginning with our own children.  However, simply teaching your own child was not interesting enough.  You let your son bring his classmate to learn alongside him for free.  This classmate’s mother thought that this was good and sent another child along. Eventually, one after another, more students came to learn French.  This teaching career spanned 44 years from 1969 to 2013 when your teaching career came to an end.  In the midst of your teaching you had many opportunities to bring many students to the LORD.

1) Apart from teaching French, you always found time to disciple others.  Within a short period of time you saw them grow quickly and gained great joy.  Once, at a prayer meeting, you were moved to see one of your own students pray.  He had progressed from not believing to believing; and then from a new believer to one who relies on God for all things.  His life had changed immensely.  He also told you that he was preparing to take a teaching ESL diploma in order to go to China for a year to share the Gospel through teaching English.  You told me that he was originally a lonely and hurt teenager.  He used to always listen to New Age music, but after you patiently guided him, he finally came to accept Salvation.

2) There was also another student, Wong. After believing in the Lord, he passionately started to share the Gospel by passing out pamphlets on campus and sharing through email.

3) For one student, not long after she came to faith in Christ, her mother always forced her to go to a tutoring centre.  It was difficult for her and she came to you and asked what she should do?  You cleverly said to her, “If you were my daughter, I would encourage you to worship God.”  It was this simple statement from which she decided to no longer go to the tutoring centre and chose to go to church to worship God.  Not long after, she was baptized and became a daughter of the Lord.

4) In the summers you decided not to teach French, but to use the time to freely invite the students and their friends to picnics, games and sharing the Gospel.  It was in this way that many new friends came to Christ.  There was one new brother, Lam, who shared his testimony: 

“Mrs. Lai is my first ever Sunday school teacher who laid down the foundation for my faith.  She led me in reading the Bible and analyzing God’s word.  She taught me about the importance of prayer and how best to pray.  She encouraged me to serve; moreover, she encouraged me to serve in the church.  Even though I was only at Fountain Alliance for 3 years, I still live out what Mrs. Lai taught me after 20 years.  Today, Mrs. Lai’s influence still touches many lives.  Her teachings and influence is my inheritance from her.  I am determined in this life to pass this inheritance on.”

(Note: Brother Lam’s mother later told Mrs. Lai that when Brother Lam was 12 years old, his father abandoned the family and that she brought the 3 children to Canada.  In the midst of all the worry about her children, she had a dream that angel wonderfully came into their home to take care of the children.  From then on, Brother Lam’s life was transformed by God and he was no longer an unhappy child.  She wholeheartedly thanked God and thanked Mrs. Lai for her loving teachings.)