彩虹小品

By:  Rose Yu 

Translator: Agnes K Y Tai

We are thankful, beloved Mrs. Lai, that the passion, commitment and purpose of the great commission in sharing the gospel is again lucidly presented to the brothers and sisters at Newbern Memorial Chinese Alliance Church because of you.  You let us understand that sharing the gospel is not only a life line in His work, but it is also a battle line.  At times, it’s like gazing at a vast ocean, feeling like we can’t proceed.  Yet your courage and your persistence tell us that steps protected by our Lord are not to stop at the rim of the waters.  We must go forward, and when we courageously take that step, God responds to our faith and the ocean parts for us.  

I recall how when your physique was weakening day by day during the harsh illness, in complete trust and reliance you quietly waited with hope, and each day was more than victorious!  You replaced sighing with praise, groaning with gratitude, so that every person who was with you felt the love and act of God.  And the most touching was that during this very difficult time, you were still selflessly concerned with the mission of evangelism, with special emphasis on the younger generation’s participation in His work.  You offered money, strength, prayers, asking God to keep clearing and unblocking all the barriers that prevent their progress, to allow all that is fully offered sacrificially be pleasing to the Lord!  

As the Lord has now carried you back Home, your weary burden on earth is no more.  Although waves of grief fill our hearts with reluctance to part, yet your glorious contribution in Christ’s Kingdom shall be in our remembrance!  You let us understand how to appreciate valuable experiences every single day! Even though at this moment we still stay at our desire for glory rather than the cross, the want of being fragrant without the burning, we seek the Lord’s forgiveness, because of your precious testimony, we are led to see : Today’s cross is tomorrow’s crown!   In anticipation of tomorrow’s glory we must calmly and fearlessly submit to the trials and tribulations of today!  “His love is unchanging!  His grace is ever-lasting!  His mercy is endless!  To all those who call upon Him, He gives love and eternal life!”

By :  Paul Lai

Translator: Wings Yeung

One day I received an e-mail which read:

“It took me a long time to finish your book, “Rainbow after Rain,” because every time I read it, tears would come because I am so touched by it.  I would have to stop.

It is painful to read about the daily suffering that Mrs. Lai goes through.  I truly believe that it is because of the reliance the two of you have in God that the physical pain was bearable. Compared to Job in the Bible, the two of you are more blessed.  Job had to face all his suffering alone as his wife did not have the same heart as him.  She asked Job to turn his face away from God.  But you and Mrs. Lai share each others’ burden and suffering.  Though you may not have the material reward that Job received from God, He has definitely poured His blessings out upon you two.  And wherever your work has taken you, it has also become a blessing to believers and non believers alike. We cannot imagine the number of people who have accepted Christ because of it. 

Back to myself, my life is not exciting.  My father passed away before I was born. I have always been by myself ever since my birth.  I do not have a place I call home.  I never complain, nor have I felt like anything was missing.  Looking back, I know that God has prepared everything for me.  After working for 20 years, God has helped me make the decision to take an early retirement.  Whenever I am in pain, I will remember the suffering that you and Mrs. Lai have been through, it will give me strength and faith to experience God.” 

I read this letter, and have read her praises, but I felt horrible.  Why did she say we are more blessed than Job?  How can she compare us to Job!  Then I realized that what she meant was that Job’s wife and my wife are very different.  Seeing Job’s body filled with boils, Job’s wife told him to leave his God and die.  But my wife and I are able to walk together in our misery, sharing our burdens together.  This after all is what a marriage is, and so to love each other the way we did was a most natural way for us; it was not difficult.

I remember my wife always telling me that the most touching moment in a Christian wedding is when the officiator asks, and the couple replies that together they vow “for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish…” and then saying “I do”. This part always touched her heart and tears would flow.   

She said that for two people with different personalities and different backgrounds to be united in God is truly a miracle, but for the two to hold onto the love ‘til death is even more of a miracle.  Without God’s guidance or His will that the two are united, then it would not be a marriage blessed by God.  She is right and I agree with her completely.  This is the truth

HYMNS AND THE TWO OF US

By: Paul Lai

Trainlated by John

Yvonne lived in a small town about an hour’s drive from Paris while she was a student.  Being the only Chinese person, she would feel lonely at times.  She would then speak Chinese in front of a mirror.  She loved to sing and sang gospel hymns every day.  Soon she could memorize the music and the words of a lot of hymns.  One day an elderly lady in her neighborhood heard her singing and came to see her.  She was one of the very few Christians in town and she loved the Lord.  From that moment on, the two of them became great friends.  She would invite Yvonne every Thursday afternoon to have high tea with her and her husband.

Praise the Lord!  The Word of God and the hymns became our support, particularly through the trials of sickness and pain.  The hymns became our comfort.  At times I would play the piano and Yvonne would sing.  Other times we would sing together.  We expressed our love to God through hymns.  We sang loudly; we sang softly.  We listened to hymns on tapes.  These hymns drove away our loneliness, our despair and our worries.  When we felt that our lives seemed to be totally burned out, the melodies and words of the hymns restored the spark and vitality back into our lives.  The object of our praise was the only God, the Almighty, Holy, King and loving God.  The Holy Spirit helped us, through these hymns, to get close to God, to be joyful and to grow spiritually.  All worldly things, including the pain and tears, will disappear in eternity.  Only the love of God and our love and praises to Him will never end!

“The Lord is my Song” is a beautiful testimony of the poets.  Let us proclaim: God is His songs; He is the source of inspiration; we get strength through hymns; and only God is our never ending and beautiful song of life!

HE SETS THE TIME AND OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE

By:  Paul Lai

 Translator: Agnes K Y Tai

Mrs. Lai and I took a flight to France over ten years ago.  The outbound trip was very smooth, but due to a hurricane on the return leg, we had to stop at a place near Portland, USA to wait out the storm before getting a connection to Vancouver. The flight we’d arrived on was a small US airline and they provided us with accommodation and a simple meal.  We waited for quite a long time without any certainty of when the next flight connection would be able to be scheduled and so we ended up having to stay at Portland for one to two days, awaiting a smaller airplane to take us back to Vancouver.  

As we were waiting the first evening, we thought of a young brother from Portland by the last name of Leung that we were previously acquainted with and so we attempted to look him up in the local Yellow Pages.  Since this stopover was not in our plans, we didn’t carry too much hope.  But amazingly we found brother Leung’s phone number!  When we called him, he himself picked the phone up!  I thought it would simply be a greeting between friends within the Body of Christ but to my surprise brother Leung told me that he was also trying to contact me through various means, including seeking out Truth Monthly to no avail.  Since the Pastor of brother Leung’s church had to go to China for a short mission that would span several months, he hoped that I could stand in for three months.  I was convinced this was no coincidence but the loving arrangement of Father God.   Father God let our trip be hindered, but by so doing He led me to have the opportunity to work and serve Him.  

(Due to the condition of Mrs. Lai’s health, we could not be away for a continuous three month period, so I went for a month first and then went back to Vancouver to bring my wife to Portland again.  Compared to others, we needed several more hours to drive from Vancouver to Portland, because my wife required stopping on the way for some rest.)

Brother Leung was working for an organization that served overseas Chinese at Portland and helped a good number of people.  By God’s plan, during my three months’ service at Portland, I had a chance to preach the Gospel to a cancer patient by the last name Choy (Choi).  When he heard the Good News he believed right away and accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord.  

After leaving Portland, I learned that brother Choy requested his wife to read the Bible to him, and this brother Choy passed away around half a year later.  I learned that his son is now preparing to be a Pastor and studying theology, thanks to the Lord!  Mrs. Choy is ministering at the church zealously as well.  While my wife and I were in Portland, brother Choy allowed us to stay at his deceased mother’s home.  At that time I was visiting patients frequently and preaching the Gospel to them.

This interruption of our plans turned out to be a Divine arrangement by Our Lord:  He ordered the circumstances into place by His timing, allowing me the opportunity to serve!

A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE OF GODLINESS

By:   Paul Lai

Translators: Floy Wan/ Stephen Lai

Earlier this year, our little granddaughter invited us to her school, Richmond Christian Elementary, for a preschool Easter presentation in which she was taking part.  More than 17 children were involved, singing and performing actions to go with the songs.  During the performance, many young parents hurried to get photos of their children with their iPhone cameras.  The 10 minute program was well arranged.  It started with a prayer and then was followed by choral songs and a short but clear Gospel presentation – the birth of Christ, His completeness for our incompleteness, His dying on the cross for us, His wonderful Salvation and His forgiveness of our sins.

At the close of the presentation, the teacher led the children in a prayer.  During this solemn moment I saw mothers continuing to photograph their children.  Among all the children there were few who truly bowed and prayed.  Other children were looking around or towards their mothers’ cameras.  Then I saw another most touching and beautiful picture: my granddaughter with her head bowed and hands folded together.  Because of her long hair covering her face I didn’t have a completely clear view of her, but that image of her total devotion to God made a great impression upon my heart.  

Like many of the little children in the performance, we often want others to look and see us only:  “I am so important, so rich, so good and so talented.  Look at me, not Jesus.”  But if we were to really let Christ live in our heart and transform us to His Character and Godliness, our lives would not be centered around this ‘me only’ thinking.   Rather, our lives would demonstrate a living out of renewed ‘Jesus only’ thinking.  Whereas people tend to put most importance upon outer appearance, God looks upon and values the inner being.  His desire is to begin on the inside to beautify the soul.    Believing and allowing Him to do what only He can do within us will make us truly beautiful from the inside out.   This is essential, especially if we desire to live child-like before God, possessing the inner beauty of a child’s soul.  This is made possible through the Love from our Lord, Who is preparing a place for those that love Him. 

Comments:

Bon Chan :A camera is near to impossible to capture the spiritual fellowship with our LORD.

Holden: Thank you for sharing ‘A beautiful picture of Godliness’, men can only see the exterior but God values the inner being.

Emma: Thank you Pastor Lai! I believe both the exterior and the inner soul are beautiful, especially, the beauty of a child’s soul.  They are from our loving Lord, whose preparing a place for those that love Him.

Stephen Lai

 French Teacher, Grades 1-5

 Richmond Christian Elementary Campus

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