|
|
|
|
TESTIMONIES
|
My Walk with God in Bristol -- Zhuhui Tan
When I first went over to Bristol 2 years ago, I was still a relatively young Christian. I had received Jesus Christ only two years prior to that, and I thank God for my uncle, who tirelessly shared with me his faith when I was younger. Of course Christian maturity is not measured by the length of time; a new believer can be much more fervent in serving the Lord than an 'old' Christian who has grown lukewarm in his Christian walk, as most of us may experience at some point in our life. Two years might not be that short a time, but I had yet to serve actively in my church, nor was I knowledgeable with the Bible that is God's Word for us. For these reasons I considered myself young at that time.
For you who are reading this and are preparing to go over to the UK for the your studies, a relevant and important concern that is probably close to your heart as a Christian is this - will you continue to walk closely with the Lord your God in a alien environment, bereft of the support that you are used to at home? In my opinion, there can be two possibilities. One is that the change in environment will cause us to depend on God even more as we strive to adapt to a foreign land, and to seek out other brothers and sisters in Christ, with whom we united in the same belief and love that is from Christ. The fellowship will undoubtedly be valuable, not just in providing emotional support, but also in aiding us in our spiritual growth (Heb 10:23-25).
At the other end, it is also possible that in our struggle to adapt to the new environment, we may tend to forget about God and gradually lose our desire to follow Him. The lure of external distractions and desire to try out new things may also take us away from Him. And that is very real, especially for all you heading to cosmopolitan London (Any disagreement, Londoners?)
During my two years in Bristol, I thank God for opening my eyes to understand His Word better and to know what it really means to serve and follow Him, whom I have received as my Lord. I am tempted to be proud of my own spiritual growth, but I know that it is He who has allowed me to go to that distant place, it is He who has put fellow brothers and sisters in my path to build me up, and He again who has allowed me to hear His faithful servants preach and be moved by those precious messages.
Within the first few weeks of my first year in Bristol, I started attending Alma (free evangelical) Church after being invited to it by brother Thian Poh from Brunei. Soon I was also attending the Overseas Christian Fellowship, where I had the opportunity praise God and fellowship with other overseas students, who were mainly Chinese from Singapore, Malaysia and Hongkong, but we also had a couple of Nigerians as well to add variety, hee hee. It was the first time I was introduced to small group Bible studies and praying out loud with one another. I thank God for the brothers in Christ who encouraged and supported me, especially brother Kuah, with whom I prayed sometimes.
It was only in the Spring term of my first year that I came to join the Christian Fellowship in my Hall, which was under the ...
Continue...
|
|
|
|
Copyright � 2002 Overseas Christian Fellowship (OCF) Bristol.
All rights reserved.
|
|
|
|
