Another Sunday afternoon

Michelle and I had a glorious Sunday afternoon last weekend sitting around a kitchen table discussing the story of Paul in Athens (Acts 17).

We were in a household of six mainland Chinese students and business migrants.

Not an easy story for people who have English as a second language. We started by telling the story, then reading the story in English, reading it in Chinese (them not me!). Finally they retold the story in their own words.

We let the passage speak.

The first question is working well for us: "What do you like about this story?"

People are quick to open up.

One young woman said, "I like it that the Athenians could spend all their time discussing new ideas. In China there are too many restrictions imposed by the Party on what you can say and think."

The next question: "What does it tell us about God and/or Jesus?"

People were quieter. So Michelle just asked one or two directly, "What you do think it says about God and/or Jesus?"

We drank Chinese tea, asked questions and talked for an hour.

At the end we prayed for each other. Until two weeks ago we had not met three of the five people in the household.

Next Friday is Easter. We're having people over to eat hot cross buns, a bible story and discussion. Followed of course by more food. The Sunday afternoon group will be there along with the folks from the groups on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. . .

Is ministry supposed to be this much fun?