The Year of the snake, a path to Alpha

One of the things about being a priest in a multicultural congregation is what we choose to celebrate. While Cross Culture has almost always had outreach on Valborgmässafton, the Student Reception at Uppsala University and Culture Night in Uppsala, one of the least known is the celebration of the twelve-year lunar new year. 

    This year is the year of the snake. While this may seem foreign to most of the people in our other EFS congregations, it is a way to use an international phenomenon to build a bridge to many of the exchange students from Asia. 

     In the home of Bolin and Anna Karin Wu, students gather every week for food, Bible study, and socializing. It was to this home that over 40 people showed up to celebrate the Year of the Snake with both Chinese and Singaporean traditions. The varied dishes at this potluck reminded me of my childhood in Oakland’s Chinatown and Chinese Bible Church. There was a mixture of believers and non-believers getting to know each other from a common ground while bridges of relationships were being forged. 

       A couple of weeks later, when I visited the Bible study group for the first day of the Alpha Course in Mandarin, I saw many familiar faces from the Year of the Snake celebration. I’m trying to learn Mandarin, so I thanked God for the English subtitles. It was filmed in Shanghai and was a lot of fun. 

     I am grateful that such a ministry opportunity exists in our congregation. To see the power of Christian hospitality and how it can help people discover faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior encourages my faith. A woman I sat next to in the small group discussion said she has been so blessed that she will probably become Christian before the summer. 

     This reminds me of other ministries such as Brotherhood for men and the Women’s Fellowship, Sunday School and many others. May many people come to faith this year as God’s kingdom grows.

Ed

01-03-’25