How do people become Christians? Denis Tang’s story

Denis Tian Yue Tang is a Chinese student member of our Mandarin congregation. He was recently baptised, and told our Canon Missioner, the Revd Canon Robert Vun, the story of how he came to faith:

‘Faith of my (grand) Fathers’

I heard about Christianity for quite a long time since my grandparents are Christians. They took me to church to attend Sunday Service when I was a young child. At that time, I only saw the church as a place for people to go to sing songs and where young children are looked after.

Actually, my grandparents used to be Buddhists. Once, my uncle was sick and was treated by a church pastor and was healed. Amazingly, my grandparents believed in Christ – because they experienced God’s blessing.

Before my baptism, I was an atheist. I could not be convinced by the proof of God’s existence. The books I read told me that God was only an imagination of the human mind. My atheistic thinking was actually contradicting my family’s Christian faith. This caused me to struggle for some time.

I grew up in an environment which did not pay much attention to education. I did not develop a good habit of reading books when I was a child. I liked to watch movies, fairy tales, and cartoons, etc., – which did not enhance my knowledge greatly. My high school results were not good. Fortunately, I worked hard in the final year of my high school and entered a fairly good university. However, I was still confused about my faith in God.

‘I felt called to worship at St Paul’s’

Then I came to Australia. This brought significant changes to my life. The unfamiliar environment provoked  my negative feelings. I felt lonely, as my family members were not with me. Suddenly, I heard a voice calling me to go to a church. I followed the voice and walked into St. Paul’s Cathedral. When I sat down in the Service, I found that I could calm my anxieties down. Whenever I walked into the Cathedral, I was no longer upset. I started to pay attention to the people and things around me. I was gradually filled with joy in this new environment. I believe that it is the Lord who released me from my fears and anxieties.

‘My baptism was an incredible change’

When my attitude becomes more positive, I decided to accept baptism and become a Christian. I chose to be immersed instead of being sprinkled. I hoped that my baptism could be in the same way as my Lord Jesus Christ was baptized. As soon as I entered the baptistery, the coldness of the water hits me. But the Canon Robert’s warm smile told me that the water was warm. I seemed not to feel the coldness anymore. When I came out of the water, I felt particularly magical. At that very moment, I felt that the world had become clear and bright in my eyes. There are no longer any impurities. I felt like a kind of new energy had been injected into my life. I confessed my sins and completely surrendered myself to God.

‘Peace and joy (and also much hard work) followed’ 

After baptism, my tertiary study became more intensive. Because my English is not so good, I have difficulties in adjusting to the way lessons are taught and learned. If I had not been baptised, I would have certainly complained about my busy study life in Australia. But now I can positively accept and enjoy my life here. Although I still feel tired when I finished my daily tasks related to my studies, my heart is filled with the peace and joy from the Lord.

唐天玥受洗见证

我接触信仰的时间也算比较久，家里面爷爷奶奶就是基督徒。所以小时候也会跟着爷爷奶奶去教堂里做礼拜。可是那个时候只是单纯的觉得教堂只是一个帮没有时间管小孩的人管理小孩的地方和一群人唱歌的地方。

其实说起我家认识主的经过很神奇。我爷爷奶奶原来是拜菩萨的，因为一次我叔叔生病在教堂里得到了牧师治疗，并且痊愈了。所以也算是受过主好处的。在我认识主之前，我心中一直是秉承这个无神论的，因为我觉得神是很难被论证存在的。而且之前读过一些唯物主义的作家写的书，其中主要的观点就是神是凭借人的想象所想象出来的。但是又因为家里是基督教家庭的关系，时常自己的思想就会变得十分的矛盾。可能因为整个环境不是很重视文化教育，我小时候也没有养成好的阅读习惯，只是一直跟着看一些电影、童话、漫画等，大多数也都是三分钟热度。所以在高中的时候成绩也不是特别好，不过在高三的最后一年也算努力了，进入了一个相对来说还不错的大学。但是整个过程还是十分的迷茫的。

转变

真正的转变是来到了澳洲之后，其实有时候人的负面情绪很容易就被陌生的环境所激发出来。开始变得孤独，觉得自己爱的人都不在自己的身边。这个时候就有一个声音告诉我，我应该去教堂看看。所以我怀着这种心情走进了圣保罗大教堂，并且我在参与仪式的过程当中，逐渐发现可以使我焦躁的内心得到一个短暂的休息。当我走进大教堂的时候，我觉得很多的烦恼都消失了。感觉对于周围的人和物都慢慢重新充满了兴趣，觉得自己可以满心欢喜地去接受新环境。是主帮我从对于新环境的恐惧当中给释放了出来。 

接受洗礼

所以当我接受到这些积极的影响之后，我自然而然地想到要接受洗礼，并且在洗礼方式的选择上我选择了浸水礼，而不是洒水礼。我希望自己的洗礼方式能够跟主耶稣基督的洗礼方式一样。在我洗礼过程中，进入浸池水的时候，我感到特别冰冷，可是一旁的温牧师笑着跟我说到，这个水特别温暖。瞬间我好像觉得这个池水也变得不再冰冷了。当我从水里出来的那一瞬间，我觉得特别神奇，我觉得世界好像此时在我的眼睛里变得清晰明亮了，不再有那么多的杂质，感觉好像有一种全新的能量注入到了我生命当中去。我在此刻承认了自己的错误，彻底了归向了上帝。

改变

在接受完洗礼之后，我的学习生活变得十分得忙碌。因为全新的学习模式，英语的授课，对于我这个英语不是特别好的人来说是十分困难的。按照以前我肯定要抱怨生活，抱怨自己为什么要做这个决定- 来澳洲。可是现在我可以完全坦然地去接受这样的生活，并且享受其中。虽然每天都挺累，但是生活的态度总的来说还是积极向上的，充满了喜乐。

Our Mandarin congregations meets every Sunday at 1pm, and is led by our Canon Missioner, the Revd Canon Robert Vun.