In any event, there are all sorts of interesting announcements going on. I have mentioned in the past that Sunday service at church is not merely a time for worshipping, though that is indeed a central piece to the gathering. Sunday service is also an important social occasion in America where people meet and socialize. In this busy and vast land where you cannot just walk over to a friend’s house, Sunday service can be the only occasion for some to meet. People take advantage of such opportunities to exchange news of each of their small families through this larger platform called “family time”.
During today’s Family Time, a gentleman stood up saying that he hadn’t been to church for quite some time, mostly for health reasons. Two years ago, he suffered from a heart attack without any prior symptoms. One would expect that nobody in the church would care any more since he isn’t coming to the church services. Surprisingly, people came to the hospital to visit him, sent him cards and kept praying for him. He fully recovered from his heart disease afterwards.
As the congregation wanted to applaud during the pause, he said: “Wait, you are not done with me yet.” He continued to say that after he recovered, he went to build his barn, but fell down and hurt his ankle. Mark, one of his neighbors who also comes to our church, found out about the accident and offered to help. He found several men and women from the church who spent several Saturdays to get his barn built. Choked with emotion, he announced each one of their names.
Soon, another gentleman (Tom) stood up, saying that the same group of people also came to help him build his fence, and he acknowledged them too. Now I remembered about this “gang” of people from our church, including my boss John, VP of IT services at Oklahoma Christian University, who sometimes went to help people using their own weekend time. I remember hearing that in 2010, when Oklahoma was having a historic snow storm, John hauled his new snow blower to people’s houses to blow away the thick layers of snow on his friends’ driveways.
March the 5th is the day when the Chinese people honor the legendary Lei Feng who was known for his help of others during his short lifetime. Every year, people perform some good deeds to honor this man whose name has become synonymous with “good deeds” in China. Every year at this time, schools and government agencies organize activities to “do good work”, such as sweeping the floor for some railway stations. I heard that some railway station managers even became annoyed by this, as his station has been swept multiple times on that day. It became disruptive. When he did need some help, nobody is there because the day to learn from Lei Feng has passed. Anyway if you have difficulty crossing a street in China, try to be there on March 5.
In churches in America, I see such living Lei Fengs everywhere. Some do not spend around fifteen minutes sweeping the floor. They do such heavy work as mending fences and helping people to move. When I passed Nashville, Tennessee several years ago, I heard of a gentleman from a Chinese church called Mr. He. Mr. He was known to have helped almost all Chinese families move. He did this year after year for dozens of years. His excuse is that this is a way for him to get some exercise. Most people in these churches do such good work routinely. They are rarely acknowledged, and they don’t seem to care.
Such consistent help is possible because they all feel they are joined by the same faith, which teaches that all Christians are of the same heart, that they belong to each other as parts of the same body. Only in such faith can one share hardships and help. If we can give meaning to the good deeds we are supposed to do, Lei Fengs will no longer be some rare individuals of the past we hardly can relate to. On the other hand, if we reduce good deeds to just a matter of tradition we blindly follow, the Lei Fengs will be gone soon enough, with the gentle breeze of April, till we remember him again next March.
Original Chinese article:
俄克拉荷马的雷锋班
南桥
教会礼拜结束之后，有一段时间叫“团契新闻”（Family Time）, 内容比较丰富，这通常是我听得最聚精会神的时候。发言的人，有的说自己的老伴生日到了，有的说自己的女儿被选上学校乐队了，有的小孩说他快当“大姐姐”了（告知大家她妈怀孕的消息），还有小孩说自己掉一个牙齿了。总之，包罗万象，无奇不有。教会除了礼拜之外，也是一个重要的社交场所。 美国地广人稀，大家没有约会不随便串门，所以对很多人来说，做礼拜甚至是唯一的社交场所。很多人利用这个时间，介绍家里的新闻。
俄克拉荷马的雷锋班
南桥
教会礼拜结束之后，有一段时间叫“团契新闻”（Family Time）, 内容比较丰富，这通常是我听得最聚精会神的时候。发言的人，有的说自己的老伴生日到了，有的说自己的女儿被选上学校乐队了，有的小孩说他快当“大姐姐”了（告知大家她妈怀孕的消息），还有小孩说自己掉一个牙齿了。总之，包罗万象，无奇不有。教会除了礼拜之外，也是一个重要的社交场所。 美国地广人稀，大家没有约会不随便串门，所以对很多人来说，做礼拜甚至是唯一的社交场所。很多人利用这个时间，介绍家里的新闻。
“团契新闻”中间，有一个老者站了起来，说他叫莱瑞, 过去来过我们教会，当时已经好久没来了，主要是身体原因。两年前，他毫无征兆地突发心脏病。本以为离开了教会，就不会有人再来理睬他。谁知道不断有人去医院探望，不断有人给他寄卡片，不断有人为他祷告，他的心脏病后来痊愈了。
大家正要鼓掌，他又说：等等，我还没完。他说，心脏病康复之后，他兴致勃勃地开始修建自己的谷仓，倒霉得很，又从梯子上摔倒下来，把脚踝骨摔断了。隔壁邻居马克， 也是我们教会的一个成员，看到他这状况，说我跟你找几个人来帮你给修完。于是教会一伙男子，抽了几个星期六时间，一起把他的谷仓修了起来。他一一报这些人的名字，报着报着就控制不住哽咽起来。
又过不久，又有一个老者站起来，说巧了，他家篱笆也是这伙人帮着修起来的，所以一并表示感谢。我这才发现，这是一个利用周末时间帮人的团伙，其中包括我的老板，学校负责信息技术的副校长约翰。记得前年下大雪时候也有人说过，他正发愁怎么出门，约翰就用皮卡拉着自己的吹雪机过来，把他门口雪给吹走了。
三月五日是中国的雷锋日，这一天大家纪念传奇的雷锋。雷锋一生做好事，大家每年三月五日学雷锋，把他的名字和“好人好事”联系在一起了。每年到这个时候，学校和政府机关等单位都安排做好人好事活动，比如去火车站打扫卫生。我听说有些火车站站长都开始抱怨，说他的火车站已经不知道被扫了几遍了，都有些不胜其烦。但是真正需要人来帮忙的时候，却找不到人，因为学雷锋日过去了。
不过在教会里，这样的“活雷锋”比比皆是。有很多干的还不是去火车站花个十五分钟扫地这种小事，而是给人修篱笆、搬家这种粗活重活。以前路过田纳西，听当地华人教会里有人说一位何姓先生，几乎所有中国人家搬家他都去帮过忙，说是锻炼身体。几十年下来，这些好事做了都不知有几火车。不过多半情况下，这些人只不过是默默在做，知道的人也不是很多。能这么做，终归是大家觉得在同一信仰下，大家同心合一，互为肢体，如此才患难与共，相互扶持。只要人们对自己要做的事情赋予意义，活雷锋到处都是。倘若只是走形式，那么，当四月的清风降临大地的时候，雷锋们就随风而逝了，直到下一年的三月。
