Get up and walk!

——Looking at cross-cultural marriage women’s ministry from the perspective of interracial marriage in the United States

▲At that time, Mildred and Richard Loving took a pioneering role in challenging the mainstream society's discrimination against cross-cultural marriages. Now, the United States has gradually accepted it. Picture taken from: http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2012/02/14/arts/LOVING.html

Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" author Amy Chua, pediatrician Priscilla Chen (Note 1), and former mainstream TV network news anchor Zong Yuhua, these are all charming Chinese women who have received special attention from the media. They also have a common characteristic - marrying a foreign man from a different culture; former world figure skating champion Kwan Yingshan, who just got engaged in September this year (2012), will also marry into the Pell Grant (Pell Grant) for poor college students. ), the wealthy Per family has added another beauty to the ranks of interracial marriages.

Church's Voice of Justice

Cross-cultural marriage, which people regard as a beautiful thing today, has gone through a long and arduous journey in the United States. More than 40 years ago, 24 states in this country explicitly prohibited interracial marriage, which created a tragic sonata in the lives of many men and women of different skin colors. The most sensational one was a young couple living in Virginia. The love story that took place in 1958 - Richard Loving, a 24-year-old white man, and Mildred Jeter, a 17-year-old half-black, half-native mixed race. Because the state does not allow interracial couples They had to drive to Washington, D.C., 90 miles away to get married. However, they were arrested and imprisoned immediately after returning to Victoria. They were charged with illegal cohabitation and sentenced to one year in prison. Unless they left Victoria, they were not allowed to return at the same time within 25 years. .

The sentencing judge said: "Almighty God created white, black, yellow, Malay and red races of people, and placed them in isolated continents where it is difficult to intermarry. He distinguished between races to show that he did not want them to mix together. "If this judge sees that today's advanced transportation and network technology have completely changed the way people interact, and people can quickly connect and establish relationships from all over the world, he will force himself to interpret God's will. , I wonder how much regret there will be?

In the small town where Richard and Mildred grew up, children of different skin colors played together since childhood. This innocent young couple never took the ban on black and white marriages to heart. However, they encountered the cold reality and had to leave sadly. A trip to my hometown.

As time passed, Mildred could no longer bear to miss her family and her life in the country. In 1963, inspired by the turbulent civil rights movement and the Civil Rights March on Washington, she wrote a letter to Attorney General Robert Kennedy asking for help. Kennedy not only responded to the letter, but also referred a rights protection organization to help them redress the original verdict in Victoria. The lawsuit was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1966, amid the boiling controversy from all sides, the Presbyterian Church took the lead in taking a stand: "Our church cannot find any theological basis to condemn or prohibit intermarriage between people of different native ethnic groups who have reached the legal age." Various church denominations include the Roman Catholic Church will also join in support. So in 1967, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled: "It is unconstitutional to restrict free intermarriage simply because of differences in race."

This is the case that people often talk about when it comes to public "love talk" on Valentine's Day in the United States - Loving vs. Virginia. Since then, states have gradually lifted the ban on interracial marriages, and the most conservative state of Alabama did not remove this barrier until 2000.

New fields to be cultivated

The Luo Fuying case became a milestone in interracial marriage, and the public's acceptance increased significantly. It also catalyzed the growth of black and white, as well as intermarriage between various races. According to the U.S. Census, in 2010, the number of interracial and cross-cultural marriages between a man and a woman was as high as 10%, which means that one out of every ten marriages was an interracial and cross-cultural union (Note 2). The latest survey by the Pew Research Center pointed out that among the 275,500 interracial couples in 2010, 14.4% were married to whites and Asians (Note 3).

In the Western United States, including Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico and California, these four states have a large number of Asian and Hispanic immigrants, and more than one in every five people marry a foreigner (Note 4). Ten years ago, among the first generation immigrants to North America, couples who married Chinese, Caucasians (whites), African Americans (blacks), Hispanics, and other ethnic groups were very rare. Nowadays, not only can they be seen everywhere, but these couples are also gradually appearing in Chinese churches. Appear.

The Chinese Christian Church in Palm Beach, Florida, located in the blue sky and green water, was a church established by the Florida Evangelistic Association (Florida Evangelistic Association) with the help of missionaries sent by the Florida Evangelistic Association to support Chinese souls. Nowadays, whenever the Lord’s Day comes, Chinese, whites, blacks... all ethnic groups gather together and worship together in harmony. Due to its relationship with missionaries, the church has long held lectures in Chinese and English simultaneously, maintaining the tradition of at least one sermon in English every month. When cross-cultural marriages became a trend, God had already prepared this church and opened the door to receive families with different native languages.

Who will love them?

When Sister Theresa Yang, who is engaged in literature ministry, and her husband moved from Pennsylvania to Florida, they first saw several Chinese and "foreign" couples at the Palm Beach Chinese Christian Church. It was as if they were seeing "aliens" and they were greatly surprised. Incessantly. Some couples get acquainted through introductions or at work and go through a process of getting to know each other and falling in love. Others get married in a flash with complete strangers through the Internet.

When one of the Internet brides was baptized, her blood-and-tears testimony shocked Theresa Yang, so she obtained the consent of a senior editor of a magazine to plan a special article on Internet brides. It took nearly half a year to collect information, read a lot, and interview couples. In the end, the article Because the magazine changed its ministry focus, it was blocked and rejected.

However, God’s higher thoughts govern the human heart, “like water in a ditch, flowing where it wills” (see Proverbs 21:1). As she was writing urgently under the lamp, the Internet bride's pain, loss, helplessness, and confusion... turned into a soft sigh, fluttering her crystal thin wings and flying into Theresa's heart. She looked at her and asked directly: "Who is coming? Love them? Who can be their friend...?"

There was originally a women's gathering at Sister Yang's house on the morning of the first Tuesday of each month. With the full support of Mrs. Lu Caixiu, it was transformed in 2008 during the Chinese New Year and positioned to serve cross-cultural married women. In July of the same year, Dr. Pang Connie took over the teaching, and the service team was formed. In addition to Dr. Pang, it also included Feng Jing who led poetry and spiritual practice; Lin Minwen who played piano and translated; Zhai Shuling who took care of children; Sister Yang opened her family and cooked Home-cooked food is served warmly. The five-person team is highly committed and rarely takes leave, witnessing the power of the gospel with their lives of love.

Over the past four years, the Yang family has hosted at least 41 women in cross-cultural marriages. In addition, there are 12 women who are not married to foreigners. They love this fellowship and often attend meetings. They regard the Yang family as their "parent's family." When someone returns from a trip, they immediately call Sister Yang and say, "I'm back!" After marrying in a foreign land and leaving Yangguan in the west without any friends, having a place where they can report that they are safe is considered a good idea. Plant happiness!

▲Four co-workers, Dr. Pang, Lin Minwen, Feng Jing and Sister Yang (from right), devoted themselves to the teachings of the cross-cultural marriage women's gathering. Xiaolu (fifth from right) and other women listened carefully.

Happy to see life grow

The warmth, acceptance and security exuded by this home attracted them to gather together with their mothers, children, and parents visiting from China. They learned a lot from their studies, so they recommended Xiuzhi to the restaurant without shyness. He enthusiastically told the boss’s wife about the harvest, and even invited her to come. Yanzi, who was full of enthusiasm, took a day off from work and gave up the opportunity to earn income. He hugged a big watermelon on each side, led three new friends in person, and helped to carry the other two. A big watermelon comes to the party.

Some of these women were scared out of their wits and just wanted to be stay-at-home girls. Colleagues encouraged them to make breakthroughs; many of them started by seeking to adapt and survive. They practiced driving, took the driver's license test, learned English, looked for jobs, and applied for children. Beauty, the co-workers took the lead in cheering, cheering for every step they take towards independence.

The Intercultural Marriage Women's Fellowship is an excellent outreach platform to reach out to non-Christians. Twenty-six out of the forty-one are gospel friends, and some have even never heard of Jesus' name. Today, nine have received salvation, six have been baptized, and sixteen attend Sunday worship regularly. Yan Ling was baptized at the Atlantic Ocean the day after her marriage and became Sister Yang's visiting co-worker; He Ying and her husband Ray were also baptized at the Palm Beach Chinese Christian Church on the same day and now serve the elderly together. Xiaolu once rejected faith, but after becoming a Christian, she opened her home as a place of worship. The happiest thing for service colleagues is to see some of them loving God’s words, reading the Bible every day, memorizing verses, and living a new life.

It seems that wherever there are people there is the problem of living in sin, and this fellowship is no exception. Some people have been and still are struggling with corrupt morals. Huimei has made rapid progress in her spiritual life over the years. She openly shared with her sisters about her troubled past before marriage. She opened herself up and testified about a new path of confession and repentance. “When you get rid of the burden of sin and no longer have guilt in your heart, you feel relieved. The feeling is so beautiful!” Now Huimei is faithfully serving as a core co-worker in other churches, just like the encouragement in 2 Timothy 2:21: “If anyone purifies himself from base things, he will become a vessel of honor; Be holy and useful to the Lord, prepared for every good work.”

▲ (Picture left) Yanling was baptized on the Atlantic Ocean the day after her marriage. Pastor Xu Dengqi (left) officiated, and her husband Richard Valdes (right), a Christian, supported her.
▲ (Picture on the right) He Ying (first from left) and her husband Ray (second from right) were baptized on the same day, working together to build a family with Christ as the head of the family.

Give you what I have

According to a report by the American Health Center, due to excessive pressure, the separation or divorce rate of mixed ethnic groups is higher than that of non-mixed ethnic groups 10% (Note 5). There are many couples in this group who are remarried. Your ex-wife, my ex-husband, your children, my children... The intricate relationships make them face challenges in life customs, family marriage, language communication... More difficult challenges. This article proposes principles to accompany their growth for the reference of responsible co-workers:

• Care, not worry: listen and understand their experiences and difficulties, and try to avoid being overly involved and losing your peace and stability; they are entrusted by God, and I believe that God, who keeps his covenant and is loving, is also taking care of them.
• Help, not control: After winning their trust, they dare to open up about their weaknesses and falls, and respect their independent abilities and rights, just like God does to us.
• Tolerance, not connivance: Use wisdom to discern when it is time to persist gently, for example: divorce, abortion, extramarital affairs, beating your husband, etc.
• Wait, rather than give up: those who have folk beliefs; those who come from a lower class, are afraid of poverty, and put money first; those who think they are smart and can influence the world and have a strong attitude; love, teach and preach the gospel to them without discrimination.

Two thousand years ago, Peter and John said to a man lame from birth at the door of the temple: "Silver and gold I have not, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth I call you Get up and walk!” (Acts 3:6) Similarly, seeing these cross-cultural married women who are “bad at walking” on the road of life, who is willing to give everything they have to lift them up step by step? Survive, move towards life, and then into life, so that their tomorrow will be better?

Note:

1. Facebook founder Zuckerberg and his new wife also have a cross-cultural marriage.
2. Newsroom, US Census Bureau, 04/25/2012.
http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/2010_census/cb12-68.html
3. Hope Yen, Interracial Marriage in the US Climbs to New High, Study Finds, Huff Post, 02/16/12. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/16/interracial-marriage-in-us_n_1281229 .html
4. Same as above.
5. Same as above.

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Author profile:

Han Jiahua, who has been devoted to the writing platform given by God for more than ten years, still holds the pen happily and happily learns to speak out for the youngest brothers and sisters.