...or "Sun Lin Fai Low" in Cantonese. Right now is a very exciting time in Hong Kong. Everyone is celebrating the New Year, and it is one of the rare times that people don't have to go to work and kids don't have to go to school. There are bright, colorful decorations everywhere, and everyone is giving gifts and visiting family and friends. If you ever want to plan a trip to Hong Kong, this is the time to come!
One of the many traditions of Chinese New Year is to put up red colored banners on the sides and top of your door in order to bring blessing to your home. The traditional sayings of these banners are various poetic sayings. The Chinese people will keep these banners in place all year, and exchange them for new ones at the end of the year.
I have recently finished reading the first part of Exodus where the people of Israel are taken out of Egypt. Just before they are taken out, God instructs them to kill a lamb and brush the top and sides of their door with the blood. The purpose of this was to save them from the coming plague of death that was going to kill the firstborn of every household. God told them that if they obeyed, He would see the blood on their doorposts and "pass over" their house, not allowing the plague to harm them.
"The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt." ~Exodus 12:13
Ever since we first came to Hong Kong and I saw the red banners over every door in our village, I have thought of the red blood that was over the doors of the Israelites to symbolize God's protection. It reminded me of the love and protection that God longs to give to each person in our village, and in Hong Kong and China. He desires for them to have the blood of Jesus as a sign on the doors of their hearts, so that everyone will know that they are God's chosen people. May it be so, Lord Jesus!
I have found some interesting legends about the origins of this tradition. It's very interesting that they also use the word "passover"!
"According to legend, in ancient China, the Nián (年), a man-eating beast from the mountains, which came out every 12 months, could silently infiltrate houses to prey on humans. The people later believed that the Nian was sensitive to loud noises and the color red, so they scared it away with explosions, fireworks and the liberal use of the color red. These customs led to the first New Year celebrations. Guò nián (Simplified Chinese: 过年; Traditional Chinese: 過年), which means to celebrate the new year, literally means the passover of the Nian." ~taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year#Decoratives
In the picture above, we have some Christian sayings on our red banners: the top says that the love of God is always here. The left side says Thank you Jesus for saving me, saving you, and saving the whole world. The right side says Thank you God, for creating the earth, heavens and man. We get to keep these up all year long for all to read!
Please pray for our village (Soy Tao Choon) and for Hong Kong and China during this special time of Chinese New Year!
1. Please pray for the hearts of all people in Hong Kong and China, that they would be softened and turned towards Jesus. That God would draw them to Himself and show them His love and salvation.
2. There is a lot of worship happening to false gods during this time. The people are seeking blessings from these false gods so that they will have prosperous, happy lives. Just outside our door to the left there is a building where incense and gifts are offered to false gods. There are many firecrackers set off during this time to scare off evil spirits. All around us there is worship happening, but not towards the TRUE GOD, who deserves all worship. We have felt increasingly that we need to praise the true God of Heaven and Earth and lift Him up in the midst of all this. Please pray that the people who worship these false gods will see the emptiness and futility in it. Pray that they will find true blessing and fulfillment in Christ alone.
3. Please pray for our family and our coworkers, that God will provide us with many opportunities to preach the Gospel to those who haven't heard, and to those who don't know Him. Pray for God's Spirit to lead us and guide us in all things. Pray especially for our village outreach that is coming up the weekend of March 3-4. We need God to lead us in being His light in the darkness.
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