SATURDAY PRAISE SERVICE
2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
(哥林多后 4:7) 我们有这宝贝放在瓦器里，要显明这莫大的能力是出於神，不是出於我们。
Yashab - the “youngest” cell group in Saturday Praise Service (SPS) and otherwise a bunch of lively teenagers. Jessica from CHORUS “gate-crashed” one of their recent cell meetings and came out barely alive but with a newfound respect for their camaraderie, honesty and their genuine desire to serve God.
Yashab was formed in 2016 with the intention of letting the youths of SPS continue worshipping with their parents in the same service. At present, Yashab has 20 members and is growing.
Speaking to them about their earliest memories of COR - such as “dunking Uncle Chi Shyan at Malan Road COR Family Day” or “watching football every night with the adults at SPS 'Rekindle' Retreat 2010 - brought rambunctious laughter to the room. When Samuel Lau mentioned about climbing a certain tree in COR, everyone had versions of themselves doing so. One of them even fell from it and survived by God’s mercy.
The fact that several of them came from the same cell group as their parents, helped to ease significant transition challenges from Children's Church to Youth/Yashab. However, there are still issues they are grappling with. Minor matters like learning to be attentive at service, going without snack breaks, and important issues of identity and belonging such as “culture shock” and “forced to be a youth” came up in our discussion. Part and parcel of growing up is about dealing with changes. What is encouraging about Yashab is that they do not shy away from these struggles but honestly seek out support from their cell leaders, parents and peers.
Most of them started serving in church this year. What Joel Woon shared regarding serving in the Operations Ministry (Ops) struck a chord in my heart: “I started serving in Ops Ministry as I didn’t like the feeling of sitting around while all my friends are either serving in SPS Psalmist (Worship) or Dance Ministry. Ops Ministry is a very humble ministry to start with. You don’t see them but when somebody is not doing his job, you will definitely know the importance of what they do on a weekly basis.”
I ended our conversation by asking them about what they will say to the younger ones coming into the youth ministry. They all echo in unison, “Value the food (in Children’s Church)!”
Truly, the youths of Yashab are God’s jars of clay, uniquely created, each carrying the treasure of Jesus in their hearts.
“Yashab”是我们 Saturday Praise Service (SPS) 里最年轻的小组，也是一群很活泼的年轻人。在最近的一个小组聚会，来自CHORUS的Jessica自我邀请的参与，出来的时候，对他们之间的友情，诚实和真诚服事神的渴望，充满着一种全新的敬佩。
Yashab是在2016组成的，用意是为了要让SPS的年轻人能够跟他们的父母继续出席同一个聚会。目前，Yashab有20为年轻人，渐渐成长。
当我们谈起他们在复活堂最早的回忆 - 例如在Malan Road复活堂家庭日把Chi Shyan叔叔丢进水里，或者每个晚上在SPS“Rekindle”2010年的退休会一起看足球赛 - 把整个房间带来很多欢笑。当Samuel Lau提起在早期的复活堂爬某一个树的时候，其他人也都想起他们自己爬树的故事版本。其中一位也曾经跌过，但因为神的怜悯还活着。
实在说，因为他们的父母都来自同一个小组，帮助他们减轻从儿童主日学升级到青年团契的某些的挑战。但并不代表说他们完全没有问题。一些的挑战例如学习专心听道，或主日没有了零食的短休，还有面对关于“身份”与“归属感”的问题，文化冲击和被迫成长，都在讨论中提起。每个人成长的过程都是要面对转变。Yashab并不避开这些挣扎，反而诚实的相组长，家长，或者相彼此求救，令我感到很激励。
他们都在今年开始服事。Joel Woon就分享他在运作事工的服事，打动了我的心。“我开始在运作事工服事，是因为当我的朋友们都在敬拜赞美或舞蹈事工服事时，我不喜欢自己坐在一旁闲着。运作事工是一个非常谦虚的事工。他们平时不在众人的视线，但是一旦有人没有把服事做好，你肯定知道他们每个主日的重要性。”
最后，我问他们有什么话想要对将来会上青年的儿童们说。他们就合一的说：“要珍惜主日学的零食！”
实实在在，Yashab的年轻人是神的瓦器，受造奇妙，独自携带宝贵的耶稣在他们的心中。
This article first appeared in Issue 20, December 2019 CHORUS Magazine.
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