Time To Fellowship
From University of Toronto Chinese Christian Fellowship
Hey! Welcome to CCF!!! I’m Joyce, in second year commerce.
This time last year, I was a stranger at UofT, racked with unfamiliarity and loneliness. I only knew a handful of people, but we weren’t in the same courses. Yet before school even started, there was this voice that kept on telling me to go to a campus fellowship. I didn’t know anybody who went to one on campus. So how did I decide to try going to CCF? Because it’s the one that would fit best into my commuter schedule. Orientation dinner was my first glimpse of this fellowship, and everything went from there.
Among the busy busy tens of thousands of students here, every Christian I meet re-affirms the reality of God in each of our lives, and it is with the sixty or so of CCF-ers that I have come to know God more, and they have spurred me to live a life that would reflect him. Even though I was without my close friends entering university, God gave me a party of close brothers and sisters from small groups to build me up.
In a nutshell, studying Bible passages together, discussions of Christian books, holding each other accountable, and praying allowed me to grow spiritually by leaps and bounds. Events such as coffee house and guest speakers also showed me the multi-faceted aspects of growth. People in my cell group would remind me to re-evaluate my journey without even realizing it.
The year has passed very quickly and my time, as well as yours, is ticking away. There’s a quote by John Locke: “Everybody starts with a white board. What becomes of us is a result of education.” This is our time and place to be educated: not only to learn the knowledge to complete a degree but also Christian education to learn about God---believers and non-believers alike. There’s a verse in the Bible: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps 90:12) No amount of scientifical, economical, technical or professional knowledge can compare with God’s wisdom which will be given to those who seek it. None of us should put his/her spiritual life on hold to do something else. Some things you just can’t put off; place seeking God at the top of your priorities. Though university will pull u into its whirlwind, I pray that you and I won’t lose focus on what’s more permanent, steadfast and unchanging. Especially for YOU frosh, I hope that the workload and stress won’t cloud your zeal to draw closer to God.
What I’m learning now is how to rest, even though gazillion things seem to be closing in on me. Without enough rest, we won’t have the energy to do even the important things, and not absorb what we’re learning either.
As Christians, we’re not perfect. Fellowship is the place for us to practice being Christians, and get better at it. For you who are new to our faith, I hope you’ll join us on this path of discovery: we’re in the making. We’ve just started out.
As we head into the new schoolyear, and a new stage of life for first-years, in a new environment, surrounded by new people, cram in new material, why don’t we renew our lives’ purpose for Christ?