A Shared Celebration

Members of Ladner Christian Reformed Church in Delta, B.C., were privileged to witness the baptisms of seven new Chinese believers on a beautiful Sunday morning late last summer in a swimming pool at a local farm belonging to longtime Ladner members Martin and Ann Hamming.

As each new Christian went into the swimming pool, Yang spoke to them in Mandarin, and then Truell baptized them. Children then presented each new believer with a flower, saying in Mandarin, “Jesus loves you!”

Ladner CRC holds two worship services—one in English and one in Mandarin. Pastor Jason Truell is the lead pastor and leads the English service. Commissioned Pastor Nancy Yang shepherds the Mandarin congregation of nearly 30 recent immigrants who have gathered since September 2020. Once every month, the two groups worship together in a family communion service.

The joint Sunday celebration in August 2022 was especially wonderful and full of joy. Members of both the English-speaking group and the Mandarin-speaking group joined to witness the baptisms, sing, pray together, and feast on an amazing array of food from both cultures. The gathering also included special music and interpretive dance.

“Both the English and the Chinese congregations presented and made us feel like a true, unified family,” Yang said. 

“This really was a wonderful time for a couple of reasons,” Truell said. “One is we were able to share fellowship between our Mandarin and our English congregations and to be together. And not only was it a baptism, but it was a celebration. We ate great food, we danced, we sang; it was a lot of fun!”

The farm setting gave the event a relaxed, celebratory atmosphere. “We are so thankful to the Hammings, who opened their home to us all,” Yang said. 

The baptisms were the result of a class about Christianity that was advertised last May at a community celebration in Ladner. Mandarin-speaking church members spread the word that something good was happening at Ladner CRC. Seven people attended Yang’s eight-session class, in which lay leaders from the Mandarin congregation, after Yang’s coaching, took turns presenting a topic from Christianity to the class. All seven attendees indicated they wanted to come to true faith, repent, and trust in Christ.

“All these events have made beautiful memories for us all, especially to the newborn in Christ,” Yang said. “Praise the Lord!”