Discipleship across cultures

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NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, August 5th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: teaching English as a second language, and using the Bible to do it.

New Zealand has one of the world’s highest concentrations of foreign-born residents—with more than a third coming from overseas. Increasingly, they’re coming from China.

EICHER: It’s a steep learning curve for them—new language, new food, new climate, new culture. New everything all at once.

WORLD Correspondent Amy Lewis recently met a retired pastor helping these Chinese-speaking immigrants start their new lives.

LESSON: OK, let’s begin. Hebrews Chapter 1, the first three verses.

AMY LEWIS: Bruce Hoyt is tackling the book of Hebrews with a group of Chinese immigrants.

HOYT: Remember, in this class, I want you to feel very free to ask questions. This is like an American school, not a Chinese school.

His Sunday evening Bible class is filled with 30- and 40-something university grads. They’re not used to asking questions. In China, it’s discouraged. But some of the students who have been in his classes for a few years jump in.

HOYT: They know the kinds of questions that the other Chinese people probably have and don't ask, and so they'll ask a question for, you know, other people in the class.

One student wonders if what was written so long ago is still true.

STUDENT: My question may be a little bit naive. My question is that, how can we make sure Jesus is the only Son of God?

Another student’s English is not yet strong enough for the theological truths she wants to convey.

AMY: I have to speak in Chinese…[speaks in Chinese]

So, a translator steps in to help.

TRANSLATOR: She was sharing a question she's already struggled with about the Trinity of God, and she said that she read an article from Pastor Steven Tong from Indonesia. So anyway, the article’s about why Jesus is the only son of God…

HOYT: Okay, thank you for sharing. I respect Steven Tong, and he's taught many people the truth of God.

Hoyt and his family moved from the United States to New Zealand in 1981 so he could pastor a small church. He’s retired now, but he still spends most of his week living and teaching the gospel to Chinese-speaking immigrants.

HOYT: It's a new culture, very new, very different from China. And it's, it's a new language, which for them, is quite difficult, because Chinese is nothing like English.

It all started eight years ago with three Chinese women in his congregation who faithfully attended services every Sunday.

HOYT: But they didn’t really understand very much.

So the pastor would send Hoyt his sermon on Saturday. Hoyt would then go over it carefully with the women. He defined words that were new to them. He explained ideas. He patiently taught them from God’s Word.

HOYT: And we did that for six months or so, and then they said, ‘We would like to have more teaching.’ So that's when I started a very small class.

His few students told others.

HOYT: And it just grew by word of mouth.

Now he has a class of 70 or so. Twenty to 25 people show up in person.

HOYT: And then there are a few families that have small children, and we minister to them on Zoom at the same time. There are a couple also in China that come in on the Zoom link.

Hoyt grew up in a Christian family.

HOYT: Here come these Chinese people. They have been taught from primary school right on through from an atheistic, communistic, Chinese communism now, worldview.

He doesn’t always understand where they’re coming from. So he asks them lots of questions.

HOYT: And they're usually happy to tell me on a personal level, and so that's helped me understand where they're coming from…But of course, the shoe is on the other foot for them. They don't understand me, and they don't know my background or the way I think. So, that's one of the reasons why it's important to encourage them to ask questions.

When he first started the class, he spoke simple English. When they found an interpreter, he could use more challenging vocabulary and sentences. But he had to chop his thoughts into small pieces for translation. Now they use real-time translation for those who are still working on their English skills.

HOYT: We have an automatic translation system using AI, but the person will sit beside me and make sure that it's working properly, and if it's not, interrupt me and make some corrections to the AI procedure.

Many of the people in the study come with little or no background in the Bible. About 10 of them are not yet believers. Others have been baptized in a church in China where the teaching was very weak, so they don’t understand much doctrine. Despite their limited background, they’re all hungry for the truth.

HOYT: It's been interesting to me to work with this Chinese community that are largely quite academic and they appreciate an in-depth, logical presentation of what the Bible is all about. They lap it up, even though they're not Christians.

He says there would be even more interest among the immigrant community if he chose to teach straight ESL classes.

HOYT: But I didn't feel I wanted to give my energies to that. I wanted to teach the Bible. That's what they need: to know God and to know His Word. And so I've just made it clear that this is a Bible class.

The class grew. And so did his church.

HOYT: Over the last five years or so, we've added 20 or so members to the church that are Chinese, and we have another 25 or so that are regularly attending who aren't yet members. So a quarter of our congregation now is Chinese.

The growth is phenomenal! But it comes with growing pains.

HOYT: I think the biggest challenge, however, is to help the pastor and elders to understand the particular needs that the Chinese people have, needs that involve family life, marriage. There are quite a few divorces.

But Hoyt is committed to helping his church grow in that by meeting regularly with the elders and being a bridge with the Chinese believers. He has seen people find Jesus when people in their newly adopted country love them and help them. And teach them God’s Word. In season and out. Even in retirement.

HOYT: It’s been a great opportunity that the Lord has just dropped in my lap.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Amy Lewis in Hanmer Springs, New Zealand.

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