Journey in Faith – Simon Lau
My personal journey with God hasn’t been filled with struggles, on the contrary, I’ve been blessed with a fulfilling childhood and supportive friends and family, and while life hasn’t been without challenges, I hadn’t felt the need for reliance outside my existing social structures.
During my early thirties while blessed with a good career and prospects, I had never sought of anything other than what was immediately in front of me. It wasn’t until I moved to Hong Kong in 2012 when I met my now wife, Georgina, that I felt introduced to the comfort of Christ. Georgina grew up a Christian and I was moved by her testimonies and the strength of her unwavering faith to God. There were areas of her faith that required cultivation, but to me it only highlighted her depth of faith. I became fascinated with learning about Christianity and the idea of an existence beyond our mortal lives.
Even through the early phase of my walk and learning to submit myself to God, I experienced unimaginable support not only from Georgina and my in-laws, but also my parents, who have more traditional Chinese beliefs. It has been a blessed beginning.
My journey so far has been progressive; based largely on self-sufficiency, which coupled with the expansion of our own family, had led to little urgency to expand on my spiritual community life. However, I have felt the need to develop my faith, to learn and grow my understanding of God’s word, and the need to venture outside my personal comfort zone of Georgina. As I came across the Inductive Bible Study Community Group at The Vine it was clear this was vitial for my self-development, particularly during the pandemic isolation. I wanted to progress beyond simply thinking of the important things I should be doing, to actually doing it.
Despite spending only a handful of sessions together, there’s been some green shoots of spiritual friendships being developed, and I feel I’ve benefitted not only from the knowledge and interpretation that’s been shared amongst the group but also their individual appreciation of God’s word and its profound impact on them. Although young, a supportive dynamic is developing within the group, focused not only in helping each other understand more about God’s word but also in encouragement. There’s been an authenticity and vulnerability to the sharing experience and a willingness amongst us to submit to God.
