A Chinese word of prayer echoes through the Memphis Chinese Evangelical Church [MCEC]; the gospel spreads through the halls and creates a safe space for the word of God to be shared while embracing the distinct aspects of the Chinese language and culture.
By founding the International Bible Club, Joseph Lei (11) and Lucia Yang (10) intend to bring this same atmosphere to the White Station High School (WSHS) community in order to introduce a larger audience to MCEC-style fellowship.
“Me and a couple other people all go to the same Chinese church,” Lei said. “Recently we’ve been trying to invite other people to come to our church and invite non-Chinese people even. And so, we decided, ‘why not just bring the church to school instead?’”
Lei and Yang aim to provide an open and welcoming environment for all students to bond over the Christian religion. They understand the difficulties of managing school while maintaining weekly devotions, so the club would serve as a way to provide students with new connections within the school while maintaining their faith.
“[We formed the club] to bring people together,” Yang said. “Inside the school, you don’t really know a lot of people, so if you know a variety of different people it’s always going to be better. Life at school is just going to be easier.”
The meetings are planned to be around 30 minutes to one hour after school for the convenience of students. The founders believed that quick weekly fellowships could be more accessible to a greater number of students exploring their faith.
“Maybe [students] don’t have time on the weekends to go to church or anything, but maybe they do have that spare 30 minutes of time right after school,” Yang said.
The club has been approved but as for most new clubs, attracting new members requires time, effort and new ideas. Yang intends to work with other WSHS, Christian and Bible clubs to collaborate and share cultural identity with international-based associations.
“[We plan to meet] at least once during holidays to have potlucks and whatnot,” Yang said. “Food brings people together really nicely, so I think that would be a good idea.”
The name International Bible Club includes international for a reason; Lei and Yang wish for the club to be as diverse as possible and be open not only to non-Chinese students but even non-Christian students. The co-founders want the club to be an inviting and diverse space for students to learn about Christianity and to expose the club to outside perspectives and opinions.
“Having diversity [can bring] in a bunch of different perspectives,” Lei said. “Hopefully after this club, [students] can have a closer relationship and understand each other more.”
Lei and Yang share a vision for their club that embraces diversity in religion and culture; however, at its core, the club was founded with the intention to bring distinctly Chinese elements of worship to WSHS. Whether it be through food, prayer or song the uniqueness of Chinese worship is what they intend to introduce to their community.
“[We hope] to bring an aspect of culture in it, to learn some of the verses in Chinese,” Yang said. “We could bring more Chinese culture out in the world because I know a lot of people, they might want to take [Chinese] class but they don’t have space in their schedule … this club could kind of be an outlet for that.”
Although the club hasn’t taken root, some members of the student body are already looking to join the International Bible Club as a way to maintain relations with the school through God.
“I think [this club] is culturally great, not only just because I am Chinese, but since there aren’t many Chinese Christians,” James Jin (10) said. “[The International Bible Club] will encourage more Chinese people to join the club to explore their faith.”
In order to take this club from an idea to reality, Yang and Lei surrounded themselves with fellow WSHS and MCEC students. With their support, along with the guidance of club sponsor and Chinese teacher, Yuan Harris, the club has been able to reach a larger community to invoke fellowship within the school walls.
“I’m with a lot of good people,” Lei said. “ I’m with a lot of friends and the teacher hosting this club also goes to my church so it’s a really comfortable [atmosphere] to be around … we welcome all sorts of people.”
