SHAANXI, China - Li Xiaoni reads the Bible regularly with her sons, and there have been some amusing moments she has with them. When her five-year-old son read the Bible for the first time and came across the passage where Eve said the tree of the knowledge of good and evil could neither be eaten from nor touched, Li shared, “my son pondered and mumbled to himself, ‘If you can't eat from it, just don’t. If you can’t even touch it? What’s the big deal?’”
Li went on: “The other day, after reading the Bible, my son asked what a wife is. It’s always fun reading the Bible with my three boys. I don’t remember having such interesting conversations with my mum when I was a kid.”
According to Li, “Believers may pray at home and attend Mass, but reading the Bible in your own home is still uncommon. I don’t think my parents have read much of the Bible.” Li explained that Catholics like herself in their thirties and parents in their fifties are primarily farmers. For a long time in this part of rural China, most of them neither had a Bible nor read it at home because of their economic circumstances and literacy levels.
Li grew up listening to God’s Word in church. But she often came home feeling frustrated and feeling like she could have learnt more. Her church also has been encouraging the believers to read the Bible for themselves. But Li did not have a Bible. If only she has her own copy which she could read and refer to.
“With the Bible, I can now read the Holy Word regularly. Whatever chapter or page I turn to, there are always passages that touch me.”
When Li received her Bible in October 2021, she was naturally excited and delighted to have her own copy. “With the Bible, I can now read the Holy Word regularly. Whatever chapter or page I turn to, there are always passages that touch me.” Li hopes that more believers will read and engage with God’s Word.
Li came from a pious Catholic family but not her husband. As a result, there were often disagreements and conflicts in the area of their faith as well as other areas. Her own experiences convinced her of the need to nurture her children in the Christian faith: “I want to plant the seeds of faith in the hearts of my boys now before it is too late.”
Li would remind her boys: “The greatest treasure I can leave for you guys is the faith my mother left to me, which I am now passing on to you. The Bible teaches that we should seek the kingdom of God first, and then the Lord will take care of everything else. And in our daily lives, whether pleasant or difficult, we must persist in prayer and learn to submit to God's will and obey His commandments.”
“I want to plant the seeds of faith in the hearts of my boys... The greatest treasure I can leave for [them] is the faith my mother left to me, which I am now passing on to [them]."
Since she received her first Bible, Li has been reading the Bible with her three sons. Although there have been times when she feels the kids are not listening, yet whenever they respond to Scripture, Li is quietly pleased. “It’s as if they are like cows eating grass. They have the Word in their stomach and chew on it repeatedly.”
Recently, her seven-year-old son surprised Li by reciting this verse from the Bible. “The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life” (Psalm 121:6, RSV Catholic). At that moment, Li’s heart swelled with joy. She knew the Word had been sown.
As an inter-confessional organisation, the United Bible Societies is privileged to have the opportunity to support the Catholic church in China in distributing Bibles to their faithful followers. May the Lord bless this ministry abundantly so that it can deepen and enrich the lives of many Catholic faithful.
Photo: Provided by Li Xiaoni
2024@UBS China Partnership
