From Confucius to Christ – Lidia’s Story

I was born in Surabaya, one of the largest cities in Indonesia. Our family are Chinese and, like most in our community, the vast majority of my family practiced Confucianism. This is a belief system that impacts every area of daily life with a strong focus on ancestor reverence. The one member of our family who had broken away from Confucianism was my paternal grandmother. She first encountered Christianity after her husband was killed during the Chinese Indonesian conflict of 1945, leaving her and her four children struggling to make ends meet. A local Christian church supplied them with rice and, over time, she became more interested in Christianity. Eventually, she and her four children, including my father, became Christians. She faithfully attended church and opened her home for cell group meetings.

As is the custom in our culture, my father and mother lived with my grandmother, even after they were married. Although my grandmother was a Christian, my father was not that interested in attending church and my mother was very devout in her adherence to Confucian practices and traditions. This caused great tension in our home. My mother and grandmother were often in conflict with each other over religion and, from an early age, I became the focus of their disagreements. My grandmother would ask me to attend church with her but my mother would do her best to take me up to our local Confucian temple, so that I was unable to go with my grandmother.

The times I did go to church, I loved it. I found the temple visits with my mother quite scary but something about my grandmother’s church took a hold of my heart. By the time I was 12 years old, the tension between the two most significant women in my life had become almost unbearable. I felt anxious and insecure in my own home. There was also great conflict going on in my mind. The temple at Mt Kawi was filled with idols that we prayed and sacrificed to, yet the Christian church told me that idols were very wrong and not pleasing to God. I knew that I had to make a choice about what I believed, regardless of how difficult life would be for me at home. Without telling my mother, I made the decision to get baptised.

My mother was devastated by what she saw as my continuous rebellion. She made sacrifices at the local temple and asked the priest to pray the rebellious spirit out of me. On one occasion, she gathered a few of her closest family members together. They formed a circle in my maternal grandmother’s living room and placed me in the middle. I was rebuked and challenged by each of them and told repeatedly that I was bringing dishonour to my family by being so rebellious. I was determined to stand my ground and refused to go back on my decision to become a Christian. My relationship with my mother grew even more strained.

Through my teenage years, my relationship with God and commitment to His word grew stronger and stronger. I would regularly set my alarm for 6:00 am to read my Bible and then pray with a friend from church over the phone. The Bible became the anchor of my life.

How can a young person stay pure?
By obeying your word. I have tried hard to find you—
Don’t let me wander from your commands.

 I have hidden your word in my heart,
That I might not sin against you.

Psalm 119:9-11

 When I was 18 years old, I moved to Australia to study. This was the beginning of a new, exciting and challenging chapter in my life. I missed my family and home very much but was welcomed into a wonderful community of Christians who were a part of ‘Indonesian Christian Fellowship’ at Body of Christ Mission Centre (BOCMC).  It was through this church community that I met the Holy Spirit and later, my husband!

My relationship with God had always felt quite one way. I prayed up to God but I did not expect Him to speak to me, other than through the Bible. When I discovered the power and presence of His Holy Spirit, I realised that God wanted to talk to me, not just listen to me talk to Him. I was so excited to be able to hear God’s voice and to sense His presence in the everyday moments and decisions of my life. God became tangible and real to me in a way that He had never been before. I was determined to seek His will and purpose above my own. This sometimes meant embracing situations that were not comfortable or convenient, especially concerning where I lived and my relationship with my family. It was because of God’s presence in my life that I was able to slowly rebuild my relationship with my mother. Forgiveness is a long journey but through the power of the Holy Spirit it is possible.

In 1999 my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Our family were devastated. I, and many of my relatives and friends, prayed that God would heal him. Sadly, he passed away 10 months after he was diagnosed. I took great comfort, however, from knowing that my father had recommitted his life to God a few months before he died, as had three of my relatives. My great aunt and two of my cousins received salvation as a result of my father’s testimony.  My father tried to share the gospel with my mother, too but, although she loved him deeply, she was not prepared to commit to Christianity. Shortly after my father passed away, my mother, out of respect for my father, began attending church. 17 years later she is still going. She does not miss a Sunday service and has committed her life to Christ.

I am in awe at the transformation that has taken place in my family over the last 20 years. Family is incredibly important in our culture and every cultural celebration and religious holiday involves our entire family coming together. In my family, that is a minimum of 75 people. In the past these family gatherings would involve visiting the local temple, sacrificing food, burning incense and praying to the spirit of our ancestors. The last time I was home in Surabaya, our extended family gathered together to honour the memory of our family members who had passed away. Of the 100 family members present more than 80 are now committed Christians. Instead of sacrificing food to idols, we had a picnic. Rather than praying to ancestral spirits, we prayed to our Heavenly Father, who is the God of all generations, that He would bless our children and establish His kingdom in our families. Our family trips to the graveside are now more like a revival meeting.

I had no idea that the decision that I made as a 12 year old girl, to follow God no matter what, would influence so many people. God truly is the ‘God of the exceedingly abundantly more’. He has shown me that, if we are obedient and faithful to Him, He will do the rest and I know that He is not finished yet!