May 1, 2006
For anyone who has been in the position of having to teach Christianity
as a part of a Western culture class in China, and if you’re
anything like me, you pondered long and hard about how best to
present something so complex and richly meaningful to Chinese
students in language they can understand. I chose, at first, to
lecture about the history and what happens in most church services.
I used my Chinese pinyin hymnal, a rosary, and some photocopies
from my Chinese-English Bible to stir up their interest. However,
for something a little more visual, I also decided to show the
film “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and
The Wardrobe.”
In trying to be a good teacher and to keep things educational,
I wrote the following questions on the board for their homework.
- What are the names of the four children?
- Why are the children sent to the professor’s house?
- What is the name of the faun that Lucy meets?
- Why does the White Witch want to kill the four children?
- Who does the White Witch kill instead of Edmund?
- How does Aslan restore the stone people and animals to life?
- Why do you think this movie is used to teach children about
Christianity?
Happily, I can report that many of my students answered the questions
correctly. I have copied some of their answers below:
- Lucy, Edmund, Susan, Peter (although occasionally they wrote
the Chinese version of their names)
- -They wanted to escape the dangerous war.
-World War II.
-London give air raid menace, children were scattered to village.
- Mr. Tumnus (also an occasional Chinese transliteration of
his name popped up)
- -Because she thinks the four children do great damage to her
plans and life she wants.
-She doesn’t like four children disturb her life, and
she wants govern all of Narnia.
-The White Witch want to control the animals world, they tried
to stop the White Witch from doing that.
- -Lion of forest.
-The small fox (sorry, I don’t know he’s name) Tumnus,
and Aslan
-Aslan and Tomson [Tumnus]
- -Aslan’s breathe.
-Blow from mouth.
-His breathes to them.
- -Aslan’s dead is for love. Aslan dead then revived.
This is like the resurrection of Jesus. Told children: because
love the God can be help many kind people.
-I think the story can help children understand Christianity
better, maybe they can also help others in trouble as possible
as they can, they are kind-hearted.
-Yes, of course. Aslan dead, then revived, his life to save
Edmund, just as Christians believe Christ gave his life to save
mankind.
Needless to say, I felt that my students learned a lot from the
movie, and I was glad I had used it. Of course, not all the students
caught the meaning of it, but most did.
None of my students are Christian, at least not to my knowledge.
However, in teaching about the religion that has defined my life,
I found it a wonderful opportunity to talk more about my own personal
faith, and my students showed a lot of curiosity and eagerness
to learn about it. Several students have asked to borrow the movie,
some have asked to borrow my Chinese-English Bible, and two have
asked to come with me to church. My students warmed my heart in
their eagerness to explore a different faith during their classes,
but I am hopeful that for some of them, a seed of God’s
love was planted that will one day bear fruit. Anything is possible,
even getting “puffed” by a lion!
Rachel
The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 246 |
