Written by Eli Dean
The Year of the Dragon began with the Chinese New Year Feb. 10, with Harding hosting a dinner at Cone Chapel to celebrate with the College Church of Christ’s Chinese church branch on Harding’s campus. Hailing Li, a minister at College Church of Christ, said he is looking forward to the Chinese Church in Searcy growing in numbers as it gets closer to its 20th year on campus.
“This is the 18th year for the Chinese Church,” Li said. “When I came here with Gary Jackson, we worked hard to continue the Chinese ministry here in Searcy.”
While many of the traditions are similar to those in America, China specifically has all sorts of distinct traditions during this time of year. Li said the overall focus for him and others and the Chinese Church during the festivities is to better understand God this year.
“China has all different kinds of traditions that are different,” Li said. “We have things like ancestor worship, and we talk a lot about having peace and joy and getting to know God more during this time of year too. I hope this Chinese New Year more Chinese people will be able to know God and his message.”
Li and missionary Gary Jackson met with the goal of expanding the Chinese Church in Searcy after Jackson had spent seven years in China helping start churches throughout the country. Jackson said it is important for Americans to see different cultural traditions that the Chinese have during the holiday.
“Americans don’t really know a whole lot about Chinese culture, and most of us, if it didn’t come up on our phones, would not even know it is Chinese New Year,” Jackson said. “When we see the singing and dancing, we get to see that cultural event from a different perspective.”
Mimmi Lin, one of the chefs for the event, said she had prepared a meal for her family the night before and had made a few dishes for everyone who went to the event to try too.
“I made lobster for my family for the Chinese New Year,” Lin said. “Everyone during the holiday eats a lot of rice cakes too, so I made a lot of those.”
The Chinese New Year festivities are not much different from some of the holidays Americans celebrate. Lin said the main thing that links the two cultures and their holidays is family.
“It’s like Thanksgiving and Christmas ― the food is different, but being with family is the same,” Lin said.
