I remember as i was growing up, my mum would be teaching sunday school, and i would be helping her set out the "props" and other materials. We also had a Saturday club at our home for a few years - i don't think i was 10 yet - and i would be helping her with turning the pages of the big book, and holding up the song cards for the children there.
I loved church, and never missed it. My parents would make us sit in the pews with them, as Sunday school was always before or after church, never during. So we had the privilege of worshiping as a family. And when we fidget, we would be given sweets. I attended Hokkien service for quite a few years, and learnt certain Christian phrases of prayer, song and even bible verses. Little did i know at that time, I would later in my life marry into a Hokkien family! :D
Papa and Mummy started our family worship and prayer time when i was about 10. We would sing hymns like What A Friend We Have In Jesus, Saviour Like A Shepherd Lead Us (Papa compiled a little booklet of perhaps 10-12 songs). This would evolve into contemporary choruses later n we had over 200-300 songs to choose from...
So we would praise God, and then we would read from the word or from a devotional, and then we would pray. This was difficult as papa was quite a pray-er, like his father before him. His prayer was at least half an hour, so after a while we would endeavour to volunteer for prayer. This strategy only worked at certain times, because if papa had a burden to pray, he had to discharge that burden. Sometimes, he would pray round the world, whether for his siblings and relatives settled in various parts of the globe, or just for believers in general. A few years later, this would exacerbate as mummy developed into quite a pray-er too. Family devotions would be more than an hour long... the record of the longest family devotion ever being one hour and 45 minutes.
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