No. 117 • December 2018

Home News No. 117 December 2018

家訊 第一百十七期 二零一八年十二月出版

Contents 目錄

最奇妙的生日 ……………………… 劉廣華牧師 …………… Page 1

寧靜默思之四 ……………………… 李世澤執事 …………… Page 3

耶和華是我的牧者 …………………… 何營 …………………… Page 7

蒙恩得救記之二 ……………………… 劉興隆 ……………… Page 14

聽黃牧師講道有感 …………………… 李璐 …………………… Page 17

黃西瓜和白蘿蔔 ……………………… 區李友竹 ……………… Page 19

球花石斛蘭與畢業季隨想 …………… 劉蓉蓉 ……………… Page 23

神全部都知道-受浸見證 ……………… 黃丹彤 ……………… Page 26

信仰會給人帶來什麽-受浸見證 ………… 李衡 …………………… Page 28

Operation Christmas Child 2018 ………… Nightingale Ngo ……… Page 30

Instructions for a New Life ……………… Pastor Russell Williams … Page 34

The Love of Christ …………………… Pastor Kwong-Wah Lau … Page 41

The Lord Is My Shepherd ……………… Ying Ho ……………… Page 45

When Yellow Watermelons Meet White

Radishes …………………………………

Yu Chu Au …………… Page 53

Update from Paul and Heather Ling …… Paul & Heather Ling …… Page 57

1

最奇妙的生日

劉廣華牧師

(本文曾刊登在家訊第三十三期，一九九三年十二月出版)

十二月二十五日是誰的生日？為什麼普世都如此歡騰？日本不是一個基

督教的國家，也將十二月二十五日定為公共假期。到了這個世紀，福音

差不多已傳遍天下，十二月二十五日就顯得更加重要。近幾年來，連中

國大陸也印發賀卡，專為慶祝十二月二十五日用。

到底十二月二十五日是什麽日子？一般人稱之為「聖誕節」，或「耶誕

節」，目的是慶祝耶穌誕生。其實那個「誕」字，是指一個嬰孩透過他

父母同房的燕好而得到生命，跟著在母腹裡長了十個月，然後才被生出

來的意思。所以我們說，「孫中山六十華誕」，「蔣中正九十誕辰」，

「林肯誕生紀念」等。可是主耶穌不是透過男女的歡合而被生出來，祂

是童女瑪利亞因聖靈感孕而生。祂與眾不同，所以祂不是誕生。我們用

「聖誕」兩個字實在用得不對。

基督是道。道就是神。道從天而降，成為肉身，住在我們中間。因此，

我們應說「基督降生」。然而，聖誕節已成人間慣用的名詞，我們不必

去反對。反之，我們應該趁著這個大喜的日子，向人解釋聖誕的真正意

義。這一來，我們便可以向親友傳福音，向他們講解救主降生的目的。

這比反對慶祝聖誕更好。

當主耶穌在世的時間，祂不反對人間的節期。聖經記載祂按著日常的規

矩，往會堂去守安息日，宣講 神的話語。祂又參加節期，傳揚天國的

福音。

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我們若將 神的愛放在我們心中，以愛心為出發點，我們就不會以 神的

姿態，和私嚴而無恩的話去定世人的罪。反之，我們會進入他們中間，

將 神的救恩帶給他們。

那麽，基督是不是在十二月二十五日降生？按我的研究，答案是「不」。

雖然，有些聖經學者說，他們根據一些理由，證實十二月二十五就是基

督降生的日子，但我總覺得他們有點勉強。我們要記得，基督降生，不

是要做世界的王，受人服事。祂降生是為了服事人，為我們的罪而死。

祂降生在貧窮的木匠之家。在人看來，祂是卑微的村夫。他出生的年月

日並不十分重要。我相信 神不要我們知道基督降生的確實地點與日期，

否則我們很容易會受了魔鬼的迷惑，去拜基督的出生地而不拜基督，和

高舉基督降生的日而不看重主日（禮拜日）。神要我們每月都慶祝基督

的降生。

總而言之，基督降生的日子，是最奇妙的日子。你可定在任何一日，你

也可以將一年三百六十五日定為一日，當然，你也可以定十二月二十五

日。因為基督降生，是 神給人最大的禮物，這個禮物將 神對世人的愛

表現無遺。聖經云：「神愛世人，甚至將祂的獨生子，賜給他們。叫一

切信祂的，不至滅亡，反得永生。」（約 3:16）。

神愛我們，不是只一日，乃是日日都是愛我們，永遠都愛我們。

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寜靜默思（四）

李世澤執事 （引言）開始寫這一段所謂「寧靜黙思」，本是向《家訊》主編交差，

以為就此可以了事，沒想到主編又要我繼續每期寫一篇，這可給我一個

大負擔。我本不是文人，胸無點墨，再下來真有「江郎才盡」之嘆。其

實這說法也不對，我本無才，何來才盡？前些日子因為失眠，長夜無

聊，為免胡思亂想，乃藉著寧靜時光默想神恩，也自我反思。但日來我

「土法煉鋼」，用我的「減灶」秘方，慢慢解脫了依賴安眠藥入睡的習

慣，但也減少了我默思的時光。為著要向主編交差，左思右想也想不出

什麼好點子，真是為難！

給《家訊》寫稿比在學校教書難得多了，在講臺你可以隨心所欲，任意

發表意見，這是所謂學術自由。但在教會神家裡就要小心，常要想著要

榮神益人。我也不想經常寫一些官樣文章或講大條道理，但若寫些輕鬆

的小道理又怕不屬靈，如何在兩者之間取得合宜，可又戰戰兢兢、如履

薄冰。

閒話少說，且待言歸正傳。未入正題之前我得先此聲明，以下所說的只

是自己個人的感想，並非是敎導的文章。

「人有恩於我不可忘，我有恩於人不可不忘。」

「對自己可以小氣，對他人就要大氣。」

前面那句話是我的一位親人教導我的治家格言，後面那句話是我給兒子

的教導。

常說年輕時多想將來，年老了不懷念過去。午夜靜思是常自我檢討，如

古人云:「吾日當三省吾身。」

應該常常體驗到自己的軟弱，如使徒保羅在羅馬書七章 18-19 節所說

的：「因為立志為善由得我，只是行出來由不得我。故此，我所願意的

善，我反不做。」又如雅各書二章所說：「若有人説，自己有信心，卻

沒有行為，有甚麼益處呢？」

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且不說屬靈的大道理，就算上面寫的所謂治家格言，我能做到的又有多

少？

在年輕貧困時，對我施恩的親友和主內兄姐，雖然當時會真心感謝他

們，但因為我的疏懶，後來沒有繼續聯繫，慢慢就全忘記了。

當然說到施恩，必然想到 神的恩典何其大，除了主耶穌赦罪的大恩，我

們每日每時都少不了 神的恩典，常常感受到的多是 神的供應和賜給。

我回顧一生許多的行差踏錯，若不是 神的扶持和恩待，我老早就跌倒不

得翻身了！

雖然常提感謝主恩，但多只是口頭講説，有多少行動來報答神恩？我有

多少行為是能和主恩相襯呢？

說到有恩於人，因為我的記憶力不好，倒是很自然就忘記了。我記不起

有恩於什麼人，也沒打算去記起來。其實我也不能說完全忘記，雖然我

並不想記得要有什麼回報，但有些特別的往事能讓我印象深刻。年前去

廣州參加中學同學聚會，有一位同學走過來，特別感謝我幫助他的兒子

赴美留學，我實在記不起有這回事。又有一位同學說，他的女兒曾在我

家的聚會中吃飯吃了一年多，我也一點印像也沒有。

有説「有恩不報非君子，有仇必報真小人」。且不說報恩的事，但報復

之心人皆有之，雖不至於揮刀相對，但常為了三言兩語而懷恨在心，小

則雖說是主內弟兄姐妹但面對卻似不相識，大則導至紛爭結黨，不單有

違聖經教訓，對自己也是傷身傷神。戒之哉！

説到我小氣，我倒是常受到批評。年輕時因為貧窮，特別在美國讀書時

不單是要掙錢交學費和生活費，還要寄錢供應父母，所以能省則省，養

成了説好聽的是「節儉的習慣」，到現在我還不會花錢買可口可樂，倒

不是怕糖份高，而是覺得有白水喝為何要花錢買不必要的糖水！

本來小氣是自己的事，為什麼要受到批評呢？後來幸得賢內助在旁指

點，讓我了解到真理。這方面表現很多，且從身邊小事說起。第一，有

人請我吃飯，到埋單時我沒爭著掏銭，使他人覺得你小氣。其實我也不

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是不想掏錢，只是覺得在人前爭來爭去很不好看。第二，要請別人吃

飯，我沒有點很多的菜，只是飯菜夠吃即可，但卻拼命把菜添給客人的

盆子上，多到客人食不完，要大包小包的帶回家。我的賢內助指出我不

懂「國情」，請人食飯請出了反作用，給他人留下一個「小氣」的形

象。

講到「壞形像」，有時也是不小心而形成的。多年來我訂閱的都是英文

雜誌報紙，有一次去我兄長店裡，看見有很多看過的中文報紙，我要他

不要丟掉，看過後留給我看。後來我去中國，發覺舊同學中傳出我小氣

到連報紙也捨不得買！想不到我的小氣形象如此可怕。若我自己的小氣

形象影響到他人對基督徒的看法，就不是自己個人的事了。

對他人要大方，我也曾努力過，不知道是否我很特別，我對小錢很小

氣，買東西總是買便宜的，但對他人花大錢反為大方，即使在窮學生年

代也多次將僅有的生活費借給有需要的人，甚至將買結婚鑚石戒指的錢

都借給別人，以致多年後才有錢補償給可憐的妻子。在學生時為中華歸

主團契購買會址，以後為教會多次建堂，以及支持其他傳福音事工，成

千上萬元的奉獻都不怎麼小氣。當然很大的程度是因為我有過一位愛 神

的賢內助，能幫助我對 神的事工盡量做到大氣。

我的兒子也許受到這些治家格言的影響，對 神的事工都很大方。多年前

我在本州中部置了兩片土地，早幾年分給了兩個兒子，但不多久大兒子

就把它奉獻給教會，支持建堂事工。

我寫了這些並不是要張揚什麼，只是有感而發。我們一生的經歷，都是

有正有負的，雖然心想行善，但常因老我作怪，若不是 神的恩典，什麼

都不能行。我檢討自己，雖然外表看起來似乎風光，但實際上內裡不可

外揚，面對神恩只能感謝。

行文至此，又使我想到信心與行為的問題。能夠做到言行一致實在不容

易，但卻是很重要。一個好見証不是說了多少，而是行了多少，是否言

行一致。

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我想起多年前聽到的給我印象深刻的一句話：「Walking Tall！」這是

説一個人的偉大不是表現在他的言語，乃是在於他一生的日常生活行為

上。

我常捫心自問：究竟我自己做到了多少？

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耶和華是我的牧者 - 詩篇二十三篇

何營

舊約聖經裡的《詩篇》二十三篇，相信很多人都很熟悉，甚至可以背誦，

但只有那些親歷其境的人，才能理解其中的真義。我想與你們分享我的

家庭在今年八、九兩個月裡如何經歷該章節所描述的情景，作為我們的

見證，希望藉此能夠加強大家對 神的信心。我把它寫成日記的形式，

這樣就可以看到 神每時每刻都一步一步地以祂自己的方式在看顧著祂

的兒女們。

2017年 11月。我收到香港高中的通知，將於 2018年 8月 16至 19日在

加拿大多倫多舉行第五屆全球培正校友會。我的班級是 1955 年，這意

味著我是六十三年前的畢業生。這些年我的同學們不時都有聚會，所以

這次我很興奮，期待再次見到他們。我馬上著手預訂入住的酒店和購買

機票，通常我到海外旅行都會購買旅遊保險，但這次我沒有這樣做，因

為飛去加拿大多倫多距離我家只有四個小時。誰知後來妻子慧娟突發病

況，使我們的機票作廢了。

2018 年 7 月 19 日，禮拜四。家庭醫生如期為老伴慧娟和我做例行健康

檢查。因為慧娟一直咳嗽，醫生給她開了抗生素，以確保她下個月能有

健康的身體參加重要聚會。

8 月 3 日，禮拜五。慧娟不得不再次看醫生，因為她的咳嗽沒有停止。

這回醫生開的處方不是抗生素而是其他藥物。

8 月 7 日，禮拜二。慧娟仍持續的咳嗽。我堅持要帶她去見家庭醫生，

以確定我們可否在十天內去多倫多。家庭醫生為慧娟照了胸部的 X 光片，

發現她的肺部有些積水。

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8 月 8 日，禮拜三，早上 7 點。當慧娟準備去檢驗室驗血時，家庭醫生

從他家裡打電話給我們，建議慧娟直接去急診室做全面檢查。在急診室

拍攝了 X 光片，發現她的肺部有異物增長。她不得不入住醫院，做肺部

活體組織切片檢查。報告結果經醫生診斷：這是癌症！我們怎能相信啊！

這是多麽沉重的打擊！為什麼這事會發生在慧娟身上？她從不抽煙，從

不喝酒，沒有症狀，沒有預警，而且一週有六天去健身房跳倫巴舞，可

是她還是病倒了。我們唯一能做的只有為她祈禱，求 神施恩憐憫。慧

娟向我抱怨說，不應該在 8 月 7 日帶她去看醫生，可以先去加拿大參加

同學會，回來後才去看，這樣就不會耽誤我的聚會。我告訴她這一定是

神的旨意。我對她說，如果我們去了多倫多，而她就在那裡病倒了，這

將是一場災難。我們感謝主的道路，而不是我們的道路。但我們仍然希

望能在一週後及時去多倫多，我打電話給黃牧師，請他為慧娟祈禱。

8月 9日至 21日，禮拜四至禮拜二。慧娟仍留在醫院，靠著打點滴、輸

氧氣和服用其它藥物，以保持病情穩定，等待驗血報告。在住院約兩週

後，慧娟終於在 8 月 21 日出院了。因為慧娟留醫，我們就沒去成多倫

多。黃牧師問我，是否可以在教會禱告會上宣佈，並請弟兄姐妹為慧娟

祈禱。我表示同意，並要求弟兄姐妹用禱告來支持。

8 月 22 日，禮拜三。慧娟作為門診病人再去醫院接受 CT-Scan 掃描檢

查。我們的女兒倩恩在送她的小女兒友恬入伊利諾州立大學後，立即從

芝加哥飛來邁阿密。

8月 23日，禮拜四。慧娟在家休息。

8月 24日，禮拜五。慧娟去腫瘤醫生門診部再做一次血液檢查，這樣聯

邦醫療保險(medicare)才會支付醫療費用。她的血液將被送到加州的一

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個特殊實驗室，以精準地確定癌細胞的突變，其準確率達到百分之九十

九點九九。兩週前在醫院做的驗血結果不能使用，因為沒有聯邦醫療保

險指定的正確代碼。如果不按章辦事，聯邦醫療保險將不承擔所花的費

用。換句話說，我們浪費了兩個禮拜的寶貴時間，仍然無法確定慧娟患

的是何類癌症。醫院告訴我們，有一樣針對特定癌症突變細胞的「神奇

藥丸」，其醫療效果令人驚訝，而且這款「神奇藥丸」是針對特定肺癌

患者:亞洲女性、年齡超過六十五歲、非吸煙者、非飲酒者。這些都符

合慧娟的病況，對她應能有所幫助。我們的兩個孫子，住在坦帕的榮澤

和住在紐約的宏澤，以及他們住在香港的母親陳家寶及其先生，都來我

家探望慧娟。兩個孩子還留宿在我家。他們的愛心令我們非常感動。

8 月 25 日至 31 日，禮拜六至禮拜五。檢驗室驗血工作流程通常需要兩

週時間，由於慧娟的情況非常危急，他們抓緊提前一週完成。可是慧娟

仍無法開始藥物治療，因就算拿到血液報告，之後尚須經聯邦醫療保險

機構批准，才能取得「神奇藥丸」。在這幾天裡，慧娟就像一隻無可奈

何坐著期待的鴨子，吃力地呼吸著所需的氧氣，無法做任何其他事情。

我們只能做的是:不斷祈禱，打電話給腫瘤科醫生辦公室，每天數次上

網查看驗血報告是否出來。

8月 30日，禮拜四。雖然慧娟非常虛弱，但她不得不去醫院門診部抽出

肺部積水，因她呼吸困難。

9 月 1 日，禮拜六。血液測試報告終於發送到腫瘤科醫生的手機。腫瘤

醫生告訴我們一個好消息:慧娟的腫瘤細胞剛好是「神奇藥丸」所針對

的，醫生還說他會打電話給藥廠的銷售員，讓他從速於 9 月 4 日（週二）

將一瓶「神奇藥丸」樣品帶到他的辦公室，因為 9 月 3 日是勞工節假日。

我們認為一切應在掌控之中。但沒有人料到接下來的一週竟會是如此大

的挑戰。

10

9 月 4 日，禮拜二。估計一切都在掌控之中，女兒倩恩回芝加哥了。我

們整天都在等消息，希望藥廠的銷售員收到醫生的吩咐並把「神奇藥丸」

的樣品拿來。但是徒勞無功。下午五點半，我們從腫瘤科醫生那裡拿到

這種藥丸的處方。

9 月 5 日，禮拜三（我生命中最黑暗和最光亮的一天）。慧娟一早醒來，

顯得有點虛弱。她讓我給她拿來上街的服裝，更衣以後，她平靜地要求

我把她帶往急診室。

最黑暗的早晨

我知道她的身體一定非常不對勁兒，否則她不會要求我帶她去急診室。

因為慧娟實在太弱，我們叫了救護車送她去醫院，當她在急診室接受檢

查時，我去了腫瘤科醫生的辦公室，看看怎樣才可以儘快得到「神奇藥

丸」。後來我才知道，即使有了醫生開的處方，還要經過聯邦醫療保險

(medicare)的申請程序，要等三個禮拜才能拿到藥丸。大約一個小時後，

我回到急診室，看看他們是否查出慧娟有什麼問題。急診室醫生把我拉

到一邊，帶著嚴肅的面孔說道：「先生，我很抱歉，我必須告訴您一個

壞消息。我已經跟您們的家庭醫生、腫瘤科醫生、肺科醫生討論了您妻

子的病情。現在是很危急的時刻，她的時日不多了，可能就是這幾天。

你最好讓您的近親儘快來看看她！」

我不相信自己的耳朵。我幾乎昏了過去。主啊！為什麼會發生這樣的事？

我的雙手發抖，聲音顫抖著，眼淚直流，我叫兒子偉恩來，讓他從同一

位醫生那裡再聽一次他的原話，結果他聽到的和我聽到的一樣。換句話

說，慧娟正在「行過死蔭的幽谷」。她會遭害嗎？我向 神祈求，讓慧

娟不致遭害，因「祢與她同在。」當慧娟被安置進普通房間時，我和兒

子努力研究如何儘快獲得「神奇藥丸」。孫子榮澤想知道藥廠在哪裡，

他想飛到那裡，直接去取藥丸並馬上飛回邁阿密，不想再耽誤時間了。

11

他對嫲嫲的愛真的讓我們感動。在慧娟病房外的走廊裡，家庭醫生在說

如何臨終關懷的安排，肺科醫生在說如何用膠管穿進慧娟的鼻子來幫助

她呼吸，並通過她的喉嚨幫助她進食。我呆在那裡，不知道該怎麼辦，

無法相信我們在地上相守了六十五年的親密關係會如此這般地終止。

由於她的病況危急，慧娟當晚從普通病房轉移到重症監護室。初時她不

願被轉移，她認為進了這個病房的病人可能不會活著出來。我們的老朋

友蔡醫生向她解釋說，轉移的原因是護士能照顧地更好，由一名護士照

顧兩名患者，且病房有更好的急救設備，而不是像在普通病房由一名護

士照顧超過八名患者。她被說服了。當晚她需要戴氧氣罩幫助她在夜間

呼吸。戴上氧氣罩後，她要了紙和筆，寫下給我、她的家人和教會弟兄

姊妹最後勉勵的留言。雖然我們大家都在哭泣，我們仍鼓勵她，說主必

看顧她，求 神添加她與我們同在的日子。

最光亮的黃昏

蔡醫生三十多年來一直是我們親密的好朋友，他來醫院看我們，看能怎

樣幫助我們或給什麼建議，那時是下午四時五十分。我兒子偉恩說，在

腫瘤科辦公室五點鐘關門前，我們最好趕去辦公室，了解一下拿到「神

奇藥丸」的進展。蔡醫生和我們及慧娟弟弟鐵生一起來到隔壁的癌症中

心大樓。

我們來到該大樓的前門時，剛好那位協助腫瘤科醫生取得藥丸的助手和

另一位腫瘤科醫生站在那裡，正準備下班離開。當我們討論慧娟的案例

時，蔡醫生問那位腫瘤科醫生，在慧娟等待「神奇藥丸」時，可否有同

類的替代品？該醫生說，她有一瓶第一代「神奇藥丸」，雖不是醫生開

給慧娟處方上的第四代藥丸，但是可以給她這個藥品當作「試用藥丸」，

在一定程度上會有助於緩和慧娟三分之二的病情。稍後該醫生親自把瓶

子裡的「試用藥丸」帶到慧娟的病房。我們認為蔡醫生和那位腫瘤科醫

12

生是 神派來的天使，因他們出現的時間和地點配合得如此精確，只有

神才能將他們安排在一起。

在 9 月 7 日我們收到「神奇藥丸」之前，慧娟吃了兩天的「試用藥丸」。

這兩顆藥丸在我們的生活中把最黑暗的早晨變成最光亮的黃昏。我們讚

美主。因急診室醫生說慧娟時日不多，女兒倩恩立刻從芝加哥再次回來

邁阿密。

9 月 6 日和 7 日，禮拜四和禮拜五。本來有了處方後，「神奇藥丸」仍

需三個禮拜才能送到，可是只過三天我們就拿到手了，這難道不是 神

的奇妙安排嗎？兩個孫子和兩個孫女兒相繼來到邁阿密的醫院探望了慧

娟。我們全家大小連同孫兒榮澤、宏澤，孫女友蓉、友恬，以及外甥女

佳恩在醫院的房間裡陪伴嫲嫲睡了幾個晚上。看到慧娟在呼吸困難中的

掙扎，我擔心她是否能撐得住。我請黃牧師和吳許珊珊姊妹為慧娟的追

思禮拜預作準備。珊珊對我說不要考慮它，因為慧娟還活著。珊珊也鼓

勵我應該相信 神。我真誠地感謝珊珊對我信心的鼓勵。

9月 8日至 11日，禮拜六至禮拜二。不管你信不信，「神奇藥丸」正顯

示出它的功效。從 9 月 7 日吃第一顆藥丸開始，我們看到了慧娟病情天

天有改善，都同聲感謝主。孫兒們先後於 9 日、10 日和 11 日離開邁城

回去他們的學校。

9 月 11 日至 14 日，禮拜二至禮拜五。慧娟從加護病房搬出，於週二返

回普通病房，之後於禮拜五出院回家。現在她希望儘快恢復健康，然後

回到教會再次一起服事和讚美主，並為主作見證。

感謝神的另一個重要事項是，慧娟獲得了「神奇藥丸」製造商的批准，

直到今年年底她吃的藥丸將完全免費，以後每年如是重新申請。這給她

省下昂貴的藥費，因若自掏腰包，每天一顆藥丸要一百美元。

13

從 2018 年 8 月 8 日到 9 月 14 日，這一個多月期間所發生的一切事情，

完全像《詩篇》所說的那樣，我們都親身經歷過了，這是我們的見證。

感謝所有親戚、遠近的朋友、黃牧師、教會執事和教會成員，他們為我

們祈禱，到醫院或來家中探訪我們，給我們送了卡片和鮮花，祝福我們，

帶來食物並幫助我們。我們的隔壁鄰居陳博士和陳太太經常來，他的妻

子幫助慧娟按摩。老朋友鍾瑤琴及女兒瑪麗從 Ohio(俄亥俄州)來做了一

個週末的護理。我們感謝並記住您們所有的善行和愛心。願 神保守你

們！

現在慧娟尚須每兩週見一次腫瘤科醫生，過去一個月她的體重銳減，消

瘦了很多，多處仍有些疼痛，目前正在慢慢復原中。求 神繼續保守，

讓她儘快完全康復，早日脫離疾病的痛苦。讓我們齊聲讃美天上的父神，

阿們！（9/30/2018）

讓我們再次誦讀《詩篇》二十三篇，深刻領會每個字的含義：

「耶和華是我的牧者，我必不至缺乏。祂使我躺臥在青草地上，領我在

可安歇的水邊。祂使我的靈魂甦醒，為自己的名引導我走義路。我雖然

行過死蔭的幽谷，也不怕遭害；因為你與我同在，你的杖，你的竿，都

安慰我。在我敵人面前，你為我擺設筵席；你用油膏了我的頭，使我的

福杯滿溢。我一生一世必有恩惠慈愛隨著我，我且要住在耶和華的殿中，

直到永遠。」

14

蒙恩得救記（二）

劉興隆

感謝讚美主，讓我有機會在家訊 109 期中分享我的蒙恩得救記，見證主

如何在畢業旅行中，奇妙地把我從墜落到兩百公尺以下的懸崖中拯救出

來。懷著感恩的心情，我打印了許多見證副本，在隔年回台灣和同學見

面的時候發給他們，同學讀完都感觸良多。之後，李景峰同學和夫人一

起邀請我小聚，首次緩緩道出他如何試圖將我們所有同學從車禍中救出

來的經歷。因著畢業旅行發生車禍，班上一半的同學從此天人永訣，他

一想到就很傷心，以至於有關他英勇的救人事跡從來都沒有跟同學提起，

連他的孩子們都不知道，只有他的夫人略知一二。

三十多年之後我才得知他的救人經歷。除了要感謝同學兼同鄉賴約從鍥

而不捨的向我傳福音及代禱、山地青年攜著手電筒翻越山谷的救援、醫

護人員的醫療救護之外，還要感謝主如何使用臨危不亂、 聰明機智的

李同學，將還有生命氣息的同學逐步救出來，也只有主才能通過李同學

帶下這個神奇的救拔。因著感恩，特再仔細作蒙恩得救見證如下:

當同學們在深夜被拋落萬丈深谷時，李同學幸運的只有腿部受到輕度擦

傷，為了拯救班上親愛的同學，他勇敢地無視滑倒和從高處墜落的可能

性，和另一位輕傷的同學相約從山谷爬上山頂。爬到半途，這位輕傷的

同學不小心失足滑落回谷底，他雖然心有餘悸，仍然義無反顧地繼續向

上爬。眼看還有十五尺左右將爬到山頂，周圍及足下卻找不到踩力點，

只看到上方不遠處有一棵小樹枝，若攀不住那棵小樹枝，就會跌回深深

的山谷裡。考慮了五分鐘之後，他毅然決定卯足全力向上跳躍，抓住了

小樹枝，爬上了山頂。在山頂上，他看到另外兩個同學幸運的因著衣服

被樹枝纏住沒有掉下山谷，但因驚嚇過度，兩人都茫然不知所措，另外

15

一個同學還一直痛哭。李同學這時很鎮定地先把他們安撫下來，再約著

其中一位同學一起去找救援。

入夜後台灣東西橫貫公路就關閉了，路上行駛的只有返家的山地同胞。

等了好些時候，終於看到三個山地青年開著一輛老舊的拖拉車向他們迎

面駛來。李同學立刻招呼他們，並且和他們一起先去警察局報案。當時

警察局只有一個警察值班，他吊兒郎當的聽著，搖搖頭說不相信，一副

袖手旁觀的樣子。

李同學急壞了，這時候突然想到班上這次的旅遊費，有一半交由他保管，

媽媽擔心他一個大男孩粗手粗腳，於是把他的旅遊費放在上衣的內袋，

並且把周圍開口的地方用縫衣線全部縫緊。這真是神來之筆，因為口袋

全部縫得緊緊的，所以雖然掉落到萬丈深谷中，鈔票一張也沒有失落。

想到如此，他立刻從袋中抽出一百元討好警察，請他打電話緊急報案，

緊急找救護車，警察這時才開始照著他所提示的行動。之後李同學再跟

這三個山地青年一起到出事地點去拯救同學，並且跟他們約定，每救出

一個同學，就給他們每人一百元。

深夜中的山谷到處一片漆黑，只有當地有高超爬山技能的山地人，能熟

練地快速從山頂爬下山谷，帶著隨身攜帶的手電筒翻越山谷查看，並且

優先救援仍有呼吸氣息的同學。於是同學們一個一個地被救到山頂，接

受醫療救護，送進救護車。直到醫護人員把每一個救上來的同學送進車

中，李同學把賞給山地青年的百元面額鈔票剛好發完，一張也不剩，一

張也不少，稍微鬆了一口氣，精疲力竭的他就此暈倒，被醫護人員送進

救護車一起到醫院接受治療。

這次車禍得救，要感謝神的地方實在太多太多了!感謝神讓李同學因著

要拯救同學，冒著生命危險，在一片漆黑中從山谷爬到山頂; 感謝神感

16

動李同學的媽媽把他上衣口袋的開口緊緊的縫起來，以至於鈔票一張也

沒有失落;感謝神帶領他足智多謀，運用班上的旅費，使得整個拯救行

動活絡起來，發揮了最實用的功效;感謝神帶領同學兼同鄉的賴約從同

學鍥而不捨地時常為我禱告，甚至掉落到山谷中，仍然不忘為我迫切禱

告，我才可能向主發出生平第一次的求救禱告，以至全然交託主，全然

放鬆，沒有再度昏倒，直到山地青年看到我的時候，我仍然處於清醒的

狀態，乃至及時得蒙救助。

當我於三十多年之後才恍然大悟，得知我們班上大英雄英勇的救人事跡，

向他表達謝意的時候，他的也是信主愛主的基督徒夫人向我分享:這一

切都要感謝神!感謝神看顧當時的情況，是神交付於他的任務，讓他剛

巧在那個時辰、那個地方只受輕傷，又身懷全班一半的旅遊基金，可用

力所能及的方法，拯救班上的同學。

我還要感謝神，藉著祂的看顧，讓我們經歷了那麼多貴人相助，深深體

會到我們也要成為別人生命中的貴人，在家庭、學校、教會、以及工作

崗位中，多多為別人禱告，多多關懷，多多分享主，彼此教導，互相勸

戒，心被恩感歌頌神。正如以弗所書三章 17 節下到 19 節所說的：「…

叫你們的愛心有根有基，能以和眾聖徒一同明白基督的愛，是何等長闊

高深，並知道這愛是過於人所能測度的，便叫神一切所充滿的，充滿了

你們。」

17

聽黃牧師講道有感

李璐

週日聽黃牧師講完奉獻的道理，讓我這幾天都很有感悟，因為那天早上

出門前我正在問方晨:「咱們的收入減少了，是不是奉獻的金額也應該

相對少一些？」其實，在此之前我內心就已經開始糾結，奉獻究竟應該

是按照稅前的十分一，還是稅後？如果我在其他方面奉獻了，是不是週

日就可以相對的減少一些？這些聲音常在我的腦海裡，讓我感覺很痛苦，

因為我本不是一個愛錢的人。

人們常說：錢不是萬能的，但是沒有錢是萬萬不能的。確實，生活中有

很多需要用錢的地方，但如果我作為一個基督徒對錢的態度和世人一樣，

那我和普通人相比又有什麼區別呢？這樣子於神、於我又有何益處？我

發現當眼裡很注重錢的時候，眼睛所看到的就會越來越窄，生活中的喜

樂就越來越少，計較的事情就會越來越多，因為世人的道和神的道是相

背離的。提摩太前書第六章九、十節說：「但那些想要發財的人，就陷

在迷惑，落在網羅和許多無知有害的私慾裡，叫人沉在敗壞和滅亡中。

貪財是萬惡之根；有人貪戀錢財，就被引誘離了真道，用許多愁苦把自

己刺透了。」這是多麼嚴厲的警告和訓斥！

我們這一代人很幸運，生活在一個沒有飢餓、經濟繁榮的時代。社會上

到處都可以看到對成功學的宣揚，而成功的核心有時候就是有多少的財

富。黃牧師講到，我們都是神的管家，神把一定的財富交給我們讓我們

管理。我們本是不配的，但是神卻賜我們生活所需的一切。我想到自己

五年前剛來美國的時候，即使家裡有再多的東西，老媽使勁的塞，能帶

走的也只有三個箱子。而將來我們離開世界的時候，連一個箱子也帶不

走。五年前，什麼都沒有，心裡只有一個信念。五年後，在美國有了家，

卻快要把自己的信念忘掉，甚至連神的恩賜都快看不到。當上帝關上了

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一扇門，就會打開一扇窗。我想也許不是用來通風的小窗戶，可能是大

大的落地窗。

親愛的天父，感謝您讓我在迷茫的時候聽到了黃牧師的講道，感謝您給

我這麼多的恩賜。我們生活在世上很容易被撒旦的哲學誘惑，偏離了您

的道，忘記了我們每一個都是您用血用生命換來的。親愛的天父，求您

讓聖靈常常提醒我，也讓聖靈在我們教會中常駐，不叫我們遇見試探，

救我們脫離兇惡。前方的路是怎麼樣的我不知道，但我沒有憂愁，因為

我知道誰掌管明天，我要一生一世的追隨您。阿們！

19

黃西瓜和白蘿蔔

區李友竹

這趟返台灣看媽媽，旅程結束的前一天，大姐從房間出來，說是要上市

場買小玉西瓜，那種黃瓤，比英式足球略小的西瓜。這之前，我剛從澎

湖重遊我和她的出生地回家。澎湖西瓜在我記憶中（也每常掛在我回憶

的口上），是黃瓤的。

姐夫不去，但他的男式腳踏車我不能騎，所以我們的印尼籍小護士小可

向她朋友安娜借了一台，讓我當「小跟班」和大姐一齊上市場。我騎上

了安娜的腳踏車，搖晃得厲害，在第三個十字路口就摔了下來，嘻嘻哈

哈地四腳著地。

「妳還好吧？別笑得那麼大聲，不丟臉嗎？」三十多年不見的老姐還是

老姐。

「用腳剎車時，不能一下子太用力，要算計著慢慢地踩剎車。安娜的車

有沒有摔壞？」大姐的教師架勢依舊。

到了東豐市場，我們約略看了看，參考價碼，為了要在大賣場買貨不吃

虧。上車再騎，到了大賣場。那兒人潮洶湧，令人動彈不得，我們想躲

摩托車的廢氣都插翅難飛，很是受了一會兒罪。待到逃出來，再回到東

豐市場，攤販都已收市了。大姐逕直走到還在做生意的唯一店家，喊出

「收市價」﹕五十元新台幣三個小玉西瓜。可是卻讓老板幫忙挑瓜。我

不明白，就嘟囔著﹕「怎麼會這樣？我們不都是敲敲拍拍聽聲音，才選

瓜嗎？」說完就走到遠遠一邊去了，免得讓聽的人不自在。

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等在一邊時，我看到一包棄置的白蘿蔔。大姐一轉到我那兒，我就迫不

及待的問她﹕「要不要撿來做蘿蔔乾？」答案幾乎是肯定到不用問，問

題是矻矻勞苦的切洗翻曬可全是她的了，因為我只剩十八個鐘頭就得上

飛機。眼前更令人傻眼的是﹕她五十元買的不是三個而是四個小玉西瓜，

而兩台腳踏車只得一個不大的前置車籃，這可怎麼載帶兩堆令人捨棄不

下的畸零物？

回程路是坎坷的﹕四個小玉西瓜與一些其他菜蔬被緊紮再緊紮包好，塞

入前置車籃，驚人的突出部分預警著重心不穩；白蘿蔔整袋被套入我們

自帶的更大提袋，別無選擇的放到另一台腳踏車的後座，僅靠單薄的彈

簧夾壓卡住。重量與重心不穩令我們騎得瞻前顧後，行行停停，甚是辛

苦。後來大姐建議我們換車，或許她那台腳踏車我能騎得穩些，大姐的

體貼深獲我心。

可是我們的 神另有安排。我們換車之後，安娜的腳踏車前輪立時一洩

到底的大爆胎。我們瞠訝不已，一時呆住了。等回過神來，才意識到漫

漫前路得靠兩腳走回家。我們無言的推車走著，大姐努力打破五味雜陳

的沉默說﹕「妳姐夫曾說，我們女人家就愛撿便宜。我們這會兒若沒有

撿那袋白蘿蔔…」我搶了她的話，說﹕「姐，我特意和妳出來，為要上

街增長見聞和學習如何過日子。快樂舒坦的日子轉眼即逝，過腦就忘，

而如何克服困難的體驗，才凸顯和雕塑我們的人格。我不後悔，希望妳

也沒有悔恨。」一番連珠炮般合理或不合理的說詞，不知有沒有說服力，

但卻確實是發自我心。

很神奇的，我們的心得到平靜和安息，無名的沉重煙消霧逝。我們開始

積極面對難題﹕先把爆胎修好，然後快樂的、沒事般回家。我們頑皮的

要擁有這份姐妹齊心嗤叱逆境，克難得勝的黠愜，繼續淘氣地謀計著﹕

21

那麼安娜就不得被告知她的腳踏車輪今天換了新胎，回家後各人要嘴緊

守密，不嘆苦惱累。

我們踏上了修車路。聖經教導人說﹕你的日子如何，你的力量也必如何

（申命記 33:25）。禱告和克服困難的頑心，也幫助我們腳步比先前輕

省，踏實地一路走到大姐腦力所及、能想出來的第二家（第一家歇業，

沒開門）腳踏車修理店，包括抬頭挺胸、表情自然的，拉扯推扶著腳踏

車前後龐大歪斜的重負，走過咱自家大門口。在腳踏車修理店裡，我們

跟和善的老板有很好的交通，並感謝他的迅速服務。禁不住快樂地，眼

看著就要完成對抗艱難，更歡喜重溫小女孩時的捉黠。午飯後，大姐開

始清洗白蘿蔔。時不我與，我抓住最後機會，在洗刷削剪中再恣意地享

受一次當「小聽差」妹妹。黃西瓜和白蘿蔔乾我都無緣饕食，可是我們

夤緣而遇賜平安喜樂的主耶穌。

回家看媽媽的旅程完滿結束，充滿美好的回憶﹕坐輪椅有年，九十四歲

的母親健康持平，還能做些許復健，在團圓餐時，全時參與並享受美食；

自己夢魅嚮往回出生地看看，尋根，並落實了解七十年前，交通落後，

國語不興時，母親如何曾在各島嶼上當教師，還生了我們姐弟三人，還

是在烽火煙硝未艾，外公、外婆音訊日稀的懸念、焦心中。我試著去理

解母親移山般吃苦的過往（申 33:25），但諸多心願確實落實在大大小

小，在人來說是不可能的恩典當中，「應當仰望 神，因他笑臉幫助我，

我還要稱讚他。」（詩 42:5b）當時光的列車偷載著這豐富、美好歡聚

的記憶，往老年呆憶佚去時，我願這包外型不正，辛辣逾常的白蘿蔔，

能星火似的讓大姐記起我這妹妹和同行賜平安的主耶穌；我對「澎湖的

西瓜是黃的」的不渝記憶裡，有大姐身體力行，勞苦的愛心及對弟妹們

逾恆的包容。

22

至於我是不是貪小便宜，因小失大（修車花了數十倍於白蘿蔔的價錢），

自討苦吃？願所有的基督徒能同證﹕神同在的保守、引領和愛，實在遠

勝過所謂的「世上的失」和「肉身的苦」。我願在神的愛裡低頭，把對

所有美好事物（包括黃、白畸零物，坐是植文為誌）的感謝、頌讚歸給

神自己。

23

球花石斛蘭與畢業季隨想

劉蓉蓉

母親節的前一天，驚喜地發現樹上那棵球花石斛蘭居然悄悄地蹦出一串

花苞！像初出世的小女孩，看不清眉目，卻是讓人對她充滿希望和憐愛。

接著就是忙著女兒學校的畢業活動，先是在畢業前一週有個歡送會，最

後一天才是畢業典禮。畢業典禮時，滿眼的俊男靚女。男生穿深色西服，

風度翩翩；女生穿白色裙子，清純美麗，如同這些含苞待放的蘭花！

歡送會是在週六的上午，一位男生的父親不知怎麽地在校園摔了一跤，

頭摔到了，送醫院，他本人還是個醫生。很不幸的，畢業典禮時，他已

經不治而逝了。

畢業典禮時，學校請來一位老校董致祝福辭。全場為過去一年畢業生中

有過世的家人默哀。

幾家歡樂幾家愁。這樣的時刻，正應驗了聖經中的古訓，與歡笑的人同

笑，與哀慟的人同哭。

人心總是期望好花常開，好景常有。譬如這蘭花，只有幾片葉子，卻不

辜負春光，一口氣開了 40 朵花。我每天經過，都要看它幾眼，好希望

它就這樣一直開下去，一直這樣美麗著。

但是，球花石斛蘭的花期只有一到兩週。然後，開始慢慢地、很優雅地

凋謝了。最後，所有的花都掉落土中，化為塵泥，悄然無聲息。

24

那幾天到處流傳著《賣米》一文，以及才華橫溢卻英年早逝的作者飛花

的故事。一朵璀璨的花，卻在一場疾病的風暴中提前凋謝飛逝了。跟那

位參加兒子畢業歡送會的父親一樣，驟然離去，讓生者為之痛惜。

垂垂老矣的校董在致辭中提到了信仰和天堂。對眾多未出校門被父母呵

護的少男少女而言，這是多麽遙遠不著邊際的話題！TA 們滿心憧憬的

是下一站的人生-五彩繽紛的大學生活。

花如人生，花期有長有短。球花石斛蘭，最多開兩週。同樣是蘭花，那

棵三月中買的綠色蝴蝶蘭，卻一直開到六月，怎麽看怎麽像假花。

每個人從造物主那裡領受的也是各自不同的生命。有人天資聰明，有人

生來愚笨；有人含著金湯匙出世，有人生在窮鄉僻壤；有人樂享天年，

有人英年早逝。這樣的不同，可以一直列下去。然而，天資聰明的未必

一定比愚笨的有更好的人生，富家子弟也不必驕傲自得，畢竟，錢財買

不了一切，比如幸福。

所以，不必抱怨和自憐，而是為自己所擁有的獻上感恩，以平常心看待

生活中的得失。努力了，無悔；失敗了，重新再來。畢竟，這世上的人

生僅僅是永恒中的一小段。應當多問自己：怎樣不辜負造物主所賜與的

生命？在今世如何為那永恒做預備？

人生如花，願意每一個人可以完成自己的生命旅途，然後優雅地老去。

如果在悅人耳目的花季之後，有幸結出許多飽人口腹的果實， 那是世間

最美不過的好事了。

25

26

神全部都知道 - 受浸見證

黃丹彤

想到星期天就要受浸了，內心就止不住的激動與快樂，彷彿就像是在沙

漠裡看到了綠洲般沁人心脾。曾經有一位別的教會的長老對我說過，決

定成為一名基督徒將是我人生中最重要的決定，甚至比結婚還重要，然

後他送我了一本聖經，他說這是世界上最珍貴的禮物。那本聖經變成了

我現在最珍惜的一本聖經。能夠成為 神的兒女，在祂的光裡行走，感覺

自己身體裡充滿了生命和希望。

其實現在仔細想想，神一直都在我的身邊。我是一個從小被 神所眷顧的

人。我的媽媽是基督徒，所以我從小就去教堂，非常近距離的接觸 神，

也有無數的人跟我傳過福音。也許是年齡太小、也許是外面的花花世界

太過誘惑、也許是想要與眾不同，我始終沒有接受 神。我相信 神，也

敬畏祂，但是我沒有接受祂。要問為什麽呢？因為我的心裡充斥了一大

堆與 神無關的東西，沒有位置放下祂。

小時候的我沒有感恩之心，我在高中以前的人生過得一帆風順，所有人

都對我很好，在任何集體裡都能活的像個團寵，也沒受過很大的挫折，

我不是一個溫室裡的花朵，但是我總是被各種各樣的人保護和呵護著。

小時候總是想:這是為什麽呢？可能是長相和性格問題吧，自負的把結

果都歸結在自己的優秀上。但是其實自己真的有那麽優秀嗎？並不是，

比自己優秀的人太多、太多，驕傲和自負蒙蔽了自己的心和眼睛，卻不

曾想過這都是 神給的祝福。總是想著我真的好努力、好努力，這都是我

應得的，卻未曾想過我應該抱有感恩之心對我現在所擁有的一切，因為

這些都是 神所安排給我的。

27

到了大學以後，離開了父母的管制，就想做一些瘋狂和錯誤的事情。我

精心的計劃著瘋狂的藍圖，但是每一次都被一些我意料之外的事情給阻

止了。我的計劃是那麽的精細和周全，並且已經把許多不可控變量盡量

的考慮進去，但還是莫名其妙地被打斷了，次數多到已經不是能夠用

「運氣差」來概括了。安靜的一個人坐在宿舍裡，能夠清楚地感覺到有

一雙眼睛在背後看著我，即使宿舍裡一個人也沒有。那種威嚴和肅穆的

目光，那是上帝的注視。那一刻我很害怕，原來我的邪惡、我的虛偽、

我的懦弱，神全部都知道。現在一年過去了，事實證明，我的那些「偉

大藍圖」是多麽的愚蠢和黑暗。

「一個人若有一百隻羊，一隻走迷了路，你們的意思如何？他豈不撇下

這九十九隻，往山裡去找那隻迷路的羊嗎？若是找著了，我實在告訴你

們：他為這一隻羊歡喜，比為那沒有迷路的九十九隻歡喜還大呢。你們

在天上的父也是這樣，不願意這小子裡失喪一個。」(馬太福音 18章 12-

14 節)

親愛的天父，讚美感謝你，從未拋棄過像我這樣的罪人。你讓我的生命

裡充滿了你，即使黑暗蒙蔽了我的雙眼，你也不離不棄陪在我的身邊。

與其說大學生活的開端諸事不順，更不如說這大學聒噪且腐爛的風氣讓

我喘不過氣。這令人絕望的世界瞬間看起來其實也沒那麽重要了，是你

讓我明白屬靈的世界才是基督徒所嚮往和渴求的世界。基督的寶血灑在

十字架上，為了讓罪人得著福音、得永生。人的一生雖短暫，我憑信心

在基督裡得著的救贖永不會失去，這是「那上好的福分，是不能奪去的 」

(路加福音10章42節)。願為主奉獻一切並接受您的大能，一生跟隨主。

阿們!

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信仰會給人帶來什麽 - 得救見證

李衡

提筆寫得救見證，但思索良久，竟無從下手。從二零一七年年底認識主

開始到我今年五月份作決志禱告，歷經半年，這半年的心路歷程也有過

懷疑、坎坷、顧慮，但總的來說還算順利，決志那一刻回想一切都是一

個自然而然的過程。感謝上帝一直以來的引領和看顧。

回想信主之前的時光，說句實話，並不像很多基督徒在信主之前曾經歷

過迷茫灰暗的日子。我生自小康之家，並不富裕但卻殷實，家庭在物質

生活方面從小就沒讓我操過心。良好的家庭氛圍和此後的教育環境，使

我對人生目標理想和職業規劃也有清醒深刻的認識。所以，回想我年輕

的一生，若要說有什麽天大的苦難、迷茫、困惑、痛楚，真心談不上。

但我為什麽還要接受並信靠主呢？有好幾個方面影響我。我原先也不明

所以，初識耶穌基督是在 FIU 校園團契，知道了每個人都是罪人，因為

人性的陰暗面，因為人自身的貪婪、嫉妒、偽善、虛榮、自我、狂妄等

心理，因為違背神的旨意。而耶穌愛世人，甘願上十字架，流盡寶血，

洗盡世人的罪。

我們教會在 FIU 的校園團契主要由老師、學生和上班族組成，真正讓我

信服的是他們的身體力行，這比表面上的說辭更具感染力。那不計回報

的奉獻、謙卑的心靈、虔誠的敬畏和感恩、愛人如己的情懷、發自內心

的善良，深深地觸動著我，因為他們有基督的愛。這正不是我希望成為

的人麽？如果我對自己的境界修為還有半點要求，那為何不能像他們一

樣，成為他們中的一員呢？

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我對宗教並無很深的研究和思考，我認為宗教算是一種意識形態，一種

價值觀、人生觀、世界觀的具體體現。人性複雜多變，波譎雲詭，善惡

是非、七情六慾，在人類身上展現得淋漓盡致。但如果有一個信仰能激

發人性的光輝、能使人去惡揚善、能使人謙卑敬畏感恩悲憫、能使人心

喜樂而豐盈、能使人與人之間和諧融洽，那這樣的信仰，我願俯首虔心

追隨，無悔作祂的信徒。

我時常會思考，信仰究竟會給人帶來什麽？究竟會讓人有何種改變？究

竟對人的作用是什麽？我年歲尚淺，也剛信主，恐怕沒能力、沒資歷回

答清楚這些問題。但我卻清楚地知道，沒信仰或者說信仰缺失，可能會

給人帶來什麽。坑蒙拐騙，不擇手段，無所不用其極，虛偽、自我、忌

妒、暴躁、狂妄、放縱，無止境的欲壑，不識敬畏、不識感恩等等諸般

扭曲的心態，追根溯源都是人的罪性。我害怕!我害怕自己成為這樣的

人，所以我願意接受祂的救恩，信靠主耶穌基督成為祂的信徒，一生追

隨祂的步伐。

聖靈非常奇妙，時常帶給我不知因何而來的感動。讀聖經時，禱告懺悔

時，看到教會中弟兄姊妹默默奉獻時，望著星空大海時，或是夜深人靜

獨自一人坐在書桌臺燈前默默思索時，聖靈的感動時常便油然而生。這

天地宇宙間，又怎能沒有一種支配世間萬物運行周轉的偉岸力量？這，

就是全能的耶和華，主宰世間萬物的唯一真神。

寫了很多，心懷感激，不知所言。最後還是用以賽亞書 40 章 31 節結尾：

「但那等候耶和華的，必從新得力。他們必如鷹展翅上騰，他們奔跑卻

不困倦，行走卻不疲乏。」

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2018 年聖誕禮物行動 - 吳雨青

Operation Christmas Child 2018

By Nightingale Ngo

e are so blessed for the outpouring of generosity

in our church for Operation Christmas Child

every year. Our church was one of the first in

South Florida to participate in this ministry and we have

collected thousands of gift-filled shoeboxes in the past 15

years.

我們教會很得祝福，每年都為「聖誕禮物行動」慷慨解囊。提到南弗羅

里達州首先參與這項事工的幾個教會，我們是其中之一。過去十五年我

們收集了數以千計的鞋盒禮物。

Between September and November, our church family fills hundreds of empty

shoeboxes with brand new toys, school supplies, t-shirts, socks, and toiletries for

children who might not otherwise receive Christmas gifts. Operation Christmas

Child is a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse which reaches children all over the

world through a simple gift.

Samaritan’s Purse currently works in

more than 100 countries to provide

aid to victims of war, disease, disaster,

poverty and famine.

今年九月到十一

月，我們教會大家

庭成員把數百個空鞋盒裝滿全新玩

具、學校用品、裇衫、襪子、衛生

用品等，預備送給那些可能沒有機

會收到聖誕禮物的孩子們。「聖誕

禮物行動」是「善普施」基督教機

構的一項慈善事工，把一份簡單的

W

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禮物送給全世界各地的小朋友。目前「善普施」機構向超過一百個國家

提供各項救助，包括受戰爭、疾病、災害、貧窮及饑荒影響的受者害。

These are not merely shoeboxes, but GO Boxes – “Gospel

Opportunity” Boxes – as each gift represents an

opportunity for the Gospel to be shared. As children are

presented with the boxes, local churches and Samaritan’s

Purse ministry partners offer opportunities for the children

to grow in Jesus Christ through their discipleship

program. It is estimated that one in every three children

who receives a box comes to accept Jesus as their Lord

and Savior.

這些不單單只是鞋盒而已，更是「傳福音機會」的盒子。每一個禮物盒

代表著一個傳福音的機會。孩子們收到鞋盒禮物後，當地的教會和「善

普施」機構的同工夥伴將會透過門徒培訓課程，給孩子們提供機會在基

督耶穌裡成長。據估計，每三個收到鞋盒禮物的孩子裡，就有一個孩子

接受了耶穌成為他們的救主和生命的主。

From our church, the boxes are delivered to

local drop-off

locations. The

boxes are then

sent to 1 of 8

Processing

Centers around the country. Ours go to the

Atlanta Processing Center. There, boxes are

inspected by volunteers to ensure the contents

meet the destination countries’ regulations. After preparing the boxes for

shipment, they are placed on trucks and sea containers for their destinations.

Depending on the destination country, local transport of the boxes can include

trucks, cars, bicycles, and even camels, elephants, and dog sleds!

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我們教會收到

的鞋盒禮物會

先送到本地收

集站，再送到

亞特蘭大處理

中心，那是全國八個處理中心之一。在那

裡，義務工作人員會檢查盒內的物品，確定符合目的地國家的入境規定。

當禮物盒備妥後，即送上卡車或海運貨櫃，運往目的地。根據送達國家

的情況，當地的運送工具可能是卡車、汽車、單車，甚至是駱駝、大象、

狗拉的雪橇等。

Samaritan’s Purse’s local ministry partners distribute the shoeboxes to children

in their communities. After receiving shoebox gifts, many boys and girls are

invited to enroll in The Greatest Journey,

a 12-lesson discipleship program where

local ministry partners are able to

establish long-term, caring relationships

with children and families by sharing the

love of Jesus Christ.

「善普施」機構在當地的同工夥伴會

把鞋盒禮物交到社區裡孩子們手中。

收到鞋盒禮物後，這些男孩和女孩們將受邀參加一個為期十二課的門徒

訓練課程，名稱是「最偉大的旅程」。通過這個課程，當地的同工有機

會分享耶穌基督的愛，並與孩子和他們的家庭建立起長期的關懷關係。

We thank everyone for their kindness and participation!

Through your tremendous generosity and enthusiasm, our church collected a

total of 754 boxes!

感謝每一位的愛心及參與。因著大家極大的慷慨捐助和熱心，今年教會

收到的鞋盒總數是：754 盒!

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Thank you for demonstrating God’s love to children around the world!

謝謝您，向全世界的孩子們體現了 神的愛！

Please continue to pray for the children who will receive

these boxes. For more information on Operation

Christmas Child, please visit www.samaritanspurse.org.

請繼續為即將收到這些鞋盒的孩子們禱告。郤知

「聖誕禮物行動」事工詳情，請上網查看：

www.samaritanspurse.org 。

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Instructions for a New Life

By Pastor Russell Williams

s 2018 draws to a close and we anticipate the arrival of 2019, it’s an

appropriate time to evaluate our lives and the direction we are going.

Just as an annual checkup with your doctor gives you the opportunity

to recognize and correct minor health issues before they become more serious,

an evaluation of your life from time to time is helpful. When was the last time

you stopped to contemplate your mental, physical, and spiritual health? God

made us with a mind, body, and soul, and there is great benefit in ensuring any

one area is not out of alignment. It can be easy to overlook or neglect the health

of one of these areas while focusing on another; however this is only to your

detriment.

Although this is already a busy time of year, I still encourage you to spend some

time reflecting on your life and the events that transpired. For some, this has

been an amazing 12 months filled with celebrations and numerous achievements

and victories. For others, this might have been the most difficult year yet, and

you find yourself striving to make it through another day. Whether that be from

losing loved ones, receiving unfortunate news from doctors, or a host of other

reasons, 2018 has been a painful year for you.

No matter how this year has been, certain events have probably happened which

reminded you some things are out of your control. As you reflect back over this

year, there were probably many things—whether good or bad—that were

beyond your control. But no matter what happens, you can always decide how

to respond to whatever life throws at you. You can always strive to respond in a

way that pleases God, and with the power of the Holy Spirit you can live in such

a way that reflects the new life in Christ you’ve received. With the coming of a

New Year and people anticipating how they will live and perhaps what changes

they need to make, it’s an especially appropriate time for a reminder from God’s

Word on how to live the victorious Christian life. The Apostle Paul gives us few

pointers in Colossians 3.

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To begin with, we first need to recognize who we are. In the first four verses of

Colossians 3 Paul says this:

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on

things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set

your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died,

and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who

is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

Writing to the church, Paul reminds the believers there of their standing before

God. He says they have been raised with Christ, and that Christ is now their life.

Time after time in the letter to the Colossians Paul reminds the church who they

are: they have been born again and are a new people because of their faith in

Jesus Christ. He wants them to never forget this remarkable truth. For example,

in Colossians 2:13-14 Paul says, “When you were dead in your sins and in the

uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all

our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood

against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross”. And

in Colossians 1:21-22 he says, “Once you were alienated from God and were

enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now He has reconciled

you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight,

without blemish and free from accusation”.

These are just a few of the times in Colossians Paul mentions this, but the idea

that believers were once enemies and separated from God, but now are brought

close, is a constant theme in Paul’s writings. Really, this is the essence of the

gospel…that’s why it’s such a prevalent theme in all the New Testament. Paul

wanted the churches to never forget this, and as Christians today this is also

something we need to recognize and remember.

For all those who have repented of their sins and trusted Jesus as their Savior,

these same remarkable truths apply. Take some time to reflect upon this. If

you’ve been born again, you are a child of God. You’ve been brought from death

to life. You are freed from the power of sin in your life, and you are no longer

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under any condemnation. You’ve been made new; you’ve been declared

righteous by the Creator of the universe. As you enter into 2019, keep this at the

forefront of your mind. Don’t think of yourself as a failure because of what

happened to you this year. Don’t think of yourself as someone doctors have

given up on or as someone whose hope is gone. Conversely, don’t be tempted

to be too prideful of your accomplishments this year. Recognize that all you

have comes from God—even the abilities to be successful in various areas of life.

First and foremost, be reminded of who you are and how that reality should

shape your life. But as people who have turned from their sins and believed in

Jesus, how are we to live? What should our lives look like, and what should they

be characterized by? Even though we now have this new life and are no longer

slaves to sin, we still wrestle with sin. It no longer controls us, but how are we

to go about battling the sinful desires in our lives? Well, it begins by following

what Paul says in verse two: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly

things”. And in the rest of our passage Paul explains what this looks like in the

believer’s life. In Colossians 3:5-11 Paul says this:

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:

sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is

idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to

walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must

also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice,

slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other,

since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put

on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image

of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or

uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all,

and is in all.”

After you recognize who you are in Christ, next put to death what is of your

earthly nature. “Earthly nature” isn’t a phrase we use too often, but when the

Bible speaks of the “earthly nature” or “the flesh”, it is referring to a life apart

from Christ. Paul mentions many things here that all characterize life apart from

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Christ. And these are things we see on a daily basis. The things Paul lists are all

around us: at our schools, in our workplaces, on our social media feeds, on

traffic billboards; we’re inundated and surrounded by things that belong to our

earthly nature. And yet, as Christians we’re told not to have any part of these

things. It says very clearly put to death what is of your earthly nature, because

these practices in no way represent a life submitted to God.

When a new year comes, people make plans and goals and are optimistic about

a fresh start. There’s something exciting about turning the page in the calendar

to January. But this “out with the old, in with the new” attitude finds a much

deeper fulfillment in salvation. As we’ve seen, salvation is much more than just

turning over a new leaf so to speak; it marks a decided change in life and a

severing of the old ways. Paul reminds us in these verses that at one time we

used to live like this. We participated in sexual immorality, had evil desires, were

greedy, angry, and used filthy language just to name a few. Before we knew

Christ, this is what characterized us…just as those who currently don’t know

Christ live lives filled with these characteristics.

As Christians we used to live like this, but now we’re to rid our lives of all such

behaviors and practices. It’s not nearly enough to avoid them, or maybe to not

participate in them as much as we used to. We are to completely do away with

them—put them to death. This is an intentional, purposeful severing of these

activities and desires in your life, and Paul uses a very colorful way to describe

this for us. He tells us these things listed here are what we need to completely

disassociate ourselves from and, writing in Greek, the way he speaks of doing

this is the same way someone would talk about removing dirty clothes.

One summer while I was in college I had a job at a tree nursery where I sprayed

weeds. The farm was several acres, and for this particular pesticide it had to be

sprayed before it reached a certain temperature outside. Therefore, I had to be

at work around 5:00 AM and could only work four or five hours. I had to mix

the chemicals, load the mixture into a large tank on the back of a four wheeler,

then I’d drive around spraying. As I drove on dirt paths, dust would be kicked

up on my clothes, face, and arms. Additionally, sometimes the wind would blow

38

the chemicals back on me, so by the time I left each day I couldn’t wait to change

clothes.

Now consider this: how much sense would it have made for me to take off those

dirty, nasty clothes, throw them off to the side, take a shower and get all cleaned

up…then immediately go back and put on those same stinking clothes and wear

them around the rest of the day? That’s crazy—no one would do that!

But as Christians who have died to our old selves and practices, when we don’t

put to death the works of the flesh, that’s exactly what we’re doing. When we’ve

been cleansed of all sin by the blood of Jesus, yet still allow lust, greed, evil

desires, gossip, lying, anger and other things in our lives, it’s like running back

to those old, nasty clothes laying over in the corner. Paul says stop doing this!

Don’t live this way anymore! You’ve taken off your old self and died to its

practices, so fight these sinful desires in your life and put them to death. Don’t

keep walking around in these nasty clothes; live a life of holiness instead. As you

prepare for 2019, what changes do you need to make? What aspects of the old

life do you need to leave behind? How can you start preparing now for a

successful walk with God in the coming year?

As necessary as it is to take off (and keep off!) these old behaviors, that’s not

enough. To stick with the clothing motif, after you’ve taken something off,

eventually you’ll need to put something on. This is the final instruction for us,

and in verse ten Paul tells us what we need to do: after we take off the old self

and its practices, we need to “put on the new self, which is being renewed in our

knowledge in the image of its Creator”. Paul elaborates on this in Colossians

3:12-17:

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe

yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and

patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you

has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together

in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as

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members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and

admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and

songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name

of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him”.

Paul’s final instruction in this passage—after recognizing who you are in Christ

and putting to death what belongs to your earthly nature—is to clothe yourselves

with godliness and love. Paul mentions several things we are to “put on” or

“clothe” ourselves with, and these qualities should characterize our lives. This

list sounds very similar to The Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, and while not

an exhaustive list, it is a great picture of how Christians should act. Among all

these qualities, look again at which one Paul stresses in verse 14 is the most

important: “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them together

in perfect unity”. Yes, we need to forgive, and be humble and patient and kind,

but this verse tells us that love is what binds all these things together. Love is the

glue that holds together the Christian’s life as well as the church.

Do you remember what Jesus said in John 13:34-35? “A new command I give

you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By

this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another”.

Jesus didn’t say everyone will know you are my disciples by your patience, your

joy, your financial giving, or sound doctrinal beliefs. He said people will know

you are my disciples by your love. I’d still argue that those other things are

important, but like Paul says, “over all these virtues put on love”.

As we quickly approach 2019, I encourage you to take some time to evaluate

your life. Where are you going, and if you continue down the path you’re

currently on, will it take you where you want to go? Questions like these are

necessary to ask from time to time. Remember that your identity is in Him, and

allow that to dictate your thoughts, actions, and behaviors. Secondly, as you

evaluate your life, ask yourself if anything sinful from your earthly nature is still

lingering and needs to be put to death. If so, through the power of the Holy Spirit

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and with the help of other Christians, make 2019 the year you get serious about

battling sin in your life.

And as you do so, finally consider what godly characteristics you need to

develop in your life. No matter how many years we’ve been walking with the

Lord, each of us can identify areas where we need to battle sin and areas where

we need to become godlier. It is always good to stop and consider matters like

these, and as you do so it is my prayer that you’ll take whatever steps God

prompts you to take and that 2019 will be the most fruitful year yet in your walk

with God.

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The Love of Christ

By Pastor Kwong-Wah Lau

(reprinted from Home News No. 33, December 1993)

hristmas is the season to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The Son of

God took the form of man from a virgin through the power of Holy

Spirit. Why did the Son of God come to the world? Simply speaking,

He came because He loved all the sinners of the world. The ruler of the Roman

Empire, Caesar the Great said, “I come. I see. I love.” Caesar used power to

build his empire, but Christ used love to win the whole world. Christmas is the

season to meditate on Christ’s love. Christmas is the season to proclaim Christ’s

love. Then, what is Christ’s love?

1. Christ’s love is endless love

The Bible says, “It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time

had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved His

own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of his love.”

(John 13:1). “Full extent” means endless. Christ loves us with His endless love.

In our Cantonese Bible study class, we once studied the book of Hosea. No other

book in the entire Bible can give us a clearer picture about God’s endless love

than the book of Hosea because God used the prophet Hosea to demonstrate

His endless love through Hosea’s love toward his unfaithful wife. In Hosea’s

day, the Israelite people turned away from God and committed two great sins

God hated the most—idolatry and adultery. These two sins always went

together because idol worshippers came to their temples not just for worshipping

idols, but for seeking sexual pleasure. In those days, most of the female workers

in a pagan temple were prostitutes. In their temples, they dared to do anything

to fulfill their wild dreams. When everybody dares to do something unusual,

their philosophy may become a popular “truth.” This is the philosophy of our

age, too. The key word is “dare.” They say, “We dare to drink. We dare to

smoke pot. We dare to do anything.” That is why Madonna’s movie, Truth or

Dare broke the box office record.

C

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Hosea’s wife was named Gomer. Some Bible scholars say that she was an

adulterous woman before she married Hosea. Some believe that she was an

innocent girl before she got married but, later, she left home and became a

temple prostitute. Personally, I accept the second interpretation. The second

interpretation matches the historical background of the Israelite people. They

first loved the Lord and then turned away from Him and worshipped idols. Why

did Gomer run away from home? There were at least three reasons. First, it is

because of the “dare philosophy.” Second, it is because of the fallen

environment. Third, it is because of the evil temptation. Some of Gomer’s

friends probably approached her and said, “Gomer, look at my clothes. Aren’t

they beautiful? Look at my diamond. Isn’t it gorgeous? I don’t need to pay a

penny. You know me. I am poor. I don’t have money to buy these things. They

are all gifts from my boyfriends. Gomer, come with me. I guarantee you will

become very popular.” Gomer said, “I can’t do that. You see, I am a married

woman and my husband is a servant of God.” But, her friends pushed her and

said, “Gomer, look, everybody is doing it. By the way, your husband is a crazy

man. All he talks about is the Word of God and the law of Moses. Besides you,

who will listen to him? Besides you, who cares about what he says? Can you

follow this kind of man for the rest of your life? Gomer, come and try something

new. Believe me. You will have a lot of fun.”

Gomer could not resist temptation, so she left her husband and fell into sin. But,

after having all kinds of fun in sin, Gomer began to realize that there was no true

love and real joy in sin. She found that no one truly loved her as her husband

did. She felt sorry for herself and said, “It is all my fault, but it is all too late.”

But, the Bible says it is never too late for a sinner to come back to God. One day,

God said to Hosea, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved

by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though

they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” (Hosea 3:1) This is

endless love. This is the love of Christ. The Bible repeatedly and repeatedly tells

us that God says to His people, “I will never forget you. I will never forsake

you.” If you are far away from God, I urge you to come back to Him today.

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2. Christ’s love is sacrificial love

Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church

and gave Himself up for her.” This is sacrificial love. The word “church” does

not refer to a building but to people. When Jesus was walking on earth, he did

not form any club or any organization but the church. In Matthew 16:18, He

says, “I will build my church.” No one can build a church for Christ. Only Christ

can build His church. So, it is wrong for us to say, “Let us build a church in

Broward County.” We can only say, “Let us start a mission in Broward

County.” When the mission grows to a certain level and the time of God comes,

Christ Himself will build His church in Broward County. Here, the Bible tells us

that Jesus not only came to build His church, but loved His church and gave His

life for it.

Love is not lip service but a sacrificial action. Love is not benefitting yourself but

the one you love. When Jesus was born, there was a love story about a king of

a little kingdom. He and his wife were captured by the Roman army when their

kingdom was conquered by Caesar the Great. When they were brought before

the Roman general for the sentence of death, the king threw himself on his knees

before the general and said, “Please take me and do anything you like with me.

You may crucify me. You may skin me alive, but please spare my wife.” This is

sacrificial love. His appeal moved the heart of the general and the general set

him and his wife free.

Jesus loved the church and gave His life for it. How much do you and I love the

church? If we say we love the Lord but we do not love the church, we are liars.

For the Bible says that if we do not love our brothers whom we can see, how can

we love God whom we cannot see? Here in Ephesians 5:25, the Apostle Paul

uses the relationship of husband and wife to interpret the relationship of Christ

and the church. Why does Paul use the relationship of husband and wife?

Because Paul wants to emphasize the importance of the sense of belonging.

When the wedding ceremony is over, a husband must have this kind of feeling

and say, “Now I belong to my wife and my wife belongs to me.” If he does not

44

have this kind of feeling, he will never love his wife with all his heart. If we do

not feel we belong to this church and this church belongs to use, we will never

love it and we will never do a thing for it.

We will soon celebrate our 25th anniversary. Twenty five years is a long, long

time. What kind of power has kept us together for so long? It is nothing but the

power of love. We love because Christ loves us first. We love one another

because we feel we belong to one another. Let us keep doing the good work. For

this is a great testimony for Christ in our community.

Jesus is the greatest Christmas gift from above. It is personal. You must come to

accept Him into your heart personally. It is eternal. Once you accept him into

your heart, you are saved and you are saved forever.

45

The Lord Is My Shepherd - Psalm 23

By Ying Ho

am sure that many people know very well and can memorize Chapter 23 of

Psalms from the Old Testament, but only those who have had a personal

experience in what it says would understand the meaning in it. Starting from

August 8 to September 14, 2018, what my family experienced was just like

Psalm 23 had said. We would like to share with you our testimony, and our

hope is that it would strengthen our faith in Him. I have written it in the form of

a diary, so that it can clearly show how God is watching over His children

moment by moment, working out details of our personal lives in His perfect

way.

November 2017. I received notice from my high school in Hong Kong that there

would be the 5th World Wide Pui Ching Alumni Convention being held in

Toronto, Canada on August16-19, 2018. My Class was the year of 1955 which

means I graduated 63 years ago. My classmates have been gathering from time

to time and I was very excited and looking forward to seeing my classmates

again. I started taking care of the hotel reservation and airline tickets right away.

Usually, I purchase travel insurance for overseas trips. But I did not do it this

time since Toronto is so close—only four hours away. Because of what

happened to my wife Ivy, our airline tickets were wasted.

July 19, 2018, Thursday. Both Ivy and I had our regular health check-up with

our family doctor. Ivy had been coughing so the doctor prescribed antibiotic

medicine for her to make sure she would be in good health for the upcoming

convention/reunion.

August 3, 2018, Friday. Ivy went back to see the doctor because her coughing

did not stop; she was given another kind of medicine to treat it.

August 7, 2018, Tuesday. Ivy's coughing still lingered on. I insisted to bring her

to see the family doctor again to determine whether we should go to Toronto or

I

46

not in ten days, so we went in to see him and he took an X-Ray of Ivy’s chest

and found fluid in her lungs.

August 8, 2018, Wednesday. The family doctor called us at 7:00 AM as we were

getting ready to go to the Lab for Ivy’s blood test. He advised Ivy to go to

Emergency Room instead for a complete check-up. The X-Ray taken in the

Emergency Room indicated that there was some growth in her lungs. Ivy had to

check into the hospital to have a biopsy procedure and subsequently, it was later

discovered as cancer. WE COULD NOT BELIEVE IT. WHAT A SHOCK!

Why would this happen to Ivy? SHE’S NEVER SMOKED! SHE’S NEVER

CONSUMED ALCHOHOL! THERE WERE NO SYMPTOMS! THERE

WAS NO WARNING! BESIDES, SHE WENT TO THE GYM 6 DAYS A

WEEK FOR RUMBA. THE ONLY THING WE COULD DO NOW WAS

TO PRAY AND ASK GOD FOR HIS MERCY ON HER. Ivy complained to

me that I should not have taken her to the doctor on August 7. Instead, I should

have waited and taken her to the doctor after coming back from the High School

Reunion Convention so that I would not miss it and be disappointed. I told her

that it must be God's will. I told her to think if we went to Toronto and she

became sick there, it would have been a DISASTER. We thanked the Lord for

His way, not our way, but we were still hoping to go to Toronto on August 16,

which was the following week. I called Pastor Wong to pray for Ivy.

August 9 to 21, 2018, Thursday to Tuesday. Ivy stayed in the hospital with an

IV, oxygen and other medicines to keep her condition stable as we waited for

the blood test report. Finally, after almost 2 weeks she was able to check out of

the hospital on Tuesday, August 21. We did not go to Toronto as planned

because Ivy was in the hospital and Pastor Wong asked me whether he should

announce Ivy’s condition in the Church Prayer Meeting to ask our brothers and

sisters to pray for Ivy and I told him to please do.

August 22, 2018, Wednesday. Ivy went to the hospital for the repeated CT-Scan

as an out-patient. Our daughter Cynthia flew down from Chicago right after

dropping off her younger daughter Rachael to the University of Illinois for the

new semester.

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August 23, 2018, Thursday. Ivy rested at home.

August 24, 2018, Friday. Ivy went to the office of the oncologist for the repeated

blood test as an out-patient so that Medicare would cover the costs. Her blood

would be sent to a special lab in California to determine the exact mutation of

the cancer cell with 99.99% accuracy. The blood test results taken by the hospital

two weeks ago could not be used because it did not have the correct blood test

code assignment by Medicare. In other words, two precious weeks were lost

waiting to determine what specific type of cancer cells Ivy had. There was a

revolutionary “miracle drug” that targets a specific mutation of the cancer cell

with amazing results. We were told that this “miracle pill” targets this specific

lung cancer that affects Asian women, 65 years and older, non-smoker, non-

drinker—it fits Ivy’s profile and should be able to help her. Because of their love

towards Ivy, our two grandsons, Lawton from Tampa, and Prescott from New

York, with their mother Viola and her husband Moty from Hong Kong stopped

by our house to visit. Ivy was deeply touched by their visit. The two boys spent

the night in our house that evening.

August 25 to 31, 2018, Saturday to Friday. Usually the lab blood work process

takes two weeks; due to Ivy's critical condition, they were able to expedite the

process to only one week but unfortunately, Ivy was unable to begin treatment

with these pills until the results were in and then, she would still need to access

the pills only after she was approved by Medicare. During those days, Ivy was

in a very grave dark moment waiting, helpless just grasping to breathe. Besides

our faithful prayer, we were checking multiple times per day looking to see when

the test results were finally done.

August 30, 2018, Thursday. Even though Ivy was very weak, she had to go to

the hospital as an out-patient to drain out the excess fluid in her lungs. This fluid

made it difficult for her to breathe.

September 1, 2018, Saturday. Finally, the oncologist received the blood test

report results and he gave us the good news that Ivy’s cancer cells were indeed

a specific match to the cancer cells this revolutionary cancer medicine targets.

48

The oncologist informed us he would contact the sales person of the drug

manufacturer to bring a sample bottle of the cancer medication to his office on

Tuesday, since Monday was Labor Day. We thought everything was under

control but little did we know how challenging the coming week was to become.

September 4, 2018, Tuesday. Our daughter Cynthia flew back to Chicago

assuming everything was under control. We waited all day to hear word that the

sales person responded to the oncologist’s request and dropped off the samples,

but we waited in vain. Instead, we only obtained the prescription from the

oncologist at 5:30 PM.

September 5, 2018, Wednesday (DARKEST DAY and BRIGHTEST DAY OF

MY LIFE). Ivy woke up early at home and looked a little weak. She asked me

to bring her street clothes for her to change into. After changing her clothes, she

calmly asked us to bring her to ER.

DARKEST MORNING

I knew that morning Ivy must have been feeling extremely weak, otherwise she

would not have asked to be taken to ER. We called for an ambulance to pick her

up since she was really in a very fragile state. While she was in the Emergency

Room being checked on, I went to the oncologist’s office to see how we could

get the cancer medication ASAP. I later found out it usually takes 3 weeks when

filing with Medicare to receive the cancer medication. After about one hour, I

went back to the ER to see if they found out what was wrong with her and why

she would ask to come to the ER. The ER doctor pulled me aside and with a

solemn face said: “Sir, I am sorry that I have to give you this bad news. I have

talked to your family doctor, your oncologist and your pulmonary doctor on the

phone concerning your wife's condition. IT’S JUST A MATTER OF DAYS.

YOU SHOULD GATHER CLOSE FAMILY MEMBERS TO SEE HER

ASAP.” I could not believe my ears…I almost blacked out. OH LORD, HOW

COULD THIS HAPPEN? My hands were shaking. My voice was trembling.

Tears were running down my face. I called my son Ivan to come to listen once

again from the same doctor and they were the same words I heard…there was

no mistake. In other words, Ivy was “Walking through the valley of the shadow

49

of death.” Will she fear no evil? I prayed that she would fear no evil, “For Thou

art with her.” While Ivy was being checked into a regular room, Ivan and I were

working on how to get the cancer medicine ASAP. Our grandson, Lawton,

wanted to know where the drug manufacturer was located so he would fly there

and pick up the cancer medicine in person and fly down to Miami without

further delay. His unconditional love for grandma really touched all of us. In the

hallway outside Ivy’s hospital room, our family doctor was talking about

arranging hospice care for Ivy, and the pulmonary doctor was discussing

decision to put tubes down Ivy’s throat to help her breathe and to feed her. I was

totally lost and did not know what to do and couldn’t believe the time had come

for our lifelong relationship of 65 years to end here on earth.

Our longtime family friend Dr. Henry Chua suggested to Ivy’s pulmonary

doctor to move Ivy to a “Step Down” room where she would get better care, but

Mt. Sinai’s version of a Step Down room was the ICU. It was finally approved

against Ivy’s wishes however…she at first, didn’t want to be transferred to ICU

because in her mind that was the end of the line…once you enter there, you

depart the world. Our friend, Dr. Chua, explained to her that the reason for the

transfer was for more attentive care by the nurses; the ratio of patients to nurse

are 2:1, not 8:1. Also the ICU is better equipped to perform lifesaving procedures

just in case they’re needed. She was finally convinced and agreed to the transfer.

She used the BiPAP breathing machine to assist her breathing at night while she

was in ICU room. On this evening with her family standing around and with

the BiPAP machine attached onto her face, she asked for paper and a pen and

wrote her farewell letter to me, her family and friends at church. It was a moment

in which we were all sobbing, but we encouraged her that this was not the end,

and that the Lord would take care of her. It was her moment to rest and all we

could do was pray just for another day to spend with her…

BRIGHTEST EVENING

Dr. Chua has been our dear good friend for over 30 years. Later that afternoon,

he came to the hospital around 3:00 PM to see how he could help and advise us.

It was 4:50 PM and Ivan with sheer frustration said we better go to the

oncologist's office to find out the status of the cancer medication samples before

50

their office closed at 5:00 PM. Dr. Chua went along with me and my brother-in-

law Ted to the Cancer Center Building next door. As we arrived at the front

door of the Cancer Center Building, there stood the secretary speaking to a

different oncologist. As we were discussing Ivy's case, Dr. Chua asked the doctor

if there was any alternate medicine for Ivy while she was waiting for the Gilotrif

medication. The doctor said that she had a bottle of Terceva, (the 1st generation

pill and not the fourth generation as prescribed for Ivy), however, we could give

this pill to her in the meantime while we waited. It would help Ivy's condition

to a certain extent since it only attacked two of the three cell mutations.

Graciously, the doctor brought the bottle to Ivy's room within the hour and

looking back, we consider Dr. Chua and this doctor as angels sent by God. With

their presence and precise timing, God miraculously arranged them together at

that very moment. Ivy was given the 1st generation pills for two days before the

4th generation medication, Gilotrif pills arrived on September 7, 2018. These two

1st generation pills started turning the DARKEST MORNING into THE

BRIGHTEST EVENING in our lives and we praise the Lord. Because of what

the ER doctor said, my daughter flew back down to Miami this evening, along

with my grandsons Lawton and Prescott; our granddaughters Nicole and

Rachael flew down the next day to be with their grandma because we expected

the very worst to come.

September 6 to 7, 2018, Thursday and Friday. It was God’s work, in only three

days, not three weeks, Ivy’s medication finally arrived on the morning of

September 7, and was brought to the ICU for her to take her first pill. Both

grandsons and both granddaughters came to Miami to visit Ivy in the hospital.

My granddaughters, daughter, son, grandsons and niece Cathy even slept in the

ICU room overnight to accompany grandma. We all took turns to be close to

her even as she didn’t want to inconvenience us. My observation of Ivy's struggle

to breathe caused me to worry whether she could win this fight. I asked Pastor

Wong and Nora Ngo about preparing for the Memorial Service. Nora told me

not to think about it yet because Ivy was still alive. Nora also encouraged me to

have faith in God. I give my sincere thanks to Nora for her encouragement in

my faith.

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September 8 to 11, 2018, Saturday to Tuesday. Believe or not, the Gilotrif pills

were showing their power. Starting with the first pill on September 7, we saw

improvement in Ivy's condition each day. We all praise and give thanks to the

Lord and with such a great change, the grandchildren started returning on the

9th, 10th, and 11th back to their schools.

September 11 to 14, 2018, Tuesday to Friday. Ivy moved out from the ICU and

back to a regular room on Tuesday. Finally, Ivy was discharged from the

hospital on Friday and went home. Now, she wishes to recover her health soon

and go back to church to serve and praise the Lord together again and be a

witness for the Lord.

There is another important thing we give thanks to the Lord, Ivy was approved

by the drug manufacturer with “0” co-payment on the drug for the rest of this

year. It saves her $100 a day out-of-pocket money for the pill, and we can re-

apply annually.

We thank all our dear family and friends, siblings, nieces, nephews, neighbors,

Pastor Wong, church deacons and church members, who prayed for us, visited

us at the hospital and at home, sent cards, flowers, well wishes, brought us food

to the hospital and to our home, made special soup or dinner from your homes

and even made food at our home and helped us in so many ways, even for the

prayers from our friends and family from afar, those who spent the night at the

hospital, came by to say hello with your family or by yourselves, even coming

to visit for a weekend from another city and state…we have felt all of your love,

support and encouragement and we can’t express our sincerest gratitude and

love. You are all so dearly loved by all of us and we would need so many

lifetimes to thank each and every one of you for the unconditional love you have

shown to our family.

Currently, Ivy is seeing her oncologist every two weeks and although she has

lost a lot of weight she is doing much better with her breathing. Some parts of

her body is only bones wrapped with skin. She is getting better slowly but is still

52

in some pain. We are asking God to give her a speedy recovery without further

suffering, but only praising for His graciousness.

Let us read Psalm 23 once again and meditate every word.

“The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,

He refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are

with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will

dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

53

When Yellow Watermelons Meet White Radishes

By Yu Chu Au

e experienced God.

It was the finale of my visit with mom in Taiwan. The morning before I was due

to leave for the States, Big Sis, out of a whim, said that she was going to the

market for some Xiao Yu watermelons. These were the yellow-fleshed, soccer

ball-shaped watermelons of my childhood. Meanwhile, I had just returned from

a nostalgic trip to Penghu, the islands where we both were born but had never

since returned. The yellow-fleshed watermelons used to be my comfort food

growing up on the islands.

After I made sure Paul, her husband, was not joining her, I said I would come

along. Our Indonesian maid hollered at her friend, Anna, through the opened

windows and borrowed a girl’s bicycle for me. So Big Sis and I were on the way

to the market.

Not long after embarking on our journey, at only the third intersection, while

braking too abruptly for the red light, I was bucked off the bike and fell on all

fours. As always, I burst out with laughter in embarrassment. “Are you all right?

Don’t laugh so loud. You will embarrass me.” Big Sis sounded like the elder

sister I remembered though hadn’t seen for over 30 years. “When you use the

brakes, don’t do it abruptly, but slowly and deliberately. Is the bike damaged in

any way?” She had been a veteran teacher in the past, that’s for sure.

We arrived at the market and browsed around. Big Sis said she had only come

to investigate the prices for reference. Her real intention was to buy the melons

from a bigger, semi-whole-sale market a little farther away. Soon we were on

our bikes again.

When we arrived, we found the other market to be jam-packed. Throngs of

people clogged all the passages. Worse, we were choked breathless by thick

W

54

motorcycle exhaust in that no-way-to-escape situation. But escape we finally

did. And we made a return visit to the first market just as it was closing. Big Sis

went to a fruit vender that was still lingering around and struck up business

immediately. She successfully haggled over the prices to an amazing three for

50 NT dollars, but made the mistake of asking the vender to pick the melons for

her. I surreptitiously walked up and reminded her in low voice the conventional

trick of patting and knocking for a crisp hollow sound to ensure their quality.

I patiently waited afar for the transaction to complete and noticed a bagful of

daikons (白蘿蔔, white radishes) at one of the deserted stands. The idea of

making winter-time salt-preserved daikons flashed into my mind. Although

when she rejoined me Big Sis had actually been helped to four instead of the

asked three melons, we both found it hard to resist my fancy. So right away we

decided to glean the daikons.

The homebound trip proved to be challenging: the four watermelons and some

other vegetables were strategically packaged and nestled in the woefully

undersized front basket of one bike while the daikons were stuffed into a larger

bag and strapped to the back seat of the other bike with a mere spring clip. The

awkward loads of each bike made peddling rather difficult. At one point, Big Sis

asked if I would prefer to use her bike for an easier ride. I enjoyed the idea of

being pampered as Mei Mei and accepted the offer.

However, God said otherwise. The moment we swapped bikes, the front tire of

Anna’s bike exploded and hissed. It was the kind of flat tire that you instantly

knew you could no longer ride but had to walk home. We stood in quiet disbelief

for quite a few minutes. After we started pushing the bikes forward Big Sis

reflected dryly: “Well, Paul always said that we, women, are too penny-wise. If

only we did not glean the daikons….” Sheepishly I offered: “It’s OK. I wanted

to spend extra time with you, Big Sis, to experience something extraordinary.

Good memories fade fast while adverse situations build character, so you know

my true colors and I know yours. I am not regretful, and I hope you are not,

either.”

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After the little talk we felt the unhappy fog that damped our spirits lift. We

gathered our senses and started to plan our next step. We quickly decided to

have the flat tire fixed secretly and then would go home appearing as normal as

could be to dismiss the incident. We were not going to cry about the mishaps

nor pity or ridicule ourselves in any way. Anna, therefore, was not going to

know that her bike had been outfitted with a brand new tire today. We

mischievously contrived to cover up all trails to make today’s episode a perfect

secret and a victory between Big Sis and me.

We made a detour to have the tire fixed. The Bible encouraged man that our

strength would equal our days (Deuteronomy 33:25b). We certainly could use

all the strength and courage we had ever mustered now. Our clandestine scheme

happened to also help exhilarate our spirits and lightening our steps. A long

detour took us all the way to the second (!) bicycle shop (the first one was closed

for business) including the stretch where we walked awkwardly but gingerly

right passed our own front door. We waited patiently, conversed amiably and

paid happily when the repair was promptly done. We could hardly contain

ourselves knowing that we had overcome the ordeal and held a personal secret.

And above all, Godsend peace had been with us overlooking and overtaking the

mundane frustrations to make it a lovely and memorable outing.

After lunch Big Sis started to clean and prepare the daikons. Stealing the last

opportunity, I jumped in to help. “Oh, I just want to make time to be with you,

Big Sis,” I whispered in my heart.

My trip home was wrapped up perfectly with many wonderful and miraculous

memories: mom’s health actually improved at 94 years old, my long-shot dream

of revisiting my birth place was fulfilled in a way no money could buy, and the

rich and satisfactory reunion buffet dinner every one, even mom, had enjoyed.

Yet when age further etches the lines in our faces and memory fails to favor us

any longer I would like Big Sis to remember the time we gleaned a bunch of less

than perfect, spicy-hot daikons when God walked along side of us with a broken

bike. And I will cling to the love of her extra effort procuring yellow watermelons

to allow me to relive our childhood memories.

56

For now, it was only fair to answer that question: did I get more than I had

bargained for? Of course I did. I knew that God had gone on the outing with us

and had lent His guidance and protection along the way. I had seen him beaming

and winking. He is to be praised (Psalm 42:5b) for all things beautiful.

57

Update from Paul and Heather Ling

By Paul & Heather Ling

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

We are sorry for not updating you all earlier. Time has slipped by and we are

still trying to find the balance of doing God's work along with tent making to

stay afloat in one of the highest housing costs in the world. Although this has

brought challenges that stretched our faith, God has been very good to us

through it all and He has been our perfect provider. Thank you all for standing

with us with your prayers and financial support!

We continue to follow God's leading in the ministry areas of reaching the lost,

hurting and the underprivileged. The activities currently range from street

outreach, ministry to red light districts, as well as leadership roles among other

church leaders to help those in need. Adding to these areas, the Lord has added

our reach into the area of anti-human trafficking through a Christian brother

who leads a non-profit that partners with global organizations to fight this on-

going evil. In addition, we continue to support church leaders in prayer and

discipleship ministries and Bible studies where we not only see people come to

Christ, but also restore their relationship with God, and break free from

depression and other strongholds that keep people in darkness. God is truly a

God of miracles!

We thank you for your continued partnership and covet your prayers most of all

since we don't battle against flesh and blood but the spiritual principalities all

around us.

May God richly bless you all as you faithfully live and serve Him!

Love and Blessings,

Paul and Heather

發行人：美亞美華人浸信教會 黃英杰牧師

總編輯：吳許珊珊

執行編輯：吳雨青

中文打字：黃碩明

封面：麥辛夷

審稿：黃英杰牧師，唐詩絮師母

Publisher: Pastor Ying Kit Wong

Chinese Baptist Church of Miami

Editor-in-Chief: Nora Ngo

Editor: Nightingale Ngo

Chinese Typist: Shek Ming Wong

Cover Artist: Sonia Mak

Reviewers: Pastor Ying Kit Wong, Nancy Wong, Pastor Russell Williams

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