牧者心聲
差傳與禱告
周依娜牧師
2024 年 8 月 31 日 /9 月 1 日
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有一次參與海外宣教實習，我遲遲未開始禱告和籌備，滿心以為教會既差出那麼多宣教士，理應很容易就安排到宣教士作我的工場服事督導，沒想到該年教會剛舉行大型宣教慶典，很多宣教士都回港了。我為著自己的自高和輕率而羞愧，並向神認罪。宣教不是體貼自己的熱心和喜好，更不是依靠自己來決定征途，乃是全心倚靠差派的主親自指派和引導。
最後神藉著一位舊同工的來電轉介，邀請我前往東南亞的孤兒院為當地人教授普通話，因為當地正流行中文熱。一位宣教士更親自創作了四系列的福音讀本：創造、救贖、復活、永生。每一課會教七個漢字，例如創造本的第一課是「我、你、人、神、是、造、不」。然後宣教士把七個漢字編成一篇福音信息：「我不是你，你不是我，是神造我，是神造你，不是我造你，不是你造我，是神造你，是神造我。」旁邊附加當地語言的翻譯，教材的目的是要讓學生們讀的時候也把神的真理讀進生命裡。我這才明白，神差我到這裡來，原來是有如此的需要，有如此的愛！
兩個月的服事，最深的經歷是禱告，我身處少數族群中，與來自不同國家的宣教士定期有禱告會，我們用不同語言頌唱詩歌〈祢真偉大〉，並禱告讚美神在當地的工作；我和宣教士每個早晨都提名為報讀中文班的兒童及成人禱告，祈願他們認識耶穌。當聽到他們用標準普通話對我說：「神愛你，神愛我，神愛我們。」心中就很被神的愛觸動，神的榮耀也在這些孤寡的群體中被彰顯。
服事的最後一天，有一道完整的彩虹展現在我面前，近得就像可以觸摸似的，我立時想起保羅提到神的應許：「我信神他怎樣對我說，事情也要怎樣成就」（徒二十七25）。此時宣教士掏出一封一年前的代禱信，她說為了求神差派一名中文老師來使用福音讀本教授普通話，前方後方切切禱告了足有一年的時間，這信就是神信實的證據！原來神讓被差者和後方禱告者都投入祂的計劃中，好讓祂的慈愛和信實得以表揚，也讓被服事者傳揚祂的救恩！
執筆之時，我正利用安息年假奔走歐洲各地服事，感謝神的差派和你的代禱，願意你也順服主耶穌的差遣：「要收的莊稼多，做工的人少。所以，你們當求莊稼的主打發工人出去收他的莊稼。」（路十2）
Once I took part in overseas mission training. I was very late in starting prayer and preparation. I was counting on the fact that many missionaries had been sent by the church and so arranging one to be my supervisor on the field should not be a problem. But it so happened that many missionaries were back to Hong Kong that year to attend a large-scale mission celebration. I was ashamed of my arrogance and negligence, and I confessed my sin to God. Mission has nothing to do with satisfying our own enthusiasm and preferences, not to mention making our own decision on the way to go. It is about full reliance on the Lord of mission to send and to guide.
Finally, via a former colleague, I received an invitation to teach Putonghua in an orphanage in South-east Asia as learning Putonghua was a trend there then. One missionary even created a set of four gospel readers: Creation, Redemption, Resurrection, and Eternal Life. Each lesson was devoted to teaching seven Chinese characters. For example, Lesson One would teach the seven Chinese characters for "I, you, man, God, are, make, not." Then, the missionary put the words together to form a gospel message: "I am not you. You are not me. God made me. God made you. I did not make you. You did not make me. God made you. God made me." The message was complete with its translation in the local language by its side. The aim of the materials was to let students read God's truth into their lives as they were reading. It was only then that I understood that God sent me there because there was such a need, and there was such love!
Prayer was the most impressive experience in my two-month ministry. I was working among an ethnic minority. Missionaries from different countries had prayer meetings regularly. We sang the hymn "How Great Thou Art" in different languages and praised God for His work on the land. Every morning, I and the missionaries prayed for the children and adults who joined the Chinese class by name. We prayed that they would come to know Jesus. When I heard them say to us in standard Putonghua "God loves you. God loves me. God loves us," I was really touched by God's love. The glory of God was magnified in that community of the orphaned.
The last day of our service, a full rainbow appeared in front of me. It was so close that I felt I could touch it. It reminded me of God's promise according to Paul: "So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me" (Acts 27:25). At that moment, a missionary took out a year-old prayer letter. For God to send a Chinese teacher to teach Putonghua using the gospel readers, those on the field and those back home had prayed fervently for a whole year. The letter was proof of God's faithfulness! We could see that God had allowed those sent out as well as the intercessors back home to participate in His plan so His lovingkindness and faithfulness could be magnified and that His saving grace would be spread among those being served!
At the time of writing, I am serving in various parts of Europe during my sabbatical year. Thanks be to God for sending me and for your prayers. May you also obey the Lord Jesus' sending: "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field" (Luke 10:2).
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