親愛的代禱夥伴:
我們第一次見到姚太太時,是在一個弟兄家裡的聚餐,那天大家聊到聖經的權威性,她表示她有讀過聖經,但是信仰對她不重要,沒有興趣、沒有時間去信教。但是,在她信主之後,她告訴我們,其實那時她生活得很痛苦,她的家庭生活正面臨風暴,許多事情讓她非常苦惱,可是在人面前卻裝扮得很好,若無其事。在我們的生活中也有許多和姚太太一樣的人,他們的心被蒙蔽了,不認識神,在面臨人生的風暴時,很是無助,也不知道解決他們愁苦的就是基督的信仰。其實,人因為沒有正確的自我價值和人生方向,就有了許多的愁煩。他們對福音的了解是個宗教,而不是生命之道。我們需要告訴他們:「基督的信仰帶給人豐盛的生命,絕對不是一個可有可無的宗教選項。」
感謝主,神讓姚太太看見基督的信仰不是一個死的宗教,而是世人的生命之道,帶給人希望和信心。她所結識的朋友——教會中的一對夫婦,他們的家庭生活亦有不少苦惱愁煩的事,也有爭執和不和。但是,姚太太注意到,他們總是有一個力量支持著他們,給他們希望必能勝過他們的問題。再不滿自己的配偶,最後還是願意饒恕。這種的愛,在她自己的生活中是沒有的。她很羡慕他們,漸漸更多的和他們交往,她也就開始來參加教會的活動。我們朋友的眼晴是雪亮的,所以我們每個基督徒都要警醒生活,傳福音必不可少的是生命的真實見證。
之後,姚太太就固定來參加教會的聚會。三個月後,她就受洗歸入基督。成為基督徒之後,信仰的成長亦對她有挑戰。基督徒生命的特質如順服、忍耐、饒恕和溫柔,最初她很難做到。我們去探訪她,與她分享和給她鼓勵。後來,她願意試著去做。姚太太分享說她現在脾氣溫柔許多了,生氣發怒的事也很少發生。丈夫因為她的改變,也改變了。因為丈夫的改變,她也能順服丈夫。家裡的孩子也乖巧許多。她聽到主的命令又實在的行出來,就在她所行的事上得福。(雅1:25)
因開普敦教會成員的交流和互動不足,我們決定在教會中設立幾個團契,增加教會成員之間的交流、彼此扶持及代禱。目前社青團契和婦女團契都成立起來,感謝主,初步的結果和反應良好。我們將會繼續增加別的團契。
請你為我們事工這些需要代禱:
- 請你為南非工場需要多名宣教士代禱。
- 請為開普敦教會的團契事工代禱。求主幫助我們設立團契和組織不同類型的團契活動。
- 請為我們在大學城斯泰倫博斯(Stellenbosch)的福音工作代禱,為我們接觸的年輕人小翁信主代禱,求主幫助我們能接觸到更多華人。
- 請為年底在開普敦舉辨的營會代禱,為報名、住宿安排和專題講座的準備工作代禱。
- 因為我們精減行程,調整了一些事工的時間。請為各地事工的正常運作代禱。
- 請為我們出外往各地事工及行車的安全代禱。
您的同工
克達、雅麗
二零一七年九月
下載 PDF 格式 (中文)
Download PDF Version (English)
Dear Prayer Partners,
We first met Mrs. Yao at a dinner party in one of our brothers’ home. Our conversation somehow touched on the authority of the Bible. She mentioned that she had read the Bible before but religion did not appeal to her at all. She neither had the interest nor the time to explore. However, after she accepted Christ, she admitted that at that time she was actually under a lot of stress due to marriage problems. In order to make a good impression on others, she just put on a happy front. There are indeed a lot of people around us like her. Their eyes are blinded; they do not know God. They feel helpless when facing life’s challenges; they do not know that faith in Christ is the solution. Without a clear life direction and a correct value system, people are drowning in despair. Many see the gospel as a religion, not realizing it as the Word of Life. We need to make it known to them, “Faith in Christ brings about an abundant life; it is not an optional religious choice.”
Praise the Lord! He led Mrs. Yao to recognize that faith in Christ is not another religion, but man’s way of life that brings hope and confidence. She saw that her new friends (the brother and his wife) also had similar family issues and worries, even fights and arguments. At the same time, she found that there was an unseen influence in their family that gave them hope in overcoming their problems. Any resentment toward each other was resolved through forgiveness. This kind of love was an eye opener; she wanted it so much in her life. As she got to know them more, she began to attend some church activities with them. People around us can see through our pretense. If we want to lead them to Christ, we need to be real in living out our faith.
Three months after Mrs. Yao attended church regularly, she was baptized. Her spiritual growth was not without struggles, especially in the areas of submission, patience, forgiveness and gentleness. When we visited her, we continued to encourage her and share with her our own experiences. She then really committed herself to live out her faith. She shares with us that now she is gentler and does not easily get angry like before. Her obvious changes affected her husband to change, too. In turn, she found herself easier to submit to her husband. Her kids also become more orderly and calm. Blessed are those who know the truth and practice it! (James 1:25)
As we noticed that more interaction is needed among the Cape Town church members, we decided to form different cell groups to facilitate and encourage sharing, support as well as praying for each other. The Young Adult group and Women’s group just had their first meetings this month, and the response is encouraging. We plan to start other groups in the coming months.
Prayer Requests:
- May the Lord send more workers to South Africa.
- Please pray for the formation and planning of the new cell groups in the Cape Town church.
- Please pray for the outreach in Stellenbosch, especially the salvation of our new friend Mr. Wen. May the Lord lead us to come in contact with more Chinese.
- Please pray for the preparation and messages for the December retreat in Cape Town.
- As we have to rearrange our schedule in serving three churches, please pray that no ministry is adversely affected.
- Please continue to pray for our safety as we travel to different cities and towns.
In His service,
Ko-Ta & Christina