親愛的弟兄姊妹平安：
「凡事都有定期，天下萬務都有定時。生有時，死有時。」傳三1-2上
還記得來法蘭克福第二年，第一次為一位姊妹主持安息禮拜，因為當時教會還沒有牧師。那姊妹才四十出頭，得病而離世，留下兩個幼少的兒女。事隔十多年，上次教會辦的燒烤戶外敬拜，還看到她的女兒。
上個月也為一位年過七十的姊妹主持安息禮拜。這位姊妹在得了癌症的時候，還未信主，後來經過朋友介紹認識了一名基督徒。這名基督徒每天下班都去醫院為她禱告，並邀請另一姊妹向這位病人傳福音，她就決志信主了。可惜的是，她病好後，卻沒有機會去當地的查經班，因為她是說廣東話的；而且沒有上過學，所以不能自己讀聖經。在疫情期間，我們探訪那位為她禱告的姊妹，姊妹帶我們去找她，並邀請她參加線上的查經班，又邀請她參加線上的讀經班，讓我們慢慢認識她。可惜因為一些誤會，她就停止參加線上聚會；但她告訴我還是會跟著我每天發的信息去聽。
這姊妹在醫院離世的前一天，我剛好要到醫院探訪一位年輕的姊妹，順便邀請那位為她禱告的姊妹一起去看她。沒想到那天，醫生宣佈她沒剩幾天生命，她的兒子與家人正在病房。了解情況之後，我就為她禱告，祈求天父早點接她回到父神的懷抱裡，免受更多的痛苦，結果第二天，就收到消息她回天家了。
雖然姊妹決志多年，信仰根基仍不深，但是她卻很清楚自己已經決定跟隨主，不會相信別神，所以她生前曾吩咐過兒子，若是她離開世界，要按基督教的儀式來辦理喪事。由於在醫院第一次認識她兒子，他也聽到我為他媽媽禱告，所以他就找我主持安息禮拜；因為他與家人都沒有信主，他們什麼都不懂，就交給我來處理。
安息禮拜那天，除了她的家人與親戚朋友之外，還有其他族裔的人，包括姊妹的媳婦是泰國人，媳婦也邀請了她的朋友。他們大部份人都是傾向佛教與迷信的，沒有接觸過基督教的安息禮拜。感謝神，藉著這樣的機會來向他們見證神，讓神的話語來安慰姊妹的親戚朋友！
感恩與代禱事項：
- 感謝神的定時，讓我去探訪年輕病人的那天，不但見到老姊妹的最後一面，並可以在她兒子面前為她禱告！感謝天父把姊妹平安地接回天家！感謝主，使她在生前對兒子的吩咐，讓他在眾多不信的家人朋友面前舉行一個基督教的安息禮拜！求主藉此機會使他們能看到神的恩典與憐憫，讓他們繼續去認識天父的慈愛，接受主的救恩，將來與老姊妹再見！
- 感謝天父的帶領，讓參與上週同工訓練營的弟兄姊妹有豐富的屬靈收穫！最近一、兩年都看到有好些弟兄姊妹回應神的呼召。這次看到有弟兄們在尋求讀神學的資源。求神帶領這些弟兄們，讓他們找到合適的神學裝備課程，將來能全職事奉！求神帶領一位剛結婚不久的弟兄，他有感動，但是還需要等待妻子的支持！
- 因漢諾威教會的牧師要回國工作匯報，我七月與八月都被邀請回去分享神的話。感謝主賜下機會，在服事之餘還可以看到一些以前認識的弟兄姊妹！漢諾威與法蘭克福相距大約350公里，以前坐快速火車只需三個小時之內。自從疫情以後，政府有補貼車票，我便利用此補貼來坐火車，但是規定只能坐慢速火車，並且從我家出發要多次轉換交通工具，加上暑假很多地方修路，人手短缺，有時火車晚點甚至不開，所以去一趟漢諾威要花上七個小時！求主保守下一週的路程，火車班次都順利！
- 求主憐憫一對年過八十的老夫妻，最近被租客燒了部份房子，被逼搬離那房子，之後又有賊進入被封鎖的房子偷了貴重的東西，求主安慰他們的心！感恩丈夫雖是天主教徒，他盡量每週都接載妻子參加團契聚會（他們住在週邊的城市）！
神沒有應許我們天色常藍，但是祂的恩典夠用！謝謝您們一直的陪伴與支持，為著有需要的人禱告！
願主恩與您們同在！
主的使女
鄧秀珍
二零二四年八月十五日
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Dear brothers and sisters,
‘There is a season for everything, and a season for everything under heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die.’ Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a
In the second year after coming to Frankfurt, I held a funeral service for a sister for the first time because the church did not have a pastor then. The sister was only in her early forties, fell ill and passed away, leaving behind two young children. More than ten years later, I saw her daughter at the last barbecue outdoor worship held by our church.
Last month, I also conducted a memorial service for a sister who was over seventy years old. It turned out that this sister had not yet believed in the Lord when she got cancer. Later, she met a Christian through a friend. This sister went to the hospital where she was staying after work every day to pray for her. She also invited the sister who led her to believe in the Lord to preach the gospel to the patient and she decided to believe in the Lord. Unfortunately, after she recovered from her illness, she did not have the opportunity to go to the local Bible study fellowship because she spoke Cantonese, and she had not read the Bible much because she had not gone to school. During the pandemic, we visited the sister who prayed for her, who brought us to see her and invited her to participate in an online Bible study class, and then invited her to participate in an online Bible reading class. We gradually got to know her. Unfortunately, due to some misunderstandings, she stopped attending online gatherings. But she told me that she would still listen to the messages I sent every day.
The day before the sister passed away in the hospital, I happened to be visiting a young sister who was just admitted to the same hospital. Therefore, I invited the sister who prayed for her to visit her with me. Unexpectedly, that day happened to be the day when the doctor announced that the sister had only a few days to live. Her son and his family were in the ward. After understanding the situation, I prayed for the sister, asking our Heavenly Father to take her back to God’s arms as soon as possible to avoid further pain. As a result, I received the news the next day that the sister had returned to heaven.
Although the sister had made her decision to accept Christ for many years and had little foundation of her faith, she was very clear that she had decided to follow the Lord, and she would not believe in other gods. Therefore, before she died, she had told her son that if she left the world, she would have her son to conduct her funeral according to Christian rites. Because I met her son for the first time in the hospital, he also heard me praying for his mother, so he asked me to hold the memorial service for her mother. Neither he nor his family believe in the Lord, he didn’t understand anything regarding Christian service, so he asked me to handle it.
On the day of the memorial service, in addition to her family, relatives and friends, there were also people from other ethnic groups, including the sister’s daughter-in-law, who is Thai, and she also invited her friends. Most of them are inclined toward Buddhism and superstition and have never been exposed to Christian service. Thank God for giving us this opportunity to witness to them and let God’s words comfort the sister’s relatives and friends!
Thanksgiving and Prayer Items:
- Thank God for his timing! On the day I went to visit the young patient, I not only saw the old sister for the last time, but I was also able to pray for her in front of her son! Thank you, Heavenly Father, for taking my sister back to heaven safely! Thank you, Lord, for allowing her to command her son during her lifetime to hold a Christian memorial service for her in front of many unbelieving family members and friends! Pray that God will take this opportunity to enable them to see God’s grace and mercy, let them continue to know the love of our Heavenly Father, accept the Lord’s salvation, so that they will see the old sister again in the future!
- Thank our Heavenly Father for His guidance, which enabled the brothers and sisters who participated in last week’s co-worker training camp to gain rich spiritual gains! In the past year or two, we have seen many brothers and sisters respond to God’s calling. This time I saw some brothers looking for resources for studying theology. Pray that God will lead these brothers to find a suitable theological seminary and will serve in full-time ministry after equipping themselves! Pray that God will guide a brother who has just been married. He is moved by God’s calling, but he still needs to wait for his wife’s support!
- Because the pastor of Hannover church has returned home for furlough, I was invited in July and August to share God’s words. Thank God for giving me the opportunity to meet some brothers and sisters I knew before while serving! Hannover and Frankfurt are about 350 kilometers apart. It used to take only less than three hours by high-speed train. Since the pandemic, the German government has subsidized tickets, and I have used this ticket, but I can only take slow trains. Starting from my home, I have to change transportation multiple times. In addition, there is a lot of road construction during the summertime, and there is a shortage of manpower. Sometimes the train is late or even cancelled. So, a trip to Hannover took seven hours last time! Please pray that the Lord will protect the journey next week and all train rides will go smoothly!
- Pray to God to have mercy on an old couple who are over eighty years old. Recently, part of the house was burned down by a tenant, and they were forced to move out of the house. Later, thieves entered the blocked house and stole valuable things. Pray that God will comfort their hearts! Thank God that although the husband is a Catholic, he tries his best to drive his wife to fellowship meetings every week (they live in a nearby city)!
May the Lord’s grace be with you!
Serving Him,
Karen Tang