親愛的弟兄姊妹平安：
「我必安然躺下睡覺，因為獨有祢——耶和華使我安然居住。」詩篇4:8
自從開始每天的讀經聚會，感覺時間過得更快。剛開始只有五人參加，現在經常有七、八人上來，到齊的有十人。因為其中一位姊妹的邀請，一位住在慕尼黑的姊妹也來參加。本來她與兩位姊妹讀經，但因反應不太好就停了。所以，當她聽到我們有讀經聚會，她就很開心，還邀請另一位姊妹來參加。由於大家的年齡大都超過七十歲，我是最年輕的，所以剛開始的時候都要等她們慢慢上來，因為她們有時候不懂上Zoom（我們聚會的平台），進去後或許無聲音，有聲音又沒有影像。過了幾週之後，大家基本上都學會了。不過，我們當中有一位獨居又可能記憶力衰退的姊妹，總會忘事，今天教會她上來，第二天她又忘記了。有一位姊妹曾經花了四個小時教她，她自己也把每一步驟都寫下來，並把紙條放在桌面上，打算第二天照著做。結果第二天，她已經忘記了，連紙條也不知道到哪裡去了。因此，我們每天要花上很多時間去教她，其他弟兄姊妹就學習忍耐的功課。有時候還是上不來Zoom，我們就打她座機讓她聽。她是新加坡華僑，不會看中文，雖然技術上也有問題，但是她還是很高興與我們一起聽神的話。上週，輪到我們最年長、快八十歲的姊妹上不來，她都很能幹，自己努力學著進去Zoom，忽然有兩天她說不會上來了，我們也只好用電話讓她聽。後來，她女兒幫她解決問題了。
神的帶領太奇妙了，若不是這次疫情，就不可能促成這個早上讀經班，把居住不同地方的長者聚在一起，也不可能勸她們自己讀聖經。以前不是說讀不懂，就是眼睛不舒服，不能看聖經。有一位姊妹說她平時下午才與人見面，因為早上不知道睡到什麼時候，現在她是最早上去Zoom等候的一位。現在她們都很安靜地聽，因為有人講解就明白很多，覺得有趣味。以前要去看醫生或出外辦事，就說那天不讀經了。現在若許可，她們會提早出外辦事，回來參加聚會。有一位姊妹，她有時候在車上，有時候在診所等候，也上來聽。兩個月前，想到一位已回國的弟兄，便邀請他參加。本來他心情有點憂鬱，後來他太太感謝我邀請他參加；自從他參加讀經班之後，心情也愉快積極了。除了聽讀聖經，我們也討論經文和代禱。剛好前一陣子輪到我們的長者打疫苗，大家也就可以有些討論，分享經驗，彼此鼓勵代禱。
我們教會最年長92歲的姊妹在家摔倒骨折，要動手術，之後又要做復健，住了好幾個星期醫院。由於疫情，即使是病人的兒女都不能探訪，更不能送湯水，晚上德國餐就是啃麵包，比較可憐。住院後，她說中文的能力也下降了，給她打電話都聽不懂她說什麼。感恩的是有一位基督徒醫生幫她申請了醫院提供的平板電腦，可以約時間與家人視頻。上週她已經出院回家了。
感恩與代禱事項：
- 感謝神促成了早上讀經班，讓年長的弟兄姊妹都喜悅地聆聽神的話語，更多的明白神的心意，聽從神的教導！求主感動未信主的家人，使他們早日接受救恩！
- 感謝神讓92歲的姊妹經歷了手術和復健後回家！求主健壯她的腿，賜她走路的力量，早日恢復健康！
- 感謝神的保守，讓大部份年過七十歲的弟兄姊妹接種疫苗之後都沒有多少副作用，甚至沒有不適！
- 求主記念因疫情失去工作和餐館不能營業的弟兄姊妹！求主安慰他們，堅固他們的信心，在困境中仰望神！感恩一名做餐館的姊妹在疫情期間有更多時間讀經，參加各樣網上聚會與學習！
願主恩與你們同在！在疫情中仍然得著平安喜樂！
主的使女
鄧秀珍
二零二一年五月
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Dear brothers and sisters,
“In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety.” Psalms 4:8
Since we started our daily Bible reading meetings, I feel that time has gone faster. At first there were five of us, but now there are often seven or eight of us, and at most, there are ten of us. Because one of the sisters invited another sister from Munich, she also attends. Originally, she and two other sisters were also reading the Bible, but the response was not very good, so they stopped. When she heard that we were reading the Bible, she was very happy to join us and she also invited another sister to join. Since most of us were over 70 years old and I was the youngest, we had to wait for them to come in slowly at the beginning because sometimes they didn’t know how to get on the Zoom (our meeting platform). Sometimes there might be no sound and when they got in, there was no video. After a few weeks, we all learned to come on. However, one of us, a sister who lives alone and always forgets things. One sister once spent four hours teaching her how to get on Zoom, and she even wrote down every step herself, and she was told to put the note on the table so that she could follow the instructions. The next day, she had already forgotten and the note was nowhere to be found. Therefore, we spent a lot of time teaching her every day, while other brothers and sisters learned the lesson of being patience. Sometimes she still couldn’t come to Zoom, so we called her landline to let her listen. She is a Singaporean Chinese and cannot read Chinese. Although she has technical problems, she is still very happy to listen to God’s word with us. Last week it was our oldest sister, almost 80 years old, who couldn’t come up. She was very capable and tried to learn to go into the Zoom by herself, but suddenly she said she couldn’t come up for 2 days last week. We also had to use the phone to let her listen. Later, her daughter helped her solve the problem.
God’s leading is amazing. If not for this epidemic, it would not have been possible to facilitate this morning Bible reading class, bringing together the elderly who live in different places, nor would it have been possible to persuade them to read the Bible on their own, either because they could not understand it or because their eyes were not well enough to read it. One sister said she usually meets with people in the afternoon because she doesn’t know when she wakes up in the morning. But now she is the first one to go up to the Zoom. Now they all listen quietly, and when someone explains, they understand a lot and find it interesting. In the past, a sister who told me that she had to go to the doctor or go out to run some chores, she would say that she would not read the Bible that day. Now, if it is possible, she comes back early and continues to attend the meeting. There is another sister who is sometimes in the car and sometimes waiting at the clinic, she always try to come up to listen. Two months ago, I thought of a brother who had returned to China, so I invited him to attend. He was a little depressed at that time, but his wife thanked us for inviting him. He has been happy and positive since he joined the Bible reading. Besides listening to the Bible, we also discussed the scriptures and prayed. It happened to be our seniors’ turn for vaccination a while ago, so we could have some discussions, share their experience and encourage each other by praying.
The oldest sister in our church, 92 years old, fell and broke a bone at home and had to have surgery and then rehabilitation. Due to the epidemic, she could not even have her own children visit her in the hospital, let alone bring her soup. Her ability to speak Chinese had also deteriorated, and I could not even understand what she said when I called her. Gratefully, a Christian doctor helped her apply for a tablet computer provided by the hospital, so her children and for twice I, could make appointments to video with her. She was discharged from the hospital last week and went home.
Thanksgiving and prayer items:
- Thank God for the morning Bible reading, so that the older brothers and sisters can listen to God’s word with joy, understand more of God’s heart, and obey God’s teachings! Pray that the Lord would move the unbelieving family members to accept salvation soon!
- Thank God for the 92-year-old sister who went through surgery and rehabilitation and went home! Pray that the Lord will strengthen her legs, give her the strength to walk, and restore her to health soon!
- Thank God that most of our brothers and sisters who are over 70 years old have been vaccinated and they have had little or no reaction to the vaccine!
- Pray that the Lord would remember the brothers and sisters who lost their jobs and whose restaurants being closed due to the epidemic! Pray that the Lord would comfort them, strengthen their faith, and look to God in the midst of trouble! We are thankful that one sister who owns a restaurant business has more time to read the Bible with some brother and sisters and attend various online meetings and bible study class during the epidemic!
May the Lord’s grace be with you! Have peace and joy in the midst of the epidemic!
Serving Him,
Karen Tang