Manna issue 67 - I Was Lost But Now Am Found 前我失喪今被尋回
An incident at sea leads a brother to believe forty years later.
by Heng Chew Loh
海上遇到事故,讓一個弟兄相信神。
I Was Lost But Now Am Found
Heng Chew Loh—Singapore
因為Heng Chew Loh 讓我找到神—新加坡。
Editor’s note: Bro Loh’s testimony shows how the Lord has been waiting patiently for him to accept Christ, just as the Bible says:
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.”
(Jn 15:16)
編者:兄弟Loh的見證證明主如何耐心等候他接受真教會,就像聖經說的:不是你們揀選了我，而是我揀選了你們，並且派你們出去結永存的果子。
這樣，你們奉我的名無論向父求什麼，祂都會賜給你們。(約15:16)
Hallelujah, in the name of Jesus I bear testimony. By God’s grace, I was baptized in May 2012, at the age of eighty-two.
Amazingly, the Lord waited for me for forty years, before I became His child.
哈利路亞,奉主耶穌聖名作見證。感謝神,我在2012年的五月受洗,當時我82歲。
令我驚訝的是神等了我40年,在我成為他的兒女之前。
FIRST ENCOUNTER
第一件事
In 1972 I worked in the printing operations section of a local newspaper.
During that time, I was one of the players in my company’s table tennis team, and
we frequently traveled to East Malaysia for matches.
1972年我在印刷報紙工作。
當那個時候,我在我們的公司是一位桌球選手,我們很常去東馬來西亞比賽。
My manager at that time, Elijah Yeh Guan Wei, was a member of the True Jesus Church.
As he was also the leader of the table tennis team, we would travel abroad together for table tennis competitions.
When we were overseas, I would often hear Elijah Yeh asking the local people if there were any True Jesus Church nearby.
This left an impression on me, but I never asked him about his faith because I was not interested in religion at that time.
我的經理──Elijah Yeh Guan Wei,是一位真耶穌教會的人。
他也是桌球的領隊,我們將一起出國比賽。
當我們在海外,我們都會聽到Elijah Yeh問當地人附近有沒有真耶穌教會。
這讓我印象很深刻,但我未曾問過他的信仰,因為當時我對宗教沒有興趣。
WITNESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PRAYER
有效的禱告
On one occasion, while traveling across the South China Sea to the island of Labuan in East Malaysia, we encountered a thunderstorm.
We became extremely anxious.
I thought that we would surely perish at sea—especially when the waves hit the ship violently,
and we had to close the windows to prevent waters from flooding our cabins.
Then, I noticed that our team leader had knelt down and had started praying in tongues.
Soon afterwards, I saw someone walking over to take control of the ship’s helm.
Miraculously, the storm soon subsided and the ship continued its journey.
有一次,雖然我們的旅途中經過中國的南海到馬來西亞的納閩島,我們遇到了大雷雨。
我們很焦急。
我以為我們要死在海上了—特別在強烈的海浪擊打船的時候,
我們趕緊關上窗戶以免水漏進船艙。
我注意到我們的領隊在用聽不懂的話在禱告。
不久之後,我看到有一個人去控制船舵。
奇蹟似的暴風減弱了,於是船繼續前進。
I vividly remember that the person who took control was a passenger on board.
Out of curiosity, we asked him what had happened.
The man replied, “The captain was inexperienced and had we not avoided the waves, the ship would have capsized.”
In fact, the person who took control of the ship’s helm was an experienced sailor who just happened to be on board.
我記得很深刻那個控制船舵的是一個旅客。
出於好奇我們問他為何這麼做。
他說:那個船長沒有經驗讓我們無法避免海浪的攻擊,我們的船將翻覆。
事實上,那個人是經驗老道的水手。
I wondered whether we would all have perished, if our team leader had not prayed.
我知道如果我們的領隊沒有禱告的話,我們都會死在海上。
MORE THAN THREE DECADES LATER...
30年後...
Before believing in Christ, I adhered to traditional Chinese religion; my late mother used to worship the Chinese deities.
I followed her, praying to these deities and participating in the rituals.
在認識神之前,我堅持傳統信仰;我的先母拜傳統神明。
我跟著她,向這些神明禱告參加活動。
In 2009, I discovered that my son and his family were attending church services.
So I asked them which church they attended.
To my surprise, it was the True Jesus Church!
This jolted my memory and I recalled that incident nearly forty years earlier.
My son then invited me to a family evangelistic luncheon organized by the True Jesus Church.
I agreed and thereafter, I started to accompany them for Sabbath services.
My first observation of the True Jesus Church was that many people kneel down and pray in tongues.
Yet I was not surprised, as I had seen my manager praying in this manner before.
在2009,我發現我兒子一家在教會聚會。
所以我問他們去哪間教會聚會。
讓我驚訝的是他們居然去了真耶穌教會!
這讓我開始回憶起40年前的那件事。
然後,我的兒子邀我去家庭聚會。
我答應他們,並開始和他們一起去守安息日。
我第一個注意到真耶穌教會的人都跪下禱告。
但我並不驚訝,因為我已經看過我的經理禱告過了。
For the next three years, I attended services at the True Jesus Church and sought to understand the truth of salvation.
The sermons opened my eyes to things that I formerly did not believe in;
I learned of many new things as I listened to the sermons, which helped to build my faith.
Also, as I grew older, I began to think more about life after death.
I even went to the public library to search for information on the difference between True Jesus Church and other Christian denominations.
接下來的3年,我在教會服侍並追求真理。
講道讓我大開眼界;
我從中學到了很多知識,幫助我認識真理。
隨著我的年紀增加我開始想我的死後該如何生活。
我開始去圖書館尋找一些其他教派和我們不一樣的地方。
Studying the truth in the True Jesus Church motivated me to follow my children
and grandchildren in their belief and to be of the same faith with them.
However, I did not accept baptism until my mother passed away at the age of 102.
學習真理幫助了我們一家。
但我仍沒有洗禮直到我母親去世了,享年102歲。
When I was hospitalized for three days due to an accident shortly after the Chinese New Year 2012,
I suddenly realized how fragile life is.
What if something more serious happened and I wasn’t baptized?
Would I lose the chance of salvation?
This realization jolted me to get baptized as soon as possible.
我因為一場事故在醫院待了三天是在2012年春節後不久。
我突然發現生命是多麼脆弱。
如果更嚴重的事發生了,我要洗禮嗎?
我有機會被拯救嗎?
想到這讓我想趕緊洗禮。
MY RESOLUTION
我的決定
After baptism, I resolved to go to church and worship God every Sabbath.
My thoughts about coming to church are that we ought to listen to sermons attentively and pray to God earnestly.
Seeing my son and his family actively attending church services also inspires me to do likewise.
接受洗禮後,我決定參加每次的安息日聚會。
我想到來教會就要聽講道也要向神虔誠的禱告。
看到我兒子一家認真的參加聚會也激勵了我。
Looking back, I am thankful for becoming a Christian while I am still mobile and my mind is still alert.
I encourage everyone to respond to Jesus' calling while we are still active and able,
instead of waiting until the last moment of our lives.
回頭看,雖然我是一個基督徒了,但是我還是依然警惕。
我鼓勵每個人信耶?,雖然我們仍然活得好好的,而不是等到最後一刻才後悔。
”Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor 6:2)
因為祂說：“在悅納的時候，我應允了你；在拯救的日子，我幫助了你。”
看啊，現在正是悅納的時候！看啊，現在正是拯救的日子！(哥林多後書6:2)
May all glory and honor be given to God. Amen.
願一切榮耀都歸給神。阿門。
I suddenly realized how fragile life is.
What if something more serious happened and I wasn’t baptized?
Would I lose the chance of salvation?
我突然發現生命是多麼脆弱。
如果更嚴重的事情發生了,我不洗禮嗎?
我會失去被拯救的機會嗎?
1977: Elijah Yeh (middle), Bro. Heng Chew Loh (right) with other table tennis team members.
1977:Elijah Yeh(中間),兄弟。Heng Chew Loh(右)與其他乒乓球團隊成員。
pic
小頁 markvmax@hotmail.com
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Manna 嗎哪 56 (1)