超常的友谊

马绍尔群岛里有一位15岁的小传教士，通过电邮和远在美国得克萨斯州的一位77岁退休传教士建立了超常的友谊。

这位退休的传教士——鲍伯爷爷，在《圣工消息》季刊的见证中得知这位孩童的传教士家庭时，他们的友谊就开始了。男孩的父亲是学校的校长，母亲在埃比耶岛上的一所偏远的复临教会学校任教。鲍勃爷爷想通过一些特别的帮助来支持这个家庭。他每周都会固定奉献安息日学课的圣工捐，2018 年在收集帮助学校的第十三届安息日奉献款时，还额外捐献了一些其他东西。除了这些他还想做更多。因此，他决定每个月都给这个家庭和岛上的其他传教士寄送护理包，里面有玩具、食物和学校用具。

雷詹13岁时收到了第一个包裹。在打开那个礼物之前，他们一家跪下来感谢上帝。他父亲对说他必须先给鲍勃爷爷写一封感谢信，才能玩新玩具或品尝一下甜品。他们超人的友谊在书信上开始了。鲍伯爷爷寄来包裹，雷詹就写信回复。

三年来，雷詹收到了很多包裹，也回了很多信。信中承载着他收到包裹时的喜悦，也述说了他在学校遇到的困难。他有一位同学出意外过世了，就在同一周，球星科比.布莱恩也在因一场直升机事故中殒去，这些事让雷詹对死亡很恐惧。

在他发出这封感慨死亡的信后不久，就收到了鲍勃爷爷的回信。这是鲍勃爷爷第一次、也是唯一一次回复私人信件给他。

三周之后，鲍勃爷爷住院了，不久后他就被送回家做临终关怀。在被照护的两个星期中，鲍勃爷爷为雷詹一家准备了八个包裹。鲍勃爷爷去世后，他的儿子就替他将那些最后的包裹一一寄出。

鲍勃爷爷的离世令雷詹感到沮丧，但他还是继续回信。以下是他写给鲍勃爷爷儿子的回信：

在此致上我深切的哀悼。虽然我知道鲍勃爷爷生命将逝，我原本还抱着一丝希望，但是当我们听说他去世的那天，我还是感到非常震惊。今年2月初，我在写给他的信上提到人类在死亡面前是那么脆弱，也提到了我的一个朋友和著名球星科比‧布莱恩都在最近离世。一周后，他回信给我说，尽管人的去世令人难过，但我们不需要惧怕死亡，因为我们的上帝已经战胜了死亡。他说，我们应该有把每天当作是生命的最后一天的心态，但同时又要怀抱能再活100年的希望。鲍勃爷爷鼓励我要活出自已的生命，否则我会错过明天可能出现的新的机会，同时，也要把每一天都当作是一个向人们见证上帝、为上帝赢得新生命的机会。我非常感谢他的鼓励和安慰，因为他的信，使我不再像过去那样伤心难过。尽管我对他认识不多，但他对我的影响和鼓励，使我成为一个更友好善良、充满爱心的人。尽管再也不能在这个世界里和他交流，但我坚信，当我们都回到天家时，我们会在那里相聚。我不知道您有多难过，但我明白上帝知道我们所经历的一切，并使我们在祂里面得安慰。

来源：本文译自《圣工消息》（社会青年季刊）2021年第三季

A Special Friendship

A 15-year-old missionary kid in the Marshall Islands formed an unlikely friendship by mail with a 77-year-old retired missionary in the faraway U.S. state of Texas.

The friendship started when the retired missionary, Grandpa Bob, learned about the missionary kid’s family through mission stories in the Mission quarterly. The boy’s father was the school principal and his mother taught at the Seventh-day Adventist mission school on the remote island of Ebeye, and Grandpa Bob wanted to do something special to support the family. He already contributed to the Sabbath School mission offering every week, and he gave something extra when a Thirteenth Sabbath Offering was collected to help the school in 2018. But he wanted to do more. So he decided to send monthly care packages containing toys, food, and school supplies for the family and other missionaries on the island.

Raijan was 13 years old when the first packages arrived, and he and his family knelt and thanked God before opening each one. But before he could play with a new toy or taste a treat, Father said he had to write a thank-you letter to Grandpa Bob. That is how the unlikely friendship by mail began. Grandpa Bob sent packages, and Raijan replied with handwritten letters.

For three years, Raijan received many packages and sent many letters. He wrote about his joy in receiving the packages. He described his struggles at school. He expressed fear of death when a schoolmate died unexpectedly and basketball star Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter accident on the same week.

Soon after sending the letter about death, he received a reply from Grandpa Bob. It was the first and only time that Grandpa Bob sent him a personal letter.

Three weeks after that, Grandpa Bob was in the hospital and, a short time later, he returned home on hospice. During his two weeks on hospice, Grandpa Bob prepared eight more packages for Raijan and his family. His son mailed the last packages after Grandpa Bob died.

The death of Grandpa Bob dismayed Raijan, but he continued writing letters. He sent the following letter to Grandpa Bob’s son in response to a package:

Condolences. The day we heard about Grandpa Bob’s death, I was shocked, even though I knew that he had a few days left to live. I had hoped otherwise. Early February this year I wrote to him about how death can come so easily to us humans and about the recent deaths of a fellow teen and the famous basketball star Kobe Bryant. A week later, he replied with a letter saying that though it is sad when someone dies, we should not fear death because our God has overcome it. He said we should live our life as if we were to die tomorrow while also expecting to live another 100 years. Grandpa Bob encouraged me to move on with my life or else I would miss the new opportunities tomorrow may bring, while also using each day as a fresh opportunity to witness to people about God and potentially win their lives for Him. I am very thankful for his encouragement and comfort because now I am less grieved than I would have been if not for his letter. Though I may not have known him personally, I have been influenced and encouraged by him to be a more kind, friendly, and loving person. And though I will never get to know him personally in this world, I firmly believe that I will see him when we all get to heaven someday. I may not know how much grief you may be feeling, but I know that God understands whatever circumstances we go through and that we can find comfort in God.

Please find the original article at https://am.adventistmission.org/mqa21q3-16?_ga=2.53954088.1600707658.1629383255-177141024.1608701455