如果你只有7岁，却要在丛林里逃亡，你会怎样呢？而这却是吉米·瑞在缅甸时的生活。

吉米还是个小男孩的时候，他的经历促使他对执政当局产生深深的怨恨。甚至有一次，他在丛林里迷路了，认为自己会死在里面。

最后他下了决心，如果能侥幸存活下来就加入一个武装反抗组织来复仇。与父亲失散两年的他，在泰国的一个难民营里找到了父亲。

但是他的父亲不赞同吉米这么做，他不但劝说吉米武器不能解决任何问题，还鼓励吉米去做一位牧师，去向他的人民介绍上帝的爱和永生的希望。

放下愤怒与仇恨对吉米来说谈何容易。

可是，当他们在难民营里参加复临教会的聚会时，他看到父亲是那么的平安、喜乐。当他在《圣经》中看到基督与撒但之间的争战时，他明白，父亲是对的，就此决志，饶恕那些伤害过他的人。吉米成为复临教会的牧师，后来在美国定居。

他很快就发现，当初在泰国难民营里所认识的许多复临难民家庭，现在都散居在北美。他们曾试图去复临教会的教堂聚会，但因为英语太差，听不懂讲道的内容，更参与不了教会的服事，这使许多人的信心受挫。

吉米热切的期望去拜访并鼓励他们坚守信仰。他也想帮助他们组织团契，使他们能用自己的语言敬拜上帝。在吉米恳切的祈求之下，他已经建立了三个教堂。

只是，吉米需要做全职的工作养活家庭，所以，他没有太多的时间和金钱去帮助散居在北美的2千多名克伦族复临信徒难民。

“但是上帝知道我的内心和我的需求，”吉米““·瑞说。吉米现在是卡罗来纳区会的牧师，也是北美分会「复临教会难民和移民部」克伦教会的会堂发展顾问。

“上帝一直在带领我们，而且衪已经有了一个计划，”吉米补充道。

2011年募集的第十三安息捐为北美的难民提供了援助资金。这些资金使吉米得以探访分散在美国和加拿大各地的难民家庭，帮助他们建立使用自己语言的会堂来为社区服务。在过去的十年里，通过他的努力，已经有五十五个克伦教堂建立在北美大陆上了。

这一切的神迹之所以能成就，都是像吉米一样的教友们奉献而来的，他们愿意以上帝的饶恕和爱来代替他们的仇恨。

来源：本文译自《圣工消息》（社会青年季刊）2021年第三季

Rescinded Resentment

Imagine being 7 years old and running for your life in a jungle. How might that affect you?

This was Jimmy Shwe’s life in the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar, previously known as Burma.

As a boy, Jimmy developed a deep resentment toward the authorities because of his experiences. At one point, lost in the jungle, he thought he would die.

He decided that if he ever survived, he would join an armed resistance movement to get revenge.

After two years of separation, Jimmy found his father in a refugee camp in Thailand.

But his father did not agree with Jimmy’s plan, saying it would not help to take up weapons. Instead, he urged Jimmy to become a pastor and tell his people about the love of God and the hope of eternal life.

It was not easy for Jimmy to give up his anger and deep resentment.

But he saw his father’s peace and joy as they attended a Seventh-day Adventist church in the refugee camp. He read about the conflict between Christ and Satan in the Bible. He realized his father was right and decided to forgive those who had wronged him.

Jimmy became a Seventh-day Adventist pastor and later resettled in the United States.

He soon discovered that many Adventist refugee families whom he had known in refugee camps in Thailand were now scattered across North America. They were trying to find Seventh-day Adventist churches but did not know enough English to understand the messages or participate in the services. Many were becoming discouraged.

Jimmy longed to visit and encourage them in their faith. He wanted to help them to organize small groups so they could worship the God of heaven in their own language.

With much prayer, Jimmy planted three churches.

But, working full time to support his family, he did not have time or funds to travel to help any more of the 2,000 Karen Adventist refugees scattered across the continent.

“But God knew my heart and my needs,” said Jimmy Shwe, who now serves as a pastor in the Carolina Conference and as a Karen church-planting consultant for the North American Division’s Adventist Refugee and Immigrant Ministries.

“God had been leading all the time, and He already had a plan,” Jimmy added.

A Thirteenth Sabbath Offering that was collected in 2011 provided funds to reach out to refugees in North America. The funds allowed Jimmy to visit refugee families scattered throughout the United States and Canada, helping them to organize congregations in their own language and to serve their communities. Through his work, 55 Karen churches have been planted across the continent over the past decade.

All this was possible because church members gave and Jimmy and others like him allowed God to replace their resentment with forgiveness and love.

Please find the original article at: https://am.adventistmission.org/mqa21q3-24