迷失的羊

新冠疫情期间，我因一件事受到很大鼓舞。我和丈夫在大约有270万人口的大阪市（Osaka）经营一间英语学校。后来学校因疫情缘故必须停课，但是在日本政府宣布进入紧急状态之前，我们就已成功将所有课程转换成以网路方式授课。我们也奇迹般地保留了高达九成的学生人数。

但令我惊讶的是我们一名60岁的学生Chikako在疫情最严重的时候和我联系。我认识这位老太太有十三年了，但是自从两年前我们渐渐失了联络。有一天在我回家的路上，她突然在脸书（Facebook）上发了一则讯息给我。

讯息写着：“我知道疫情正在逐渐扩散，但我想来参加你的教会。”

这位老太太的名字叫小合子（音译，Chikako）。她不是一名基督徒，我很惊讶她想多了解耶稣的想法。她也开始问起我关于耶稣还有我自己的信仰旅程。我们后来决定在安息日聚会后见面。

在我们见面时，我开始向她述说《圣经》中关于“迷失的羊”的比喻。她也非常专心地聆听了这段经文：“你们中间，谁有一百只羊失去一只，不把这九十九只撇在旷野，去找那失去的羊，直到找着呢？找着了，就欢欢喜喜的扛在肩上，回到家里，就请朋友邻舍来，对他们说：‘我失去的羊已经找着了，你们和我一同欢喜吧！’我告诉你们：一个罪人悔改，在天上也要这样为他欢喜，较比为九十九个不用悔改的义人欢喜更大。”（路15:4-7）

小合子听到这段经文后说自己就是这只迷失的羊。这么多年来，耶稣一直在呼吁她信主，但是她始终犹豫不决。她接下来的话更是令我感到惊讶。

她说：“我知道我就是那只迷失的羊，我一直没有理会耶稣的呼吁。但是现在我已经不能再忽视祂了，我要受洗。”

我相信是圣灵一直都在她心中动工，更借着疫情期间把她带到了上帝面前。我非常乐意地开始与她分享关于耶稣基督的爱。

我们接下来持续会面。在一个安息日下午，我们谈论耶稣为什么会死在十字架上，她受十字架上的盗贼故事的感动，他在最后一刻选择以耶稣的真信徒的身份死去。小合子看见了耶稣的爱和赦免，心里大受感动。她一直在自己里面寻找平安和喜乐，但一直得不到真正的满足。

她说：“我要像那位盗贼一样，接受耶稣基督做我的救主。”

虽然疫情搅扰了我们每个人的生活，但却不能阻挡那些被耶稣的爱所吸引的羊群。“我另外有羊，不是这圈里的；我必须领他们来，他们也要听我的声音，并且要合成一群，归一个牧人了。”（约10:16）

虽然我们未必看得见或感受得到，但耶稣却不断地在我们生命中工作。只要我们回应耶稣的呼召，祂必定会拯救我们。

来源：本文译自《圣工消息》（社会青年季刊）2021年第四季

Lost Lamb

I have been very encouraged during the coronavirus pandemic. My husband and I run an English-language school in Osaka, a city of about 2.7 million people in Japan. The school was closed because of the pandemic. But before the Japanese government declared a state of emergency, we finished setting up online lessons and, amazingly, have managed to retain 90 percent of our students.

But I have been even more astonished by a former student, a 60-year-old woman named Chikako, who contacted me at the height of the pandemic in Japan. We have known each other for 13 years but lost touch about two years ago. Then one day as I was heading home from my office, I received a note from her on Facebook Messenger.

“I want to attend your church even though the pandemic is spreading,” she wrote.

Chikako was not a Christian. I was surprised that she wanted to know more about Jesus, and we briefly texted each other about Christianity and how I became a Christian. We agreed to meet on Saturday after Sabbath worship services.

At our meeting, I told her the parable of the lost sheep. She listened carefully to Jesus’ words: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance” (Lk 15:4-7; NKJV).

Chikako immediately identified with the missing sheep. She said Jesus had been calling her to follow Him for many years, but she had wanted to make the decision in her own time. Her next words stunned me.

“I know that Jesus has been calling me as a lost sheep, and I have been ignoring Him,” she said. “But now I have stopped ignoring Him, and I want to be baptized.”

It seemed clear to me that the Holy Spirit had been working on her heart, especially during the pandemic, and I was happy to share the teachings and love of Jesus.

We met several more times after that. One Sabbath, as we talked about why Jesus died on the cross, she was moved by the story of the thief on the cross who, at the very last minute, chose to die as a true believer of Jesus. Chikako was very touched by the fact that Jesus always loves and is ready to forgive. She realized that even though she had tried hard to find joy and peace on her own, she was unsatisfied.

“I would like to be like the thief on the cross and accept Jesus,” she said.

The coronavirus pandemic might disrupt our lives, but it cannot stop Jesus from drawing people to Him. He says, “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd” (Jn 10:16).

Jesus is working in our lives even when we don’t see or feel it. Jesus calls us by name and will save us when we surrender to Him.

Please find the original article at: https://am.adventistmission.org/mqa21q4-16