嫉妒改变了做警察的琼（Jean Obame-Efayong）的生活

他的家在西非国家加蓬的首都利伯维尔，每天晚上他的妻子罗赛特都很晚才回家。

琼不知道她在做什么，也不知道她去了哪里。他胡思乱想，唯恐最坏的事会发生。最后他直接问了她。

“我刚从我姐家回来。”她说。

第二天晚上，他问了相同的问题。

“我刚从我姐家回来。”她说。

她每天晚上都给出同样的答案。琼不敢相信他的妻子会在她姐姐家花那么多时间，所以一天早上他让她带他去她姐姐家。

罗塞特带他去了一个教堂，那里有一块牌子，上面写着“永生”。琼看到一个教堂很惊讶，他妻子明明说她去了姐姐家。但让他松了一口气的是，她每天晚上都在教堂，没有做其它的事情。该教会的教义混合了基督教和传统的非洲信仰。

琼一连三个晚上都去了教堂，他要看看罗塞特是否真的来参加教会。他站在外面观看。在第四天晚上，教堂建筑的主人，一个年轻女子问他在做什么。

“你为什么来了却不进去?”她说，“今天不进去以后就别来了。”

琼走了进去。教会很有趣，教友也对他很友好。当他有一次灵魂出窍的经历后——这在传统的非洲宗教中很常见——全体教友任命他为教会领袖。平日里，琼是一名警察，到了周末，他就去教堂主持礼拜。

有一天，罗塞特突然不去教堂做礼拜了。还没等琼弄清楚原因，她就在分娩时意外死亡了。琼悲痛欲绝，重新审视自己对教会的委身，并为此祈祷。

“如果这个教会不是真正的教会，请让我轻松地离开。”他祈祷。

他再也没回到这个教会，离去后也没有任何麻烦。

 三年后的一天晚上，琼正走在回家的路上，他看见他家附近的足球场上搭着一顶巨大的帐篷。他听到一个甜美柔和的声音对他说话。

“先生，我们为你而来。”那个声音说。

琼停下来，环顾四周，想看看是谁在说话，但他没有看到任何人。他向前迈了一步，那个声音又对他说话了。

“先生，进去找个地方坐下聆听福音吧。”那个声音说。

琼走进帐篷，坐在后面的一张椅子上。

这是10天布道系列的第一个晚上。基督复临安息日会的传道人呼吁人们悔改，琼听着听着就哭了起来。第二天晚上琼又来了，并带着纸和笔做笔记。

在聚会上，他感到一种十分迫切的愿望，去受洗。回到家后，他还是有同样的感受。于是他与传道人进行了交谈。

“我对你的教会一无所知，但我一直想受洗。”他说。
传道者笑了。

“耶和华已经向你显现，”他说，“来受洗吧。”
于是琼受了洗。

如今，他是一名活跃的复临信徒。每天，他都记得当他经过帐篷时听到的那甜美、柔和的声音。

“那个声音帮助我找到了正确的道路，”他说，“耶稣活在我的生命里。”

Sweet, Gentle Voice

Jealousy changed the life of police officer Jean Obame-Efayong.

Every night, his wife, Rosette, came home late in Libreville, capital of the West African country of Gabon. Jean didn’t know what she was doing or where she had been. His imagination ran wild, and he feared the worst. Finally he asked her directly.

“I came from my sister’s house,” she said.

The next night, he asked the same question.

“I came from my sister’s house,” she said.

She gave the same answer every night. Jean couldn’t believe that his wife was spending so much time at her sister’s house, so one morning he asked her to take him to her sister’s house.

Rosette took him to a church with a sign reading, “Eternal Life.” Jean was surprised to see a church when his wife had said she was at her sister’s house, but he was relieved that she was at church every night and not doing something else. The church taught a mix of Christianity and traditional African beliefs.

Jean went to the church for three nights in a row to see whether Rosette really was attending. He stood outside and watched. On the fourth night, a young woman who owned the church building demanded to know what he was doing.

“Why are you coming and not entering?” she said. “Come in today or don’t return again.”

Jean went in. The church was interesting, and the church members were friendly. When he had an out-of-body experience — a not-unheard-of occurrence in traditional African religion — the church members made him a church leader. During the week, Jean worked as a police officer and, on the weekends, he led the church.

One day, Rosette abruptly stopped attending church services. Before Jean could learn why, she unexpectedly died during childbirth. Grief-stricken, Jean reassessed his own commitment to the church and prayed.

“If this church isn’t the true church, help me to leave easily,” he prayed.

He never returned to the church, and he didn’t have any trouble.

Three years later, Jean was walking home one evening when he saw a huge tent pitched in a soccer field near his house. He heard a sweet, gentle voice speak to him.

“Sir, we came here for you,” the voice said.

Jean stopped and looked around to see who was talking, but he didn’t see anybody. As he took a step forward, the voice spoke again.

“Sir, go inside and sit down to hear the gospel,” the voice said.

Jean entered the tent and sat in a chair in the back.

It was the first night of a 10-day evangelistic series. The Seventh-day Adventist evangelist called for repentance, and Jean wept as he listened. Jean came back the next night with a paper and pen to take notes.

At the meetings, he felt an irresistible urge to get baptized. At home, he felt an irresistible urge to get baptized. He spoke with the evangelist.

“I don’t know anything about your church, but I want to be baptized all the time,” he said.

The evangelist smiled.

“The Lord has revealed Himself to you,” he said. “Come and be baptized.”

Jean was baptized.

Today, he is an active church member. Every day, he remembers the sweet, gentle voice that he heard as he passed the tent.

“The voice helped me to find the right path,” he said. “Jesus lives in my life.”

Three years ago, part of the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering helped construct a high school for 280 students in Jean’s hometown, Libreville, in Gabon. Thank you for planning a big Thirteenth Sabbath Offering this quarter to help build schools in two other African countries, Guinea and Liberia.