“小子们哪，你们是属于上帝的，并且胜了他们，

因为那在你们里面的，比那在世界上的更大。”

约翰一书4:4

“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them,

because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

1 John 4:4

乌穆·图雷 在她丈夫死后生了场大病。 

她两个膝盖都肿了起来，疼痛难熬，让她晚上睡不着觉，也走不了路。尽管她年龄已不小了，但是她在几内亚中科纳克里的家里却只能像个小孩子一样爬行。

年长的叔叔阿玛拉带她去了很多医院，但医生都爱莫能助。他甚至带她去看了巫医，也依然于事无补。她只能卧床不起，与她叔叔、妹妹以及其他十几个亲戚所组成的大家庭一起生活。

四年过去了， 四年里病痛缠绕着她，让她无力行走。

某天， 乌穆忽然听见她妹妹和一个来访者在另外的房间对话。来访者读了《圣经》并且祷告。虽然乌穆那时候还不是基督徒，但她想让别人为她祷告。她用尽全力从床上爬下来，一点点用膝盖爬向隔壁房间。

“拜托了，也替我祷告一下吧！”她请求道。

那位名叫特兰库勒（Tranqulle Fassinadouno）的来访者，看见这个老妇人四肢着地在地上爬行的时候十分震惊。他没有当场替她祷告。

三天后，乌穆听见有人敲门，过了一会，特兰库勒就站在了她床边。

“阿姨，我来为你祷告，”他说。

乌穆喜出望外。

特兰库勒打开了他的《圣经》开始读约翰一书4:4：“小子们哪，你们是属于上帝的，并且胜了他们，因为那在你们里面的，比那在世界上的更大。”

然后他闭上双眼开始祷告。

“主啊，为祢女儿的生命感谢祢。”他说，“你应许我来到这里。祢给了我决心在过去三天为她禁食祷告。现在我奉耶稣的名请求祢医治我的姊妹乌穆。”

那天晚上，乌穆多年以来第一次睡得很香。她的痛苦减退了。

第二天，特兰库勒再次拜访并且又和她一起进行了祷告。之后，他继续为乌穆禁食祷告了两周。

一天乌穆突然问他，“你的教会在哪？”

他告诉了她一个安息日教会的地址。虽然离她家倒不是很远，但不能走路的她只能请求帮助。安息日早上，特兰库勒扶着乌穆上了他的摩托车把她载到了教会。之后的每个安息日他都带着她去教会。乌穆一天比一天强壮健康起来。到第四个安息日的时候，她自己独自走着去了教会。

特兰库勒看到乌穆在教会走来走去的时候，感到十分惊讶。

“这是耶稣的神迹！”他赞叹道。

乌穆的叔叔和家人们很高兴看到她恢复些了，但他们不喜欢看到她去教会。他们不是基督徒，所以他们觉得乌穆一点也不尊重他们家族的宗教信仰。阿玛拉叔叔召开了一次家庭大会。在十几个家庭成员的注视下，他举起一本黑色封面的《圣经》和一本家族传统的圣书。

“你选择哪本书？”他问乌穆，“记着，如果你不选我们的圣书，你将不再是我们家里的一员。”

乌穆回想着缠绕她四年的疾病以及如何被医治的过程，她把目光转向了天堂。

“我选《圣经》，黑色的那本，”她说。

阿玛拉叔叔开始嘲讽乌穆。

“既然你选择了《圣经》，拿起来向我们传道啊，”他说。

眼泪在乌穆的眼眶里打转。她不识字。

“你知道我不识字的，”她抽泣着，“我没去过学校。但是那个人为我祷告为我读《圣经》，然后我就痊愈了。我相信《圣经》有能力为我以及你做更多的事。

阿玛拉叔叔生气的命令其他家庭成员打包乌穆的东西。

“你既然变成了一个基督徒，”他说，“就去基督徒那里吧。我们不想再和你有任何瓜葛了。

乌穆无家可归了，她只能轮流在各个朋友的家里寄宿。这样很艰难，但她从不因此埋怨耶稣。教友们得知她的情况后，他们为她提供了在教会院子里的一处住所。如今她就住在那里。

“我感谢上帝给我的新家，”乌穆说，“我会和主耶稣永远在一起。”

Crawling Like a Baby

Oumou Toure fell terribly ill after her husband died.

Her knees swelled up, and she suffered serious pain. She could not sleep at night. She could not walk. Although she was old, she crawled like a baby in the family home in Conakry, Guinea.

An elderly uncle, Amara, took her to various hospitals, but no physician could help. He took her to witchdoctors, but none could help. She stayed in bed at the family home, where she lived with her uncle, a younger sister, and a dozen other relatives.

Four long years passed. For four years, Oumou suffered. For four years, she couldn’t walk.

One day, Oumou overheard her sister talking with a visitor in another room. The visitor read from the Bible and prayed. Oumou wasn’t a Christian, but she wanted someone to pray for her. With great effort, she climbed out of bed and crawled on her hands and knees to the next room.

“Please, pray for me, too,” she pleaded.

The visitor, Tranqulle Fassinadouno, was astonished to see the old woman crawling on all fours. He didn’t pray.

Three days later, Oumou heard a knock on the door and, a moment later, Tranqulle was standing over her bed.

“Mama, I have come to pray,” he said.

Oumou was overjoyed.

Tranqulle opened his Bible and read 1 John 4:4, which says, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

Then he closed his eyes to pray.

“Lord, thank you for the life of your daughter,” he said. “You allowed me to be here. You gave me courage to fast and pray for the past three days for her. Now I ask you to heal my sister Oumou in the name of Jesus.”

That night, Oumou slept well for the first time in years. Her pain subsided.

The next day, Tranqulle returned and prayed with her again. He prayed and fasted for Oumou for two weeks.

One day Oumou abruptly asked him, “Where is your church?”

He told her the address of a Seventh-day Adventist church. It wasn’t far from her house, but she couldn’t walk. She asked for help. On Sabbath morning, Tranqulle carried Oumou to his motorcycle and drove her to church. He took her again the next Sabbath, and the next. Every day, Oumou grew stronger. On the fourth Sabbath, she walked to church alone.

Tranqulle was amazed to see Oumou walking around at the church.

“This is a miracle of Jesus!” he exclaimed.

Oumou’s uncle and other family members were happy that she felt better, but they did not like seeing her go to church. They weren’t Christians, and they felt that Oumou was being disrespectful of their family’s religion. Uncle Amara called a big family meeting. As a dozen family members watched, he held up a black Bible and the family’s traditional holy book.

“Which book do you choose?” he asked Oumou. “Remember, if you don’t choose our holy book, you will no longer be part of our family.”

Oumou thought about her four-year illness and how she had been healed. She lifted her eyes to heaven.

“I choose the Bible, that black book,” she said.

Uncle Amara sneered at Oumou.

“Now that you have chosen the Bible, take it and preach to us,” he said.

Tears formed in Oumou’s eyes. She didn’t know how to read.

“You know that I cannot read,” she said, weeping. “I never went to school. But the man who prayed for me read from the Bible and I was healed. I believe the power in the Bible can do more for me and for you, too.”

Uncle Amara angrily ordered family members to pack Oumou’s belongings.

“You have become a Christian,” he said. “Go to the Christians. We don’t want anything more to do with you.”

Oumou had no place to live, and she slept in various friends’ houses. It was difficult, but she refused to denounce Jesus. When church members learned about her situation, they offered her a place to live on the church compound. That’s where she lives today.

“I thank God for my new family,” Oumou said. “I will be with the Lord Jesus forever.”

Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help construct Kobaya Academy, a K-12 school in Conakry, Guinea, where the love of Jesus can be taught to many children from non-Christian homes.