当玛利亚的母亲从玛利亚的堂兄卡拉莫克那里得知女儿玛丽亚有一本《圣经》后，非常愤怒。

玛利亚生长在几内亚，西非的一个非基督教国家。母亲不想玛利亚成为一个基督徒，于是，她母亲忍不住怒气，冲到了玛丽亚在科纳克里的家。

“你的《圣经》在哪里?””她命令式地问道。

“在我的卧室里。”玛丽亚平静地说道。

母亲迅速冲进卧室，找遍了房间各个角落都没有找到。“我哪儿都没看到你的《圣经》。”她说。

玛丽亚往卧室里瞥了一眼，《圣经》就放在桌子上。

安息日到了，这是玛利亚第二次去基督复临安息日会。那天，玛利亚没去自己的大商店上班。母亲不能理解她为什么不工作。

“你去哪儿了?”母亲问道。

“我在教堂。”玛丽亚回答说。

母亲看起来很是生气。玛利亚并不知道她家族的宗教强烈反对基督教，他们甚至认为杀死一个基督徒家庭成员是值得称赞的一件事。

“妈妈，我很高兴在平日可以工作，但我不能继续在周六工作了。”玛利亚说道。

而从那天开始，玛利亚遭到了母亲的毒打。

“我宁愿看你死也不愿看到你让我们丢脸。”母亲恶狠狠地说道。

当殴打没有改变玛丽亚的想法时，母亲就冻结了她的银行账户。玛丽亚曾过着奢侈富裕的生活，当她失去资金来源后，她开始变得不知所措。而母亲把这些问题都栽赃于复临信徒。

“那些基督徒设法偷了你的钱。”母亲告诉玛利亚说。

玛丽亚没有被说服而放弃她的信仰。

她说:“我之前了解到当我们遇到问题时，应该祈祷，把这些问题交托给耶稣。”

殴打一直持续着。母亲还给玛利亚的丈夫打了电话。他丈夫有多个妻子，当时正和另一个妻子住在德国。放下电话后，丈夫给玛丽亚下了最后通牒：“在我和你的上帝、耶稣之间，你只可以选择一个。”

“我也想问你一个问题，”玛丽亚问道，“你能为我的缘故抛弃你的神吗?”

“不可能。”他回答道。

“那你为什么要我在你和耶稣之间做一个选择呢?””玛利亚反问道。

在那之后，他不再接听玛利亚打来的电话。

母亲见玛丽亚仍坚持自己的信念，便宣布采取更严厉的措施。

她说:“女儿，如果你不听我的话，我就得杀了你。”

几天后，她来到玛丽亚家，并为玛利亚准备了一份她最爱吃的炖菜。玛丽亚并不知道，那份炖菜里含有致命的毒药。炖菜做好了，妈妈让玛丽亚把锅端到桌子上。玛丽亚虽然很饿了，但她想还是要先洗个澡再吃饭。她答应她肯定会吃，妈妈就走了。

正当玛丽亚洗澡时，不知从哪儿冒出来的一只猫，跳到桌子上，把锅打翻在地上，而玛丽亚并没有养猫。那天晚上，妈妈还打电话来问玛丽亚感觉怎么样。

“我挺好的，非常好。”玛利亚说。

从电话里可以明显听出母亲的惊讶。

一计不行又生一计。几天后，堂兄卡拉莫克把毒药倒进了玛利亚的喝水瓶子里。喝完后，玛丽亚胃痛得弯下腰来。

卡拉莫克看到毒性发作后，就把自己的所作所为告诉了她。

“我很抱歉，”他说，“巫医让我把药放进你喝的水里，来净化你的身体。”

玛利亚立即打电话给几内亚基督复临安息日会会长雅各布·吉盖尔(Jacob Gbale),让他为她祷告。会长来到她的家里，给了她五颗活性炭药丸。30分钟后，她吐了出来。

那天晚上巫医打电话来，想要知道玛丽亚是否死了。听到她接电话，他很震惊。

母亲又想了一个办法，找了另一个表兄来帮忙。表兄和两个朋友带着一支装满毒药的注射器来到玛利亚家。他派女仆去忙别的事情后，就在玛利亚的左臂上注射了一针，然后就逃走了。

女仆没走远，就想起她忘了带手机，返回后发现玛丽亚躺在地板上昏迷不醒，注射器就在旁边。知道玛丽亚和雅各布牧师是朋友，她打电话给牧师寻求帮助。牧师和两位长老把玛利亚带到教会总部，为她祈祷。玛丽亚呕吐后恢复了健康。

玛利亚确信是耶稣保护了祂自己的孩子。

玛利亚说:“上帝能解决危机，因为祂在危机发生之前就知道了。诗篇68:20中说:’上帝是为我们施行诸般救恩的上帝；人能脱离死亡是在乎主耶和华。’ “

Murderous Mother

Mother was furious when she learned from cousin Hamadou that her daughter Maria had a Bible.

Mother had raised Maria in a non-Christian world religion in the West African country of Guinea, and she didn’t want her to become a Christian. Mother marched over to Maria’s house in Conakry.

“Where is your Bible?” she demanded.

“It’s in my bedroom,” Maria said.

Mother stormed into the bedroom. She searched everywhere but couldn’t find it. “I didn’t see the Bible anywhere,” she said.

Maria looked into the bedroom. The Bible lay in plain sight on a table.

The next Sabbath, Maria went to the Seventh-day Adventist church for a second visit. As a result, she skipped work at the big store that she owned. Mother didn’t understand why she hadn’t worked.

“Where were you?” she asked.

“I was in church,” Maria replied.

Mother looked upset. Maria didn’t know that her family’s religion opposed Christianity and even taught that it was praiseworthy to kill a family member who became a Christian.

“Mother, I am happy to work during the week, but I can’t work on Saturdays anymore,” she said.

From that day, Mother began to beat her.

“I would rather see you dead than to see you dishonor us,” she said.

When the beatings didn’t change Maria’s mind, Mother blocked her bank account. Maria, who was used to living a luxurious lifestyle, expressed confusion when she lost access to her funds. Mother blamed the problem on the Adventists.

“Those Christians have somehow managed to steal your money,” she said.

Maria wasn’t dissuaded from her convictions.

“I have learned that when you have problems you should pray and give them to Jesus,” she said.

The beatings continued. Then Mother called Maria’s husband, a polygamist who lived with his other wife in Germany. After the phone call, he gave Maria an ultimatum. “Choose between me and your God, Jesus,” he said.

“Let me ask you a question,” Maria said. “Can you forsake your God because of me?”

“No way,” he said.

“Then why do you ask me to choose between you and my God, Jesus?” she said.

After that, he refused to answer the phone when Maria called.

When Mother saw Maria still clung to her faith, she announced drastic steps.

“My daughter, since you don’t listen to me, I have to kill you,” she said.

A few days later, she came over to Maria’s house and prepared a favorite stew. Unknown to Maria, the stew contained a deadly poison. When the stew was ready, Mother asked Maria to carry the pot to the table. Maria was hungry but she wanted to take a bath first. She promised to eat afterward, and Mother left.

As Maria bathed, a cat came out of nowhere and jumped onto the table, knocking the pot to the floor. Maria didn’t own a cat. That night, Mother called to inquire how Maria felt.

“I’m doing well, very well,” Maria said.

Mother’s astonishment was evident over the phone.

A few days later, cousin Hamadou poured the poison into Maria’s bottle of drinking water. After drinking, Maria bent over with a severe stomachache.

Hamadou saw her agony and told her what he had done.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “The witchdoctor asked me to put medicine into your drinking water to purify your body.”

Immediately Maria called Jacob Gbale, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Guinea, to pray for her. He came to her house and gave her five charcoal pills. Thirty minutes later, she vomited.

The witchdoctor called that evening to find out whether Maria was dead. He was shocked to hear her answer the phone.

Mother enlisted another cousin to help. He arrived at Maria’s house with two friends and a poison-filled syringe. After sending the housemaid on an errand, he injected Maria in the left arm and fled.

The housemaid didn’t go far beyond the house before remembering that she had forgotten her cell phone. She found Maria unconscious on the floor with the syringe lying nearby. Knowing that Maria and Pastor Jacob were friends, and she called him for help. The pastor and two church elders brought Maria to church headquarters and prayed for her. Maria vomited and recovered.

Maria has no doubt that Jesus protects His children.

“He can solve a crisis because He knows crises before they happen,” she said. “Psalm 68:20 says, ‘Our God is a God who saves, from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.’”