鞭打坚强信心

有一天，我妹妹兴奋地打电话给我。
“姐姐”，她说，“我正在学习《圣经》，查经课的内容很好。你也来吧，我们可以和传道人一起查经学习。”
听到妹妹热情的声音，我的好奇心被激发起来，我见到了她和一对传道人夫妇，尤莉安娜和路易斯。
“请带领我学习《圣经》的真理”，我请求他们说。
我们都来自一个偏远的小村庄。我当时在东帝汶首都帝力的一所大学学习，我妹妹爱梅琳达在同一个城市的一所高中学习。
我几乎每天都和这对夫妇一起研读《圣经》。查经课让我着迷，也让我了解到上帝对我伟大的爱，以及得知我向上帝表达爱的一种方式是用我的身体来荣耀祂，就是吃洁净的食物，和爱上帝的一个重要途径就是遵守祂的诫命。耶稣说：“你们若爱我，就必遵守我的命令。”（约14:15）。我对阅读十诫特别的感兴趣。我从来没有听过第四条诫命，这条诫命的开头是：“当记念安息日，守为圣日。”（出20:8）
当我意识到上帝从来没有把祂的圣日定在星期天时，我问那对夫妇在第七天安息日我可以去哪里敬拜？
“我想守安息日，但我要到哪里找教会呢？”我问。
“我们在帝力有一个教会。”路易斯说。
“你每个安息日都可以去那里，”尤莉安娜说。
我和爱梅琳达一起去了教堂。在去教堂的两周后，我们决定受洗加入基督复临安息日会。
当我们的几个哥哥发现我离开了我们家人去的教会时，他们非常愤怒，威胁甚至殴打了我。
“你不要再在这里学习了。”一个哥哥说。
“我们会将你带回到家乡的村子”，另一个哥哥说道。
我的哥哥们强迫我放下学习，和他们一起回到村子里。他们让我吃猪肉，星期天还要和他们一起去教堂。我感到很难过。我不得不把自己锁在浴室里读《圣经》和祷告。但是这些威胁和殴打更加坚定了我的信心。我决心全心全意地爱上帝，遵守祂的诫命。
威胁和殴打持续了一个月。
幸运的是，我妹妹能够留在首都。她打电话告诉我，基督复临安息日会正在组织一个为期两个月的培训项目在培养传道人。
和其他的工作相比，我最想成为一名传道士。我想成为像尤莉安娜和路易斯那样的人，他们教会了我《圣经》的真理。我也想教其他人关于上帝的事。有一天，我没告诉任何人就从家离开了。
经过两个月的培训，我成为了一名传道人。我热爱我的工作，并全身心的投入其中。我每天都为我的家人，尤其是我的哥哥们祷告。
两年过去了，我嫁给了我的丈夫雷纳尔多，他是一位基督复临安息日会的教友。我的家庭没有一个人来参加婚礼。
但是感谢上帝，我的家人开始和我说话和联系了。我还要感恩上帝，我的三个孩子现在在东帝汶唯一的一所基督复临安息日会学校读书学习。
请为我的哥哥们和我家里其他人祷告。也请为我孩子上学的学校祷告，使老师们能够带领更多的孩子认识耶稣和祂的话语。

来源：本文译自《圣工消息》（社会青年季刊）2022年第一季

Beatings Strengthen Faith

My younger sister called me excitedly one day.
“Sister,” she said, “I am studying the Bible, and the lessons are very good. Come, and we can study together with the missionaries.”
Hearing the enthusiasm in my sister’s voice, my curiosity was aroused, and I met with her and a married couple, Yuliana and Luis, who were Bible workers.
“Please, teach me about the Bible,” I asked them.
I was studying at a university in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste. My sister, Ermelinda, was studying at a high school in the same city. We both came from a small rural village.
I studied the Bible with the couple almost every day. The Bible lessons fascinated me. I learned about God’s great love for me. I learned that one way that I could show my love to God was by honoring Him with my body, including by eating clean foods. I learned that a big way to love God was by keeping His commandments. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (Jn 14:15, NKJV). I was especially interested in reading the Ten Commandments. I had never heard the fourth commandment, which begins, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8).
When I realized that God had never changed His holy day to Sunday, I asked the couple where I could worship on the seventh-day Sabbath.
“I want to keep the Sabbath day, but where I can go to church?” I said.
“We have a church in Dili,” Luis said.
“You can go to there every Sabbath,” Yuliana said.
Ermelinda and I went to church together. After attending church for two weeks, we decided to get baptized and join the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Our older brothers were furious when they found out that I had left our family’s church. They threatened me and beat me.
“You will not study here anymore,” one brother said.
“We will bring you back home to the village,” said another.
My brothers forced me to leave my studies and return with them to the village. They made me eat pork and go to church with them on Sundays. I felt so sad. I had to lock myself in the bathroom to read the Bible and pray. But the threats and beatings strengthened my faith. I resolved to love God with all my heart and keep His commandments.
The threats and beatings went on for a month.
My younger sister, fortunately, was able to stay in the capital. She called to tell me that the Adventist Church was organizing a two-month training program for Bible workers.
I wanted to be a Bible worker more than anything. I wanted to be like Yuliana and Luis, who had taught me about the Bible. I wanted to teach others about God. One day, I ran away from home without telling anyone.
After two months of training, I became a Bible worker. I loved my work, and I threw myself into it. I prayed daily for my family and especially my brothers.
Two years passed, and I married my husband, Reinaldo, who is an Adventist. No one from my family attended the wedding.
Thanks be to God, my family has started talking to me again. I am also grateful to God for three children who are now studying at the only Adventist school in Timor-Leste.
Please pray for my brothers and the rest of my family. Please pray that the school will be able to teach many children about Jesus and His Word.

Please find the original article at: https://am.adventistmission.org/mqa22q1-14