蒂娜的考验

蒂娜和丈夫，还有四个孩子在东帝汶的生活拮据。蒂娜的工作是一名会计和接待人员，她的丈夫是一名机械师。不知为何，他们的收入只能勉强维持生计，他们把儿子送到邻国印度尼西亚的一所基督复临安息日会寄宿学校，因为东帝汶没有基督复临安息日会的高中。儿子的学费很贵，加上参加意外来临的家庭葬礼和长期的家庭危机导致的额外的支出时，蒂娜和丈夫拖欠了学费。

蒂娜绝望了。她申请了一个在澳大利亚的草莓农场的工作机会。教会成员提醒她，她有一个一岁的孩子，但她仍下定决心在澳大利亚做季节性劳工。她希望六个月后可以还清现有债务，甚至带着一些积蓄回来。

蒂娜去了塔斯马尼亚的一个农场工作。在她工作的第一周，农场主管宣布在周六工作是付双薪的。周六上午，另外一位来自东帝汶的室友去了草莓农场。而蒂娜，留在了房间里。

两个月里，她每个安息日都在自己的房间敬拜。有一个安息日，她决定在最近的城市朗塞斯顿寻找基督复临安息日会教堂。由于她对这座城市不熟悉，很快就迷路了。这里一切都与东帝汶截然不同，街上几乎没有人，甚至连孩子都没有。她忧心忡忡地想办法找回到农场的路。走了两个小时后，她看到一个男人在打扫他的院子。

 “早上好，先生，”她说“你能帮帮我吗？请告诉我公共汽车站在哪？”

 “你从哪里来，要去哪里呢？”他问。

 “我来自东帝汶，我想去基督复临安息日教会，”她说。

 “哦！我的妻子是基督复临安息日会信徒，但她不去教堂，”这人说。“但我认识其他一些教会成员。”

这名男子带蒂娜去了一名教友的家，蒂娜从那个安息日起开始在基督复临安息日会教堂做敬拜。

教会的教友们热情欢迎她，给她送去食物，衣服，甚至厨房用品。她的室友和其他工作人员看到她周六晚上抱着满满的礼物回来，感到很生气。

 “你来澳大利亚的真正原因是什么？”一名工人问道。

 “我是来赚钱的，”蒂娜说。

 “那你为什么不在周六工作呢？你应该知道周六是支付双薪的，”另一个人说。

 “你只是在享乐，”第三个人说。

蒂娜对这些诬告感到难过。“我一周有六天时间在外赚钱，只有一天时间给上帝，”她说。“我知道即使我没有得到双倍的报酬，上帝也会提供。”

工人们要求农场主管强迫她星期六工作。在与主管交谈时，蒂娜说，她在面试过程时知会过农场主，她是基督复临安息日会的信徒，周六不能工作。农场主曾回答说，澳大利亚是一个自由的国家，人们可以在自己选择的任何一天进行礼拜。“对不起”蒂娜对主管说，“不管发生什么事，我都不会在周六工作。你可以把我送回东帝汶。”

蒂娜被允许安息日休息。

随着时间的推移，另外四，五名工人开始对蒂娜的信仰表现出兴趣，他们在安息日和她一起去教堂。

六个月后，蒂娜怀疑自己是否做出了正确的决定。她挣的钱勉强还清学校的债务。但当她飞回东帝汶时，她却比那些在周六工作的朋友们有更多的钱。怎么回事？

当她在澳大利亚的最后一个安息日，教友们送给她一份临别礼物，一堆信封。在教堂的洗手间，蒂娜打开信封发现了好多钱。这笔钱甚至超过了，假如她在每周六工作的双薪总和。

她跪在洗手间，眼里充满了泪水。“感谢你，上帝，感谢你给我这奇妙的祝福，”她祈祷道。“这太神奇了。我从来没有奢望过不工作还能得到这样的祝福。但是上帝为我准备了一切。正如耶稣在路加福音18:27中所说，‘在人所不能的事，在上帝凡事都能。’”

来源：本文译自《圣工消息》（社会青年季刊）2022年第一季

Tina’s Test

Money was tight for Tina, her husband, and their four children in Timor-Leste. Tina worked as an accountant and receptionist, and her husband worked as a mechanic. Somehow, they managed to make ends meet until they sent their son to an Adventist boarding school in neighboring Indonesia. There was no Adventist high school in Timor-Leste. The boy’s tuition was expensive, and Tina and her husband fell behind on payments when unexpected bills piled up from family funerals and an extended family crisis.

Tina was desperate. She applied to work on a strawberry farm in Australia. Church members reminded her that she had a one-year-old child, but she was determined to work as a seasonal laborer in Australia. She hoped to pay off the debt and return with some savings after six months.

Tina went to work on a farm in Tasmania. During her first week, the farm supervisor announced double pay for working on Saturdays. On Saturday morning, her roommate, who also was from Timor-Leste, headed to the strawberry fields. Tina, however, stayed in her room.

For two months she worshiped in her room on Sabbath. But one Sabbath she decided to look for the Seventh-day Adventist church in the nearest city, Launceston. She was unfamiliar with the city, and she quickly got lost. Everything was so unlike Timor-Leste, with hardly anyone on the streets, not even children. Worried, she tried to find her way back to the farm. After walking for two hours, she saw a man cleaning his yard.

 “Good morning, sir,” she said. ”Can you help me, please? Where is the bus station?”

 “Where are you from, and where are you going?” he asked.

 “I’m from Timor-Leste, and I want to go to the Adventist church,” she said.

 “Oh! My wife is Adventist, but she is not going to church,” the man said. “But I know some other church members.”

The man took Tina to a church member’s house, and Tina started worshiping at the Adventist church from that Sabbath.

Church members welcomed her warmly, showering her with food, clothes, and even kitchen supplies. Her roommate and other workers grew angry when they saw her return on Saturday nights with her arms filled with gifts.

 “What’s the real reason that you came to Australia?” asked one worker.

 “I came to earn money,” Tina said.

 “But why don’t you work on Saturdays then? You know Saturday is double pay,” said another.

 “You are only having fun,” said a third.

Tina was saddened by the false accusations. “I have six days in the week to earn money and only one day for God,” she said. “I know that God will provide even though I do not receive double pay.”

The workers demanded that the farm supervisor compel her to work Saturdays. Speaking with the supervisor, Tina said she had informed the farm owner during the job interview process that she was a Seventh-day Adventist and could not work on Saturdays. The owner had replied that Australia is a free country where people can worship on whatever day they choose. “I am sorry,” Tina said to the supervisor, ”but no matter what happens to me, I will never work on Saturdays. You can send me back to Timor-Leste.”

Tina was allowed to have Sabbaths off.

As time passed, four or five other workers began to show an interest in Tina’s faith, and they went to church with her on Sabbath.

At the end of the six months, Tina wondered whether she had made the right decision. The money that she had earned was barely enough to pay off the school debt. But when she flew back to Timor-Leste, she had more money than her friends who had worked on Saturdays. What happened?

On her last Sabbath in Australia, church members presented her with a parting gift, a pile of envelopes. In the church bathroom, Tina opened the envelopes and found money. It was more money than she would have earned if she had worked for double pay every Saturday.

Tears filled her eyes as she knelt down in the bathroom. “Thank You, God, for this amazing blessing,” she prayed. “It’s so amazing. I never expected to receive this kind of blessing without working. But God prepared everything for me. It is just as Jesus said in Luke 18:27, ‘The things which are impossible with men are possible with God’” (NKJV).

Please find the original article at: https://am.adventistmission.org/mqa22q1-16