小偷与祝福

在新西兰，一位刚加入复临教会的81岁长辈遇到了窃贼。可这场盗窃案不但让他的信心更加坚固，也变成了一个向盗贼分享耶稣的机会。

故事发生在一个晚上，有三个小青年偷跑进了理查在新西兰最北边一座城市的家中。

理查睡得很沉，有一个孩子爬进他卧室的窗户，走过他的床，给另外两个人开门。

理查一般睡得都很浅，只要一点点动静就会醒。但那天晚上，他睡得很香，甚至那两个16岁的和一个14岁的孩子来扫荡他家都不知道。

后来他起夜去上厕所，他走去浴室又回到床上，孩子们都没注意到他，而他也没有发现到他们。他回到床上之后很快又睡着了。孩子们跑进他停在车库的车里，车子随着轮胎发出的刺耳声冲进了夜暮。

声音惊动了邻居，他跑到理查的门前看他怎么样。

砰，砰，砰！邻居敲着理查的门。没有人回应。

砰，砰，砰！邻居又敲了门。终于，理查醒了。

“你知道你的车被偷了吗？”邻居问。理查看着空荡荡的车库并没有生气，反而松了口气。他很感恩上帝保护他免受伤害。

二十分钟后，警察来了。他们找到了理查的车，钥匙还在车上，他们的警犬在一英里外的一栋房子里找到了那些男孩。警察把理查被偷的平板电脑、电动刮胡刀和皮夹里的东西都还给了他。

但到这故事还没完。

理查又和那三个人见面了，这是对他们的其中一个惩罚。理查很惊讶的发现，这些孩子没有一个人的父母露过面。他们都是和爷爷奶奶或者阿姨姑姑们同住的。他们卑微的道歉触动了理查的心。

“你们是初犯，”他跟他们说。“我不喜欢你们这么做，我也不会为难你们。我原谅你们，我希望你们可以吃一堑长一智。我也不用你们赔什么。”

可孩子们想要弥补他们所犯的错。所以有一个孩子把理查外面走廊上泛黑的霉斑和苔藓清理干净了。他还烤了一个蛋糕送给理查。又一天，一位警官拿着一个装有差不多360美元的信封来到理查的家。

“我没想要赔偿啊”理查对警官说。

警官说，这些钱是那个拥抱他的男孩和他爷爷给的。这叫可哈，属于新西兰毛利人的一个传统。

理查回了一封非特别长的感谢信，他很赞同这位爷爷对孩子的良好教育。

第三次会面之后，孩子们在执法单位这的问题解决了，他们的犯罪记录也在警方那删除了。

理查此前刚刚加入了蒂基彭加复临团契教会，他说这次意外重振了他的信仰。

他说那些人偷东西的时候，自己没有看到到他们，这就是一个奇迹。两年前他心脏病发作后，心脏就变得虚弱了。

“平常的时候连帽子掉下来我都会醒，”他说。“我一个人住，还80多岁了，我天天晚上都很警惕。我不能否认上帝所有的荣耀、爱和温柔就在那里，因为如果我看到有人躲在我床底下，我会吓坏的。”

他还说他很庆幸能有和孩子们有互动的机会，并能鼓励他们。

“主做的事太美妙了，”他说。“从那时起，我在基督徒的道路上就有了很大的进步。”

感谢您在这一季的第十三安息捐，您的捐献将会帮助新西兰和横跨南太平洋分会和全世界的男孩和女孩能够通过一个系列福音动画更加认识耶稣。这是个以《喜乐的泉源》、《历代愿望》、《善恶之争》和其他深受喜爱的怀著为蓝本的系列动画。

来源：本文译自《圣工消息》（社会青年季刊）2022年第四季

Robbed and Blessed

An 81-year-old man who had just joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church was robbed in New Zealand. The robbery ended up not only strengthening his faith but also becoming an opportunity to share Jesus with the robbers.

The story began one night when three teens broke into Richard’s home in Whangarei, the northernmost city in New Zealand.

Richard was sound asleep as one of the teens climbed through his bedroom window and walked past his bed to open the front door for the others.

Richard usually slept lightly and awoke at the slightest noise. But on that night, he slept soundly as the two 16-year-old boys and a 14-year-old boy ransacked his house.

Then he woke up to use the bathroom. The boys paid no attention to him as he walked to the bathroom and returned to his bed. He didn’t notice them, either. He was back in bed, fast sleep, when the boys jumped into the car in his garage, and drove off, tires screeching, into the night.

However, a neighbor heard the noise and ran to Richard’s door to check on him.

Bang, bang, bang! the neighbor knocked on Richard’s door.

No answer.

Bang, bang, bang! the neighbor knocked some more.

Finally, Richard woke up.

“Did you know that your car has been stolen?” the neighbor asked.

Rather than being upset, Richard felt a sense of relief when he saw the empty garage. He was glad that God had protected him from harm.

Twenty minutes later, the police arrived. They had found Richard’s car with the keys inside and then used sniffer dogs to track the scent of the boys to a house located about a mile (2 kilometers) away. The police handed over Richard’s stolen possessions: an electronic tablet, an electronic razor, and the contents of his wallet.

But that was not the end of the story.

Richard met three times with the three intruders as part of their punishment. He was astonished to learn about their backgrounds and see that not one of their parents attended the meetings. The boys lived with grandfathers or aunts. Richard’s heart was touched when each boy apologized without a trace of arrogance.

“It’s your first offense,” he told them. “I don’t like what you did, but I don’t hold anything against you. I forgive you, and I hope you will learn from this. I don’t want reparation.”

But the boys tried to right their wrongs. One of them cleaned black mold and moss from Richard’s sidewalk. He also baked a cake and gave it to Richard.

Another day, a police officer arrived at Richard’s house with an envelope containing 10 fifty-dollar notes, or about U.S.$360.

“I don’t want reparation,” Richard told the police officer.

But the officer explained that the money was from the boy who had hugged him and his grandfather. It was koha, a gift, according to New Zealand Māori custom.

Richard wrote a very long thank-you letter in which he praised the grandfather for his good parenting.

After the three meetings, the boys were no longer in trouble with the authorities and their crimes were erased from the police record.

Richard, who joined the Tikipunga Adventist Fellowship church shortly before the robbery, said the ordeal revitalized his faith.

He said the fact that he did not notice the intruders during the robbery was a miracle. He has a weak heart after suffering a heart attack two years earlier.

“I normally wake up at the drop of a hat,” he said. “Living on my own and in my 80s, I take note of everything at night. I can’t dispute that God was there in all His glory and love and tenderness because if I’d seen someone at the bottom of my bed, I would have freaked out.”

He also said he was blessed by the chance to interact with the boys and to encourage them.

“It was so beautifully done by the Lord,” he said. “Since then, I’ve grown leaps and bounds in my Christian walk.”

Please find the original article at: https://am.adventistmission.org/mqa22q4-10