俘虏

当媒体的报道传到斐济时，萨洛特的心被狠狠地刺痛了！

远在中东地区，有200名武装分子挟持了45名斐济的和平维权人士，将他们囚禁在叙利亚的一个未知地点。

萨洛特34岁的儿子最近刚好出差与联合国的和平维权人士一起到中东执行任务。

被俘虏的人们没有马上获释，萨洛特想知道她的儿子是不是还活着。 她的脑海中浮现了耶利米书29:11：“耶和华说：‘我知道我向你们所怀的意念是赐平安的意念，不是降灾祸的意念，要叫你们末后有指望。’” 萨洛特想起她在儿子出差前就一直在为他祈祷。可以确信，他安全的在上帝的手中。

隔天，电话响了，是萨洛特的媳妇打来的。 她流着泪证实了她的丈夫，也就是萨洛特的儿子，是被俘的45人之一。 他是和平维权部队的指挥官。

萨洛特早有心理准备。“别担心，”她说。“上帝允许这一切发生，他是为了自己的神圣目的而这样做的。我们都要接受这一点，也要祈祷上帝帮助释放这45个人。”她的话加强了他们的信心，他们和其他俘虏的母亲和妻子一起祈祷、禁食，并祈求上帝的承诺。

在2014年的黑暗时刻，萨洛特在祷告中等待着消息，这让她与上帝更亲近了。 她发现当未来看似无望的时候，可以透过内心的平静来减少或完全驱散黑暗。 她抓住以赛亚书26:3的应许，这段经文说上帝会保守那些坚心倚靠祂的人十分平安，因为他们坚心倚靠祂。 第4节补充：“你们当倚靠耶和华直到永远，因为耶和华是永久的磐石。”

萨洛特也通过接受她儿子可能会丧生的事情心灵上得到了平安和力量。 她抓住腓立比书4:6的应许，上面写到：“应当一无挂虑，只要凡事藉着祷告、祈求和感谢，将你们所要的告诉上帝。”接受现实让她想起了对自己所处时代之预言的认知：地球历史的最后阶段己经来到了，就像但以理书第2章尼布甲尼撒王梦里的雕像所预言的那样。 这个事实给了她力量和盼望。

被俘了十四天之后，她儿子和其他人全部获释。

当这些家庭满怀感恩之心感谢上帝时，萨洛特知道上帝的爱扎进了武装分子的营地。 虽然他们禁止她的儿子和同们敬拜上帝，但在被掳后第三天，他们决定无论如何都要开始禁食祷告。 他们肩并肩躺下，手手相连，一个接着一个地做无声的祈祷。 当一个人祷告完后就捏一下他旁边同伴的手。 在这14天里，俘虏和俘虏他们的人成为了朋友，在他们离开的时候甚至有几名武装分子落泪告别。 俘虏们安然无恙地回到了自己的营地。

在《历代愿望》里，怀爱伦说：“我们固然要承认古代圣贤所显明的上帝的恩典，但最有效的还是我们亲身经历的见证。”（《历代愿望》原文347页）这是萨洛特的见证，是一则关于上帝恩典的故事。 ＂有祂在的地方，就必能显出爱来。＂ 她说。 　＂即使在最不可能的情况下，祂也会提供我们如何分享祂的爱和救赎信息的方法。＂

来源：本文译自《圣工消息》（社会青年季刊）2023年第一季

Held Captive

Pain cut through Salote’s heart as the media reports began to reach Fiji.

Far away in the Middle East, 200 armed militants had seized 45 Fijian peacekeepers and were holding them captive in an unknown location in Syria.

Salote’s 34-year-old son had recently left home for a tour of duty with United Nations peacekeepers in the Middle East.

The names of the abducted Fijian peacekeepers were not released immediately, and Salote wondered whether her son was alive and well. The words of Jere. 29:11 sprang to mind: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (NKJV). Salote remembered that she had been praying for her son even before he had been deployed. Surely, he was safely in God’s hands.

The next day, the phone rang. It was Salote’s daughter-in-law. Weeping, she confirmed that her husband, Salote’s son, was among the 45 captives. He was the commander of the peacekeeping force.

Salote was ready for the news. “Don’t worry,” she said. “God has allowed this to happen, and He has done it for His own divine purpose. You and I are to accept this and to pray for God’s help in the release of the 45 men.” Her words strengthened both of their faith, and they joined the mothers and wives of the other captives in prayer, fasting, and claiming God’s promises.

As Salote prayed and waited for news during that dark period of 2014, she grew closer to God. She realized that when the future seemed dark, the darkness could be reduced or totally removed by having peace of mind. She claimed Isa. 26:3, which says God will keep in perfect peace those whose minds stay on Him because they trust in Him. Verse 4 adds, “Trust in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.”

Salote also found stability of mind and strength by accepting the reality that her son might die. She claimed Phil. 4:6, which says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God” (NIV). Being realistic reminded her of her prophetic understanding of the time in which she was living: the very last days of earth’s history as prophesied in King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue in Daniel 2. This reality gave her strength and hope.

Fourteen days after being taken captive, her son and his fellow peacekeepers were freed.

As their grateful families thanked God, Salote learned that the love of God had penetrated the militant camp. Her son and his men had been forbidden from worshiping God, but they had decided on the third day of captivity to start praying and fasting anyway. They had prayed silently, one by one, as they were lying down and holding hands. When one man finished praying, he tightly squeezed the hand of the next man. Over the 14 days, the captives befriended their captors to such an extent that several militants even shed tears saying goodbye. The captives left, unharmed, to their own camp.

In The Desire of Ages, Ellen White says, “We are to acknowledge His grace as made known through the holy men of old; but that which will be most effectual is the testimony of our own experience” (pg. 347). This is Salote’s testimony. This is a story of God’s grace. “He is certainly present where His love is demonstrated,” she says. “He will provide the means for sharing His love and message of redemption even under the most difficult circumstances.”

Please find the original article at: https://am.adventistmission.org/mqa22q4-28