珍貴的十一天，服事的千餘人，盡在不言中。
感謝主給我們這樣的機會，在寶島台灣的土地上，留下報佳音的腳蹤。在此與您分享。
Mission Formosa Album - Chih Lin - Picasa 網路相簿
北加音樂短宣隊 2011 台灣宣教 ６／１５－２５
8/27/2011
8/21/2011
一個未婚媽媽的心聲 (團員 沈雅音姐妹的分享)
2011/08/20 00:10
「你這不懷孕不生養的，要歌唱；你這未曾經過產難的，要發聲歌唱，提聲歡呼；因為沒有丈夫的，比有丈夫的兒女更多。這是耶和華說的」。 以賽亞書五十四章1-2節
2006年走進了伯大尼之家後，每一年到伯大尼之家成了我必做的事情，在2008年那一年和教會的姐妹們參加了伯大尼之家的母親節活動，看著華慧拿著禮物用她那看不太清楚的眼睛一直指著我，眼淚不聽話的一直的掉下來，我第一次在母親節的活動中收到了孩子的禮物。而更讓我感動的是何老師的那句話：「雅音姐，妳是我們伯大尼孩子的媽媽。」上帝成就了我做很多人媽媽的心願，還多過我想的居然我有一百多個小孩！
去年因為大家的時間無法配合，所以我們就沒有回去伯大尼之家，今年典謨兄和林牧師他們要回去短宣，所以我也就跟著回去了。由於此次的行程非常的緊，我們到達伯大尼之家時已是六月十九日的晚上了，孩子們都睡了。我一進伯大尼之家就有一種回家的感覺，一切對我來說是那麼的熟悉。
六月二十日一大早參加了孩子們早上的敬拜讚美，看著他們臉上那種快樂而滿足的笑容，就好像一群的小天使圍在我們的周圍，這些天使們太高興了，因為這次不是只有阿媽和阿姨來，也不是只有阿公來，因為這次是典謨阿公和秋月阿媽一起來，哇！這是何等開心的事啊！那天我們在屏東監獄和戒毒所的服侍，院中有幾位孩子們也與我們一起同行，當我看到我的孩子們在台上的表演時，我又哭了，那是我的孩子啊！上帝給的天使們，他們在正常人的眼光來看是不足的，上帝給他們的是我們的百分之十，但他們用這百分之十在台上百分之百的表演，百分之百的服侍，百分之百的把上帝的愛表現了出來，我現在可以像別的媽媽一樣的臉上充滿著更多的笑容，沒錯！這些孩子們就是上帝給的恩典。
8/12/2011
~11 Days in the Life of a Traveling Violinist~ (團員 Abraham Chen 的分享)
~11 Days in
the Life of a Traveling Violinist~
I have decided to add an introductory
section to this little journal type page I am about to type, just because it
looks more professional and more like a real book. You can decide not to read
this first page.
The
unforgiving rays of the summer sun beat down upon the dry and thirsty earth, heating
it to unimaginable temperatures. Combine
this heat with Taiwan’s trademark humidity, and what you got is a gigantic oven
hovering ominously above every head, baking any life form that dares to step
out of the sanctuary of a building. Escape from this heat/humidity mixture
exists in rooms with modern air conditioning. Having a cool AND dry room is THE
necessity of anyone who has even half a brain. The welcoming tendrils of cool
air invite you in as you step through a doorway (assuming that doorway leads to
an air conditioned room), embracing you in its chilly arms. It coaxes you to
stay longer, and of course, you cave in to its reassuring promises. Wherever
you are, air condition is vital for one’s happiness.
Now
you may ask, “What’s with the weird and disturbing introduction talking about
air conditioning?” Well truth to be told, this paper doesn’t talk about air
conditioning at all. It might include references to it, but it is not the main
topic. The reason I started out with an air condition related intro is because
I was lucky to have such a convenience on my mission trip. Well most of the
time.
Before
I embarked on this mission trip, I worried about one main thing: will I have
sleeping quarters with air conditioning? As it turned out, God was merciful and
compassionate and provided our team with air con in every single place we slept
in. That meant different housing in Taipei, Tianxiang, Hualien, Taitung,
Pingtung, Tainan, and Penghu. At first I was worried because all of the living
quarters were stationed in rural areas of those counties, and rural areas might
not always have air condition. But as it turned out, God is a good God and gave
us that necessity. Not only that, but God also provided us more than enough
food and supplies. Every meal I had was absolutely delicious!
But
the main thing I learned on this trip isn’t AC or food or whatever (even though
they are very important). The main thing I learned is that God really is a
graceful and loving God. Whether it is towards the members of the band or to
the people we reached out to, His awesome care has been evident to me. I am
really glad he gave me such a wonderful opportunity to reach out to these
people.
~Prelude~
Back in
April, my mom informed me that she had volunteered herself and me to join a
band my former youth pastor had assembled. He was coming all the way from San
Jose, along with a few of his church associates and his family to Taiwan.
Pastor Michael (the youth pastor) was playing the guitar. He had his two kids
join: Austin (age 20), the keyboardist, and his daughter Shannie (age 18) who
was the flute player. He had invited a drummer (also a friend back in San Jose)
named Adrian (age 15). The other singer was Adrian’s mom. Along with me, the
violinist, our whole band consisted of 6 people. Adrian’s dad was the behind
the curtains guy, and the rest supported us in many ways.
Truth to be
told, I was reluctant like a mule…When I saw how many pieces Pastor Michael had
sent, my eyes almost popped out of my head. He had prepared around 40-50 songs
for us. In the end I could only play around 20 or fewer songs. But in the end I
decided that this kind of chance will only come once in a few years, so why not
try it? I was given about 2 months to practice, because the mission trip
started on June 15 and ended on the 25th.
So that was
what I did, practiced the songs I knew every single day, until that day in
which we were to set off on the perilous journey arrived…
~Day One~
Waking up
early is not something I do often during summers, but for the sake of this
trip, I woke up at 7:30 on the first day in order to catch the morning high
speed rail train to Taipei. Little did I know that the waking up at 7:30 would be
considered a piece of cake in comparison to the ungodly hours I would be waking
up over the next few days.
It turned
out that we (me and my mom) would be going to Taipei on the HSR on the same
train as Pastor Michael and his family. That turned out to be a big convenience
because they knew the way to the first place we would be performing at, a
retirement center off in northern Taipei.
The center
was actually really nice! It was situated in an extremely rural area, but they
planted lots of trees inside the courtyard and had a magnificent chapel/church
building. There were stone paths for the residents to walk on, and also nature
walk paths.
That evening
we had our first performance. Of course, my hands were all sweaty and cold, due
to the anxiety. Just to make it worse, I dropped the shakers right in the
middle of the program…but by the time the last note was played, I felt a great
surge of success flow through me. Sure, the response we got back from the
audience wasn’t that great (since they are very old and just kinda stared at us
blankly) but it was a successful performance after all.
I don’t
really know if the old people that were in that church that night were all
already Christians (since it was a Christian retirement center) but I hoped
that if anybody didn’t, they WILL put their trust in God.
Now here
comes the juicy part. Right after the pastor finished praying after the
concert, I dropped my bow. Now, I dropped that bow PLENTY of times. Nothing
really happened to it all the times before. But it was at this crucial time
that it snapped. It just snapped in half. As I saw it hit the wooden floor, I
witnessed the bow hairs go limp and slack, which should never happen because
the bow stretched it. I stared in horror as I picked it up, just a dead and sad
bow that will never be fixed.
What
was really bad about this was that I still had dozens of concerts left in the
short span of 10 days. We were in the middle of nowhere, in a retirement
center, with no kind of town nearby. The closest place was around a 50 minute
drive away, and we had no car. In the end I decided to call my uncle to help,
and thank the Lord, he brought a new bow that night.
Right
after the bow incident, there came another disaster. At first I was sharing a
room with Austin, and I was very content with that. But then the pastor’s wife
came and informed me of the horrible news: I was being relocated to share a
room with my mom…Now I reacted as all adolescent teenagers do, with nonstop
ranting and outrage. Later I found out that the room I was moved to (my mom was
also relocated as she was in another room before) was to be shared by the
drummer and another kid that wasn’t in the worship band. It turned out that the
other kid had an extreme case of homesickness and quietness that he couldn’t
share rooms with someone he didn’t know. So he had to go and share rooms with
his grandfather. After much consideration (since there was so much moving
around) it was decided that I had to go and bunk with my mom. I was the main
casualty that night.
~Day Two~
Starting
from the second day, our whole team woke up at approximately 6 AM every single
morning. As I was scraped from the hard and uncomfortable bed of the guest
room, and dragged my luggage and violin out into the blazing sun. We waited for
a bit, and then our bus arrived.
Now
I am not talking about those rackety and dirty public buses. This is a private
bus we’re talking about here. It was one of those huge tour buses that you see
in whatever city you go. The bus could seat around 40-50 people, but we only
filled a fraction of it, while the luggage compartment was packed to the brim
with music equipment. The driver was really nice (even though I only spoke to
him once) and drove us more than 600 kilometers across the island.
So
we chugged along the coast all the way to Taroko National Park in Hualien County.
The trip took around 8 hours, with stops in between to go to rest stops and
lunch. In the park we hiked along the hazardous trail that cut a swath through
the cliff wall. The stream that flowed at the bottom of the canyon had such
clear water! From there it was an hour drive to the first decent (or better)
hotel for the mission trip in 天祥.
The exterior of the building looked normal, with nothing special, but once you
walk into the inside you will realize it is a paradise located in the dark mountainous
forests. I may be exaggerating a bit, but who cares! It was a great relief.
We
had no concert planned for that night, so after dinner the band members headed
over to one of our rooms and set up our instruments. The pastor went over most
of the songs with us, and we practiced all the way till 10 PM or something…it
was too late and I was too exhausted to remember. The four youth (including me)
planned and rehearsed the program we would be leading the next day in front of
a crowd of 500 high school students. We planned to sing a NEW song for me
(since they already knew it) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSo46FWGh8g called Cannons and also DYNAMITE!!!
So that night I snoozed particularly
deeply, and soundly on the soft and comfy bedJ, worn out from that day’s practice.
~Day
Three~
This was the day that I started to
warm up, thank goodness! Warming up to the routines, music, traveling, etc. is
quite a relief after all the turbulence and commotion.
Day three was also the day we had
tons of performances squeezed into a few hours. We loaded onto our bus with our
heavy equipment and headed off from the deep mountains of Taroko National Park.
The next destination was Hualien City and its neighboring areas.
First up was another retirement center. This one was less pretty and less
clean as the one in Taipei, since this one was opened by the government. The
number of residents was also dramatically fewer, but we set up and finished our
performance without really knowing much feedback from the audience, since they
were awfully quite…
After number one performance we
headed over to a luncheon hosted by the founder of Sunshine Association. This
particular association’s goal is to reach out to the more rural areas of
Taiwan.
Now the founder is really close with the parent of a student in 花蓮女中, so that student’s whole class got ferried away
from school during lunchtime to join the luncheon with our team at that particular
parent’s house. The food was delicious; it consisted of salad, a choice between
white sauce and red sauce spaghetti (which was overwhelmingly scrumptious) and
some exotic watermelon juice. Over the course of the lunch our youth spread out
over the huge U-shaped tables and talked to the 30 some girls in their class.
We were supposed to speak English to them (since they got permission to
use their English class time to come out) but I soon realized that if I
continued down that only-English path, the conversation with 4 people would
soon peter out and whither. Therefore I decided to switch to Mandarin, which
they were all familiar with. After I warmed up to them (since they were all
grade 11 girls) we talked about lots of stuff like American habits,
environment, and school life. They fired random questions at me too, like “what
are your hobbies?” or “what do you plan to study for in college?”
As we neared the end of the luncheon we (as in our band members) went up
and sang American classics like You Are
My Sunshine and also a Chinese song called 朋友. In my
opinion that class was one of the most responsive (making it one of the most
successful) group out of all the groups we met up with during the whole trip.
They talked a lot with us, and responded in great enthusiasm when we asked them
to sing with us.
Since we were so engaged in the act of talking and singing, we kind of
got delayed for our next performance at 花蓮中華工商. We got to that school around 15 minutes later than scheduled, so when
we strode through the auditorium 500 pairs of eyes were on us, and the only
sound was the sound of our loud footsteps on the floor. This was also the
performance in which our youth members were to lead.
So after the conventional starting prayer and greeting/introduction by
our pastor, the mike was passed to us. As planned, we introduced ourselves,
where we were from and our purpose there. We shared some things about life back
in the States, but for most of the time we were on stage we were singing. And embarrassingly,
I totally went off key while singing Cannons.
Despite that minor failure, the concert went pretty well.
The cool part was when we invited up two students from the crowd to sing
a duet! This was a special type of duet. We took two Chinese songs: 分享 and 朋友
and mixed them together. The choruses of these two songs could be sung
simultaneously, due to having the same chords. They were also particularly good
singers too, since they are of aboriginal descent. The speakers almost blew off
their stands when they sang their hearts out.
Afterwards we drove to the place we were going to stay that night. This
place was quite special. When kids get abused by their parents, many of them
run away. This place, called the 信望愛 少年學園 is a
government supported facility which collects these kind of kids or teenagers.
It is a place where these kids live, sleep, eat, and pray. Every morning they
get on their minivans and get carted to different schools, almost an hour or
more away.
That night I finally got to bunk with people near my age!! And that was
also the night that I scared the guts out of them…So all three of us were
already in a deep sleep, each in his own dream world. Mine in particular was
what stood out. I was dreaming of a horrific nightmare (details best left
unwritten) when I yelled out “NOOOOO” at the top of my lungs. Of course, I was
dreaming, but when I screamed that I woke up, and realizing that it was only a
dream, went back to sleep. But my little dream escapade did not go unnoticed by
my roommates. They both woke up instantly (one was even wearing earplugs) and
upon realizing nothing was wrong (with the exception of me) went back to sleep.
I was tormented by them about this for the whole trip…
~Day
Four~
Early in
the morning we headed to a small English 補習班 for little kids in Hualien. I really liked how they were super
enthusiastic and liked to mess around when the adults were teaching. This was
also planned by the head of the Sunshine Association, and she gave each member
a big green towel with the words “I LOVE TAIWAN!”
After a delicious lunch of 扁食 we started for Bunung, Taitung. This place is a
tourist attraction, which focuses on aboriginal culture. The founder of this
place is a devout Christian, and has built a church for the performers and
workers there, who are all aboriginals.
That night I was so shocked by their
actions in youth service. These people are all teenagers, mind you. When we
started the first song, they sang with such passion!! They closed their eyes,
put their hands in the air, and waved them left to right slowly…and during the
fast paced songs, they would burst into dancing and singing. We also shared
with them some ENGLISH praise songs, in which they responded with equal
enthusiasm.
~Day
Five~
At Bunung, the Sunday church services
are held at SIX in the morning. So we all woke up at 5:30 (reluctantly, of
course) to join the service. Again, the whole worship time was led by the
youth, so I experienced their passion once again. We sat at the same table with
some of the teens for breakfast, and they told us a great deal about their life
there. For example, after Saturday youth group the band would stay for another
1-2 hours just to practice for the next day, and by the time they got home it
would be around 11 PM. The church and the resort meant the world to them!
This was also the day when Pastor
Michael’s voice started to crack and rasp. That night we held another
performance in a small church in Pingtung. After an exhausting day, we finally
reached Bethany Home at 11 PM…I think I fell asleep a minute after y head hit
the pillow.
~Day Six~
I would be happy to say that I have
never set foot in a jail, but if I did so I would be lying. On this day our
mission team journeyed into the deep belly of Pintung Jail. The security made
us pass through a metal detector, and confiscated all our cell phones. All the
music equipment that was to be brought in were opened and checked for
suspicious stuff individually.
I have to say that the prisoners
were quite unresponsive. In one song we tried to make them stand up, but nobody
got up…I think it’s because of the jail rules though, to prevent them from
making trouble. The auditorium was quite large, it seated up to a few hundred
people.
Bethany Home is a school and home for mentally or physically handicapped
kids. All of the kids in there have no parents, because most of them have
abandoned them, making Bethany Home the only home for the kids. That night a
few of us formed a little team and went to all the handicapped rooms to pass
out candy and bracelets. The looks of happiness on their faces were
indescribable! All of them were glad to see new faces, because they never get
to.
~Day
Seven~
For the first time in seven days, we
finally had a chance to go sightseeing for the whole day, with no worries about
performing and whatnot. Each of us was paired with the 14 Bethany kids that
were going. The few kids that went with us were only mentally handicapped a
little bit…you cannot really notice it unless you talk to them. We first went
to the beach to see a so called “Cat Rock” even though I could not see the
resemblance between a furry feline and the big ugly rock.
After that we went to the famous
Kenting Aquarium ( I think I have been there 10 times). My Bethany partner was 阿男, and I have to say that he does not know his
strength…when we walked along he would hold my hand, but he was crushing my
joints! He also challenged me in arm wrestling, but he seriously liked to show
off his strength…beat me by a little bit!
I’m really happy that we got to go
to Bethany Home and have such extensive interaction with them. Sometimes my
school would use the half days to take us out for community service, and once
we went to the home. But those half days never really let us have so much time
with the kid. I’m so amazed by their enthusiastic nature, just like a child.
Pastor Michael’s voice has gotten WAY better; thanks to the 2 day rest
we had during our stay at Bethany.
~Day Eight~
On day eight a total of five people
departed from our company. My mom was included, so that made me so free that I
was as happy as a turtle in mud. This cut down our total member count to 8.
For lunch we made 紅龜餅 with the church members of 白河林子內教會…IT WAS SO AWESOME!! The flavors just exploded in
my mouth…now that church has created this vast piece of meadow on top of a hill
overlooking the valley. The view was beyond description. All the trees, grass,
and rocks just seemed so…perfect! Looked like a scene out of a Disney film
(besides the overcast sky).
I am glad to announce that on that
day we finally had a chance to take a nap during the afternoon. After so many
days of toiling and traveling, we got the necessity of SLEEP! Even though we
slept on blankets on a wooden floor, I was glad that we had a time of rest.
After the concert that night we met
a pair of siblings from the states. Turns out their parents were in the small
village we were at on a long term mission trip. Their kids are both in college,
and they came back to help their parents for the summer. There was a computer
room in the church, and we were chatting in there. One of the siblings
mentioned one of her friends, and I searched him up on Facebook. Turned out I
had two mutual friends back in LA…what a small world we live in! These siblings
both go to different universities. One in Michigan, one in Texas, and both are
from New Jersey.
I am STILL amazed by how connections
with total strangers are everywhere.
~Day Nine~
Before we embarked on the small and
rackety ship to Penghwo, I was not aware of how turbulent a ship could be. Now,
I have been on ships before, but they were small ferries with little or no turbulence
on board. But the ship we went on that day was just ridiculous. Before the
engines were even ignited the ship was rolling to and fro manically. Ten
minutes into the boat trip I couldn’t handle it anymore, so I stumbled to the
rear deck to get some fresh air. I stayed there for the rest of the 40 minute
ride, and by the time we docked every square centimeter of exposed skin was
coated with sticky salt water.
The first day in Penghwo was all
relaxation and sightseeing. I got a super distinct tan line by the time in
Penghwo was over. We experienced some great food, and also refreshing shaved
ice. This was probably the most enjoyable day of all, since we had no
performance planned and could go around the islands seeing new things.
~Day Ten~
This is the second time I’ve stepped
into a prison in the span of five days…if I said that people might consider me
dangerous and vile! The Penghwo jail was so much better than the Pingtung jail
in numerous aspects. The most evident was that they let their prisoners express
themselves. Works of art like drawings, clay models, or paper cutouts are on
display all over the prison halls and rooms. Too bad cameras were also banned, otherwise
I would’ve taken a few pictures. They are also much more responsive than the
other batch. When we told them to sing with us, they gladly did so. Two of them
were nominated to sing up on stage with us too. I don’t really know what the
factor that created such difference is, but I am glad that they are so open to
us.
Lunch was in the middle of the sea. We
took another boat ride to a floating restaurant! It was buffet style; they
provided unlimited clams to cook. There was a fishing area outside, and if you
caught the big fish, you would get a free plate of sashimi of that 90 cm fish! Too
bad nobody got the catch; I was getting tired of the clams. L
For the rest of the day we went to
more landmark sites, of which most were beaches and a fort. After dinner at
Austin’s cousin’s house we held an unplanned mini-family concert. All the
equipment was very unprofessional, but it seemed that the audience all had a great
time.
~Day Eleven~
Not much to say about the last day…woke
up again at an early hour (we were promised that we could sleep in) and ate the
same thing. We said our goodbyes to Adrian and his family, for they were going
to Taichung by plane. Michael and his family plus I came back to Kaohsiung by
boat, but this time I could not feel any turbulence. If there were, I would be
suffering the whole 4 hour trip…once we got to Kaohsiung we all said our
goodbyes, and the trip is now officially over.
In these few days I experienced SO
much different things, and interacted with so many different people. All the
people we met with are considered to be not important by modern society.
Prisoners, the handicapped, rural areas are just a few. I’m glad I had this
chance to reach out to them, to see what they experience, and show them God’s
unfailing love for them.
6/24/2011
6/24 澎湖小朋友唸童謠
完成了最後一場在澎湖監獄的音樂佈道後，返回西嶼教會途中，碰到這三位可愛的白沙鄉通樑村的小朋友：鄭復生、鄭詠蓉、鄭筠蓁。他們唸的新台語童謠，真是好聽！
一鼠賊仔名
二牛臭乳兄
三虎???
四兔遊東京....
看您聽懂幾個。 :-)
願 上帝祝福他們。
一鼠賊仔名
二牛臭乳兄
三虎???
四兔遊東京....
看您聽懂幾個。 :-)
願 上帝祝福他們。
6/12/2011
傳揚雜誌六月號Vol.42 2011 成功的短宣
http://magazine.efccc.org/ArticleDetail.aspx?DocID=3499
平安地出去，平安地回來
問安當然不是簡單地說幾句好話而已。我們是要把屬天的平安分享給對方。這屬天平安是我們在經歷神的同在時領受的。人在什麼時候會感到平安呢？一般來說，當自己想要的東西都得到滿足，而且事情發展都符合自己的期望之時，他就會有安全感。這是一種屬世的平安。平安意味著自己的生活尚未失控。一旦出現意外，生活失去控制，你就馬上喪失平安，你會為這闖入你生活的意外事件煩躁不安。我們生活在這個世界，勤勤懇懇地工作，就是為自己明天的生活尋找保障。然而，我們每次認真地面對明天時，我們就會發現，這個明天是充滿不確定的存在，是我們無法控制的存在。因此，我們所追求的屬世平安是不確定的。當我們相信耶穌基督，把主權交給神，讓神來帶領我們的生活時，我們看見，神是這個世界的創造者和主宰，因而也是看顧我們每一位的主。這個時刻，我們會感受到，明天就在神的手中。有了這個信心，我們就擁有了屬天的平安。當我們向人問安時，我們就能夠分享這屬天的平安，對方也能夠感受到我們的平安。
是否領受平安？
耶穌告訴門徒，這屬天的平安並不是人人都能承受的。有人感動而受，有人本能拒絕。耶穌說，如果這家人接受了門徒的問安，這平安就留在這家人身上；如果這家人不接受，這平安就仍然在門徒身上。接受這屬天平安的人是神所揀選的。我們基督徒在傳福音時，常常強調自己傳福音的果效。不時會聽到這樣的誇耀：一次講道，就有多少人決志信主。就人的動機而言，傳福音就是要讓更多的人信主，歸到耶穌名下。多一個人歸到耶穌名下，我們就有多一份喜悅，多一份成就感。神樂意我們喜悅和有成就感，並且和我們一起歡喜快樂。但是，我們必須清楚地認識，使人信主不是人的努力結果，而是神自己的工作。如果僅僅依靠人的動機去傳福音，我們就會很快失去動力，心灰意冷。因此，耶穌把傳福音當作使命給予每位門徒。也就是說，傳福音是基督徒的本份。不管你怎麼想，不傳福音就無法盡基督徒的本份。基督徒如果不把自己從神那裡的領受分享給他人，就無法接受更多的恩典。基督徒是在傳福音中領受恩典的。
讓許多短宣隊員感到沮喪的是，短宣期間沒有多少人信主。當我們把平安分享給人時，人家不領我們的情，拒絕我們的問安。幾天或幾週下來，沒有人在我們的分享中受到感動而決志信主。當然，其中可能有我們自己的原因：我們的語言、交往方式、知識等等，都會影響傳福音的效果。這是我們需要檢討和改進的。不過，這裡也有神的美意。也許，神正是要藉助這種經歷提升我們的靈性。
這就是短宣
短宣對我們來說，重要的不是我們讓多少人信了耶穌，而是我們出去傳了福音。傳福音這個活動本身就是神所喜悅的，我們在傳福音的過程中能夠親身經歷神的同在和帶領。這是最重要的收穫。至於我們的福音對象是否接受我們的問安，那是神自己的工作。所以，耶穌對祂的門徒說，如果那人家不領受他們的問安，不用沮喪。他們只需把腳上的塵土跺掉就行了。耶穌派遣門徒去尋找神為祂揀選的羊，而那些不是祂的羊是不可能明白他們的問安的。其實，耶穌對門徒說的話，都是對我們說的。如果哪位短宣隊員在短宣期間感到一無所成，回到教會後覺得沒有什麼故事可講，那麼，他需要做的事就是，把塵土跺掉，好好想想神為什麼讓他一無所成。這是他和神的關係要進深的關鍵時刻，是他的生命得以更新的關鍵時刻，也是他領受神的祝福的關鍵時刻。
不管我們參加短宣的動機是什麼，有一點是共同的：耶穌差我們去短宣，同時把屬天的平安賜給了我們。平安地出去！平安地回來！這就是短宣。
平安地出去，平安地回來
| 作者:謝文郁 短宣的意思是短期出去宣教。對於福音派基督徒來說，宣教等於傳福音，即：把自己在神裡的經歷和從神那裡的領受，通過自己的言行向他人作見證。不過，有些人尚未體驗到神在自己身上的帶領，就急忙出去短宣。他有許多理由去，比如，短宣的目的地——那是他沒有去過的地方；身邊的朋友——和他們在一起就有樂趣；或是純粹去體驗一下陌生地的生活等等。這種生硬的傳道不但不可能傳揚福音，反而會讓人因他而對福音產生反感。這樣的人最好不要去短宣。 選擇好人家 分享見證是短宣的主要工作。 我們來看看，耶穌在差遣門徒出去短宣時，是如何教導門徒的。門徒在跟隨耶穌一段時間之後，聆聽耶穌教導，目睹耶穌作為，深深感受到並因此相信耶穌的基督身份。眼看著門徒的信心開始建立，儘管仍然很小，耶穌就開始派遣他們出去短宣。耶穌要求他們只需手持一根棍，腳穿一雙鞋，不帶錢，不帶食物，不帶多餘衣服，甚至不帶口袋（做儲備用）。不過，在到一個村子之前，他們需要打聽那裡的基本情況，並選擇好人家，住在那裡，直到離開。耶穌對門徒說：「進他家裡去，要請他的安。」（太十12）門徒按照耶穌的指示，在短宣中治病趕鬼，讓死人復活，宣告神的國度。他們的信心在短宣中大大提升。 出去短宣，按照耶穌的吩咐，首先要找到「好人家」。通常，教會在安排短宣時都會先和目的地的教會聯繫，希望對方出面接待並安排活動。有了落腳點，做起事情來當然方便很多。我們知道，耶穌派遣門徒出門短宣時沒有這樣的落腳點。門徒必須自己去找這樣的「好人家」。這個「好人家」是什麼樣的人家？人都只能按照自己的善惡標準作判斷，每個人都有自己的好壞標準（個人的善）；一群人或一個民族長期生活在一起，日積月累就會形成一套大家都認同標準（共同的善）。一般來說，這裡的「好人家」是根據大家共同的標準而給出的判斷。當然，這樣的「好人家」並不一定是神所揀選的羊。儘管如此，耶穌還是要求門徒在進入村子之前打聽一下這個村子的「好人家」，並且在進門的時候問他的安。 分享屬天的平安 短宣的主要工作就是向人問安。短宣隊到了目的地，事先聯繫好的當地教會或團契就會出面接待。弟兄姐妹見面時就會心照不宣地彼此問候問安，分享見證。但是，我們還是要出去問安，即：出去傳講福音。我們要告訴那些福音朋友，說：「耶穌愛你！」我們的目的很清楚，就是讓他們認識耶穌，歸到耶穌名下。這便是耶穌要門徒做的事──問安；這個平安就是耶穌的愛，是從神而來的平安，是屬天的平安。當然，你先經歷過這屬天的平安並擁有了，然後才能分享並讓他人感受到你的平安。如果你自己沒有平安，你就無法向人問安。因此，問安是祈求把神所賜予的平安分享給這人。 |
是否領受平安？
耶穌告訴門徒，這屬天的平安並不是人人都能承受的。有人感動而受，有人本能拒絕。耶穌說，如果這家人接受了門徒的問安，這平安就留在這家人身上；如果這家人不接受，這平安就仍然在門徒身上。接受這屬天平安的人是神所揀選的。我們基督徒在傳福音時，常常強調自己傳福音的果效。不時會聽到這樣的誇耀：一次講道，就有多少人決志信主。就人的動機而言，傳福音就是要讓更多的人信主，歸到耶穌名下。多一個人歸到耶穌名下，我們就有多一份喜悅，多一份成就感。神樂意我們喜悅和有成就感，並且和我們一起歡喜快樂。但是，我們必須清楚地認識，使人信主不是人的努力結果，而是神自己的工作。如果僅僅依靠人的動機去傳福音，我們就會很快失去動力，心灰意冷。因此，耶穌把傳福音當作使命給予每位門徒。也就是說，傳福音是基督徒的本份。不管你怎麼想，不傳福音就無法盡基督徒的本份。基督徒如果不把自己從神那裡的領受分享給他人，就無法接受更多的恩典。基督徒是在傳福音中領受恩典的。
讓許多短宣隊員感到沮喪的是，短宣期間沒有多少人信主。當我們把平安分享給人時，人家不領我們的情，拒絕我們的問安。幾天或幾週下來，沒有人在我們的分享中受到感動而決志信主。當然，其中可能有我們自己的原因：我們的語言、交往方式、知識等等，都會影響傳福音的效果。這是我們需要檢討和改進的。不過，這裡也有神的美意。也許，神正是要藉助這種經歷提升我們的靈性。
這就是短宣
短宣對我們來說，重要的不是我們讓多少人信了耶穌，而是我們出去傳了福音。傳福音這個活動本身就是神所喜悅的，我們在傳福音的過程中能夠親身經歷神的同在和帶領。這是最重要的收穫。至於我們的福音對象是否接受我們的問安，那是神自己的工作。所以，耶穌對祂的門徒說，如果那人家不領受他們的問安，不用沮喪。他們只需把腳上的塵土跺掉就行了。耶穌派遣門徒去尋找神為祂揀選的羊，而那些不是祂的羊是不可能明白他們的問安的。其實，耶穌對門徒說的話，都是對我們說的。如果哪位短宣隊員在短宣期間感到一無所成，回到教會後覺得沒有什麼故事可講，那麼，他需要做的事就是，把塵土跺掉，好好想想神為什麼讓他一無所成。這是他和神的關係要進深的關鍵時刻，是他的生命得以更新的關鍵時刻，也是他領受神的祝福的關鍵時刻。
不管我們參加短宣的動機是什麼，有一點是共同的：耶穌差我們去短宣，同時把屬天的平安賜給了我們。平安地出去！平安地回來！這就是短宣。
6/04/2011
An encouragement from Isaiah passage
Isaiah 66:19-21
19 “I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations—to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations. 20 And they will bring all your people, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD—on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,” says the LORD. “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the LORD in ceremonially clean vessels. 21 And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites,” says the LORD.
In every generation God prepares and calls his remnants to proclaim His glory to the nations. By His grace, we are His remnants of our generation. In this passage, the Lord compares the act of drawing people to Him with the act of worship bringing offering before Him. When the Bible talks about offerings, we are reminded that first and foremost God looks at the heart of the one bringing the offering. As you journey with this team to the distant islands of Taiwan and Penghu through prayers and worship, please pray that
19 “I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations—to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations. 20 And they will bring all your people, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD—on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,” says the LORD. “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the LORD in ceremonially clean vessels. 21 And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites,” says the LORD.
In every generation God prepares and calls his remnants to proclaim His glory to the nations. By His grace, we are His remnants of our generation. In this passage, the Lord compares the act of drawing people to Him with the act of worship bringing offering before Him. When the Bible talks about offerings, we are reminded that first and foremost God looks at the heart of the one bringing the offering. As you journey with this team to the distant islands of Taiwan and Penghu through prayers and worship, please pray that
- our hearts be filled with reverence and thanksgiving
- God will make this mission team a clean vessel
- our offering be a pleasing aroma to the Lord
- we will worship God lavishly and joyfully by the way we serve Him because He is worthy
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