Ten Years and More 禱告了十年

26The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.Mark 4:26–29

26又說：「神的國如同人把種撒在地上。27黑夜睡覺，白日起來，這種就發芽漸長，那人卻不曉得如何這樣。28地生五穀是出於自然的：先發苗，後長穗，再後穗上結成飽滿的子粒；29穀既熟了，就用鐮刀去割，因為收成的時候到了。」馬可福音 4:26–29

That passage came to me three times from January 2018 onwards. Somehow I knew it had to do with the salvation of someone I love.

從二〇一八年一月開始，這段經文三次臨到我。我心裡知道，這是關乎一個我所愛的人得救的事。

I prayed for my eighty-five-year-old dad’s salvation for over ten years. Through all those years I shared my own testimony with him, and other people’s too. He always told me the same thing: he believed there could well be one God in the universe, but he was not sure that God was Jesus. And either way, he did not need Him the way I did — he had good friends, and he handled life pretty well.

我為八十五歲的爹哋的救恩禱告了十多年。這些年裡，我跟他分享自己的見證，也分享別人的見證。他每次的回答都差不多：他相信宇宙間或許真有一位神，但不確定那位是不是耶穌。而且不管是不是，他都不像我那樣需要祂 —— 他有很好的朋友，日子也過得不錯。

Around April 2018 my dad found out he had stage four colon cancer. It had already started spreading to other organs. He decided to have colon surgery on 28 June.

大概在二〇一八年四月，爹哋發現自己患了第四期大腸癌，癌細胞已經開始擴散到其他器官。他決定在六月二十八日做手術。

I prayed that God would give me the wisdom and the courage to share the core of the gospel with him over FaceTime. I used the Gospel Hand, the way I had learnt it from The Call ministry at my church.

我求神給我智慧和勇氣，透過 FaceTime 把福音的核心講給他聽。我用的是「福音的手」，是我在教會的呼召事工裡學會的方法。

My dad got stuck and disagreed when I reached “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” He thought he had been a good person his whole life. And the truth is, my dad is a good and humble person. People liked him. He did not make a profession of faith that day. I was disappointed.

講到「世人都犯了罪，虧缺了神的榮耀」的時候，爹哋卡住了，也不同意。他覺得自己一生都是好人。而事實上，爹哋真的是一個又好又謙卑的人，大家都喜歡他。那天他沒有決志。我很失望。

So I prayed harder. I wanted him to accept Jesus as his own Saviour and Lord while he was fully conscious and could choose freely, for himself. I really wanted him to have eternal assurance in Christ.

所以我更加迫切地禱告。我希望他是在清醒、可以自己自由選擇的時候，接受耶穌作他個人的救主和主。我真的很希望他在基督裡有永生的確據。

One Sunday morning, around six o’clock, my husband woke me up. He told me my dad had made a profession of faith and prayed the sinner’s prayer with my sister’s pastor in Hong Kong.

有一個主日的早上，大概六點鐘，老公把我叫醒。他告訴我，爹哋已經決志了，跟家姐教會的牧師一起做了決志禱告。

My dad received Jesus as his own Saviour and Lord. God is good.

爹哋接受了耶穌，作他個人的救主和主。神是美善的。

The surgery

手術

On 28 June 2018 I flew back to Hong Kong for his surgery. It went well at first, and then Dad vomited badly. The doctors told us his organs were not functioning and it could be very dangerous. They put lines and tubes of every kind into his body. My heart broke. All I could do was cry out to God and ask for peace, and for mercy on my dad, so that he would not have to suffer any further.

二〇一八年六月二十八日，我飛回香港陪爹哋做手術。手術一開始很順利，後來爹哋吐得很厲害。醫生說他的器官功能失常，情況可能很危險。他們在他身上插了各種各樣的喉管。我心痛得不得了，只能向神呼求，求祂賜平安，求祂憐憫爹哋，不要讓他再受苦。

Through those hard days God sent a lot of angels in Christ. Brothers and sisters prayed, and showed their love to my dad and my sister. His organs started working again and the doctors began taking the tubes out. He grew stable, and he recovered well.

在那些難熬的日子裡，神差派了很多主內的天使。弟兄姊妹為我們禱告，也用愛去關心爹哋和家姐。爹哋的器官重新運作，醫生開始把喉管一根一根拔掉。他慢慢穩定下來，恢復得很好。

In the hospital, my sister and I started reading the new believer’s daily devotion with Dad every day. One day we read him this verse.

在醫院裡，我和家姐開始每天和爹哋一起讀初信者的每日靈修。有一天，我們讀了這節經文給他聽。

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.2 Corinthians 12:9

他對我說：「我的恩典夠你用的，因為我的能力是在人的軟弱上顯得完全。」所以，我更喜歡誇自己的軟弱，好叫基督的能力覆庇我。哥林多後書 12:9

My dad told us that verse was true of him. He said that while he was lying there very weak, a hand had gently touched his shoulder a few times while he was asleep. At first he thought it might be a ghost. But he knew very quickly that it was God, because he was at peace, and because the hand was gentle in a way he could not describe.

爹哋跟我們說，這節經文說的就是他。他說他躺在床上很虛弱的時候，有一隻手在他睡著的時候輕輕碰過他的肩膀幾次。一開始他以為是鬼，但他很快就知道那是神 —— 因為他心裡很平安，而那隻手溫柔得無法形容。

And I thought straight away of what he always said whenever we asked him what he wanted us to pray for. Every single time, Dad said the same thing: that God’s peace would be with him, that he could rest in God, and that he would know God was there going through the suffering with him.

我馬上想起，每次我們問爹哋想我們為他禱告什麼，他的答案都一樣：願神的平安與他同在，讓他可以安息在神裡面，也讓他知道神在那裡，和他一起經過這些苦難。

The most beautiful part, for me, is this. I prayed for so many years that God would touch him and become his God — so that he would meet God’s goodness for himself, and not just imagine God as his daughters’ God.

對我來說，最美的是這一點。我禱告了那麼多年，求神親自觸摸他，成為他自己的神 —— 讓他親身經歷神的美善，而不是只把神當作女兒們的神。

I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You.Job 42:5

我從前風聞有你，現在親眼看見你。約伯記 42:5

The nursing home

療養院

Last of all, God prepared a good nursing home for Dad to recover in. He wanted his own room and his own bathroom. Finding a place like that, with a good care team, within a limited budget, is not easy.

最後，神為爹哋預備了一間很好的療養院，讓他在那裡康復。他想要有自己的房間和自己的洗手間。在有限的預算裡，要找到這樣的地方，還要有好的照顧團隊，真的不容易。

While we were searching, my sister and I got worn out, discouraged, and short on faith. God is good. He gave us exactly the right place, tailored to my dad’s needs: one big single room with its own bathroom, a mountain view, good sunlight, at a decent price. And the nursing team were friendly, caring, and Christian.

找的過程中，我和家姐都累了，也灰心，信心不足。神是美善的。祂給了我們一個完全合適的地方，正正是爹哋所需要的：一間大的單人房，有自己的浴室，看得見山景，陽光很好，價錢也合理。而那裡的護理團隊親切、有愛心，也是基督徒。

He prepared the place at exactly His time. Right after my sister paid the deposit, the emergency room called her to say Dad had to check out as soon as possible, because they were short of beds for other people who urgently needed them. We were able to move him to the nursing home the day before I left Hong Kong — at exactly the time God had set.

神在祂的時間裡剛剛好預備好那個地方。就在家姐付了訂金之後，醫院急症室打電話給她，說爹哋要儘快出院，因為床位不夠，要留給其他更緊急的病人。結果我們在我離開香港的前一天，把爹哋轉到了療養院 —— 時間剛剛好，是神安排的。

God is good, all the time.

神時時刻刻都是美善的。

Afterwards

後來

My dad has now left us peacefully, on 8 March 2019. He is with God. Billy Graham said, “My home is in Heaven. I’m just travelling through this world.” It was the same for my dad.

爹哋已經在二〇一九年三月八日安詳地離開我們了。他和神在一起。布道家葛培理說過：「我的家在天上，我只是路過這個世界。」爹哋也是這樣。

A week before he moved from this life to heaven, my sister and I had the chance to take communion with him. It moved me so much. Dad told us he felt very close to Jesus during communion.

在他從今生走到天家的一個星期前，我和家姐有機會和他一起領聖餐。我很感動。爹哋跟我們說，領聖餐的時候，他覺得和耶穌很親近。