彩虹小品

1991年林弟兄左第2位在活泉堂水禮 

By Abraham Lim 

 中譯： 以恩

　　1991年，活泉宣道會開始了一個青年團契。因為我的同學Raymond Wong跟賴師母學法文，所以他邀請我晚上去參加團契的愛筵，當晚我第一次遇見了賴師母。那年我十四歲，剛信主，也是剛剛移民到加拿大。

　　十四歲是一個充滿不確定，且思想動搖不定的年紀。現在回想，那時正是自己最需要被肯定的年代。那時，賴師母正是用充滿確定和平穩的聲音帶領我們。在那晚的愛筵中，我在她家感到非常舒服。她帶領我們玩了一個很有趣的破冰遊戲，一直到現在，每當我要帶領新的小組時，都會重覆使用那個破冰遊戲。

　　那年秋天，我正式成為活泉宣道會的青年團契的團友。活泉宣道會是我第一個母會，賴師母是我第一個主日學老師，為我的信仰成長打下了基礎。教導我怎樣禱告和禱告的重要性，向我展示敬拜的規範，鼓勵我在教會裡參與服侍。雖然我在活泉宣道會只有三年，但她所教導我的事情，這廿年裡，我仍然每天實行。 　　她曾為我做的每件事，我也學效她照樣做在他人身上。天天禱告到如今；按著她教我的方法讀聖經及教主日學，參與帶領敬拜的事工，訓練兒童預備將來能帶領敬拜。她的教導和影響是她留給我的遺產，我立志在這一生中要把 這份遺產傳下去，為了榮耀神，正如賴師母所做的。

　　賴師母對我們都是出於真心的愛與關懷，且面帶微笑。雖然她每天都要忍受類風濕性關節炎所造成的巨大痛楚，但是她卻活出十分有意義的人生。她使用神給她的每一個恩賜去影響他人，服侍他人，她是一個真正僕人領袖的楷模。 　　很高興能認識賴師母，我會永遠記得她。

註：作者現居加拿大溫哥華

I’ve been asked to say a few words to recount my memories of Mrs. Yvonne Lai. I first met Mrs. Lai in the summer of 1991. It was a potluck at her home organized to kick-off a youth group at Vancouver Fountain Alliance Church (VFAC). I was invited by my school friend Raymond Wong, who was being tutored by Mrs. Lai in French.

My name is Abraham Lim. I was 14 years old at the time I met Mrs. Lai. I was a new Christian. A new immigrant. A relatively new teenager. It was a time of uncertainty and upheaval. Looking back, it was a time I needed a lot of guidance and some semblance of stability.

I believe Mrs. Lai embodied that voice of stability and guidance at that time. I felt comfortable in her home during the potluck. She played fascinating ice-breaker games with us that I still use to this day when I bring together new groups.

I did eventually joined the fledgling youth group at VFAC in the fall of 1991. As a new Christian, I had never previously grown up in any church. This really was my first home church. Mrs. Lai became my first Sunday School teacher and became the catalyst for the foundational years of my spiritual development.

She gave me my first Bible study and helped me explore the anatomy of God’s Word.  She taught me how she prayed and the important components of prayer. She demonstrated how she worshipped. She encouraged me to serve and volunteer my time for others in my church community.  While I only spent 3 years with her there, those things she taught me are things I still do to this very day almost 20 years later.

Everything she did for me, I eventually did for others. I prayed every day from then on. I read the Bible in the same analytical way she taught me. I taught Sunday School although I must say Mrs. Lai is a far better teacher than I was. I volunteered my time to lead worship and now am training children to be worship leaders of tomorrow. Mrs. Lai’s influence continues to touch people’s lives to this day. For me, this is the legacy she has left behind for me. I pledge to pay it forward for as long as I am able – to give God all the glory, just as Mrs. Lai had modeled all her life.