Sometimes the best witness is kindness.

将主爱化为行动，有时就是最好的见证。

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress. James 1:27

在上帝我们的父面前，那清洁没有玷污的虔诚，就是看顾在患难中的孤儿寡妇。-雅各书1章27节

“My mother gave us chili peppers before we went to bed,” said Samuel, recalling his difficult childhood in sub-Saharan Africa. “We drank water to cool our mouths, and then we would feel full.” He added, “It did not work well.” 

萨姆回忆起童年时住在非洲撒哈拉沙漠南部，那段非常艰困的日子。他说：「在每晚临睡前，我的母亲会让我们吃一些辣椒。因为很辣，我们就会喝很多水，藉以获得饱足感。」他补充一句说：「但我还是觉得很饿。」

Government upheaval had forced Samuel’s father to flee for his life, leaving their mother as the family’s sole provider. Sam's brother had sickle cell anemia, and they couldn’t afford medical care. Their mother took them to church, but it didn’t mean much to Sam. How could God allow our family to suffer like this? he wondered.

由于政治动乱，迫使萨姆的父亲流亡在外，留下母亲独撑家计。接着他哥哥又罹患镰状细胞贫血症，当时家徒四壁，无法支付医药费。虽然母亲会带他们参加教会聚会，但他觉得毫无意义，因他无法理解：上帝为何让我们一家遭逢这种苦难？

Then one day a man learned about their plight and brought them some medicine to help with treatment. “On Sunday we will go to this man’s church,” his mother announced. Right away Sam sensed something different about this church. They celebrated their relationship with Jesus by living His love.

后来，有人知道了他们的困境，就预备好了药品送给他们。那个主日，母亲带着他们去那个人的教会。在那里，萨姆感受到这间教会的确有所不同，他们与耶稣有密切的关系，并将基督的爱化为实际的行动。

That was three decades ago. Today in this part of the world, Sam has started more than 20 churches, a large school, and a home for orphans. He’s continuing the legacy of true religion taught by James, the brother of Jesus, who urged us not to “merely listen to the word” but to “do what it says” (James 1:22). “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress” (v. 27).

那是三十年前的往事。如今，萨姆在那个地方，建立了二十多间教会、一所大型学校和一所孤儿院。他遵循了耶稣的弟弟雅各所教导的，「要行道，不要单单听道」（雅各书1章22节） ，「在上帝我们的父面前，那清洁没有玷污的虔诚，就是看顾在患难中的孤儿寡妇」（27节） 。

There’s no telling what a simple act of kindness done in Jesus’ name can do. 

 奉主耶稣的名所行的善举，效果往往是意想不到的。

Read:James 1:22-27New International Version (NIV)

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

雅各书 1:22-27

22 只是你们要行道，不要单单听道，自己欺哄自己。 23 因为听道而不行道的，就像人对着镜子看自己本来的面目， 24 看见，走后，随即忘了他的相貌如何。 25 唯有详细察看那全备、使人自由之律法的，并且时常如此，这人既不是听了就忘，乃是实在行出来，就在他所行的事上必然得福。

何为真实的虔诚

26 若有人自以为虔诚，却不勒住他的舌头，反欺哄自己的心，这人的虔诚是虚的。 27 在神我们的父面前，那清洁没有玷污的虔诚就是看顾在患难中的孤儿寡妇，并且保守自己不沾染世俗。

整理：于姊妹