Chan Tai

Chan Tai's story, Mrs. Chan.

Mrs. Chan's son was called Beng-gon – “Biscuit”. Sadly, he never dealt with his drug problem, but I was worried about his mother. And I said, "Can I visit her?"

"No, she worships idols." He didn't want me to visit her. Actually, it was because he used to take all the money she had for his own drugs.

She sold herbs in the market and got about HK$10 a day, but she had no license. So she either had to go to court when she was arrested by Hawker Control, or she had to pay a bribe. Later, when I got to know her, I said, "Which was more expensive: paying the bribe or going to court?" She said money was the same, but it was less problem to pay the bribe—didn't have to go to court.

Anyway, one day Beng-gon "Biscuit" got arrested. She couldn't travel on a bus—she got sick—so I found out where she lived and went to see her. Up a little staircase on floor six or seven in the Walled City. Nothing in her house really except a bed, and I found her dying. I had taken another brother with me, and she had no son, no income, and nothing to live for. So she decided to lie in bed with her bad, bad chest, and stay there until she died.

So I said, "Mrs. Chan, could I pray for you?" She said fearfully, "What do I have to do?" I said, "Oh, you don't have to do anything. I'm going to pray in Jesus' name, and He'll come." "All right," she said, and closed her eyes.

And Jesus did come. As I prayed for her, she began to breathe deeply and began to smile. And then she said, "Oh, my chest feels really light." And I said, "Oh, that's because Jesus is God's Son. And He was down here 2,000 years ago, and He's touched you." And then I went on praying for her. And she said, "Oh, I feel very light." And I said, "Will you believe in Him? Because He took all your pain and all your worry, and all the things you feel bad about, and put them on Himself when He died on a cross." "Yes," she said—not understanding, but "Yes, I will." And I said, "And after three days He rose again. Will you believe?" "Yes," she said.

And at the end of 5, 10 minutes, her chest was completely healed, and we gave her Brand’s chicken essence, and then we boiled some bones—me and my friend—so she could have some nourishment.

After a few days, I came to visit her again. "Well," she said, "I have to be baptized." And I said, "What? Why?" She said, "Well, the other night I was watching the TV"—and she had a 29-inch TV, but it didn't work, and the electrics in the Walled City were mostly stolen and not reliable—"but she was watching the TV." She said, "A few days ago I was watching, and this man walked across the screen. And then he was walking up a beautiful mountain, he had a long white robe, and there were beautiful flowers. And he held out his hand to me and he said, 'Mrs. Chan, will you follow me?'" And Mrs. Chan said, "Yes, Lord, I will." And Jesus said, "Be baptized!"

So that was how she began her new life. And she'd thrown all her idols out. "Well," she said, "they never cared about me and my son, did they?"

And then she used to come to my apartment, which was just outside the Walled City, where I had quite a few young boys who'd been in prison staying with me. And she'd wash the floor and make toast and marmalade. She picked up anything I'd left on the floor and washed it. She was happy. She'd got a family. She'd got toast and marmalade and Jesus.

That's... and she became my Kai Ma—my godmother.

陳太的故事

陳太的兒子名叫「餅乾」。遺憾的是，他始終沒能擺脫毒癮。那時我非常牽掛他的母親，便問他：「我可以去探望你媽媽嗎？」

「不行，她是拜偶像的。」他不想我去探望她。其實，是因為他過去總是把母親所有的積蓄都拿去買毒品。

陳太在街市擺攤賣草藥，每天大概只能賺十幾港元，但她沒有牌照。每當遇到小販管理隊查抄時，她要麼得被關押上庭，要麼就得塞錢私了。後來我和她熟絡了，問她：「塞錢和上庭，哪一樣比較貴？」她說花費其實差不多，但私了比較少麻煩——不用親自上法庭。

後來有一天，「餅乾」被警方拘捕了。陳太生病了，無法搭車去探監。我打聽到她的住處，便親自去九龍城寨看她。沿著城寨狹窄的樓梯爬上六、七樓，她的家裏幾乎空無一物，只有一張床。當時我發現她病得很重，幾乎快要離世。我帶了一位兄弟同行。那時的陳太，兒子不在身旁、沒有收入，生活毫無盼望，只能躺在床上，任由嚴重的胸痛折磨，等著死亡降臨。

我對她說：「陳太，我可以為你祈禱嗎？」 她恐懼地問：「我要做些什麼嗎？」 我說：「你什麼都不用做。我用耶穌的名為你祈禱，祂就會來。」 「好吧。」她說著，便合上了雙眼。

耶穌真的來了。當我為她祈禱時，她開始深深地呼吸，臉上漸漸泛起微笑。她說：「噢，我的胸口感覺好輕鬆啊！」 我對她說：「這是因為耶穌是神的兒子。兩千年前祂來到這個世界，現在祂親自摸著你了。」 我繼續為她祈禱，她又說：「我覺得身體輕盈了！」 我問她：「你願意相信祂嗎？因為當祂被釘在十字架上死去時，已經擔當了你所有的痛苦、憂慮，以及所有讓你難過的事。」 「是的，我願意。」她說——雖然當時她未必完全明白，但她堅定地答應了。 我又問：「而且三天後祂復活了，你願意相信嗎？」 「是的，我信。」她回答。

短短五到十分鐘內，她的胸口徹底痊癒了。我和朋友給她白蘭氏雞精，又煲了一些骨頭湯，好讓她補充營養、恢復體力。

幾天後，我再次去探望她。 她對我說，「我一定要受洗！」 我愣了一下：「什麼？！為什麼？」 她說：「前幾天晚上我在看電視」——她家裏有一部29吋的舊電視，但其實根本不能運作，而且城寨裡的電線大都是偷接的，極不穩定。但她當時正看著電視機說：「那天我看著電視，看見一個男人從螢幕中走出來。接著，祂走在一座美麗的山上，身穿白色長袍，四周開滿了鮮花。祂向我伸出手，對我說：『陳太，你願意跟從我嗎？』」 陳太回答說：「主啊，我願意。」 耶穌對她說：「去受洗吧！」

就這樣，陳太展開了她的嶄新生命。她把家裏所有的偶像通通扔掉。她說：「哼，這些偶像從來就沒有關心過我和我兒子，不是嗎？」

後來，她常常來到我位於城寨旁邊的寓所。當時有幾個剛出獄的年輕孩子和我住在一起。陳太總是主動幫忙拖地，做吐司和果醬給孩子們吃。只要看到我掉在地上的衣服或雜物，她都會撿起來洗得乾乾淨淨。她非常喜樂，因為在這裡她重新擁有了一個家——有了吐司、果醬，還有耶穌。

後來，她更成了我的「契媽」。