李黃嬋英
油站失火
父母親是做買賣布料的家庭式生意。內戰後的新興政府,規定家家戶戶都要買布料縫裁新國旗。突然間,店舖的生意好到忙不過來。我的大哥(雁榮)想幫父親的輕型電單車加油,去了附近一公哩以外的油站加油。當時油站店內竟然空蕩無人在管理,也許老闆棄業逃離了;大家就都在爭先搶奪免費加油。有不少人身上被噴到汽油。但不知何故忽然引起大火燃燒,有些衣服沾有汽油的人被火燒着,他們又不懂得躺在地上打滾來撲滅火,反而到處跑。結果有好些人被嚴重燒傷,甚至身亡。
我聽到這消息後,立即走到這個油站去察看。被火燒得一片烏黑的塲地已經被清理好。不見傷者,唯獨認出父親的電單車翻倒在地,車身被火燒過半黑灰色。一瞬間眼看到,有一個年輕男子把那電單車翻起來推走了。當時九歲的我是沒法證明這電單車是屬於我家的。一時機智,不如先跟踪他的去路住處。後來,回到家中我告知父母親情況。當晚我帶著父母親去到這男子的住處,贖回那部電單車。
燃燒身上
當日發生事故是在上午,我大哥去加油的時候,他的前雙腿卻都被嚴重燒傷。父親認為如果能經過浸泡在家中的儲水池片刻後,才再送入急診室,結果不會如此嚴重。事故發生後數小時才得到鄰居朋友通知,他已躺在醫院。大哥在冷凍病房許多個星期,眼看著燒傷的雙腿皮肉沒有起色,護士們每天消炎清洗傷口痛苦不堪。他的雙腿前面由上至腳踝都被嚴重燒傷,後來因傷口發炎引起潰爛和異味是難以忍受的。
我曾被父母親吩咐在醫院照顧大哥的個人衞生。看見他的雙腿如殘障,潰瘍皮肉分開如見骨,又紅又腫,異味難聞,心寒並毛骨悚然。外面的氣溫是攝氏35度以上,他躺在冰凍冷氣病房,身穿稀衣的我感到全身都僵凍,坐立不安,但又不敢離開大哥半步。
痊癒不殘
有一天,親愛的外婆來院探望大哥。她觀察過後,馬上吩咐父母親要辦理大哥出院。因為外婆看到院護士幫大哥消炎傷口,不時弄破了表面焦層的薄皮,是不正確的做法,若持續這樣消炎,會引致日後雙腿殘癈。出院後,他在家中臥床養傷後見有起色,皮肉起焦慢慢地復原。多個月,他每天就躺在塗抹上光滑椰油的香蕉葉上動彈不得,苦不堪言。經許多個月後,才能起床行走。從此以後,大哥長年以來不再穿短褲子,害怕露出遺留下難看疤痕的雙腿。
造物主暗地護守
感謝慈愛的上帝,救援和保存了大哥的性命。神也賜外婆有智慧的判斷,使他的雙腿不至殘疾。在我們無知不認識造物主的時候,祂已認識我們。「因為我遭遇患難,祂必暗暗地保守我;在祂亭子裏,把我藏在祂帳幕的隱密處⋯⋯。」(詩篇27:5)
一年後,我大哥雙腿完全康復如常,他就推著一架租來的笨重木頭車,在街上及中小學校前賣雪糕。放暑假時,我也跟著他去賣雪糕生意。他又擺夜市攤賣雜貨及火柴,我也常常去幫忙。所以我對做生意的興趣因而開始。
人籌算 神定事
在我腦海裡,生意是我想做的事業。我曾經在街上擺小檔賣醃製柚柑子,又在戲院前賣過餅乾。後來發現在戲院門前賣「黃牛票」可以賺更多的錢。一個晚上賣的「黃牛票」,可賺到的錢相當於當時成人一日普通工資。又在意外的短期內,讓我發現到去賣小粒火藥,可用錫紙包封後,放在地上用火燃點,會引起數秒鐘噴射作用,這是我年代的小朋友最愛玩意之一。最後的一項,是我和弟弟(榮南)妹妹(嬋娥)一連在兩個農曆新年期間賣各類小炮仗。在三年內我儲蓄了不少賺來的零用錢。
父母親布疋生意做了30多年。自以為我會步他們的後塵,做一個生意繼承人。但神在我們每一人的生命中有奇妙的計劃,是超出我們有限的腦袋和心所想的。聖經中也指出:「人心籌算自己的道路,惟耶和華指引他的腳步。」(箴言16:9)耶和華說:「我的意念非同你們的意念,我的道路非同你們的道路。天怎樣高過地,照樣,我的道路高過你們的道路,我的意念高過你們的意念。(以賽亞書55:8-9)
祈盼所有讀者也願意讓上帝來導引你一生所行的路,使你有更精彩的人生。
作者:李黃嬋英師母出身越南堤岸。少年信主後,移居北歐瑞典,修社工。婚後與夫婿移居美國。
李黃嬋英。〈【小趣奇遇】戰亂後的平息(下集)〉《真理報》(美東版) (2023年7月)。
https://nystm.org/nytm0723-08/
【小趣奇遇】返回都市 重操舊業
我父母親一直留守在龍安鄉鎮有數個月,以表示沒有抗衡政府的新政策,其實是有便衣公安一直在監控著我們⋯⋯
【小趣奇遇】壓迫商家驅逐去新經濟區
當我們一家被迫拋屋棄貨被驅逐到龍安省(Long An)的一個小鎮墟(Thu Thua)之後;我們的戶口被取消,孩子同時也被取消在城市內上學的資格。四哥與我、弟妹都要輟學。
[Storm Buster] Storm Surge
Storm surge causes inundation of large swaths of coastal land. Eleven years ago, storm surge from Hurricane Sandy havocked large damages in New York (NY) and New Jersey (NJ). Today, some of those destructions are still noticeable and remain unrepaired.
[Interesting Adventures] The New Economic Development District Policy in Vietnam
The Vietnamese government had planned well ahead and prepared many makeshift-hut developments such as the one we were sent among all the villages and provinces.
【小趣奇遇】壓迫商家(二)
一位女檢官早上7時至晚上6時在我家,看守著我們的一舉一動約有三星期⋯⋯
[Interesting Adventures] Suppressing the Merchants (Part II)
Upon the confiscation of our family-cloth-business, there was an undercover policewoman stationed at our home for three weeks every day from 7:00 am till 6:00 pm. Our every move was scrutinized⋯⋯
[Storm Buster] Autumn Foliage Forecast
Autumn is pleasant. It has many public holidays for the most populous countries in the northern hemisphere. In the U.S. we have Labor Day, Columbus Day and the Veterans Day. In China there are Mid-Autumn Festival and Double-Yang Festival.
[Storm Buster Series] Preempt Wildfires
We were all stunned by the apocalyptic scenes of devastation and destitution caused by wildfires in Maui, HI. The utter sense of desolation and desperation was overwhelmingly sad. It destroyed the idyllic Island of Maui. Many people are still in denial and disbelief when they look at the news reports.
[Interesting Adventures] The Oppressed Merchants (1)
Mom and dad ran a textile and cloth business for thirty years. Their humble street hawker beginning was never remote. Only through thrift living and hard work did mom and dad gradually expand their business and eventually proudly owned a retail shop in the middle of the vegetable markets.
【小趣奇遇】壓迫商家(一)
父母親在南越做了三十多年的布匹生意,由擺地攤起家到有自己的小店鋪門面。他們新婚之時住在小巷子裡的簡陋小木屋,節儉累積才買房搬出住在菜市街上,他們養育了六個孩子。
【小趣奇遇】民族之間文化的差異
我父母親年輕未婚時來自潮州;但我們六個兄弟姊妹都是出生於越南。全家一直住在華人聚居最多的「堤岸」。華人都是做大小生意為生的。連本地越南人都學會說粵語,特別需要在生意上能用粵語溝通,他們也讓自己孩子去華文學校讀書。
Heatwaves
Heatwaves in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere captured the public’s attention. The inadequacy of the central air conditioning units in many of the northern cities testifies to the unexpected increase in air temperature across Northern Europe, Asia and America.
Cultural Divide
Born in Vietnam, my siblings of six including myself, lived in a Chinese town called “Cholon”. Cantonese was the business dialect that even the native Vietnamese learned to speak. Many of the Vietnamese natives sent their children to Chinese schools.
【小趣奇遇】教學混亂與民間迷信
在1975年南越政變後,我和二哥(榮光)和弟弟(榮南)就讀的「同心」中小學,从私立成了公立學校,取消了學校制服。由於不夠老師,加上政府監控學校制度,又撤銷所有華語課堂,規定只准許學習當地越南文。
The Unfathomable Deep Space and Seas
Man is an adventurous creature. In the pre-pandemic year of 2019 the US travel and tourism industry generated 1.9 trillion dollars in economic output. That was a startling 9% of the nation’s corresponding GDP of 21.38 trillion dollars in 2019.
Chaotic schools and rampant superstitions
When the communists took over Vietnam in 1975, my second eldest brother (David), I and my younger brother (Kevin) were studying in the “Same Heart” middle-and-elementary school in Cholon, Vietnam. Originally a private school, it was changed to a public school under the communist government.
Calmness after the War (Part II)
My parents ran a textile and clothes retail shop from our home. Under the new communist government after the Vietnamese civil war, every home was eager to sew the new national flag. Therefore, all of a sudden our home business was thriving beyond our wildest imaginations.
【小趣奇遇】戰亂後的平息(下集)
父母親是做買賣布料的家庭式生意。內戰後的新興政府,規定家家戶戶都要買布料縫裁新國旗。突然間,店舖的生意好到忙不過來。我的大哥(雁榮)想幫父親的輕型電單車加油,去了附近一公哩以外的油站加油。
Pollen Allergy Becoming a Mainstay
Pollen allergy is more commonly known as hay fever. Medically speaking, it is called seasonal allergic rhinitis —- a provocation of the immune system to overreact to pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds. Hay fever occurs mainly in the spring and fall when pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds are in the air.
Calmness after the War (Part I)
In the May issue we mentioned the civil war between North and South Vietnam. It finally ended on the so-called “Liberation Date” on April 30, 1975. The North united the country into a communist country.
滕張佳音博士
國宣創辦人
▪︎美國芝加哥三一福音神學院文學碩士(宣教)及教牧學博士(宣教學)
▪︎前建道神學院跨越文化研究部副教授
▪︎牧職神學院榮譽創院院長
▪︎國際短宣使團創辦人