美國晨曦之家福音戒癮 2024 年 6 月份代禱通訊
(晨曦會過去學員-Peter Chen 高中反毒分享)
感謝神興起高中生 Ryan Lin 在學校建立一個反毒 club。Ryan 帶領他的 club 會員多次來晨曦會舉辦籃球和排球比賽，建雞舍，狗窩，還有到社區做反煙毒及為晨曦會募款等活動。這次 Ryan 有機會爭取到在他學校的 Chinese Club 做反毒事工。我們安排了 Peter Chen，我們的過去戒毒的學員到校園分享。以下是 Peter Chen 的分享內容。
Earlier this year I had a chance to speak at Saratoga High School at the Chinese Club meeting during lunch time. I was invited by Ryan Lin, who is one of the presidents of the club, to share my story and experiences growing up a second generation Chinese in US. Since my life story also involved drug addiction, it was a good opportunity to also raise awareness and testify to God’s power to save people from sin, even something as powerful as drug addiction. I decided since I had limited
time (only half an hour) to speak to a room full of high school students during their only time to hang out, that I needed to capture their attention and imagination. So I wove my life story with a popular Disney movie: Lion King. I split my story into different stages, each according to the storyline of Lion King:
Firstborn of the Kingdom, Tragedy and Exile, Wandering and Identity, Change and Healing.
In Firstborn of the Kingdom, I highlighted how—like Simba born to Mufasa—I was a “prince in training,” being third generation firstborn son from a high achieving Chinese family, and how I experienced the weight of expectation to do well but also coupled with the feeling of being loved by my father. Then, in Tragedy and Exile, just as Simba’s father gets killed and the antagonist of the movie sows lies that it was his fault, my parent’s divorced when I was in middle school and lies were sown that would subsequently derail my bright future potential.
In Wandering and Identity, the main character Simba runs away and ends up in a “prodigal” phase, where he dodges responsibility and just lives a care-free life with his jungle friends, forgetting who he is and where he came from. For me, enter the years of identity crisis (Am I Asian or American?), coupled with using drugs and partying to numb the pain from the fallout of my home life. Because of this, I became addicted to drugs and alcohol for 8 years. Although I matured biologically into a young adult, in all other respects I was unable to take responsibility for my life because I did not know who I was at a core level, with no one except popular culture to show me the way. I believe even students who do not do drugs can resonate with this point.
Finally, just as Simba finally faces the wounds of his past and “remembers” who his true identity as a rightful son and heir of his father’s kingdom, when I came to Operation Dawn I was brought to the True Father and adopted and made right by His love. All the things I had been struggling with: sense of belonging, feeling inadequate, guilt and shame, meaninglessness—the Gospel had an answer to. Through embracing the True King and His ways, I could slowly make peace with my past and be transformed into what I was intended for all along: a beloved son of the King and rightful heir of His kingdom. However, unlike a Disney movie where once the lovers finally meet, they ride off into the sunset and live “happily ever after,” there is still work left to do this side of Heaven. So I explained that even though I had been given a new identity, being in the same ole’ body with all it’s habits and ways of thinking required a lifetime of discipleship and slowly “working out my salvation” in the day-to-day trenches of adult life.
I think where Disney movies and reality depart is in the unromantic, sometimes mundane, daily choices of obedience to the Lord that require letting go of things that seem important, such as self-image, man-made security, and even well-thoughtout plans. At least that is true of my experience. You might be wondering how I could have shared all this in a half hour? I talk fast. But in all seriousness, it was an honor and wonderful opportunity to be able to step into a room full of high school students and be able to tell my story, not
as a simple example of “don’t be like me like me in high school,” but to dive deeper into universal issues that all modern teenagers struggle with (whether they do drugs or not), and to be able to tell them that there is Someone who can bring beauty and resolution to their struggles, whatever they might be. Afterwards, I received some feedback from some of the students saying it was pretty impactful for them. As someone who works at a High school where students have teachers speaking at them all day, it meant a lot to hear that. Personally, I also feel grateful that God has so worked in my life to where kids (and their parents!) would trust me with their time and that my experiences can, 15 years later, still reach young people in a way that both captures their imagination and spurs in them a desire to want to know the God and King I know. That is my prayer for all our youth and all those who work with young people. “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
-Eph 3:20–21
代禱事項：
1. 感謝神帶領劉民和牧師在加拿大和美國的佈道見證分享順利的進行。 看到有不少的慕道友接受耶穌成為個人救
主還有不少的基督徒受到鼓勵獻上感恩。求主繼續堅固剛信主的基督徒。
2. 感謝大家為晨曦會戒癮 license 禱告。加州政府通融晨曦會繼續不用鴉片類藥物來幫助戒癮者戒癮。
3. 感謝神讓晨曦會同工和學員可以一起參加舊約遊蹤課程。有幾位學員說現在他們對舊約聖經有更多的了解及有
興趣去讀。
4. 感謝神帶來宣教日引同工（從 Malaysia，台灣，加拿大和美國的同工）來探訪晨曦會。大家可以互相分享神
的愛和彼此建造。求神繼續使用宣教日引成為眾教會的祝福。
5. 請為家屬團契代禱。求 神使用家屬團契來鼓勵、安慰與支持家屬們。若周遭有親友是成癮者的親屬、歡迎邀請
他們來參加晨曦家屬團契。請聯絡 Peggy 姐妹： [email protected]。
美國晨曦會全體同工敬上