青春年華時的林慧中嫁入餐館家族
夫妻倆生意巔峰時，在美國加州灣區擁有五家餐館
但是為何夜半的社交party， 換來的竟是空虛、沮喪？

●為什麼林慧中會全然投入服事餐館工人？

美國洛杉磯時報 (The Los Angeles Times ) 於June 14, 2006 刊出投身餐館福音工作的林慧中(毒海重生的女主角)的訪問。

Saving Souls in Chinese Kitchens 中國廚房救靈魂

Thousands of Chinese kitchen workers live on the margins. A former restaurant owner tends to a subculture most Americans never see. (By John M. Glionna The LA Times)原載於洛杉磯時報

上千的華人餐館工人生活在邊際，一名原先是餐館的老闆娘照顧起這個多數美國人從未知悉的次文化。

MILPITAS, Calif. The dining room lights are dimmed at the A&J Restaurant, a tiny strip-mall eatery where a handful of Chinese kitchen workers relax at tables during the lull between the lunch and dinner rush. ..... It's time to pray with Esther Lou. She breezes in saleswoman-friendly, a onetime Chinese restaurant owner turned religious crusader who knows her way around a professional kitchen and the exhausting lives endured by legions of low-paid food workers.

Pulling up a chair, she zeroes in on chef De Bin Hong, a thin man in a dirty white shirt and pants, a gold chain around his neck. She asks about his health and family. Then it’s down to business: How is he coping with his gambling addiction? Over time, Hong says, he has lost enough money “to buy two Mercedes.” He has left work to gamble all night, returning just in time for the next day’s shift. In a flash, Lou’s Bible is out, her glasses discarded onto the Formica table. Along with volunteer Li Xun, she lays her hand on Hong’s shoulder. The three clamp their eyes shut. “Please, God,” Lou whispers, “when the urge to gamble comes again to this poor man, protect him from himself.” ……

Dim-sum servers at the Legendary Palace restaurant in Oakland’s Chinatown clamor for Esther Lou’s attention. She has offered them free English classes, and their carts bang together as they scramble for her business card.Outside, Lou passes several Asian men in white smocks and hip boots, eating their lunch of rice and vegetables as they sit atop plastic crates along the sidewalk. Like a politician, she shakes hands, spreading the good word. Later, Lou joins three workers at a nearby restaurant as they methodically snap open bean pods for that night’s recipes. Stepping gingerly across the slick kitchen floor, she joins hands to pray with them as half a dozen others look up from their labors.

Eyes shut, she asks that the stove will make good food and that customers will leave satisfied. When she finishes, the room erupts into applause.

Then Esther Lou makes her exit. There are more kitchen souls to save.
【耶穌鍋－中國廚房救靈魂】

您若對基層福音、餐館人士有負擔，欲聯絡／索取培訓資料， 請洽角聲餐業福音使命團　
Email:gfMinistry@yahoo.com Tel: (925) 899-1666

華人餐館知多少

●據統計：從家庭式外賣店到大規模的buffet店，全美大約有百萬的移民隱藏在中國餐館。大部分華工不懂英文，終其一生於乏味的廚工， 每日工作12小時，每週工作六七日。他們住在擁擠的餐館宿舍或是沒有廚房、浴室的車庫。為要打發時日，許多人就陷入不良習慣的牢穴。 (見Fremont, CA Chinese Restaurant News)

●福州來的郭先生是中餐館的大廚，兒子因敗血症常常需要醫療照顧，不得不託付給美國褓姆看顧三年，夫婦在餐館辛苦工作賺錢。終於孩子可以健康出院， 期盼接回身邊後可同享天倫之樂，豈知孩子已然完全不懂中文。夫妻雖來美多年，仍不懂英文。加上夫婦同在餐館工作，早上起床時，孩子已經去上學， 下班後孩子已經睡著，好不容易見面，因為語言不通，說不到兩句話，孩子就走開了!

郭先生買了許多學英文的錄音帶，但又忙又累，不知從何學起，有口難言，像啞巴似的！

●王姓夫婦在北加州經營小餐館多年，最近發現王先生肝癌已擴散。醫生診斷他的生命只剩1—2個月。急需有經驗的基督徒去關懷他們。

主耶穌對義人說：「因為我餓了，你們給我吃，渴了，你們給我喝；我作客旅，你們留我住；我赤身露體，你們給我穿； 我病了、你們看顧我；我在監裡，你們來看我。』義人就回答說：『主啊，我們什麼時候見你餓了，給你吃，渴了，給你喝？什麼時候見你作客旅，留你住， 或是赤身露體，給你穿？又什麼時候見你病了，或是在監裡，來看你呢？』義人不知道自己什麼時候對主作了這些，主說：『我實在告訴你們， 這些事你們既做在我這弟兄中一個最小的身上，就是做在我身上了。』（馬太福音 25:36-40）

像郭姓及王姓夫婦這樣需要幫助的例子非常之多；而神藉著教會和福音機構從事這些關懷的事工。ERS與「角聲餐福」合作製作之【毒海重生】見證DVD、【基層福音事工】培訓DVD； 就是藉著影音資源的製作來協助這些事工。

你當為啞巴（或作：不能自辯的）開口，為一切孤獨的伸冤。你當開口按公義判斷， 為困苦和窮乏的辨屈。箴言 31:8-9