這幅照片拍攝於台灣排灣族福音歌手郭曉雯姊妹離世前六天。曉雯於懷孕初期檢查出罹患直腸癌，醫生要她立即拿掉孩子以利抗癌。經過一翻天人交戰，曉雯最終拒絕了醫生的建議，堅持保全胎兒。懷孕期間，她吃足苦頭；幾次血崩，身體劇烈疼痛，不能成眠。皇天不負苦心人，曉雯終於產下一名健康可愛的女娃兒，取名樂宣。但是由於錯失最佳的治療時機，癌細胞擴散。之後的三年，曉雯雖然歷經幾次大手術，摘除多重器官，化療，最終仍不敵病魔的摧殘。在她離世前六天，我受命拍攝曉雯最後的容顏，曉雯的丈夫宗民在電話那頭向我請託：因為她很喜歡你拍的肖像所傳遞的訊息。我如何拒絕？卻惶恐不已，生怕辱沒所託。那時曉雯已命在旦夕，幾乎喪失視覺，僅剩下一半聽力，宗民小心翼翼的把她從輪椅抱到座位上。但即使如此，曉雯卻未曾失去她發自內心發自靈魂深處的美麗與笑容。她發現我的緊張，遂以無比的溫柔安撫我：你別擔心，我可以，儘管把我們的工作做好。只因為神的愛與她同在，叫曉雯深信死亡對主的使女而言，不過是帶領她通向另一嶄新存有的門檻。鏡頭前的曉雯，儼然是一名聖徒，向我們見證了，愛更勝於求生，愛比死更堅強，聖潔的愛甚至聯結於永恆。
This picture was taken six days before the passing of Sister Kuo Hsiao-wen, a gospel singer from Taiwan’s Palawan tribe. During her pregnancy, she was diagnosed with colon cancer and the doctor advised her to receive an abortion. After a period of agony, Hsiao-wen rejected the doctor’s suggestions and decided to carry the baby to full term. Throughout her pregnancy, she experienced tremendous pain, suffered several bouts of hemorrhage, and could barely sleep. With God’s blessing, Hsiao-wen gave birth to an adorable healthy baby girl named Lei-hsuan (In Chinese: Proclamation of Happiness). However, Hsiao-wen’s cancer cells quickly spread and three years later, after several major operations to remove her damaged organs, she succumbed to death. Six days before her passing, her husband called me and asked me to please take Hsiao-wen’s pictures, “because she loves the messages that transcend through your portraits.” How could I say no? I feared that I may not be able to undertake such responsibility. At that time, Hsiao-wen was nearing the end of her life. She lost most of her vision and half of her hearing. On the day of the shoot, her husband, Chung Ming, carefully and ever so gently hoisted her up from the wheelchair to the chair. Despite of her plight, Hsiao-wen’s beauty and glorious smile shone brightly from the bottom of her soul. When she detected my nervousness, she comforted me and said, “Don’t worry, I can do this. Let’s just make sure we get the job done.” With the God’s love as her constant companion, Hsiao-wen strongly believed for a handmaiden of the Lord, death was merely a conduit to another new existence. Hsiao-wen, a true disciple, testified to us that the pursuit of love is stronger than the pursuit of survival, death has no power over love, and love in its purest form is the link to eternity.
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