The Church in Cerritos

Recognizing, Affirming, and Closely Following the New Testament Ministry, the Unique Ministry

The work of the New Testament ministry is to accomplish God's eternal purpose contained in the New Testament, to accomplish God's New Testament economy concerning the church, and to build up the Body of Christ. Yet through many centuries the church deviated from God's economy concerning the church and became degraded. Therefore, the church needs to be recovered according to God's original intention and standard as revealed in the Scriptures. Brother Witness Lee took up the work of this New Testament ministry from Brother Watchman Nee and brought it to the Western world, to the United States.

Brother Witness Lee exhorted us, "The unique way to keep us in the Lord's recovery is the unique ministry. … The unique way for us to be kept in the eternal oneness, therefore, is to teach the same thing in God's economy. Such a teaching is called the New Testament ministry. The New Testament ministry ministers only the Triune God, who has passed through various processes to be dispensed into His chosen people as life and the supply of life, in order to produce the members of Christ and to form the Body of Christ for the expression of the Triune God. This is the New Testament economy. To teach anything, even good things, scriptural things, that differs even slightly from God's New Testament economy will still bring in division and will be greatly used by the subtle one, the evil one. Therefore, we must be watchful." (Elders' Training, Book 3: The Way to Carry Out the Vision, pp. 47–48.)

Brother Zhang Xiangze (張湘澤) may be said to have been a very important co-worker among the churches on the island of Taiwan who saw the preciousness and the crucial importance of this ministry in the Lord's recovery. From 1974 Brother Chang encouraged the co-workers on Taiwan to go to Anaheim in the United States to attend the Life-study training held twice a year. In 1974, through Brother Zhang Xiangze's encouragement, Brother Liu Zhicheng (劉治成), together with three other responsible brothers from the church in Taichung, began to attend the summer Life-study training in Anaheim. Brother Zhang Xiangze constantly fellowshipped among the churches in Taiwan concerning the importance of closely following this ministry. Brother Chang had a heavy burden to bring Brother Lee's New Testament ministry, and especially the winter and summer Life-study trainings, to the churches in Taiwan.

At the summer training in 1981, Brother Zhang Xiangze brought Brother Paul Wu to Anaheim to attend the training. In 1982, Brother Paul Wu, while keeping his profession, entered into the service in the Taiwan Gospel Bookroom. In the latter half of 1985, Brother Wu laid down his profession to serve the Lord full-time. Beginning with the winter training of 1985, Brother Wu also encouraged the co-workers in Taiwan to come to the winter training. After Brother Zhang Xiangze was taken by the Lord in 1986, Brother Paul Wu continued to take up this burden, leading the churches in Taiwan to closely follow this ministry.

In 1984 Brother Witness Lee returned to Taiwan to study the new way and began the retranslation of the Chinese New and Old Testament Recovery Version. In 1990 Brother Lee fellowshipped with a few brothers that a distinctive feature of translating the Chinese Bible according to the original text could be seen in 2 Corinthians 8:2. Concerning the Union Version's rendering—"that they, in the time of being greatly tried by affliction, still had full joy, and out of their extreme poverty, all the more manifested the rich grace of their liberality"—the Recovery Version renders it: "that in much proving of affliction the abundance of their joy and the depth of their poverty overflowed unto the riches of their liberality." Brother Lee said that whether the Chinese Bible is translated accurately can be seen in whether the two words "overflow" (匯溢) are translated out. From this one verse it can be determined.

The church in Cerritos was produced through Brother Zhang Xiangze's coordinating with Brother Witness Lee's New Testament ministry and with Brother Lee's burden for the Chinese-speaking work. Yet the whole process began through Brother Zhang Xiangze and was strengthened through Brother Paul Wu. In 1983 Brother Lee came to the church in Cerritos and began the first Chinese-speaking meeting in North America. Because of Cerritos's location—only about a fifteen-minute drive from the Anaheim meeting place—it became the first stopping point for the brothers and sisters from Taiwan who came to Anaheim for the training. Afterward, year after year, as the co-workers and saints on Taiwan closely followed this New Testament ministry, and as the saints from Taiwan pursued the Lord's word in Cerritos every morning from 6:30 to 12:00 through pray-reading, studying, memorizing, and speaking, the brothers and sisters of the church in Cerritos, through a week of coordination in serving meals—breakfast, lunch, and dinner—at the peak supplied nearly six hundred brothers and sisters, so that all the saints enjoyed grace together. Just as 2 Corinthians 8:2 says, on the one hand we had the rich speaking supply of this ministry, and on the other hand we had the riches of the saints who came from the churches in the Far East; added to this the meal service of the brothers and sisters of the church in Cerritos, it "overflowed" with rich generosity, and it brought in the grace received by the church in Cerritos, so that together we recognized, affirmed, and closely followed the New Testament ministry, the unique ministry.

Because Brother Zhang Xiangze and Brother Paul Wu steadfastly continued in the fellowship of this New Testament ministry, such blending and leading caused the churches in Taiwan, the Far East, and North America to be full of the testimony of oneness in the Body of Christ. Under God's sovereignty, Brother Paul Wu passed away to be with the Lord and rested from his labor on the earth. He was a gift that God gave to His church—the Body of Christ—and he was a channel of supply in the Body of Christ. His steadfast continuation in closely following this New Testament ministry became a beautiful example to the churches and to all the saints. We deeply miss him.

The church of the Lord in Cerritos
  Brother He Zijian (何子建), Brother Liu Ji'en (劉繼恩),
  Brother Ji Shouting (紀壽廷)  jointly announced
  March 11, 2020