The Church in Daejeon
The Way of Faith; the Labor and Offering of Love
In April 1993, Brother Wu, carrying a personal letter from our beloved Brother Witness Lee, visited the church in Daejeon together with Brother Lin Hong (林鴻) and Brother Yu Jielin (余潔麟). At that time the churches in Korea were going through many difficult situations, and the church in Daejeon was also in unspeakable suffering and circumstances. Because of division and strife, the church was losing its function; many saints had also left the church life, and the church life was facing a crisis.
In the midst of circumstances in which unspeakable things were happening, the church in Daejeon was at a loss, and could only write a letter to the Lord's servant Brother Witness Lee asking for help. Our request was that all the work and administration of the church might receive help. After some time, Brother Witness Lee sent a letter to the church in Daejeon through Brother Paul Wu, Brother Lin Hong, and Brother Yu Jielin, and Brother Witness Lee said especially to the brothers leading the churches in Korea that three brothers would come to help the church in Daejeon.
Looking back now, Brother Lee's letter was a precious letter not only to the church in Daejeon but to all the churches in Korea, just as the Lord had spoken. In the twenty-eight years that followed, Brother Paul Wu and the brothers frequently visited the church in Daejeon. The brother, as a faithful slave of the Lord, shepherded us with all his heart and strength, regardless of his own health and life.
In order to shepherd the church in Daejeon, in the early period the brothers visited us two or three times a month. Whenever our situation worsened or we asked the brothers for help, the brothers would lay everything aside, board a plane, and come immediately. Many times the brother arrived after midnight, went to the meeting the next day, and in the evening flew back to Taiwan. Even if it was only for one day, as long as the church made the request, the brothers would fly over regardless of everything…. In order to have more time to meet and to fellowship with us, the brother often ate his meal box in the car going to and from the airport….
Every time the brothers came, they continually fellowshipped with us concerning the various problems the church faced; regardless of their own health, they held on, fellowshipping with the brothers until one or two o'clock in the morning…. In every situation, the brothers were willing to listen to what we brothers said, yet they did not blame us or pronounce who was right or wrong; they only helped us return to the Lord's presence and constantly supplied us with the Lord's word.
How could all that Brother Wu did in shepherding the church in Daejeon over these twenty-eight years ever be told fully in this letter? Only the Lord knows the brother's toil and offering for the church in Daejeon.
Looking back, Brother Wu not only stood before the Lord but, in order to faithfully carry out the commission of the Lord's servant Brother Lee, spent twenty-eight years bringing us into the points spoken in Brother Lee's letter to the church in Daejeon. Through Brother Lee's letter, we can see how the brother shepherded the church in Daejeon:
To the responsible brothers in Daejeon:
Dear brothers, with a heavy burden in the Lord I write to you the following points:
(1) The church, as the organic Body of Christ, is absolutely the constitution of the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit, who is Christ. There is no room for our flesh and our natural man, both of which have already been crucified on the cross of Christ. Every bit of our flesh or our natural man will annul the church.
(2) Being one accord is vital in the matter of leading the church. Disharmony must be rejected in our life under the cross.
(3) As one of the leading ones who lead the flock, you must endeavor to seek maturity in the spiritual life and to pursue the full knowledge of the divine truths according to the Scriptures. The Lord's recovery is established and built upon the spiritual life and according to the divine truths.
(4) The seeking and keeping of position, as well as ambition, must be absolutely abhorred. For such an ugly thing to remain and be expressed in the church life and in the Lord's recovery is a shame.
I stand with you, and I am concerned for the Lord's recovery in your good country.
May the Lord grant you all His rich and multiplying grace, that you may receive my solemn words in love.
May the Lord always be with you in your spirit.
The church in Daejeon can testify that Brother Wu was a faithful co-worker of this ministry. He made the content of Brother Lee's letter the leading and direction of the church in Daejeon, and also the medicine that healed the wound. For this the brother quietly held on for a long time, neither departing from this course nor shepherding the church with his own thoughts and methods.
For the building up of the Body of Christ, the brother paid so much labor! May you rest in the Lord's bosom.
The saints of the church in Daejeon respectfully
March 6, 2020