As Long as the Body Has Not Fallen
There Is Still Time
From my father's generation—especially my mother's family—we were quite familiar with Brother Wu, so I often heard the elders mention some amusing stories from their childhood, and my feeling toward the brother was not unfamiliar. From my youth, following my parents, whenever I saw the brother I would call out, "Hello, Uncle Wu!" It was not until I attended the full-time training and began to have opportunities to greet and converse with him in public settings that I gradually changed to calling him "Brother."
When I served full-time in Taichung—it should have been the central-region publication exposition of 2011—Brother Wu came to Taichung for it, and he used a free moment to come sit at my home. That time, he fellowshipped with me some things to watch out for in full-time service, and the learning one ought to have. The few things he mentioned have been of inexhaustible benefit to this day. In these past years, every time I change to a new region of service, I recall his charge at that time.
After I came to serve in Kaohsiung last year, Brother Wu was invited to Kaohsiung to encourage and strengthen the brothers in Kaohsiung. In the afternoon he arrived at the meeting hall first, and before the fellowship, when only he and I were in the fellowship room, he asked me, "Are you getting used to Kaohsiung?" I answered, "Everything's fine, thank you, Brother Wu." He then went on to care about my wife and children, and to my surprise, he even knew which elementary school my daughter attended. I asked about his recent health, and he told me a little.
This past Monday evening, I again opened the audio recording of the brother's last exhortation to the co-workers at the spring co-workers' perfecting in February this year. Although I was present at the time—it was only a month ago—listening again to his fellowship then, my feelings were already different. When I heard the brother say, "There is nothing too late! As long as the body has not fallen, there is still time!" my tears flowed down. Amen! As long as my body has not yet fallen, there is nothing too late. Thank the Lord for giving me such a pattern of one who served the Lord and the church with all his might.