The Grace Given Among the Churches
Overflowing into Rich Generosity
In 2002 the church in Thousand Oaks, California, began to break bread. In 2004, we saw a parcel of commercial land of 3.25 acres in the center of Thousand Oaks, very suitable for the building of a meeting hall. We fellowshipped with the blending co-workers, and the brothers told us that to begin we should first build a meeting hall for 150 people, but that later it should be able to expand to 800. Because Thousand Oaks is located to the northwest of Los Angeles, the location was suitable for the blending of the nearby churches.
At that time the church in Thousand Oaks had fewer than 20 people. Some of the brothers and sisters mortgaged their own houses to take out loans and offer them; together with the personal offerings of the saints, and a sum from churches in other places, it was still not enough to pay the down payment. When Brother Zhang Guanghui (張光惠) learned of our situation, he immediately suggested that we fellowship with Brother Wu Youcheng.
I met and fellowshipped with Brother Wu Youcheng face to face, and without a second word he readily agreed. Before long, the churches in northern Taiwan and the churches in southern Taiwan each brought a sum of cash and handed it to me. This sum was quite substantial, more than enough for us to pay the full down payment, with a surplus for the first year's loan repayment installments. This enabled us to obtain the use of this property smoothly, even to this day. Now Thousand Oaks is already a church of a hundred people. Although we were not in Taiwan, Brother Youcheng, together with the churches in Taiwan, greatly helped the propagation of the church in Thousand Oaks, America. Here, on behalf of the church in Thousand Oaks, I express to Brother Wu Youcheng and the churches in Taiwan our highest respect and thanks.