The Church in Taipei — Reorganization, Purchasing Land to Build the Shin-Ji Building, and the Increase of Large Districts and Meeting Halls

Brother Ke Shiqian: Our dear elder brother, Brother Wu, took hold of the overall direction in a very steady and accurate way. He knew that Brother Lee's choice, at the advanced age of eighty, to return to Taipei to use it as the experimental base for the reorganization and the taking of the new way was no small matter; he knew the commission and responsibility of the churches throughout Taiwan to practice the God-ordained way in the New Testament.

In 1997 our beloved Brother Lee departed and rested in the Lord's bosom. The three things that he emphasized during his lifetime became three important pillars of the Lord's recovery: 1, the high peak of the divine revelation; 2, living the life of a God-man; 3, according to God's ordination (the new and God-ordained way in the New Testament). For many years all the perfecting trainings of the church in Taipei have not departed from this central line, and Brother Wu and the brothers coordinating together have held firmly to this direction. We need the revelation to be our direction; we need to put into practice the life of a God-man so that we may have vitality; even more, we need to practice the God-ordained way in order to complete God's economy.

In the building of the Shin-Ji Building and in its management over the more than twenty years since, the faithfulness and shrewdness of our elder brother are seen even more clearly. He knew well that this property was the common property of all the churches, and he always returned the profits of the management to meet the needs of the churches in the various localities, having much fellowship in the sense of the one new man. In recent years, because the church in Taipei has purchased properties in order to increase its meeting halls, the saints have been under heavy pressure due to the excessively high housing prices; he was also able to perceive the feelings of the people and gradually adjusted the subsidies for newly purchased meeting halls.

Over the years, for the increase in number, in addition to practicing begetting, nourishing, teaching, and building, the church in Taipei has also promoted the practice of the new way through increasing groups and increasing districts. Brother Wu, taking advantage of this momentum, added the goal of increasing meeting halls after the increasing of groups and districts. Over these ten-some years, under his strong promotion, the church in Taipei now has 78 meeting halls, and he hoped that within his lifetime he might see the church in Taipei have 100 meeting halls. This is truly a highly difficult challenge, but our brother was a man of resolve who turned many impossibilities into possibilities.

More than five years ago, the number in the church in Taipei was at a standstill. After much fellowship with the brothers, Brother Wu perceived that, as the number in the church in Taipei was increasing day by day, centralized leading was no longer able to cope. Three years ago he decided to divide the church in Taipei into ten large districts, handing over the actual governing to each large district to carry out.

The reorganization into governing by large districts was the last great thing that Brother Wu accomplished during his lifetime. He was very wise; he knew that any change is not easy, so he promoted this matter with plan and with steps, doing it while observing it, being very careful. First, he promoted the establishment of regular elders' meetings among the meeting halls within each large district. Second, he handed over the planning and carrying out of the activities of the special-category works (young working saints, university students, junior high and senior high students, and children) to each large district. Third, he handed over to each large district the responsibility of serving the church-wide trainings held twice a year (in March and September). Fourth, he established the financial service of the large districts.

Changing from centralized leading to governing by large districts brought a ray of life to the church in Taipei, and over these three years the number has clearly increased. Given more time, once the financial operation of the large districts becomes more mature, the benefit of the reorganization will be even more evident. Such a reorganization could be promoted only by one like Brother Wu, who was trusted and respected by all.