A Word of Fellowship at the Spring 2020 Perfecting Training for the Co-workers throughout Taiwan

Encouraging the Young Saints to Seize the Opportunity to Go Out for Overseas Propagation

The testimonies of the many co-workers who have gone out for overseas propagation are deeply moving. They answered the Lord's call and had a part in God's move, and such experiences are unforgettable for a lifetime. Although the co-workers encountered many difficulties in the propagation, in the end the Lord brought them all out of their predicaments. Today it is hard for us to have an opportunity to experience again what they experienced. Therefore, overseas propagation is truly a rare opportunity for those who serve full-time. I hope that the young brothers and sisters will pray well, seek the Lord's leading, and seize the opportunity to have a part in overseas propagation.

The Lord truly blesses His recovery. Over the years many brothers and sisters have answered the Lord's call and gone out for overseas propagation; and the Lord has also used the environment to do a marvelous work in each one of them. For the co-workers this is truly a perfecting. Of course, we all see that we are unable, and we feel that we cannot measure up to God's need or meet God's work; but because of our aspiration toward the Lord, the Lord gives us grace; and even though we are unable, we still come through. Gradually we become equipped, and all this is for God's building. According to my observation, after the co-workers go out for overseas propagation and then return to Taiwan, they become more useful vessels in every locality. Although we have a very good church life in Taiwan, in a certain aspect the perfecting we receive from the church life is not as solid as the perfecting we receive from overseas propagation. Once we go out for overseas propagation, we realize that no one is dependable; in the process we can only be pressed to the Lord, look to the Lord alone, and experience that the Lord's grace is sufficient for us. In fact, few people go out for overseas propagation with full assurance; most people feel that they are not adequate. But thank the Lord, the Lord gives us sufficient boldness; since He leads us out, we have to look to the Lord and trust in the Lord all the more, and we also learn how to fellowship with God and with people, and gradually we learn the secret.

The Churches throughout Taiwan Sending Out One Person for Every Two Thousand to Go for Overseas Propagation

On the one hand, we want to encourage the young brothers and sisters to seize the opportunity to go out for overseas propagation; on the other hand, we also want to encourage the responsible brothers in all the churches to have the same burden in the matter of overseas propagation, to be of one heart and one way, and to speak the same thing in encouraging the young brothers and sisters to go out. We need to realize that we are not merely for having a good church life in our own locality; we are for the Lord's interests on the earth. Today there are still many places throughout the earth that await our going out to propagate. In the past, some co-workers who went out for overseas propagation stayed in one place for many years. From now on we will make some adjustments, viewing overseas propagation as a process, so that after the co-workers go out for three to five years they can return to Taiwan. Afterward another group can be sent out, in order to enlarge the capacity of the Lord's recovery. In this way the churches throughout Taiwan can keep advancing, one station after another. This year (2020), we hope to send out twenty brothers and sisters for overseas propagation. At present the number meeting on the Lord's Day throughout the island of Taiwan is nearly thirty-nine thousand. Proportionally, for every two thousand people we can send out one person. From now on we should continue to send people out for overseas propagation according to this proportion. I hope that the churches in all the localities can have a clear seeing in this matter and make a definite plan. Take the church in Taipei as an example: with twelve or thirteen thousand people meeting on the Lord's Day, it should send out six or seven full-time brothers and sisters for overseas propagation. The church in New Taipei City currently has five thousand five hundred people meeting, so it can send out two or three. Taoyuan, including South Taoyuan and North Taoyuan, can send out at least one. Hsinchu and Miaoli can also send out at least one; of course, there is no problem if they send out a few more. Taichung also has nearly four thousand people meeting, so it should send out at least two. Tainan should send out at least one. Kaohsiung has over four thousand people meeting, so it should send out at least two. As for the churches in Changhua and Nantou, Yunlin and Chiayi, Keelung, Yilan, Hualien, and Taitung, they can all encourage the young full-time brothers and sisters to have a part in overseas propagation.

Continually Producing Young People to Go for Overseas Propagation So That Brother Lee's Dream May Be Realized

We know that overseas propagation is not going sightseeing, nor is it going on vacation; it is going to fight. Therefore, we cannot act according to ourselves; rather, we must act in the Body. All who go out for overseas propagation need to have the basic equipping; it is not that anyone who wants to go can simply go. All who would go out for overseas propagation must go through registration and review. After the brothers have fellowshipped, it will then be decided according to the actual situation at the time. This year we want to reach the goal of sending out twenty full-time brothers and sisters for overseas propagation.

In the past, the larger move of overseas propagation was to Russia. At that time nearly two hundred full-time ones went to Russia, one after another. Afterward there were also those who went to India and to various places in Asia, or who went out to propagate in various places in Europe, but the numbers were relatively small. We want to emphasize that our burden for overseas propagation must not diminish day by day; I hope that the churches throughout Taiwan can continually produce young people to have a part in overseas propagation. We need to have a part in this move in a steadfast and continual way, in order that the dream Brother Lee saw may be realized—that one day there will be five hundred thousand young people from Taiwan throughout the earth knocking on doors, and that through the knocking of these five hundred thousand young people the Lord Jesus can come back!

The Co-workers Learning to Bear the Burden, Being Equipped with the Truth, and Supplying Life

For the co-workers to go out for overseas propagation, they need to be equipped. The fact that the co-workers are now serving in the various localities is the best equipping. There is a burden in this training, which is that we hope we will learn to bear the burden in the church. As the co-workers serve in the various localities, they should not think that they are merely a coordinating member, or consider that since they are young they are simply learning to serve in the church. It is true that we acknowledge that there are many things we need to learn; but as those who serve full-time, we need to learn to bear the burden in the church. We need to bear, according to the measure that the Lord has measured to us, either a district, or a meeting hall, or a large district. At the very least we can bear a small group; for those who serve full-time, this should be our incumbent duty. To bear the burden in the church is not merely to do things; it is to bear responsibility and to have the supply of life; for this we need to be well equipped.

In the third message of this training, Brother Lee mentioned a young person coming out to serve full-time: "The first thing should be to learn the truth; every morning they should spend time on learning the truth; they should use the Recovery Version of the New Testament, together with its footnotes and cross-references, supplemented by the life-studies; reading four hours every morning, in this way they can study through the New Testament once in two years; this is the equipping that one must have." Let me ask: today, who spends four hours every day being equipped with the truth or reading the Word? I am afraid that even we ourselves have not practiced in this way. Since we serve full-time, we have to spend time being equipped with the truth. Not only must we pursue the Lord's word, but we must also learn to supply the Lord's word. The saints are helped through the Lord's word that we supply. We truly need to be equipped with the truth in a serious way. We need not only to pray but also to spend time on the Lord's word, and then learn to supply people instantly with the Lord's word that we have enjoyed; this is to give people the best supply of life.

According to my observation, the co-workers are too polite in serving in the various localities; truly speaking, the responsibility that is yours to bear, you should bear. I believe that the brothers in the various localities are at least serving in a small group or a district. Some brothers have served the Lord for many years; if they merely serve in a small group, it is not enough; at the very least they should bear a district. And the district where you are should become a pattern for other districts—with an increase in number, and with the brothers and sisters growing in life. Regrettably, after some co-workers have been in one place for a long time, they just muddle along and even become unable to coordinate with the responsible brothers in that locality. We must do our best to have a good coordination with the responsible brothers and to be their helper. If we bear the burden in the church, I believe the responsible brothers will also respect our service. What is to be feared is that we cannot take up the burden in the church. The Lord has a commission upon each one of us; since we serve full-time, we must become useful vessels that are able to bear the burden.

Frequently Checking Whether Our Relationship with the Lord and with the Saints Is Normal

We need to realize that we do not bear the burden by ourselves but by relying on the Lord and depending on the Lord's grace. This has nothing to do with whether our ability is strong or weak; rather, it has to do with our living before God and with whether our relationship with the Lord is normal. We must honestly ask ourselves, "Do I thirst for the Lord's word?" If you have an appetite for the Lord's word, and every time you read the Lord's word you receive nourishment and supply, then your relationship with the Lord is normal. But if every time you read the Lord's word it is as though you are fulfilling an obligation, dull and tasteless, then this shows that something is wrong with your relationship with the Lord. Since the co-workers want to walk the Lord's way and have the aspiration to serve full-time, their relationship with the Lord cannot be one of keeping a distance. Our relationship with the Lord must be normal and intimate.

In the church we have companions and brothers and sisters whom we serve, and we also have the responsibility that we are to bear. For this we need to build up a good relationship with the Lord and with the brothers and sisters; this is the building. We need to check ourselves frequently: "Am I sweet to others in the coordination? Am I open toward the brothers and sisters? Do people feel that I am mysterious?" If the feeling we give the saints is that we are very mysterious, this shows that we need to be adjusted. But if the saints feel that we are transparent and open, having good fellowship and coordination with them, then our function will become more and more manifest.

Some people think that they are restricted everywhere in the church and that their function cannot be exercised. We need to realize that our ability to serve the Lord is entirely due to the Lord's grace and mercy. Many times we think that we are very capable and very willing to coordinate; but in fact, without the Lord's mercy, by ourselves we truly can do nothing.

Brother Wu's Expectation of and Encouragement to the Co-workers

In future co-worker trainings, may there be many who give testimonies of receiving grace.

On the whole, the spiritual atmosphere of this perfecting training for the co-workers has been very good; the brothers were prepared, and in the supply of the word their spirits were very released. A number of brothers and sisters took turns to come up and testify, which was also quite stirring; this could be called the essence of the inward journey of their following the Lord. I hope that in the future co-worker trainings throughout Taiwan there can also be many who give testimonies of receiving grace, that all of us may be encouraged. Some people seem to be strong, but in fact they also have their times of weakness; how much we need the Lord's grace to uphold each one of us.

Bearing the Burden
        Maintaining the Lord's Testimony in Every Locality

I hope that when we return to the various localities, we will all take up the burden that we should bear. On the one hand, every co-worker needs to know what it is that you should bear; the more you ask the Lord, the more the Lord will add to you. On the other hand, do not be afraid that the burden is too heavy; we need to realize that there is no burden that you cannot bear. There was a brother who came from Korea to serve in the church in Taipei; in spite of the differences in language and culture, he learned to bear the burden in the church, and the burden he bore became heavier and heavier. Even so, what he bore had not yet exceeded his measure; there was still more that he could bear. In fact, in our serving in the church, what is to be feared is that we do not take up things; if we take up more, then we have more; the more we bear responsibility, the heavier it becomes. And the Lord is able to perfect us more and more. On the contrary, if we do not take up things when we encounter them, then we will have less and less to take up. In fact, none of us amounts to anything; it is the Lord's mercy that enables us to serve Him. Take myself as an example: I have never been through the full-time training, yet I learned to bear the burden, and the burden became heavier and heavier; in the end I was truly out of breath, but the Lord still enabled me to continue serving here! I believe that the brothers and sisters who propagate in the various localities can all testify that no matter how difficult the environment is, the Lord's grace is still sufficient.

Having gone through these days of fellowship, I hope that the brothers and sisters will be renewed in strength, be roused up and stirred up, and return to the various localities to bear the burden, becoming patterns to the saints, so that people will look at us with new eyes. Do not think that our service does not amount to anything. No, our serving the Lord full-time is too glorious! Our service should always be such that we can bring out a testimony to show people. We know that in the big cities the resources are abundant, whereas in the rural towns there is a lack of manpower and material things, so that one must look to the Lord in everything; but in any case, we all need the Lord's grace to strengthen us, so that we can maintain the Lord's testimony in every locality.

Seizing the Opportunity to Have Much Fellowship

I hope that from now on the co-workers will have more fellowship with one another. There is the large-district service in every locality, and we must keep up our fellowship with the large district where we are. Furthermore, regarding the co-worker training that is held twice a year, the co-workers must have a thirst to come together. Do not miss the opportunity, and do not casually ask for leave. Some people ask for leave on the ground that "the body cannot make it in time"; but I want to say that as long as the body has not collapsed, there is always time. As long as there is a thirst within us, there is absolutely time; we must buffet our body and make it our slave (1 Cor. 9:27, Union Version). We must treasure these gatherings held twice a year, having fellowship with one another, and we must seize the opportunity to get to know one another, especially those who are newly come and the young full-time ones. May the Lord bless us; we are in one Body, a corporate Joshua, and companions fighting together.

Being Pillars in the Church and Having a Part in the Building Up of God's House

From the end of 2018 to the beginning of 2019 was the time of my greatest physical weakness. Thank the Lord, the difficulty passed very quickly. In the blink of an eye I had lived another year; I believe that we are all in the Lord's hand. At the end of 2018, I suddenly had a myocardial infarction on an airplane, and it was the Lord's mercy that brought me back. When I came to, I thought of how there were still many things I had not done and how many burdens were pressing upon me, and I could not help thinking, "If I had departed from the myocardial infarction on the airplane at that time, would it not have been better? Now that I am alive, it is really exhausting!" Not long afterward, two brothers, Tao Guoqing (陶國清) and Zhai Zhaoping (翟兆平), hurried from Taiwan to America to see me; as soon as I saw them I said, "I still have many things to charge you with—this matter, that matter . . ." He Zijian (何子建), who was nearby, advised me, "Just rest! How is it that the moment you wake up, you start directing things!" Indeed, in serving the Lord we are truly toiling souls! But that we can still bear the burden to this day is entirely the Lord's grace. Please remember, if we are to become useful before the Lord, we must learn to bear the burden. Do not hold the notion that nothing has anything to do with you. No, we should think this way: the affairs of the church are my affairs, and the affairs of the brothers and sisters are my affairs. In this way we will become useful in the church, able to bear the burden; and the Lord's commission will then be able to be committed to us.

I hope that the Lord will lead us to continue walking His way without shrinking back. Do not worry that you cannot walk on. Pray, and ask the Lord to give us grace to advance in a steadfast and continual way. May we all become patterns to the saints, being pillars in the church, bearing responsibility, and having a part together in the building up of God's house.