Today the earth is in desolation. Although there is a general preaching of the gospel, there is no gospel concerning the hidden mystery or the high gospel concerning Christ in us. It is no easy task to open up a wasteland, but it is an indisputable fact that there are millions of people scattered in every major continent of the world, waiting for people to save their souls. It is a glorious matter for us to go out for the Lord. On the one hand, we reap the harvest wherever we go. Although we are not the ones who sowed, the Lord has already sown through others, so all we need to do is to reap. On the other hand, we ourselves need to go out to sow the seeds. Then after we sow the seeds, there will certainly be a harvest.
We had this experience when we began our work in America. We traveled from the east coast to the west coast, and from the west back to the east. We also traveled from south to north and from north to south. Within a few years, our traveling covered most of America, and we reaped a harvest in almost every place. There were three to five persons in one state, five or six in another, and others elsewhere. In less than two years, we reaped many people here and there in each state. When the church in Los Angeles was raised up, the numbers increased quickly from tens of people to a hundred people, from one hundred to one hundred fifty, and then from one hundred fifty to two hundred. These persons were brought in during 1963, 1964, and no later than 1965 when the work in the United States first began. Eventually in 1970 at the International Conference in Los Angeles, a revival was ushered in as a result of our meetings.
The fire of our spread began in the summer of 1964. Some wanted to move to Alaska, some to Nebraska, and some to other places. At that time the tide of migration was so prevailing that many did not know how to respond. However, the Lord clearly showed us that it was not yet the appropriate time to spread. Hence, the Lord gave us grace to stay where we were for another three years. Those three years were truly a wonderful period in which we all became better equipped.
In 1970 the number of people who attended the International Conference exceeded one thousand. During this year everyone wanted to spread out through migration. Many of the saints were praising and leaping, although they were also shedding tears, being reluctant to depart from Los Angeles. On the day they left Los Angeles, some made a detour from their homes to the meeting hall on Elden Street to catch a last glimpse, and they could not hold back their tears. They were richly blessed and edified there, and Elden had left an eternal impression on them. That wave of migration resulted in the spread to between twenty and thirty localities, such as Chicago and other places. This migration proceeded quickly and had a great impact. In not more than two years, the Lord’s recovery had reached two to three thousand people. In a conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center in 1973, the number of attendants exceeded three thousand. Large crowds gathered both inside and outside of the meeting place. From that day onward, our concept was changed. We realized that we should no longer hold big conferences but that we should begin to conduct trainings. Big conferences are open in nature, and anyone could join, but trainings required a process of approval. Therefore, since 1974 we have conducted trainings twice a year. People have had to register and be approved by the various churches. That was the beginning of the life-study training. We praise the Lord that this has gone on for thirteen years without interruption.
History shows us that what we have today is precious. Therefore, we should go everywhere with boldness. When we first arrived in the United States to begin our work here, we could not say that there was no opposition in such a large Christian nation. Nevertheless, we have maintained a positive attitude until this day. It is not the case that there has been no opposition. Rather, there have been all kinds of opposition. However, whenever we engage in a conversation with an opposer, our attitude is always that no matter what they say, we have a treasure that they do not have. As we speak with them, we present to them the truth that the Lord has revealed to us. We can show them the treasure at any time. However, when the opposers want to display their treasure, they have nothing to show. This is the real situation.
Regardless of whether you are old or young, you should have a realization that there is a power in us. If you want to lead an easy life, I must tell you that this is impossible. If an appliance could talk, it may ask the electricity to pause for a while and allow it to have a good rest. However, electricity has no way to pause. For this reason, Paul told us to struggle. In 1963 or 1964, a brother from the Brethren assembly came from the United States to Taiwan. In Taichung he met a Western missionary who was also in the Brethren assembly. As they began to converse, he compared the missionary work of the Brethren assembly there to a drop of water on a fingertip, and our work in Taiwan to a bucket of water. This brother said that no one could outrun us, and no one struggled as much as we did.
I have been laboring in the United States for twenty-three years, and I have never taken a vacation. This surprises the Americans. Whether they are in school or at work, Americans go on vacation several times a year. Therefore, they find me strange because I work all day continuously and never plan a vacation. The more I read the New Testament, the more I wonder if Paul ever had a vacation. Even if he went on vacation outwardly, he could not be on vacation inwardly. He said that there was a crowd of cares pressing upon him daily, the anxious concern for all the churches (2 Cor. 11:28). This passage of the Scriptures not only encourages us, but above all it points to us a way, showing us that Paul not only had a treasure but that this treasure had become a mighty power within him. He showed us particularly that he was one who struggled. If we were to go on a vacation, this operating power would leave us. Therefore, although we have a power operating within us, we still have to endeavor to strive and struggle. We should not fear any opposition. All we have to do is bring the treasure with us and struggle day and night to present this treasure to others.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:7 that he had a treasure within him. This treasure in him was not dull and dormant, but rather it was an operation, an operating power. The word dynamo, which we derive from the Greek word for power, is used to describe the operating force of electricity. This indicates that the treasure within us is full of energy. Nevertheless, Paul says that he still needed to struggle to present this treasure to others. We all have read the fourteen Epistles written by him, which reveal the wonderful riches of the truth. However, the process of writing these fourteen Epistles was filled with much labor and hardship. We may compare this labor to the operation of the jewelry and jade shops in Hong Kong. The shops may be full of precious jewels, but if the shop owner is slothful, and the front of the store is a mess, no one will want to go in and buy the jewels. The shop owner still needs to furnish the shop so that it looks elegant and graceful and displays the treasures in a way that others will see that they are of high value. All this requires much time and effort.