Through the recovery of the truth, the Lord raised up many churches in all parts of the world. In 1949 in the Lord’s recovery there were less than a hundred churches overseas, most of them being in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. But from 1949 to 1984, not counting mainland China, there were more than six hundred churches in the six major continents. Today there are more than one hundred churches throughout North America, in the United States and Canada. Central America plus South America also have more than a hundred churches. Thus, there are a total of more than two hundred churches in the Americas. In addition, Europe, Africa, and Australia have about eighty or ninety churches, plus more than a hundred in the Philippines, over twenty churches in Japan, and over twenty churches in South Korea. There are more than six hundred churches altogether in the East and the West, scattered throughout the six major continents of the world. Recently the Lord’s work has come even to India and Burma. This shows us that the churches in the Lord’s recovery are everywhere in the six major continents over the whole globe.
Through us the Lord first recovered the truth. Next, through the recovery of the truth He spread His testimony to every place. This spread was not only in one continent or several countries but in all six major continents. Fifty years ago in a conversation between Brother Nee and me, we both saw this matter very clearly. Although we were raised up by the Lord in China, the Lord’s recovery was not merely for the Chinese people but for the whole world. Back then we did not know how the Lord’s recovery would spread out, because we were born in China and grew up in China, and the vast land of China was more than enough for us to do the Lord’s work.
In 1949 before we left Shanghai, there were more than four hundred churches, with co-workers in thirty-three provinces. Shanghai was the biggest church and the center of the work. At that time I was serving in Shanghai while Brother Nee was focusing on conducting the training on Mount Kuling. That was truly a wonderful scene. However, the political situation changed suddenly, so Brother Nee sent me to Taiwan. At that time my view reached only as far as Japan and Southeast Asia. Unexpectedly, the Lord led me to live permanently in the United States in 1962, thereby bringing the truth of the Lord’s recovery to the English-speaking world.
After World War II, having become the leading nation in the world, the United States spread its influence throughout the entire earth. As a result, after the Lord’s recovery came into the United States, within ten years it spread to the Americas, Europe, and Australia. It was the Lord who accomplished all these things. Today Central and South America are completely open to the Lord’s recovery. Even if we send up to a thousand full-time workers, still they would not be enough to meet the need of these places.
While observing the world situation in 1984, I saw that under the Lord’s sovereignty the island of Taiwan has a wealth of talents, a high level of education, a thriving economy, and a low crime rate. Then I thought of preparing one thousand full-timers who would first receive the training and then go marching into the villages and small towns to “gospelize,” “truthize,” and “churchize” Taiwan to make it a model for the spread of the Lord’s recovery. At that time you all declared fervently, “O never speak of sacrifice! / A privilege untold / Is to be His at any price, / In Calv’ry’s hosts enrolled” (Hymns, #473, stanza 2). I was greatly touched. We used one thousand full-timers as the base number in our preparation to gospelize Taiwan. We planned to first gospelize Taiwan and then bring the truths of the Lord that had been recovered among us to every corner of the world.
The raising up of the churches in Australia, Europe, Africa, and America is mainly through the literature in the Lord’s recovery. However, the literature alone is not adequate; there is the need for people to go and strengthen them. South America, Europe, and Australia have always hoped for people to go to help them. It is well known that the best place for producing workers is Taiwan. The current phase is to have all the full-timers go through a year of training in Taiwan, work through every town and village in Taiwan, and then set out to go overseas. In the soon-to-be-launched Full-Time Training, those who join the training must first study Greek and learn its grammar; then they will be able to use reference books and dictionaries. Second, they must learn English so that they can at least read and speak it. Third, they need to choose and learn either Japanese or Spanish. In this way, the needs of various places can be met.
After a year of training, the trainees will be sent out to every city, town, and village to preach the gospel and to stay to lay a solid foundation for the church there. During this period, they should come back every few months to continue to study foreign languages until they can listen, speak, and write. After learning for a few years, the trainees should have a solid foundation of the truth with much practical experience in how to preach the gospel, how to lead others, and how to build up the church. Then regardless of where they are sent, they will be able to considerably strengthen the church in that locality.
Taiwan is the training base, as well as the nursery, of the Lord’s recovery. From here we will begin to bring the truth to every continent in the world step by step.
Today my greatest joy is that the Lord is the source of my blessing, the flow of my blessing, and even more, the outlet of my blessing. In faith I can see one thousand trained full-timers springing up from the small island of Taiwan to saturate the entire island, including the mountainous regions, with the gospel and truth. This will cause the whole earth to see that within the six continents there is a little island that has churches not merely in the big cities but even in all the villages. Furthermore, the world will see that the gospel these people preach is a high gospel, the truth they have is transparent, and their understanding of the Bible is thoroughly clear.
In the next few years, in step with the promotion of the truth, the Recovery Version of the New Testament in English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, French, Portuguese, and Spanish will be completed one after another. This will be the best means by which we can go out and proclaim the truth. Equipped with such a Recovery Version, all those who have gone through the Full-Time Training and who have learned the truth, preached the gospel in the communities, built up churches in villages, and gained proficiency in several foreign languages will go to all parts of the world. At that time those who are preaching the gospel, speaking the truth, and building up the churches in all parts of the world will all be from Taiwan. The thought of such a long term vision brings me much joy. I believe that this vision will be fulfilled in time, and its fulfillment will not be too long from now. May none of us be slack, but rather pray much for the Lord’s spread in Taiwan.
We all know that after Mary conceived and gave birth to Jesus, Zachariah (Luke 1:67-79), Elizabeth (vv. 41-45), Simeon (2:28-32), and Anna (vv. 36-38) all spoke prophecies, and Mary “kept all these things and pondered them in her heart” (v. 19; cf. v. 51). Kept...in her heart in Greek means to carefully keep and remember in her heart. Mary carefully kept and remembered these prophecies in her heart. Then one day she saw with her own eyes the fulfillment of each of these prophecies. I hope you would also carefully keep and remember these words. What we speak is not something idealistic nor something in a dream. What we speak is a specific way. One day you all will see the fulfillment of these words.
Lastly, I hope that those who go out for the propagation of the Lord’s recovery will not merely have a clear understanding of truth but will also be properly dressed. This shows others that the people of the kingdom of the heavens are a noble group of people. Regardless of whether we are in a large meeting or a home meeting, everyone should be properly dressed with appropriate attire. This should be the outstanding feature of our living on the earth, since we are people with a heavenly calling. I hope that not only the trainees will practice this but that all the saints in the churches will also do the same thing. Regardless of the kind of meeting it is, everyone should dress appropriately.
Above is our overall plan, and we are now pressing forward toward this goal. Our goal is not merely to gospelize, truthize, and churchize Taiwan but even to use Taiwan as a model and a starting point to gospelize, truthize, and churchize the entire world.
God promised Abraham, saying, “In your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Acts 3:25). Today this promise has yet to be fulfilled. Now we have inherited this promise that in us all of the people in Taiwan and in the whole world will be blessed. We are delivering the gospel not only to the whole island of Taiwan but also to the whole world so that all of the people may receive the Lord Jesus as the source of blessing in their human life.
(A message given at the graduating college seniors conference in Taipei, Taiwan on June 1, 1986)