Some overseas saints testified that previously they went door-knocking in their locality without any results, so they did not want to do it anymore. However, some among them came to Taiwan and received training, and after they went back, they taught the saints in their locality and began door-knocking again. The result was tremendous, so they were all very joyful. Now in a little church of only one hundred people, everyone goes door-knocking with good results. Why? It is because some trained ones went back to them and led them to practice it together. The same is true in many places; all the saints in these places have been greatly encouraged.
We have found a principle: It is difficult to succeed in anything if we rely on the natural way. Rather, we must do things according to the “professional” way in order to succeed. Door-knocking has its finer points. After a number of months of studying, we have learned a few things. When we knock on a door, if after ten seconds no one answers, we should knock and wait again; then after waiting again for half a minute, do not wait any longer. If a person opens the door, we should determine within three minutes whether or not he is a son of peace. If he is a son of peace, we should stay, but if not, we should leave right away. Sometimes a person has been a God-chosen son of peace, but when we went to knock on his door on a certain day, he was not in the right mood. He may have just fought with his wife and still had a stomach full of anger, so he could not hear our speaking to him about Jesus. Therefore, we need to observe closely; perhaps we should come again another time.
These are the principles the brothers and sisters have learned from going out in the training to knock on doors. After knocking on a door, we should decide to leave or stay within three minutes; we should lead one to pray within ten minutes and make sure he is saved; and we should lead him to be baptized within another ten minutes. In other words, we should spend no more than twenty minutes in a home. It is unsuitable to stay any longer. Our former old way supposes that the more we talk, the better it is. Actually, sometimes the more we talk, the more problems we have. During our visit we should do our best to not use our own words. It is best to use the booklet, “The Mystery of Human Life,” in which are four keys that are more than adequate to meet various needs.
We must pay attention to another principle. When going out to visit people, the new trainees should not speak at first but should simply learn in a good way. Whether you are an elder, a co-worker, or an apostle, you must become an apprentice. As long as it is your first time to go out, do not speak too much, but watch and learn. An elderly brother, who is an elder, heard about this training when he came back to Taiwan at the end of last year, and one day he joined the training. He knew about this rule and was willing to abide by it. He had been in the church life for many years, so naturally he was full of knowledge and felt that he had many things to say. Moreover, seeing that the young people knew only to read a section from “The Mystery of Human Life” tempted him very much. That certainly was not easy for him. In the end, however, he too saw that door-knocking has its finer points.
One time this elderly brother went out with the door-knocking brothers and sisters, and they entered into a couple’s home. Initially the wife stayed in her room and did not want to come out. A young sister spoke to the husband, and just when she felt that she had spoken enough and he was ready to be baptized, the wife came out. The young sister felt that the wife should be taken care of, and since she thought that the elderly brother should know what to do after being with them for a day, she asked him to help the husband to be baptized. Then the sister went to take care of the wife. Because of her care for the wife, the wife was baptized. However, when she turned around, the elderly brother was still talking with the husband about baptism. Right away this sister went over and talked to the husband, and after just a few words, he was also baptized. This elderly brother finally saw that door-knocking indeed requires training.
Previously there were more than forty thousand baptized brothers and sisters on the island of Taiwan. With the addition of the seven thousand brought in through the trainees’ door-knocking, the total comes to almost fifty thousand. Among the original forty thousand, one out of four goes to meetings regularly. Therefore, the total number of regular meeting-goers adds up to about ten thousand people, of which at least four thousand are in the church in Taipei.
With these ten thousand as the base number, if one out of twenty is a full-timer, there should be five hundred full-timers. Actually, today there are more than six hundred full-timers on the island of Taiwan. According to percentage, though, there should be five hundred full-timers per ten thousand people. According to the experiment in the training, if each of these five hundred full-timers goes door-knocking every week, five days a week and two to three hours per day, one person is guaranteed to be baptized per week. In this way, fifty-two people can be gained within a year of fifty-two weeks. If we adjust the number slightly, they can gain at least forty people. Therefore, if these five hundred full-timers each gains forty people every year, together they will gain twenty thousand.
If another two thousand five hundred go out door-knocking only once a week for two to three hours, they will each be able to gain and baptize one person per month, according to the above calculations. We may estimate that each one of them gains at least eight people per year. Two thousand five hundred multiplied by eight gives us twenty thousand people. Added to the twenty thousand gained by the full-timers, the total number of people is forty thousand. In this way, the number of people who attend meetings regularly will increase by another ten thousand, increasing from the original ten thousand to twenty thousand.
Therefore, our goal is to baptize forty thousand people on the island of Taiwan this year. In order to carry this out, we need five hundred full-timers plus two thousand five hundred who will go out door-knocking weekly. Now that I have put the burden upon you, I will no longer let you live your days in ease and comfort. We all need to strive toward this goal. If some cannot keep up, we need to urge them on. If some disagree, we need to believe that the Lord we serve has a way, and since He has begun a good work, He will complete this work Himself. If we disagree, then we have fallen behind and are not up-to-date, and in so doing we disqualify ourselves.
Therefore, each one of us needs to be trained. It would be valuable if we could spare even just two nights per week. Never say lightly that anyone can go door-knocking; going door-knocking and gaining people to be baptized is not as simple as it seems. We may use playing the piano as an example. Anyone can push down the keys and make a banging sound, but no one can play a melody without adequate training. Therefore, today whether you are an elder or a co-worker, whether you are young or old, you need to be trained in a good way. There are many who have been in the church for many years who find it difficult to follow along and learn, but I am sorry to say that we have no other choice; this is our only way. Those who can take this way will keep up. Those who cannot take it have to ask the Lord for the grace to not be alienated from this way.
Whether or not the new way will be successful depends on the elders. Therefore, the elders must have thorough fellowship, striving together with one soul for the gospelization of Taiwan. In the past some localities did not understand our practice and wondered why training was needed. Now they all are clear that door-knocking is not as simple as it seems. The success rate of merely following the practice is quite low, and such success does not last. Success can only come out of being trained in the training and continuing steadfastly in the principle of the new way. If we spread this message quickly to the entire island and to the whole world, and everyone is able to practice accordingly, we can expect the whole world to be gospelized in the near future.
(A message given in a conference on February 1, 1987 in Taipei.)