Many of you brothers are here tonight from different parts of California. This might be a good opportunity to fellowship with you about the building up of the churches here.
I would first like to speak of the Chinese-speaking meetings we are having every Lord’s Day morning. As you know, these meetings are a continuation of the weekend conference we had here with five meetings. That conference was the result of a deep concern for the saints both in the United States and in Canada who are in the church, yet cannot manage the language sufficiently to take in the messages to get the nourishment and to express themselves in praise and prayer to the Lord. For quite a long time they have been suffering a spiritual loss as a result. Because of this the burden of many Chinese-speaking saints has gotten heavier and heavier. And it has been the same with me.
When I was commissioned by the Lord to begin a work for His recovery in this country, I was charged not to touch any Chinese work. Even so, in the last few years, because of the increase in the immigration quotas for the Far East, many more saints have come to this country with their unbelieving relatives, friends, schoolmates, and neighbors. There is a need for us to take care of them. Otherwise, the Lord will suffer. In previous years I have not paid much attention to this need. I did not have the time, and I did not want the Lord’s recovery in the English language to be reduced or frustrated.
Roughly speaking, I figure we have lost a thousand Chinese saints in this country these past few years. The actual number may be higher. Just in California we must have lost five hundred. Where have they gone? They were either misled or distracted. Human beings are living creatures in need of affection. Because of our indifference—there was no sign on our side that we were concerned about them—others came in. Do you know how they reached them? Some came here from the church in Taipei. Before their departure, some Christian workers in this country got word from their connections in Taipei as to who among us was coming. They found out their flight number, the date of their arrival, and other information. Then they met them at the airport, ready to serve these newly arriving ones. They offered to take them by car wherever they wanted to go; if they had no place to go, they took them to their guest house. Then in the evening there would be a meeting. Of course they agreed to go. Thus they were “kidnapped” and lost to the recovery. We cannot condemn these who believe they are working for the Lord. Only the Lord knows. But the impression we have given is that we do not care for the Chinese work.
Actually in 1967 I charged the church in Taipei, and even a specific co-worker, to pick up the burden for the Chinese coming to this country. Around that time there was a change in the immigration laws, and I foresaw that there would be a great increase in the number coming to this country.
Many have since come, but we have lost track of them. They did not have a strong foundation in the church life, so after they came they were distracted by their schooling, job, or relatives. They have been lost because of our indifferent attitude.
I have realized how hard it is for the churches here to gain new converts. The opposition has made it difficult. Brother Nee taught us that our work is like farmers’. We need to go where the water is. If there is no rain, the farmers would not try to farm in such a place. They know that not much would grow. Salvation is easy to apply to the Chinese, whether on the mainland, in Taiwan, or in the United States. I believe one of the reasons for this is the earnest, faithful prayers offered to the Lord by many missionaries from abroad, especially from Britain and America. There were a good number like Hudson Taylor, who cared only that the Lord’s salvation be applied to the Chinese people. They fasted and prayed. Even though they were in the denominations—in their time they did not see the light—they were faithful, sacrificing their homeland, their families, and even their lives for what they called the Chinese souls. Now I believe the Lord is answering the faithful prayers of those dear missionaries.
The second reason, I believe, is the prayers by Brother Nee while he was in prison. What else could he have done but pray? He was not allowed to preach, even to his prisonmate. When this prisonmate, who was secretly brought to the Lord by Brother Nee, was about to be released, Brother Nee told him he must find a brother named Witness Lee and listen to whatever he said, and tell him that he (Brother Nee) had not changed his beliefs. This word came to me from a brother and his wife (a relative of Brother Nee’s) who live in this country and who visited Shanghai and saw this former prisonmate twice. Surely Brother Nee was not idle during his imprisonment. He must have heard that I was in this country. He must have prayed for the Lord’s recovery and for China.
Thirdly, if you consider all of us who were there in the Lord’s recovery in China, and then suddenly found that the mainland was lost, you will realize that thousands of us have been praying, crying to the Lord to remember that great country. The door was shut tight. In 1949 when I left we had an estimate of about three million Christians in China. Now I have read a newspaper from Hong Kong which says there are over thirty million. All over China, wherever the gospel is given today, people turn to the Lord. This is the Lord’s answer to the prayers of the missionaries, of Brother Nee, and also of many of us. It is mercy.
Even here in this country the Chinese respond if they are invited. They will come and they will believe. Most of them are professional people; they are not uneducated.