We must spend time before the Lord in order to be renewed and not hold on to our old ways. From 1967 to 1970 we did not make much progress. The churches have been here for more than twenty years, and some elders and responsible ones are getting older. Therefore, we truly need a change. The elders and responsible ones can continue to function behind the scene by praying, interceding, and caring for the saints and by supplying life. They should also allow younger saints to handle the business affairs of the church. We need a new way of doing things because the Lord is new every day.
Everyone must rise up in the Lord to perfect the younger saints. It will be a shame if we cannot change the system and pass the baton. It is a shame to control things, and it is also a shame not to perfect the saints. The brothers must be encouraged to advance. It is not sufficient for the elders and co-workers to ask the saints to pray, pray-read, and release the spirit in the meetings. The root, the cause, of our sickness is still present, and it must be removed. Otherwise, even pray-reading will become a method among us.
Unless the co-workers, elders, and responsible ones have a fundamental change in life, any method will merely be superficial. The co-workers and elders lack vitality, and they barely manage to meet the need. This is still worthy of praise because the meetings are being maintained. However, we need to be living and energized. We must strive and struggle to be flexible and living. This can be likened to a boxer who must be regulated in his practice but who also must be flexible and active in competition. We need to be regulated while we are being trained, but we should be living and not rigid in our practical application. Whether or not a person has been trained makes a difference. A person who is trained is able to apply his training.
Genesis 2:5 shows God’s need to send the rain and man’s need to work the ground. This means that we need to labor and toil in order to coordinate with God in the work. If we are willing to coordinate with God, the East—from Japan to Hong Kong and the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand—will be open to us. The Lord has opened this door for us, and we should match Him with our cooperation.
The Lord has indeed blessed this way. He bestows His blessing on us. We are not worthy, but the Lord is still doing His work. It is obvious that the Lord is blessing what we do. When we work with the young people and children, He blesses the work. Although we are still not mature in life, the Lord has blessed us and caused us to be different from Christianity in our function and our work. This is altogether the Lord’s blessing.
Furthermore, the church in Taipei has had substantial offerings. This is also the Lord’s blessing. This proves that the Lord is blessing His way. The Lord has also opened doors for us. All we need is to cooperate with Him. We must go against the Chinese disposition, character, and temperament. We must not excuse ourselves and say that we were born this way. Since we love the Lord and are willing to serve Him full time, we must have a heart for the work and not turn to the world. Since we have given ourselves, we must be desperate to find a way to improve. Some brothers are complaining that I make changes every day. However, I have not made enough changes. I hope that the brothers will not dispute or insist on keeping the old way. Everyone must pursue the Lord. If we can move forward and change our way, we will have a wonderful situation. The Lord will bless this way. He will also bless our fellowship.
According to our present situation, twelve brothers will go overseas for at least two to three months every year. Some of them may go for half a year. When these co-workers return, they will be assigned to lead the saints in a larger locality. The co-workers will go abroad in order to learn how to work. While they are abroad, their ability to supply the word will increase, and the propagation of the work will also increase. If all the co-workers could serve in this way, Southeast Asia would be enlivened and blended together. Taiwan would become a center of the work. This is the situation that we are anticipating. However, it must not happen through human organization.
We hope that more young saints can be gradually added to the work. Both full-time brothers and sisters are needed. We lack co-workers who are between the ages of twenty-five and forty. I hope that some in this age group can be brought in to serve in coordination with the rest of the co-workers so that the younger ones can be raised up. This path that we are taking is not too difficult. We look to the Lord for His leading in this matter.
The co-workers who go abroad must go with a burden. I hope that all the saints would receive the burden to pray for this matter. Whenever there is an opportunity, the co-workers should go abroad to serve for a period of time and then return. The serving ones should also visit different places such as Japan and the United States. This would be a great help to them. A few serving ones can go abroad and visit some places. They should endeavor to help the place that they visit and to bring back something new, thus having a kind of fellowship. This kind of fellowship needs to increase, but this does not mean that we should have a move with a large group of saints traveling. At the same time, the overseas saints can also visit Taiwan. In short, there should be much fellowship among the saints from all over the world, either by their coming here or our going to visit them. If we practice this, our view will be broadened, and the work will become one. May we all receive the burden to pray for this so that we have a broadened view and do the same one work.
There are five major cities along the west coast of Taiwan, along the railroad. These cities are Kaohsiung, Tainan, Taichung, Taipei, and Keelung. We can add Hsing-chu, Chia-yi, and Chung-hua to have eight major cities. We need to strengthen our labor in these eight cities and make them the base of our work. These cities should be the focus of our work. We should also work with the students. The students’ work is more important than the work on the strategic cities. The blessing is with the students; hence, we must give our all to this work. Our work must focus on the main cities and on the students. The co-workers need to make this shift and work with the students, that is, spend more time with the students. At the same time, the co-workers must not hold on to the church affairs. The church affairs must be handed over to the elders and the saints. The co-workers must concentrate on the growth in life and the supply of the word. The rest of their time should be spent on the schools.
We must pay attention to the growth in life and the supply in the word. When we find out that there are saints meeting in a school, we should focus our labor on them. This especially applies to the local churches in large cities. We must strengthen the work in the schools. There should also be a desperateness in the work of shepherding and visitation. The students should be involved in the work; they must not depend on others to do the work for them. There is much work to be done.
We visited a few churches that were established by migration and saw that the Lord has blessed many aspects of the church life. Hence, the co-workers must go out. When they go out, they will become living. The church they visit will become living, and the co-workers will also become living. Furthermore, they will bring back something living to their locality. This also applies to those who stay in Taiwan. The co-workers must focus on having a living word. They do not have to serve in one designated area. It may be effective for them to serve in different areas. When a person serves in one area, it is easy to become regulated and mechanical. We must do a work that is living and energizing.