The reason the Lord’s work in Taiwan has been frustrated and has not been spreading is that for the past twenty years the churches here have been living a life of ease and comfort. When I left Taiwan in 1961, there was a great number of saints meeting in the church in Taipei. Since then, however, not only has there been a lack of expansion, but there has even been a decrease. The reason lies in the fact that the church in Taipei has many assets and a great number of saints in the meetings, so the co-workers have been able to maintain the situation without having to endeavor and struggle for the spread of the work. In other words, when I left, I left the church in Taipei with many assets. This allowed the co-workers to quickly become loose.
On the one hand, I can testify that the co-workers have faithfully maintained the testimony of the Lord’s recovery in Taiwan. On the other hand, during the past twenty or more years, all the shortcomings of the Chinese character were brought into the church because of their carelessness and inattentiveness. Since there are so many valuable assets in the church, they tend not to care when they lose a few of the saints. They may feel that the absence of these saints does not make much of a difference and that there are still thousands of people who attend the conferences. However, as the saying goes, “One false step makes a great difference.” During the past twenty-five years, not only has the number of saints in the meetings decreased, but even the spirit for expansion which was among us has been lost.
The work of the Lord’s recovery in Taiwan began at the site of Hall 1 of the church in Taipei, which was part of a Japanese residential district during the Japanese occupation. That area was bombed by the allied forces during the war, and all that was left was an area of cement-covered ground. After the victory, this plot of land was taken over by the Chinese government. Later two Chinese brothers who had been living overseas came to reside in Taiwan and bought half of the land. Eventually, a small meeting hall that could accommodate three to four hundred people was built. On August 1, 1949, I held our first conference in that little meeting hall to officially start the Lord’s work in Taiwan.
After the beginning of the work, under the Lord’s blessing the number of saved ones steadily increased. As a result, our meeting place quickly became inadequate. In 1950 we made use of the adjacent empty lot by fixing it up and putting a bamboo fence around it. Thus, we were able to add many more seats to the hall. Later as the Lord’s work spread more, and the number of saints multiplied, I bought another piece of land next to the meeting hall, combining it with the land that we originally owned, and we rebuilt the meeting hall.
In 1953 I began to conduct a training which many saints attended. On the fenced lot I built a house for the workers. Even though its appearance was simple, the lush plants and flowers provided a sense of serenity and freshness, and its interior was clean and tidy. I left Taiwan in 1961 and did not come back until 1965. When I came back, the workers’ house was almost unrecognizable. The plants had dried up, and all the flowers had withered. Everything was a mess. I was exceedingly troubled within. I thought back to when I had conducted the training twelve years earlier and had spoken on the thirty items of character training. The messages that I had given at that time had been very strong and serious, yet twelve years later, the co-workers had completely forgotten them.
Recently I told the elders that our meeting hall, which is now a building made of reinforced concrete, is no longer the simple building we once had. Therefore, it should not have an old appearance. Regarding the condition of the meeting hall, if the hall were being used by the Japanese saints, it would definitely be tidier and cleaner than it is today. If it were being used by the American saints, it would be much more spacious and elegant. However, when we use the meeting hall, we make it appear so unbecoming. For example, consider the bookshelves which contain the Bibles and hymnals for public use. All of the Bibles and hymnals are in disarray, and many of them are torn and are even missing pages. Not one of them is in a proper condition. This implies that our work has not been developed and has no vitality. If people came and saw the disorderly condition of our Bibles and hymnals, how could they respect us?
In this world every building, regardless of what kind of business it is used for, needs to have an impressive front. For example, the people who work at a bank must clean their surroundings so that everything is neat and tidy. When people see that the bank’s environment is respectable, then they are more likely to have confidence in the bank and to be willing to deposit their money there. Similarly, every week we should organize the books and hymnals on our bookshelves that are for public use. The torn ones should be repaired, and the ones that are no longer usable should be replaced. The books should be neatly placed on the shelf so that in the next meeting they can be properly distributed. Do not look down on these kinds of matters. A little bookshelf could ruin our reputation, resulting in our being unable to bring in anyone of quality, or it could be our silent testimony, attracting people to us. Therefore, as we are working here, we should have an impressive front, a dignified appearance, so that people would be fully convinced to come to us.
Please forgive me for saying these things. I must say them because I hate how the Chinese character has damaged us. There are many business entrepreneurs in Taiwan who are successful because they have changed their character. As long as one is willing to change his poor character, he will ultimately succeed. Those who do not change their slothful nature will fail. Those who change the fastest, the earliest, and the most radically will have the greatest chance of success.