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Church A: Our situation is somewhat desolate. There is no focus in the work. Because of our special geographic location and the great mobility of people, there is a great need for the preaching of the gospel. However, the gospel is greatly hindered because of our immaturity. Moreover, those who have been added to the coordination in the church service are lacking in both quality and quantity. There are problems in other areas as well. For example, we are limited by the size of the meeting hall, and it is not so convenient for the saints to meet because most are poor. The whole church has been praying and fellowshipping, hoping to strengthen the meetings in the homes, but in the end, it is difficult to spread. However, we must confess that the main hindrance is that there is too much of the human element and too little of the element of Christ. Among us there is too much room for the self; it is not easy to deal with the flesh, and it is difficult to see our self in our fellowship with the Lord. We repent before the Lord and hope that in the fellowship we may be able to see the naturalness and complexity of our self.
Church B: Our work is divided into two aspects. On one hand, many saints have just begun meeting with us and cannot function properly, so our meeting is not like meeting, and our singing is not like singing. The focus of our work, therefore, is on edification. On the other hand, we mainly focus on the elderly ones and the young ones in regard to shepherding the saints. Although our locality is small, there are four high schools, a teachers’ college, and three elementary schools; we have young brothers and sisters in all of them. Thus, we have a young people’s meeting once a week.
Our lack is in the inadequate number of serving ones and the high mobility of people. This makes the work extremely difficult. Moreover, since we are in the eastern part of the island, which is a relatively poor region, it is difficult for the saints to be trained because they have to take care of their livelihood. Sometimes it is difficult even to arrange the chairs. Moreover, we are very immature spiritually because the church carried some flavor of Christianity when it first began. Concerning myself, I am a person with a little soul and a small capacity; I truly fall short before the Lord.
Church C: Overall, we pay much attention to ministering the word, but we do not have much action because the saints are not able to keep up. The focus of the work is on the preaching of the gospel, but the saints do not have much of a heart for the gospel. Among the saints, most are military personnel, and a few are students and teachers. We do not have meetings in Taiwanese for the saints who are in their forties and fifties. There are few experienced brothers, and there are fewer experienced sisters. Hence, the work of visitation is very poor, and I personally have not touched the key to visitation. As far as service is concerned, it is difficult to bring in serving ones. There are a few who come to the meetings, and it is even more difficult to bring them into service. This is our big problem. I personally feel that the most difficult thing is that our capacity is insufficient and that we often act in our flesh. There have even been quarrels in the responsible brothers’ meetings.
Church D: The focus of our work in the past was on preaching the gospel, but the gospel has not yet been widely spread. At the beginning we gained several Taiwanese saints, but because we do not have a Taiwanese brother to lead them, they were all lost. In the aspect of life, we hoped to have a living of morning watch, but eventually, it did not succeed. There is a great lack of useful people; there are a little over forty saints meeting here. There also is a lack of leading on the sisters’ side. Because the location of the meeting hall is not so accessible, it is not easy for people to gather together. Furthermore, the four responsible brothers of the church are not open to one another.
Church E: At present there are about twenty brothers and sisters having prayer meetings in three homes, but the church has not yet been established.
Church F: The condition of the church here is rather weak and poor. As far as meetings are concerned, there are fifty to sixty who meet during the week and over a hundred who meet on the Lord’s Day. The total number of saints is two hundred and sixty-six. The sisters’ meetings are comparatively strong. There are meetings at four different places per week, but the work is rather fragmentary. We pay attention to the reading of spiritual publications, and there are brothers specifically responsible for leading the saints in this study; consequently, there has been some result. We have been hoping to lead the saints into the aspect of life, but no one dares because no one has been manifested to be more advanced and able to take the lead. Most of the time we lead the brothers and sisters in groups and work with them through the fellowship meeting.
Church G: There are about thirty saints here. Two months ago the Holy Spirit was working so strongly that some brothers and sisters, upon receiving the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, went out to preach the gospel and visit people, regardless of rain or shine. Some people, however, attacked us, especially the sisters, by saying that it was the work of Satan. This misunderstanding caused much damage. Although the church has been recovered, we are still in a battle. We rent our meeting hall, but because the landlord is quite unreasonable, the saints find it difficult to bear. At the same time, few saints have the feeling that the church is their home.
Church H: There are thirty-two brothers and sisters in our locality. The condition of the church is good, and we can afford the rent of our meeting hall by ourselves. There are seven to eight saints who specifically give themselves to the Lord, so the Lord has some spread here. During the past two conferences several brothers from a surrounding locality came to perfect us. There are seven to eight brothers in that church who are able to minister the word. Thank the Lord, all the brothers and sisters are able to serve God faithfully. My biggest shortcoming is my looseness. Yesterday when I was fellowshipping with my roommate, he also said that I am a loose person. This kind of looseness causes the church to suffer. Although my heart is eager, I have truly missed much grace. Looseness is my greatest shortcoming, and next is my habit of accommodating; hence, my demands on myself and on the brothers and sisters are not so strict and absolute.
Recently, we planted two small trees at the workers’ home. Because of the interior remodeling, we moved the plants again and again. Once the remodeling was completed, we thought of two brothers who majored in agriculture. One of them is the brother who said that he is loose. At that time I said to him, “Concerning the matter of transplanting trees, because you are the agricultural specialist, I will leave it to you.” He said that he is loose and accommodating; it is really true. I was very bothered by his looseness and accommodation. I am absolutely a novice in gardening, but when I saw the way he moved the plants, I knew that it would not work. I did not know whether to cry or to laugh.
About this time last year we asked the brothers to move the trees. However, some trees died after being moved; even now the trees are in a state of desolation. Consequently, I thought that it might not be a good time to move the trees this year. Then a brother brought someone from a nearby city who assured me that if I let him move the trees, they would live. Thus, the transplanting began. As I observed him, I learned the secret. The brothers who moved the trees last year uprooted the trees without leaving very much soil attached to the roots. In the end, the transplanting was not very successful, because few trees survived. The person who moved the trees this year not only kept the trees alive but even kept their leaves from falling. The wax apple tree, for example, not only is living, but its leaves are still green. The two loquat trees are not only alive but also exceptionally fruitful.
From this I learned that it is actually not a matter of who is an “expert” but of the transplanting method. The trees transplanted by the “expert” brother withered; however, the trees transplanted by the other man not only are alive but also are bearing significant amounts of fruit. Of course, the discipline of the Holy Spirit also may have played a part in the results.
Whether we succeed in a certain matter does not depend on whether we know how to do it. Rather, it depends on our ability to grasp the secret of doing everything in a practical and thorough way without being loose. I was troubled and bothered inwardly when I saw the looseness and carelessness of the “expert” brother, because he was supposed to be an expert. He should have known the secret of transplanting trees, but because he was not earnest and thorough and did things in an accommodating way, there was no result. The success of every matter does not depend on whether a person knows how to do it; this is secondary. The primary point is that he must be earnest and not loose. This is especially true when we go out to work; we must not be loose. If we are loose, we will not be able to accomplish anything.
The brothers who shared earlier are all full-time serving ones, but they all said that their work is not good. Some spoke of a lack of financial cooperation from the church, and while this may be a reason, it is not the main reason. The main reason lies in the fact that the person himself is incapable of meeting the need. A person who specializes in a certain profession should be able to do his job successfully, but if he is loose, his work will be ineffective even though he has spent much money and time to be trained. If the brothers are this way in the church year after year, how can they produce people?
All our problems relate to the fact that our being is inadequate. When a matter is considered, the time and effort are utilized and money is expended, but there is no result. This is the situation related to the brothers’ work. They “plant trees” and spend much time and effort, but nothing avails. The only good point may be that they experience the discipline of the Holy Spirit. From the fellowship of these few brothers, the Lord has shown us that our problems are related to nothing other than our looseness. What should we do? This simple time of fellowship has pointed out many loopholes and shows that we do not know how to work. If we truly knew how to work, our localities would surely take on an entirely new look. These words have exposed many loopholes, proving that we do not know how to work.
The fellowship of the responsible brothers in various places concerning their actual situation shows that their looseness, sloppiness, and accommodation has ruined the Lord’s work even though they make an effort and pay a price. I hope that all the young brothers and sisters will learn a serious lesson in this matter.
For example, I once asked a brother to sweep the room. He was very obedient, and he took the broom and began sweeping. If this brother was earnest in doing things, regardless of his skills, he should have started sweeping from the corners. However, he took the broom and swept only the middle part of the room. When I pointed to a corner, he swept the corner; when I pointed to another corner, he swept that corner. How can a person do a good work with this kind of attitude? From just this matter of sweeping, we can see whether or not he knows how to work. In the end, I had to show him how to thoroughly sweep the floor myself. This kind of person cannot work, and even if he does work, it will be useless because he does not know how to start and where to focus his effort. Cleaning the floor is a simple matter. When we clean the floor, for example, we need to consider whether we should use a broom or a mop. If we do not even know how to do a simple task, how can we handle the practical matters of the church and the work when they are placed in our hands?
The fellowship and reports of the various churches show that the problems they have are not the real problem. The greatest problem is that the serving ones do not know how to work. If we know how to work, our financial difficulties will not keep us from being able to “dig” out money when it is needed. Money does not fall down from heaven; it must be “dug” out by the workers. When some brothers go to a certain place to labor, there is no material supply; however, when others go to the same place to labor, there is an abundant supply. This shows that some do not know how to work. We should never believe that the place where we are laboring is short of financial capacity. There is much gold buried in the ground. If we know how to work, we will be able to “dig” out the gold. When we dig away all the problems, gold will appear spontaneously. We must see that our person is the problem. All the problems are related to our being.
Several full-time serving brothers have moved to a certain place. It has been said that this particular locality “wastes” the most number of people in Taiwan, meaning that many people are not actually being used in God’s work. It seems as if they are squandering their time day after day even though there are at least three and a half full-timers. I have often considered how to reduce the expenses there. I have been there a few times, and I have seen that the living of the saints is quite comfortable. It will be difficult to accomplish some kind of work there. We must let the saints see that many things are upon us and that we are not able to cope; rather, we need their help. When the saints are busy cleaning the meeting hall, we should not be standing around and doing nothing. If we do this, it will prove that we do not know how to work and that we do not know the brothers and sisters.
We should not think that giving our time means that we are able to work. We must have much more learning before we are able to work. In particular, young brothers must learn. If a young brother who is serving full time lives in the meeting hall, he should take care of cleaning the meeting hall so that he can boldly tell the saints, “Dear brothers and sisters, I have been doing the cleaning, but I am not able to take care of many other things, so please come and help me.” If this is the case, no one in the church will say, “Why do the young serving ones not do anything but live on the church’s support?” When all the saints are doing something, but we are standing around and doing nothing, what kind of feeling will they have? When they come to the Lord’s Day meeting and see that we are reading Genesis 28, inwardly they may say, “Why does he not find a job? Why is he simply receiving financial support from the church?” This shows that we are immature and do not know how to conduct ourselves in the church. One time I was truly bothered. In the meeting hall some saints were cleaning, some were preparing the meeting area, and some were preparing meals. Even though everyone was busy, a full-time serving brother was sitting and playing the piano. Everyone was busy and sweating, but he was sitting comfortably and playing the piano for amusement. Can such a person truly work for the Lord? We should never think that we can serve God as long as we do not watch movies, play mah-jongg, or quarrel with people. This is not the case. If the sweat of the saints cannot affect us, how can we serve God?
Neither doctrine nor theology counts; only our actual living before the Lord counts. We must have some basic knowledge regarding how to conduct ourselves. When the sisters are busy serving a meal, should we be enjoying some leisurely activity? When the brothers are laboring and sweating during the cleaning, do we not have a proper sense of things? This shows that we lack a feeling concerning how to work, how to take care of matters, and how to conduct ourselves. I mention these situations so that we can have a feeling in regard to these matters. We need a daily exercise. I am sharing so much because I hope that we will not only hear some doctrine but will truly learn something. In this way we will be useful.
We will have a regular training for the responsible brothers and sisters from various churches and district meetings. We will not have an open registration; therefore, we ask the responsible brothers in all the churches to recommend and register the saints from their localities. As far as qualifications are concerned, elders who want to join the training from all the churches will be accepted in principle. I hope that the churches will recommend those who are willing to learn and have a great ability to learn. University students or those who have just graduated from universities are the most suitable. We expect that such ones would have a desire to serve the Lord for their whole life; therefore, we would encourage them to first receive some training and then decide whether or not they should get a job in the future. We also will accept the stronger ones among the deacons. If other saints want to participate, they can audit the classes, but we will not correct their mistakes or give them the opportunity to exercise. It is best if we have only sixty to eighty people at the most. We will lead them to minister the word, to visit people, to take care of practical matters, and to read the Bible. We will also give them homework and require them to practice and exercise in a strict way. Then we will evaluate and adjust them.
In addition, I need to make a statement concerning three matters. First, the fact that we accept the saints to the training does not mean that they will become workers. This is merely a training for serving the Lord. Accepting someone to be trained does not mean that we acknowledge him as a co-worker. When the training is over, some may still need to find a job, and some who quit their jobs for the training may need to go back to their careers after the training. Second, we are not responsible for the living of the trainees after the training. Third, I hope the halls in Taipei will arrange accommodations for those who live in Taipei. For those who are from other places, I hope that the work will make arrangements for them. The auditors must make arrangements for themselves.
