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Although for the past forty years we have emphasized preaching the gospel, edifying the saints, and leading them to pursue spirituality, we have been commissioned by the Lord to recover the testimony of the local churches. For this reason, we should focus our work on large cities. However, this does not mean that we will not work in smaller cities. We will still include them, but our focus should be on large cities. The assignment of the co-workers depends on the importance of the work. Places that are of greater importance will require more co-workers, and smaller places will not need as many co-workers.
Because Taipei, Taichung, and Tainan have the most schools, the work must focus on these three places. In addition, it is also necessary to establish a good testimony of the local church in large cities such as Keelung, Hsinchu, Chiayi, and Kaohsiung. Some saints can meet and serve only in small cities because of the location of their work or their home. These saints hope that a co-worker could join them and strengthen them. At present, this will not be possible because there are local churches in many places, and every place needs to be strengthened. Furthermore, there is a great need in East Asia. The testimony of the Lord’s recovery in East Asia is crucial, and we cannot neglect it. We must leave the local brothers to bear and uphold the responsibility for the smaller cities. Perhaps the co-workers can visit various cities from time to time, or a conference or training can be held by several cities in order to render them some help.
We have fellowshipped previously that taking the co-workers out of their localities will not solve our problem. We need to change our concept and the system. If our concept and our system are not changed, it will be useless to remove the co-workers. Our strategy will be to focus on large cities, to strengthen the students’ work, and to take care of the need overseas. The co-workers do not need to be removed from the local churches in the large cities. They should stay in these cities but not replace the saints. They must lead the saints to serve and thus produce some capable ones. The co-workers should begin with the elders. In local churches where there are no elders, the co-workers should work to produce elders. In places where there are elders, the co-workers should strengthen the functions of the elders by leading the elders to advance and learn more. Under no circumstance should the co-workers pick up the responsibilities of the elders. If the co-workers do not strengthen the testimony in the large cities, the elders will not be able to adequately meet the need. The local elders are busy with their jobs. They have the heart to serve, but their time and energy do not allow them to care for the many needs. There is a great need for co-workers to strengthen the work in the large cities. But the co-workers must not replace the elders or the responsible brothers.
The co-workers should strengthen and lead the elders in the service with the goal of perfecting the saints. The result of such work will be that the responsibilities of a local church will be borne by the elders and the saints. In addition, every co-worker should set aside a few months to travel, either overseas or to other places in Taiwan, in order to help other local churches. This will resolve the matter of taking the co-workers out of the local churches. While they are in Taiwan, the co-workers with a greater capacity and whose function is more manifested should render help to large local churches in order to strengthen the testimony in the churches. However, the co-workers must never replace the saints; instead, they should lead the saints and serve with the saints. The co-workers should not direct the affairs of a local church and should not use the elders to carry out the directions of the co-workers. This is not the way that we should serve. Rather, the local elders should manage the affairs of a local church, and the co-workers should support the elders by helping and strengthening them in order to perfect the saints.
According to our experience, preaching the word from place to place is not beneficial to strengthening the testimony of the local churches and does not facilitate the building up of the church. In order to build up a local church, we must pour our whole being into it. A brother serving in Taichung must be so involved that he knows the needs in Taichung. He must dive into the work there; he cannot spend his time preaching the word in different places. He cannot hold a conference this week in one local church, preach the gospel for two weeks in another local church, and then spend two weeks in another local church. Such activity is of little use in strengthening the testimony of the local churches. Brothers who are able to work in various local churches should not take this way. If a co-worker wants to help a local church, he must put his whole being into the work there. In order to render true help to a local church, he must know the situation, and in order to know the situation, he must spend a few months there. To hold a conference and then leave is similar to being in Christianity and holding revival meetings. These activities are not focused on the building up of the churches. Sometimes they even damage the church.
We must always dive into the work. Even when we go abroad, we should not stay in a place for five days and then leave. We must put our whole being into the work and know the history of the work there. Hence, the co-workers should keep a record of what they do. In every place there should be a written record in which a co-worker records the important items of his work. In this way the next co-worker needs only to check the written record in order to know what the previous co-worker did and how the work should continue. This does not mean that we must continue whatever a co-worker has done but that we need to know what has happened in the work. In this way the work will have a continuation.
Some might ask why I stop in Manila for two weeks, go to Singapore for twelve days, and then go to another place for two weeks. I went to these places as a pioneer to pave the way for others to continue the work. I did not have the time to stay longer and receive a burden. The place that I am burdened for is Los Angeles, which is in the United States. I have permanent residency there and have put my whole being into the work there. Although I am working in the church in Los Angeles, I am also working in the whole United States. I am aware of the situation in other places, not just Los Angeles. The work that we are involved in requires our entire being.
We should not take the way of an itinerant preacher. We must not work in a superficial way. If a brother is sent to a place to help in the service, he should study the situation in that place before he goes and should gain an understanding of the need. It may seem as if he is merely involved in the service, but in fact, he already knows the situation in that local church and thus is able to work according to the need. If all the co-workers would do the same, our work will have a great impact. A co-worker must first understand the local situation, and then he can dive into the work. The co-workers should not be itinerant preachers, who visit different places to hold revival meetings or edification meetings. We are not criticizing this kind of work. Some believers have been commissioned by God to do such a work; we are not opposed to this. However, this is not our commission. Our commission is to build up local churches in every city. Hence, we must devote our being to a work that is profitable for the practical building up of the church.
Our situation does not depend on removing the co-workers but on our changing our concept and system. If our concept and our system are changed, staying in one place will not cause problems, because the responsibility for the work will be borne by the local brothers who are the elders, and the co-workers will help and strengthen the elders. The co-workers should stay in the same locality because the burden and sphere of the work in a large local church cannot be borne solely by the local elders. If the work in a large locality is entrusted only to the local elders, the testimony will not be strong. This is similar to Peter, John, and James being in Jerusalem. Before Jerusalem was destroyed, the main testimony in Judea was in Jerusalem. These three apostles remained there to strengthen the testimony. A strong testimony influences the churches in other places. Today we are working according to this same principle. Since we do not have sufficient co-workers, we will concentrate on the large localities and will not be able to cover all the smaller places.
A matter that is worth our consideration is language. In the early stage of the church in Taipei, we felt that the testimony needed to spread to the local Taiwanese people. In order to reach a people, we must consider their language. Most of the land we have purchased is in the Wanhua district, which has a large concentration of local Taiwanese speakers. However, due to a problem we had in the work, we have not considered Taiwanese-speaking meetings. We must begin to establish Taiwanese-speaking meetings so that local people can be brought in. Any problem in communication, language, becomes a barrier that keeps people out.
There may be a number of ways to meet this need. For example, the church in Kaohsiung has a Taiwanese-speaking district. This is practical, but without a proper leading from the elders, there may be problems in the future that can cause divisions. We need the Lord’s grace. Otherwise, the problem we had in the past will repeat itself. With proper care it is good to have a Taiwanese-speaking district. Another way is to begin a Taiwanese-speaking group meeting. We can also have translation into Taiwanese in the meetings of the church. This would also be a way to accommodate the Taiwanese-speaking saints and would not necessarily be needed in every meeting. The brothers need to consider which way to take according to their situation. In order to gain a group of people, we must use the language of that people. We cannot regulate whether a local church should have a Taiwanese-speaking district, a Taiwanese-speaking group meeting, or translation into Taiwanese. Every locality should decide according to its situation. Every local church must consider what it should do; otherwise, it will become a hindrance to the spread.
There is a sister who has many Taiwanese-speaking friends but cannot bring them to the meetings because of communication. The co-workers and elders should consider what to do according to the local situation. We should do our best to bring in the local Taiwanese people. Translation into Taiwanese is good, but it takes up much of the time during the meeting and can be a distraction. Nevertheless, even if there is translation, there are benefits to the saints coming together. The saints will have more blending and fellowship. The elders and co-workers in every locality should bring this matter before the Lord and consider what is best for their situation. If we neglect this matter, it will not be easy to gain the local people, and the church will suffer a loss.
Furthermore, the saints who are originally from the mainland should learn to contact the local Taiwanese saints. They should receive the local saints cordially and kindly. Do not create a barrier that would cause others to feel that we are unapproachable. There should not be a distinction between the “local people” and the “mainlanders.” In the United States I continually emphasize that we must have no distinctions among us. There has been a history of distinction between white people and black people in the United States. However, in the local churches there, there are no distinctions. We must fellowship with the saints so that an atmosphere of having no distinctions can also be produced in Taiwan. In the churches there should not be any distinctions between local people and mainlanders. We are all brothers and sisters in the Lord. We should have love feasts and invite the Taiwanese brothers and sisters to our homes to have meals and fellowship. Spontaneously they will reciprocate, and gradually the barriers and distinctions will dissipate. Differences in language were brought in through Babel (Gen. 11:1-9). We cannot change this fact. However, we should strive to have no differences in spirit, in fellowship, in affection, and in any dealings with one another.
On the one hand, we should find a way to solve the language problem, making an effort to build a bridge for the saints who speak different languages. On the other hand, we should avoid any distinctions. In every local church a door should be opened to the Taiwanese people, and a language bridge should be built for the Taiwanese saints. At the same time, we should continue to labor with the students. Every student learns to speak Mandarin in school, and hence language is not a problem. When the students return home, they can communicate with their family in the Taiwanese dialect. Thus, the gospel can be preached through these young ones. This will have a great influence. Our testimony is for every locality; hence, our work should be directed toward the local people. Of course, since we are in Taiwan, there should be no distinction between the local people and the mainlanders. With sufficient blending, the distinctions will disappear. During this transition time, however, we need to build a bridge so that the local people can enter into the church life. We must bring this matter to the Lord for careful consideration so that we can solve this problem. Otherwise, a section of the population will be left out. This would be a loss to the churches.
