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If the churches in Taiwan continue to advance, and the co-workers are willing to receive the burden to help the churches abroad, there will be substantial results. It would also be good to have a joint gathering or training every year or every other year for the saints from various local churches in Taiwan and abroad to attend. Each term of training could be either three weeks or a month. The saints from various churches can come together to participate in the training, just as the children of Israel kept the Feast of Tabernacles. The brothers and sisters who are serving the Lord can come together at least once every two years to have a training in which they live together and meet and fellowship together. This training could also be held every year. I believe that this would be a great help to the churches.
The co-workers who go abroad to labor for the Lord should take note of the saints who are seeking and promising. The co-workers can even encourage the young saints in Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia to come to Taiwan to study, attend meetings, and learn the language for the purpose of translation. When these young ones finish their education and return to their countries, they will be a great help to the churches. The co-workers going abroad and the young overseas saints coming to Taiwan will cause the work to progress. It will double the results with half the effort.
The co-workers going abroad and the young saints coming to Taiwan will increase the burden of the churches and the co-workers in Taiwan. The spiritual and material burden will be heavier. For this reason, the churches in Taiwan should begin tithing for the churches abroad. This means that no matter how much the churches receive in offerings, they should give one-tenth to the Lord. In the Old Testament the Levites received the tithe of the Israelites and then gave one-tenth of what they had received to the Lord. This was pleasing to the Lord. Never think that your church does not receive much and therefore cannot tithe. This is a selfish thought. The Bible says, “Give, and it will be given to you” (Luke 6:38).
Beginning from January of 1971, all the churches should offer ten percent, no matter how much they receive. Suppose a local church receives ten thousand New Taiwan dollars, but it needs twelve thousand. What should this church do? The elders should still endeavor to offer one-tenth and then commit the lack to the Lord. This is according to the Lord’s word in Malachi 3:10, which says, “Bring the whole tithe to the storehouse that there may be food in My house; and prove Me, if you will, by this, says Jehovah of hosts, whether I will open to you the windows of heaven and pour out blessing for you until there is no room for it.” The Lord said that we should prove Him by our giving, and He will open the windows of heaven for us. We should not wait until we receive a surplus in order to give ten percent; rather, we should first set aside ten percent by faith. If the churches would practice this, the offerings would increase. Giving in this way will double what we receive from the Lord. Give to the Lord, and He will give to you. This is the way for the saints to be blessed and, even more, for the churches to be blessed.
Regardless of whether we have enough to meet our need, the churches in Taiwan must offer one-tenth by faith to the Lord. The Lord will bless this. This will not only test us but also confirm the experience of the saints throughout the generations. No one has ever suffered a loss because of loving the Lord and offering material blessings to Him. Without exception, what the Lord gives us in return is more than what we give to Him. This applies to individuals and also to the churches. We must look to the future. If every church would practice this, we will bring in the Lord’s blessing.
The churches in Taiwan should give for the needs in South Korea by helping the saints there to purchase land for the construction of a meeting hall. Such a project cannot be accomplished within a short time; nevertheless, we should ask the Lord to lead us in this matter. By the Lord’s leading, we may have a gathering of all the churches in East Asia every year or every two years. The financial need for such a gathering would be large. The burden would be too great for the churches to meet this need within a short time. Perhaps the churches can make an offering every month to meet this need. This does not have to be a rigid practice. If the churches are so led, they can send the offering to the business office of the church in Taipei, designating its use for the East Asia conference. In this way funds will gradually be accumulated, and it will be easier to bear the financial burden at the time of the conference. We must meet this need for the Lord’s sake.
Here is another example. There are two halls in the church in Taipei that can each accommodate about a thousand saints, but both meeting halls are in need of renovation. We need a place that can hold two to three thousand people for a training. In the future we will need to rent a hall that is large enough to hold ten thousand people in order to hold a conference. Of course, we may not be able to build such a large meeting hall in Taipei. Nevertheless, the church in Taipei should have a meeting hall that can seat two thousand five hundred to three thousand people so that we may regularly carry out trainings there.
The co-workers should not depend on me for the trainings. I cannot bear such a heavy burden. Ever since I returned on November 21, 1970, I have been in numerous meetings with no rest. Furthermore, the burden of the Book Room is also upon me. I often stay up until midnight to review manuscripts. Therefore, the brothers need to receive this burden. Regardless of whether I am present, they must hold an East Asia conference at least once every two years. Such a conference will greatly benefit the churches. If my energy and time allow me to travel, I will return to help with the conference. In any case, it is necessary that the co-workers bear this burden.
It would be more suitable to have an East Asia conference during the holidays. The summer holiday may be more suitable because a substantial number of saints either work in schools or are students. Most of my work in the United States is done in the summer. That time affords the best opportunity for me to work. According to past years, the work accomplished during the summer is often more effective than what is done during the rest of the year. From June to September I will be in conferences, and the schedule for these three months will be very tight. However, the results reaped during these three months will be equivalent to the results for the rest of the year. For this reason I will not be able to come to Taipei during the summer. Therefore, the brothers and sisters need to receive the burden to pray for the international conference.
A time of joint training is needed; it would be a great help to the churches. Last week the saints from various places in Taiwan came together to be trained. That training was a great help to all the churches. The strengthening from that training issued in positive results in the recent gospel meetings. Of course, a foundation must first be laid in every local church. Based on such a foundation, the trainings and conferences cause the saints to be burning. At present, the churches in Southeast Asia and Japan are somewhat established. If the co-workers can go and strengthen the churches there, an international conference would have a greater effect on the saints. Therefore, such a conference is indispensable. The brothers should have more fellowship concerning this matter to confirm this need.
The co-workers must always remember the direction of our work. On one hand, the co-workers should strengthen the local churches, help them to spread, and perfect and cultivate the saints. On the other hand, the co-workers should encourage the churches to attend the international conference and help the churches to prepare for the conference. The co-workers and the elders must understand our current situation so that they endeavor in this direction for the sake of the Lord’s testimony.
The Lord will bless and propagate His work, so the churches need to receive this burden and give one-tenth of their offerings. The elders may decide to send the offering to Taipei. The general business office of the church in Taipei can open an account to take care of the offerings from the churches. Whenever a need arises in relation to the international conference, these funds will be available for use. If the churches are led to use their offering in a certain way, they should do so. For example, the church in Kaohsiung may feel to help the church in Taitung and give its offering to Taitung. Or the church in Taitung may feel to give its offering to Hualien. Even if a local church is not led to give to a specific need, in principle it should not keep its offering. The church should send it to a fund in the general business office in Taipei. However, this fund is not for the general business office; the business office merely oversees the use of this fund on behalf of the churches. When there is a shortage in funds for the international conference, the general business office can designate a portion of these funds for use. However, we should not depend entirely on this fund to meet the needs for the international conference. There may be a need for the churches to give more. In short, every church should give one-tenth of their offerings.
The work in Hong Kong began in 1937 when Brother Weigh Kwang-hsi was led by the Lord and confirmed by the work to begin the work there. In the spring of 1950 Brother Nee visited Hong Kong from mainland China for the last time and brought a revival to the church in Hong Kong. During this revival the brothers and sisters willingly handed themselves over. At that time Brother Nee sent me a cable, asking me to go to Hong Kong and make arrangements for the elders, deacons, and all the services in the church. I stayed in Hong Kong for one and a half months and made arrangements for the services of the elders and the deacons. Since the church did not yet have a meeting hall, we formed a purchasing and construction group. We then bought a piece of land on Observatory Road and began the construction of a meeting hall. From 1950 to 1956 the saints progressed according to the leading in the work. Many blessings were brought in during that period of time, because of the one accord among the saints.
From 1956 to 1958 one of the elders there was dissenting concerning the leading in the work; he desired to take another way. When the problem in Taiwan broke out, this brother spoke with the dissenting brothers in Taiwan and supported them. In 1961 he began to publicly accuse me of speaking heresy. He could not accept the teaching concerning the Son being the Father, concerning the Son being the Spirit, or concerning the New Jerusalem not being a place but a person. He was also strongly opposed to our practice of burying our oldness. In 1968 his opposition became stronger. He considered burying our oldness to be heretical and said that it was an act of nailing the Lord Jesus to the cross again, which violated the Lord’s Person. In August of 1970, while the co-workers were absent, he called a meeting of the whole church, in which he openly declared his opposition and claimed that I spoke heresy. Another elder in Hong Kong felt the severity of the situation and called Brother Weigh Kwang-hsi and other elders, who were in the United States at the time, to discuss how to deal with the situation. In September three brothers returned to Hong Kong, and the dissenting brother was stopped from doing anything further for the time being. When he continued his opposition, Brother Weigh called me long distance and said that I should go to Hong Kong as soon as possible. After much fellowship with the brothers in the United States, I went to Hong Kong on October 15.
The six elders had announced a conference beginning on October 16. However, the dissenting elder called a meeting on October 15, in which he stirred up the saints. On October 16 the saints took over the meeting hall and declared that they were chasing away heresy. As a result, we decided not to have the conference.
The Lord used this situation to sanctify the church in Hong Kong. This opposition appeared to be related to the truth. However, it was not about the truth but about a brother wanting to do another work and have another move. His actions were the same as the opposing brothers in Taiwan. All the brothers and sisters are clear that it was not a matter of the truth but of someone desiring to establish a territory and do his own work. The most fearful thing in the work is for someone to have ambition and establish another territory. There was nothing controversial in the aspect of the truth. This ministry does not speak heresy. It does not say that the Lord Jesus is a sinner or that the Lord Jesus is not God. Accusing me of speaking heresy was an excuse. The dissenting ones were not willing to receive the leading in the work. They put out their own teachings and established a territory for themselves. This was the basic problem. Nevertheless, the Lord used the turmoil that they stirred up to sanctify His church.
