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Question: After we establish a church in a locality, how should we manage the financial matters?
Answer: When dealing with financial matters, it is best to have more than one or two people handling money. It is best for three people to coordinate together for the sake of the testimony. It is even easier to manage financial matters when there are six people on a team. If there are only two people on a team, a local brother or sister should be brought into the coordination. There must be three people present whenever the offering box is opened. In addition, we should have a formal ledger in which we record the date and amount of the general offerings and the designated offerings. Designated offerings include any offerings that need to be passed on to a locality or a saint. Every offering must be clearly recorded in a detailed way. We must also record the total amount of the offerings. Then the three saints responsible should sign under the total amount.
In relation to designated offerings, we must clearly record to whom the offering is designated and when it is delivered to him. If the offering is sent through postal money order, we must retain the money order receipt. A short letter of explanation and a receipt should be enclosed with the money order. The letter of explanation should ask the recipient to sign the receipt and mail it back to us when he receives the funds. The returned receipt and the money order receipt should be filed in our records. These are accounting procedures. In this way, if after three months the saint who made the offering is worried that the offering was not delivered, we can find the record of the offering and show the saint the receipt we received from the recipient. Without such procedures the church will suffer loss if we cannot give the saints a satisfactory answer regarding designated offerings.
In every locality there are many saints who understand accounting; thus, these procedures should not be difficult. Those who serve in this function in the localities should be faithful and keep a detailed record. We should never allow only one person to open the offering box, and there must be a proper place to keep the key to the offering box. We should never carry the key to the box on our person, nor should we allow someone to casually take the key. Of the twelve disciples of the Lord Jesus, Judas was a thief (John 12:4-6). This same problem has also occurred in the church life; therefore, we must be very careful when we deal with money so that we do not fall under suspicion. There must also be a proper record of when the money is deposited. The deposit slips and receipts should be kept as evidence.
The decisions on how to manage the finances of a public organization are quite important. The financial decisions in the new localities should be made by the co-workers on the team plus one or two of the more experienced local saints. They should discuss matters to decide how to use the offerings and then convey any decisions to the accountant. They must not give oral instructions concerning the dispersing of funds, whether by cash or check, to the accountant; rather, they should give the accountant a written record that is signed by two or three saints. The accountant must receive something in writing before he gives cash or writes a check, and he should always obtain a written receipt for every transaction. A petty cash box should also be prepared. The amount of money to be kept as petty cash should be decided by the saints responsible for financial matters. These funds should be given to one person. The amount used for petty cash must be recorded in the general ledger. There must also be an account book to record how the petty cash is spent. The miscellaneous weekly small expenses, which do not require an official approval from the saints responsible for finances, should be taken from the petty cash. For example, if there is a blackout, money can be taken from the petty cash to purchase candles for the meeting hall. It is best to obtain a receipt or a cash register slip for all such purchases. The owners of small shops may not automatically give us a receipt because this will make them liable to pay sales tax. Hence, we should be willing to spend a little more money for the sake of obtaining a receipt; as Christians, we need to be faithful.
We Christians must obey the law and pay taxes, not evade taxes. It is not proper for us to evade taxes in order to save money for the church. A few years ago there was a dispute in a certain locality concerning the funds used in building a meeting hall. After I came back to Taiwan in 1984, I met with the elders, bookkeepers, accountants, and the saints who were involved, and they all felt it was a complicated problem. Therefore, I said that in order to resolve the issue, the church should go through its records and ask a tax authority to assess our records. If we had not paid enough in taxes, we should pay what we owed, and we should gladly pay any fines for delinquent taxes. This suggestion resolved the problem.
If we are careless and do not pay enough in taxes, we must pay the delinquent taxes; we should also be responsible to pay any penalties incurred. In any event, we should not do anything illegal in order to save a few dollars. We must obtain a proper receipt or cash register slip that includes sales tax. This is our Christian testimony to people in the world.
Question: We have a burden to perfect some households. Is it appropriate for us to live with these families?
Answer: It is very good that there is a burden to perfect some households, but with respect to living in their homes, we should be a little reserved. Before we live with a family, we must first observe the relationships between parents and children, between husband and wife, and between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. If a brother is going to stay with a family, there must be a husband in the household; a brother cannot stay in the house if the sister’s husband is not at home. Likewise, for a sister to stay with a family, the situation in the household must be appropriate. It is best not to stay with a family if the husband and wife argue, because our presence will create more problems. If the wife is absent for a period of time or if she has passed away, even if there are children remaining, a sister should not live there. We should never be alone in a house with a member of the opposite sex. We must avoid such situations.
When we enter the home of a new believer, we must learn how to interact with the people there. Problems easily arise when people live in close quarters. In order to avoid these problems, we must learn some lessons. First, we must be careful how we conduct ourselves. We should be regulated in our schedule and pay attention to close doors and turn off lights. We cannot live in someone’s house and remain active into the middle of the night. This will put our host in a difficult situation. Second, we must be diligent and help with the chores. We can sweep the house, tidy the rooms, or clean the bathroom. However, we must not do things on our own; instead, we should do chores according to the habits of the family. Otherwise, it will seem as if we are correcting the family. Neither should we take the broom from our host when she is sweeping. It is best to find another broom and sweep together with our host. It is pleasant to eat with our host, but we should not forget to help wash the dishes. However, we should not take over the dishwashing; we should be alert and quick to help our hosts when they do the dishes. We should also bring our own apron and not expect our host to take off her apron when we want to help with the dishes.
In conclusion, it is not easy to stay in someone’s home. Everything is convenient in our own home, where we cannot get into trouble, but it is not so easy when we are in another person’s home. There are many ways for us to get into trouble, and we can inadvertently offend people. Therefore, we must give the matter of moving into someone’s home careful consideration. We should not take this matter lightly, because it is easy to enter a home, but it may be difficult to leave.
The brothers and sisters who go out to the rural places to spread the gospel contact people every day; therefore, they must be careful to maintain their standing. They should not carelessly make friends with people, and they should avoid natural affection. Some people have tempers like tigers; they erupt very easily, and no one likes them. Other people are like little lambs, and everyone loves them. No matter what type of person we contact, we should not have natural affection when we serve. We are all brothers and sisters, and there is only love and care for the brothers and sisters among us. Hence, we must not develop friendships out of natural affection. Some sisters have affection for all the sisters they have brought to salvation, and they become good friends with them and even share shoes with them. This is not sinful, but it is too much. It is not appropriate. Some brothers get along very well with other brothers, and they share their shirts with them. Every team will now live in a locality for six months and will have plenty of time to contact the local saints; hence, we must remember that we cannot develop natural affection. We only have the love that exists among the saints. It may be effective to stay in people’s homes, but we must be extremely careful when we contact people.
Question: How can we maintain a high morale?
Answer: Strictly speaking, in our living we should be like the sun that rises at a regular time. The rising and the setting of the sun are not related to any factor of high or low morale. A proper Christian life should also not be based on morale. Does the sun have a high morale or a low morale? The Bible compares Christ to the sun (Mal. 4:2). This means that those who follow Him should be like the sun. Consequently, we should not be affected by morale. The sun rises every day, whether the day is clear, cloudy, or rainy. None of these affect the morale of the sun. The sun rises regularly in the East, and it sets regularly in the West. Proverbs 4:18 says, “The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, / Which shines brighter and brighter until the full day.” We Christians are like the sun, and we should not have a morale that can be lifted up by excitement or emotions. We should be beside ourselves to the Lord (2 Cor. 5:13), as if we are the dawning light, which shines brighter and brighter. Judges 5:31 contains a prayer: “May those who love Him be like the sun / When it rises in its might.” When the sun is in its might, it is “beside itself.” We should always be beside ourselves, just as the sun is in its might, but this is not related to morale. We are all the shining sun rising in the East; hence, we must be revived every morning. Every morning we must have morning revival.
A proper morale is not a matter of emotions, but this does not mean that we do not have emotions. For example, all true Christians cry; anyone who cannot cry should not be considered a genuine Christian. Even the Lord Jesus cried. Jesus wept in the situation with Martha and Mary at the death of Lazarus (John 11:35), Jesus wept for Jerusalem (Luke 19:41), and He also wept in the garden of Gethsemane before His death (Heb. 5:7). We should consider how long it has been since we cried. This is related to our Christian life. It is wrong to cry all the time; the sisters should avoid crying frequently. However, it is a dreadful matter if a person has never cried after being saved. Frequent crying, however, is an expression of a weak vessel. Crying can be compared to the rain; if it rains frequently, the weather is bad. Hence, we must learn not to cry constantly.
Question: How should we help new believers who are under pressure from their relatives?
Answer: The Lord Jesus also endured pressure from His relatives, because He did not take the time to eat when He was preaching. The Lord Jesus did not respond to His relatives (Mark 3:20-21, 31-35; Luke 8:19-21). Therefore, we must let new believers know that they should not be concerned about how others treat them and that they must endure persecution. The path we take in following the Lord is different from the path of people in the world. Our relatives are in the world; hence, they will not approve of the way we take. This can be compared to the Israelites and the Egyptians. The Israelites were shepherds, but because this was an abomination to the Egyptians, the two peoples could not be together. The people in the world take a road that is different from the road we take. We should clearly explain to new ones that they must endure persecution. They must also pray for their relatives and believe the Lord’s promise: “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31). We must believe the Lord’s word, and we must endure the temporary persecution from our relatives. We should also learn to pay the price.
According to our experience in mainland China, Muslim relatives are the strongest opposers. There are two kinds of Muslims in China, the Han Chinese who converted to Islam and those of the Muslim race. The members of the Muslim race look like Caucasians. It is true that a person from the Muslim race who believes in the Lord can be killed. In Chefoo a Muslim believed in the Lord, and his relatives wanted to kill him, but the Lord protected him. Many people have been martyred for the Lord over the centuries. We should tell their stories to new believers. We should not worry that they will be frightened away; on the contrary, the stories of the martyred saints can stir up new ones and strengthen their faith. As Christians, we should not care for our own lives. Today because many Christians are weak, they preach a weak gospel and have a weak faith. However, the gospel we preach is strong and will stir up much persecution.
The New Testament says that parents will deliver up their children to death, and children will rise up against their parents (Matt. 10:21). Hence, if we want to help new ones take this way, we must testify to them that those who believe in the Lord should not fear hardships, opposition, or persecution. They should consider these matters to be normal.
Question: How should we help a new sister whose husband has not believed in the Lord?
Answer: The relationship between a husband and wife is mysterious; therefore, we must not make loose decisions regarding their relationship. We should not loosely touch a situation in which the wife believes in the Lord but the husband does not. We should simply preach the gospel and minister Christ. We should exhort the wife to pray for her husband and explain that a change in her behavior is a testimony to her husband and thus is the best way to convince her husband. We should also use the Bible to teach the sister. We can use verses such as 1 Peter 3:1, which says, “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, that even if any disobey the word, they will be gained without the word through the manner of life of their wives.” A wife’s manner of life can become a strong, subduing tool that will cause her husband to submit.
If the husband is saved but the wife is not, we should speak according to the same principle. We should exhort the brother to rely on the Lord and to pray for his wife. If we have the Lord’s leading and a word of wisdom, we can say something deeper; however, we should be careful in what we say. In principle, we must be very careful when we touch the situations in the households of other people, especially when it involves the relationship between a husband and wife. All other relationships are easy to deal with, but the relationship between a husband and wife is the most difficult to resolve. Sometimes brothers and sisters will speak openly about the situation in their own homes, but we must be careful because sometimes it is better not to know these things. There have even been situations when sisters who serve have spoken about the things their husbands have done. This is inappropriate and can damage people. Hence, we should never think that getting deeply involved in the family matters of the saints is the way to care for them. It is best if we do not know too much. It is sufficient for us to know that they have problems; we do not need to know all the details. We must be very careful when dealing with the problems between a husband and wife.
We want to fellowship concerning the new way that the Lord has shown us. The new way includes three steps; the first step is preaching the gospel. After four years of thorough research we have discovered that it is wrong to think that it is best to save more people when we knock on doors to preach the gospel. If our goal were merely to save people from eternal perdition, then it would be better to save more people. However, God wants to gain a group of people among His chosen ones to be the living members of the Body of Christ for the building up of the Body. This Body is not according to the common understanding of the church. In order for the new believers to become living members who are built up together as the Body of Christ, we should not preach a gospel that merely leads people to salvation. We should first consider how many people we can take care of and then preach the gospel to save people according to that number. If we are able to care for four or five people, we should gain seven or eight people through preaching the gospel and give proper care to these seven or eight people.
After one month of caring for the seven or eight new believers, some of them may begin to avoid us even to the extent of denying the Lord. At this point we can knock on more doors to gain more people. There should always be seven or eight people under our care. We must keep this principle. No matter where we go, we should always have seven or eight people under our care. This will not be too many people for us to nourish in home meetings.
In caring for the new believers, we should nourish them immediately after they are baptized. Nourishing is the second step of the new way. Immediately, after a person is baptized, we should have a home meeting to nourish him. In other words, we should nourish him on the day that he is baptized. It is difficult to understand the function of nourishing, and there are many important details related to nourishing. After we baptize a person, we should stay with him and nourish him in an organic way. We should not be formal; rather, we should calmly fellowship with him and explain that we call him a brother because he is a member of the household of God.
We must help the new believers know that the Lord Jesus died on the cross by giving up His body and shedding His blood for us in order to become our Savior. He passed through death, burial, and resurrection. In His resurrection the Lord became the life-giving Spirit to enter into those who believe into Him and who receive Him. When we call on the Lord, the Spirit enters into us to give us a sweet, pleasant feeling. This is an experience we did not have before we were saved, and it proves that we are saved. The inward sense that the Lord gives when we call on His name is His operation within us. When we call on the Lord, we are breathing, just as we breathe in fresh air.
We should also let the new believers know that they have a spirit within them. God is Spirit, and we have a spirit; hence, we touch the Spirit and contact the Lord by calling on the name of the Lord. We should not use our mind, our thoughts, or our emotions to call; rather, we must call from our spirit. From the deepest part of our being we call, “O Lord Jesus.” This kind of calling on the Lord is also praying.
While a new one is calling on the Lord, we should encourage him to express what is in his heart. If he feels that he wronged his mother in the past, he can call on the Lord and confess his sin. If he feels thankful for all that the Lord has arranged, he should offer thanks to the Lord. There is no formal rule concerning prayer. We simply help the new one know that the Lord is the Spirit, that he has a spirit, and that by exercising his spirit he can contact the Lord Spirit. We should lead him to pray in this way and then explain prayer to him. Then we should lead him to pray again and speak some more. In this way he will be nourished and perfected.
There are no regulations or forms in the home meetings. We should simply speak freely with the new ones. The meeting should not last longer than one and a half hours, but this is not a regulation. It is better to nourish a new one immediately after he is baptized than to wait and nourish him one week after his baptism. Furthermore, after a person is baptized, we should tell him that the Lord’s Day meeting is important and invite him to attend the Lord’s Day meeting to worship the Lord with us. We should even visit him before the Lord’s Day. In this way we will have our third contact with him on the Lord’s Day. It is easy to retain people if we practice in this way, and the ones we contact will be solid.
Next, we need to make appointments to have regular home meetings with the new ones. The new ones may be willing to have a meeting three times a week. They may want to meet every other day, or they may want to meet twice a week. In the home meetings we must get rid of the old way of meeting and the ordinances. We must not give the new ones the impression that there are regulations or rituals in the home meetings. From the first meeting we must give them the impression that Christian meetings are in the spirit and that everyone worships, prays, and calls on the Lord in spirit. Then when a new one is by himself, he will know how to pray in spirit and how to call on the Lord. In Matthew 18 the Lord said, “Where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst” (v. 20). There are no rituals when we gather together. Sometimes we begin the meeting with prayer, at other times we may read a few verses, and at still other times we may sing a hymn. No matter how we begin the meeting, the prayer, reading, or singing must be living, not stiff. Let us take singing as an example. There is no need to sing a hymn from beginning to end; we may sing only one verse. The important thing is to be living. If we meet in this way, after two or three months the new ones will be able to do what we do. They will go out and help others in the same way that we helped them.
As we contact new ones, they will open themselves to us. Perhaps they will ask us questions. They may ask what they should do about the worship of ancestors. We must answer these questions seriously; we should not merely feed the new ones without teaching them. We may say, “There is only one God in the universe, and He is Jesus in whom we have believed. He should obtain all our worship. We respect our ancestors, but we should not worship them, because worship is reserved for God alone. We worship only God, and we respect our ancestors and our parents. Chinese people often speak of doing great things to glorify our ancestors, and the best way to glorify our ancestors is to do honorable things. Only the Lord within us can give us the power to do honorable things and to make us upright people. This is the only proper way to glorify our ancestors.” In this way we help the new ones with the truth.
The new ones may ask how to deal with their statues of Buddha. We must help them to see that their statues are idols and that Satan, the devil, is behind every idol. On the one hand, we must speak the truth to them, and on the other hand, we must lead them to clear the past. We should quote some verses in the Bible and show them the verses. We may use Exodus 20:3-5, which says, “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, nor the form of anything that is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water beneath the earth. You shall not bow down to them, and you shall not serve them.” This will help the new ones grow in life. The new ones may ask us a question at any time, so we must be prepared before we go to visit them. If they do not have any questions, we can ask them a question. When we sing hymns, we should not be formal and stiff. We can even begin singing on the way to visit the new ones. We do not need to wait to enter their door before we sing. We must be living in everything we do.
After meeting with the new ones in this way, we should bring them to the Lord’s Day meeting and to the small group meeting. This is the third step. If several households in a neighborhood are saved, we can introduce them to one another and help them to visit one another. Then we should help them gather together for a small group meeting. There is no need to make arrangements in advance concerning the time to meet or in whose house to meet. We should drop the old traditional, legalistic way of doing things. If a few families cannot meet together at one time, two households can meet together. This is a sufficient number to begin a small group meeting. We need to break through all the forms of worship to have new and living meetings.
In the small groups the first thing we should do is fellowship with one another. We must lead the new ones into fellowshipping together. When everyone comes together, we must fellowship by asking others questions and answering questions concerning ourselves. After the fellowship we should pray and then visit another household. The small group meeting should begin in one home and end in a second home. When we knock on the door of the second home, we can begin singing a hymn while we are still standing outside the door. This will cause the people inside to have a spontaneous response. This is true morale. When everyone is sitting down, we can fellowship about the problems we encountered that day and pray for one another. After the prayer we should help the new ones to care for one another. For example, if someone is sick, we should pray for him and show concern for his health. This is the way to care for one another. If anyone has any questions after this, everyone can participate to answer the questions. Such meetings will not be stiff and formal.
In conclusion, we should not wait for anyone to take the lead in the small group meetings, nor should we wait for others to begin speaking. Every person can speak; hence, there is no need to make any arrangements or follow any rituals. Everyone should function organically. After fellowshipping, we must pray. Prayer will produce an atmosphere of mutual care. If there are any questions, everyone should participate in answering the questions. No specific person should answer all the questions; rather, every attendant in the meeting can say something. If the new ones wait for us to answer the question, we should encourage them to answer the question and not wait for us. When we do respond, we should be brief and speak clearly. We must avoid having one person give the entire answer. If only one person answers a question, he will occupy the entire meeting, and others will not have the opportunity to speak. Hence, every person should take only about three minutes to answer a question. After one person speaks, another person should add something, and then another can add more. In this way everyone will have an opportunity to speak, and the riches within the saints will spontaneously come forth.
We must develop the habit of allowing everyone to speak freely and to exercise his spirit. This requires much learning. Even though we use the term small group, it is possible that we do not have the proper understanding of a small group. The local churches have not fully turned in this matter.
We can learn the truth through the mutual asking of questions in the small group meetings. This will bring in the pursuit of life. This means that the small group meetings have mutual fellowship, mutual prayer, mutual care, mutual learning of the truth, and the mutual pursuit of life. These are the five items of the small group meetings. The content of the small groups is broad and all-inclusive. If a small group meets fifty-two times in one year, and if the members learn something every time they meet, that meeting will spontaneously produce teachers. Furthermore, there should not be too many saints meeting in the small group meetings. At the most there should be twenty people. This will give everyone a chance to function.
A new believer may ask, “Why is the Lord Jesus the Lord and Jesus and Christ? What is the meaning of these names?” Everyone who is in the meeting should speak a little to answer the question. Perhaps one brother will say, “He is the Lord of heaven and earth. He is the Creator; hence, He is the Lord. No founder of a religion has ever dared to call himself the lord. Confucius and Mohammed never dared to say that they were lord because only Jesus is the Lord.” Then another brother may add, “Before we believed in the Lord Jesus, we did not have a lord. In addition, only believing in the Lord Jesus is called believing in the Lord, because in the entire universe only He is Lord.” Then a sister might add, “I can testify that before I believed, my husband was unable to be my lord even though he was very good to me. I had to bear so many things by myself. Today I am saved, and I have the Lord; no matter what problem I encounter, the Lord can lead me through it.” These words are both testimonies and teachings.
The truth among us is very rich. Another brother may add, “The name Jesus means ‘Jehovah the Savior’ or ‘the salvation of Jehovah.’” Another saint might continue and say, “Jesus is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Joshua. Joshua brought the Israelites into the good land of Canaan, where they obtained all the riches of the land. Hence, Jesus is not merely our Savior; He is also our Joshua, who leads us into the good land of Canaan to enjoy all its riches.” Then another person may say, “Christ means ‘the anointed One.’ In Greek His name is Christ, and in Hebrew it is Messiah. God anointed Him, so today He is our Lord, our Savior, our Joshua, and our anointed One. All of God’s riches are in Him, and because we are members of His Body, His anointing also reaches us.” Such short answers are very rich, and they will nourish the new ones and build them up.
Some of the saints among us may have listened to messages for twenty years or more, but they still cannot explain what it means for Jesus to be the Lord or what the name Jesus means. However, after attending such small group meetings, all the saints, regardless of how long they have been saved, will have a clear understanding of what Jesus means and what Christ means. These answers do not merely teach the truth; they also contain the supply of life. At the end of the small group meeting a more experienced brother can add a few words to explain that the Lord Jesus Christ is God, even the embodiment of the processed Triune God. When we speak in this way, we are prophesying. Then in the Lord’s Day meeting we can use three minutes to speak this prophecy again so that all the brothers and sisters will be edified.
Such a small group meeting is different from the small group meetings we held in the past. Those who bear responsibility in the small group meetings can learn how to lead their group according to its condition. If a group lacks new ones, we suggest that the group preach the gospel by knocking on doors in order to gain new ones and have people to visit. By doing this, we promote the gospel. Or we can visit the saints who are ill or the brothers and sisters who have not been in the meetings for a long time. A group meeting can divide into teams in order to visit people. If someone has missed the meeting for two or three weeks, we can arrange for someone in the group to bear the responsibility of caring for him. In general, every aspect in the practice of the church life must be done in the small groups. The potential of the small groups is limitless. If we practice the small groups in this way, we will have the increase; we will preach the gospel, visit people, and care for people. When the number of those attending our small group increases, we can split the group into two smaller groups.
After six months of meeting in this way, the new ones will learn how to meet in the small groups, and they will also be clear about what they need to do. After the group is split and two new groups are established, we can go out and lead more new people to salvation. After another six months we will again be ready to split the group meeting. Then what began as one group meeting will become three or four groups. This is the spread and the increase of the church. In this way the church will continue to increase.
Preaching the gospel, having home meetings, and having the small group meetings constitute the church life. After six months of meeting in this way in a small group, everyone will know one another, and we can split the group in order to maintain the freshness. Otherwise, an old flavor may creep into the meeting. If the group is split, the members will still have a fresh relationship when they see one another on the Lord’s Day. Related to the Lord’s Day meetings, there should not be too many saints in the meeting. A meeting with forty or fifty people is large enough. Then the meetings will be fresh and living, and everyone will have many opportunities to function. The gospel teams that go out to the rural places to raise up churches must take this way.
The new gospel teams will now be composed of six people. These six people will spread the gospel in one town. The brothers coordinating the gospel work in Taiwan decided that every locality where we are spreading the gospel will be given a van. The brothers are in the process of locating places for the gospel teams to live and are obtaining vans. We hope to establish at least one hundred localities, and we want every locality to have a van. There will also be slogans painted on the van that say, “God loves the world” or “Jesus is Lord.” When we have a large blending meeting, saints from the new localities can come in their gospel vans.
Every team will live in a locality for six months. If five or six local saints can join a team, the team can divide into two teams. However, we should not depend on the local saints. It is best to let them volunteer to coordinate with us. If they do not volunteer, we should continue our labor. In principle, the six people on a team will split into two groups and knock on doors five days a week. We should immediately establish a home meeting in the homes of the new ones. If we will practice this, by the seventh week we will have at least sixty new believers, and we will not need to continue knocking on doors. We must then lead these new ones in the home meetings and the small group meetings. After meeting with the new ones for four weeks in home meetings and small group meetings, they will be firmly established, and at least two-thirds of them will remain and stand for the Lord.
If we baptize too many people, we will be unable to spend sufficient time to labor on them, and therefore there will be no way to keep them. According to our statistics, about one-fourth of the people who are baptized remain and come to the Lord’s Day meetings. In other words, we may baptize forty people, but less than ten come to the Lord’s Day meetings. The rest of the ones who are baptized do not remain, because we do not have enough serving ones to spend sufficient time to labor on them. Therefore, after much consideration we have decided that we must substitute time for manpower. Instead of having a team of twenty people spend twenty-five days to preach the gospel in one place, we will have a team of six people spend six months in one place.
If the six people laboring in a locality lead sixty people to salvation, they must spend the time to labor on the new ones and raise them up. After half a year they should be able to retain forty or fifty people. Then a church will be established, and these forty to fifty people will be remaining fruit. After meeting with the new ones in home meetings and small group meetings for another six months, the new ones will be perfected and can “graduate” to do the same things that the team members do.
This time there will be a total of sixteen teams. After half a year each team will send back four people, and two people will remain in the new locality. This means that sixty-four serving ones will return and thirty-two will remain. Every newly established church should have forty new ones. Hence, there will be a total of six hundred forty new ones in sixteen localities. The thirty-two serving ones who remain in the localities will lead the six hundred forty new ones. This should not be too difficult. At least thirty new ones in the new localities should be able to do the same things that the full-timers do. Hence, the sisters should not be too concerned as to whether they remain in a new locality or return. The six people on a team must be built together and strive together for the spread of the gospel. They must also support one another, and they must know all the new believers. In this way, when some of the team members leave, the ones who remain will not be strangers to the new ones. Everyone will know everyone else.
During the coordination in the teams the sisters frequently speak too much and have strong opinions. Actually, we all have this sickness. However, this makes it difficult for the team leaders, and they are troubled. The team leaders fellowshipped with me about this problem. Initially, everyone on the team is polite, but as the members spend more time together, everyone’s peculiarities are manifested. Therefore, we must exercise to learn the lessons of life. The initial time in the teams is a honeymoon. Consequently, we are able to get along. However, as time goes on we begin to argue and are miserable. In order to avoid the arguing, we must be in life; otherwise, even if everyone signs a contract agreeing not to argue, it will not help.
For this reason we no longer want to have teams with twenty people. Everyone will be reassigned to teams of six people, and each team will have a nice house and a van. It will not be appropriate for the arguing to continue. Furthermore, the brothers must be more polite to the sisters and not lord it over them. The brothers must give the sisters some freedom. It is not a problem for the brothers to oversee, but they should not lord it over anyone. We should try this way to see how it works. If after a period of time things still do not work, we can make further adjustments. We hope that we can resolve our many practical problems and difficulties so that we will have the peace to labor. The brothers have made all the preparations for the teams so that the teams can gain the results.
Furthermore, when we go out to spread the gospel, we should take some ministry books with us. These books are not for us to sell and make money but for us to use as tools. We must use the literature as helpful tools because everyone is literate.
