A LETTER FROM SUN CHIA CH’IAO,
NORTHERN KIANGSU
Brothers in the Lord! May grace and peace be
with you always:
After the conference in Shanghai was over, I returned home safely! Thank God! Now there are twelve brothers in the meeting in Sun Chia Ch’iao who break bread every Lord’s Day. They are Sun Tze Kang, Chi Ju Chun, Chi Tao Hua, Ou Li Hsun, Hsu Tung Lin, Chen Chin Lan, Ko Hsueh Meng, Chou Hui Yuan, etc. The sisters are Mrs. Nee, Mrs. Sun, Mrs. Yen, Mrs. Wang, etc. They all used to be members of the China Inland Mission. Later, they understood the sin of denominations, so they left. There are between twenty and thirty who desire to hear the truth. Thank God, He has led us to receive a little light. About six miles south of Sun Chia Ch’iao, there is a place called Ch’a Miao Chi. It has a Seventh-day Adventist Church. About six miles to the west, there is another Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ma Yu Chi. About three miles north in Chi Tang, there is another Seventh-day Adventist Church. They bother us very much. We are only responsible to pray and to commit it to the Lord. In Ch’ien Chi there is a Seventh-day Adventist Church that wants to change and establish the Lord’s table, but they are not sure yet. We have put it into the Lord’s hands now. I hope that the brothers will pray and petition for this in the Lord. I thank the Lord for leading me to stand in the position of death now. Furthermore, I sent another letter asking the responsible one at the China Inland Mission to take my name off their records. I am no longer a member of the China Inland Mission. My wife used to persecute me a lot, but now she also has obeyed, thank God. I thank the brothers and sisters who are praying for us.
Your brother in the Lord,
Chi Ju Chuan
LETTERS FROM KO HSUEH MENG
Letter One
Greetings to Brother Nee who constantly is loved
by the Lord:
I received the Lord’s call of salvation ten years ago. I was originally in the China Inland Mission at Lien Shui, and I was baptized in the winter of 1924. At that time, although I was a Christian in name, I really belonged to the flesh. I had not left the life of old Adam, and I went along loosely for nine years, shaming the Lord with my living. Oh, now as I think about it, I really am sorry for offending the Lord!
Fortunately, I received the great love of the Lord, who cannot bear to see His children in constant darkness. In the tenth month of the past Chinese year, He sent His messenger, Brother Jih-chien Chiu, to Lien Shui, Sun Chia Ch’iao to remind us. He held the proof of the Bible for everything he said. Afterwards, I checked it in many ways and found that Romans 6:1-11 tells us clearly that baptism is to enter into the Lord’s death and burial. Now we live through the Holy Spirit and are resurrected together with the Lord. After being enlightened a little in that meeting, I boldly and decisively left the denomination. Every Lord’s Day, I go to the meeting in Sun Chia Ch’iao to break bread and remember the Lord in order to prove that I am a Christian who has died, been buried, and resurrected together with Him. The body and blood which the Lord gave up was for us believers. We should be very different from the worldly people. Since that time, my heart has felt peaceful. Recently, I have been led by the Lord to leave my work at the local elementary school and to go to teach at Chin Chia Pien Elementary School in Kao Tze Tsen at Chen Chiang. Before I left home, I thought that this was a place of traffic and, therefore, must be a place with a meeting in the Lord’s name, so I would not be lonely. Who would have guessed that the Lord’s purpose was outside the realm of human thought? He surprisingly brought me to this land of the shadow of death. Although there are more than one hundred households in Chin Chia Pien, they all live by Buddha. There is not one who believes in the Lord. Although there is a church in Kao Tze Tsen, it is also a denomination. Their activities are all according to their man-made rules, so I do not have any opportunity to remember the Lord. Every Lord’s Day my heart feels heavy toward the Lord. I do not know if the Lord wants His light to shine in this dark place and slowly bring sinners to believe, or if He is purifying my defects and taking away my impurities. I do not understand. I can only pray day and night, asking Him to lead me out of loneliness and desolation according to His will. School is over now, and I do not have anything to do; therefore, I am writing this disorganized letter with the purpose of telling you, Brother Nee, and the brothers and sisters in Shanghai how I was led by the Lord and how I want to completely enter into Him. I hope for the Lord’s sake that you can pray unceasingly for me that I could leave this lonely and desolate condition. Please pray also for my parents and my wife so that the Lord’s Spirit will work in their hearts and that they would escape the evil one at home and would glorify the Lord in everything. I greet Brother Nee and all the brothers and sisters in the Lord with peace!
Your little brother in the Lord,
Ko Hsueh Meng
April 15, 1934
(Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 2) Vol. 25: Collection of Newsletters (1), Chapter 8, by Watchman Nee)
