In 1948 and 1949, when we were forced to leave mainland China and go to the island of Taiwan, we were very disappointed. After much prayer, however, we picked up the burden to fill the city of Taipei with the preaching of the gospel. The first thing we did was to form gospel teams. A number of the saints formed teams to parade through the streets to preach the gospel. We marched not only on Sunday but even in the evenings during the week. We marched through the main streets and small alleys to preach the gospel to everyone. We did not march in a silent way. We shouted, declared, and even wore robes with gospel slogans. There were many slogans, such as, “Jesus is the Savior,” “Jesus loves you,” “Jesus saves,” and “God so loved the world.”
Secondly, we printed gospel tracts and divided the city into sections. The brothers endeavored to take care of every section by filling the mail boxes with tracts and by putting the tracts on every door. Our desire was for every house to receive a tract. Within a few days, most of the people in Taipei received the good news.
Finally, we printed long posters with gospel slogans in big letters. We placed these posters at street corners, bus stations, and main streets. Wherever anyone went, the posters were there speaking to them. Because of our prayer and preaching, we had a thirtyfold increase in 1949. From 1949 to 1955, we grew from less than five hundred saints to about twenty thousand.
We did not use any gimmicks, yet on the island of Taiwan, no other Christian work was as prevailing as ours. Our preaching created a gospel atmosphere in Taipei. Brothers who are now elders and co-workers among us were saved during that time. The people talked about us wherever we went. Every Sunday afternoon the central park of Taipei was filled with people attending a concert. The concert in the park could seat three thousand people, so we preached the gospel there every Sunday afternoon and usually contacted over four or five hundred people.
We need the preaching and the speaking of the word, but first we have to pray. As Christians we are priests and kings (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6). When we pray, we are functioning as priests. When we preach, we are functioning as kings. As priests we should bring people to the Lord in our prayer. We have to bring all the people on the campuses to the Lord, and if possible, pray for them by name. While it may not be possible to name every name, we can still pray, “Lord, we do not know all the names of the people on campus, but You know them. We offer them all to You according to Your knowledge.”
Prayer is also necessary to deal with the principalities and powers in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12). Our fighting is against the evil spiritual forces in the heavenlies. Men do not reject the gospel because of its content. There is nothing offensive about the content of the gospel. The content of the gospel is good, bright, glorious, sweet, and rich. People reject the gospel because they are in the captivity of the strong man, the devil (Matt. 12:29). Before the young people go to the campuses, they must pray and bind the strong man (Matt. 12:29); otherwise, the demons will control and even frustrate their efforts to preach the gospel. The prayers of the saints will cause all the demons to tremble. We have to be one with the Lord to fight the spiritual warfare against His enemy.
Our spiritual warfare against the principalities and powers is mainly conducted through our fighting prayer. We are not wrestling with flesh and blood. We are wrestling with the principalities and powers in the heavenlies. The fallen angels and demons are working constantly to frustrate the gospel, even on the college campuses. We must beseech the Lord to bind the strong man, Satan. In Matthew 12:29 the Lord Jesus clearly said that if the strong man were not bound, no one could plunder his house. If the saints offer adequate prayers to the Lord to bind Satan, eventually every campus will be plundered. We must pray, “Lord, we bind the fallen angels and all the demons.”
We must learn to pray continually. George Müller is a good example of someone who prayed continually. According to his autobiography, everyone for whom he prayed eventually was saved. At the time of his death, only one or two were not saved. Later, however, even they were saved. There is the need for persistence in prayer. If we pray for a short time and do not see immediate results, we may be disappointed. Instead, we should pray continually and not give up. We do not know when the people in our prayers will be saved. George Müller even prayed for one person over a period of about forty years. We also should persistently pray for our contacts and even pray for them together with other saints. The ones that we mention before the throne of the Lord, asking in His name, will be saved (John 14:13-14).
(Preaching the Gospel on the College Campuses, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee)