INVITING THE YOUNG PEOPLE
TO OUR HOMES
On the one hand, the freshmen in college are eager to leave home; on the other hand, as they live in the dormitories at school, they are often lonely and homesick. This provides an excellent opportunity to invite them into our homes. The young people in the church can invite others to the homes of the middle-aged ones and of the young couples. All these homes need to be open and ready to receive the young people. When they come in, serve them something to eat and drink. This will touch their heart. In preaching the gospel we do not need any gimmicks. We should simply pray, preach the word, and open our homes. It is difficult for the young people both to go to the campuses and to prepare their homes to receive others. We need the youngest ones to go to the campuses, the oldest ones to pray, and the middle-aged ones to prepare their homes. Day and night the homes need to be ready.
September is a golden time to catch the freshmen. Every September we should be able to catch a good number. This does not mean that we do not preach the gospel to others. Our daily walk, our meetings, and our communal life are all a type of gospel preaching. Wherever we live, we influence the community. But we must purposely form teams to go to the campuses to reach the young people. If we do this with much prayer, a good number will be brought in. Let September be the time to make contact and October the month to reap. During these months, concentrate your time and labor on reaping a new crop of freshmen. First you reap them, then you build them up. After that, you may use them to gain their classmates or roommates. We need to do the same thing year after year. I believe that each time we do this, more freshmen will be reaped. Do not miss this opportunity. We must pray and seize this golden opportunity. If we gain the freshmen, then through them we shall gain some of their parents. It seems that when young people reach the age of nineteen or twenty, they will not listen to their parents, but their parents will listen to them.
DEALING WITH OPPOSERS
From the time the Lord’s recovery came to this country, there has been opposition against it. The Lord’s recovery, of course, is a testimony. But religion does not feel positively about this testimony. Satan, the Devil, is behind this opposition, for he knows that the recovery will defeat him and bring the Lord Jesus back. Hence, through the years, the opposition has followed us wherever we have gone. According to the book of Acts, it was the same with the apostles. Wherever the apostles went, the opposition was there. Some of the opposers even followed the apostles.
In the midst of this opposition, we must not be passive. We should be not only active, but even aggressive. However, we do not want to fight with others or be angry with anyone. Whenever you meet an opposer, take that as an opportunity to work on him. If that opposer says something negative, do not argue with him. Instead, be patient and pleasant, and take down all the negative points he speaks to you. Then, ask for his name, address, and telephone number and let him know that you would like to study the points and talk with him again.
(The Spirit and the Body, Chapter 11, by Witness Lee)
