NEWS FROM CHU CHIA CHENG TZE, CH’ANG-CH’UN,
AND KIRIN, MANCHURIA
Peace in the Lord to Mr. Nee:
Three months have passed quickly since I left you in Shanghai. Thank and praise our Father God for leading us through many trials. I returned to Ch’ang-ch’un with Brother Chang Shun Tien, but I left him after a month. I returned to Chu Chia Cheng Tze, in Pai Li Siang Tsen, northeast of Ch’ang-ch’un. (It is eight miles from the Central Eastern Railroad Halaha Small Station. Communication is very convenient.) I have had a hospital in Chu Chia Cheng Tze for ten years. Because of political instability, I was forced to move to Ch’ang-ch’un for two years. There is a Friendship Church of Ch’ang-ch’un (Presbyterian), and there are two brothers who are very good. They are clear that they must obey the Lord. Soon we will have the table meeting. Later, we will ask Brother Chiang and Sister Chang to come, or perhaps some other brothers from Ch’ang-ch’un will be able to come visit. I can also go to Ch’ang-ch’un once a month. Furthermore, there are many brothers in the three localities of Feng T’ien, Ch’ang-ch’un, and Kirin who are praying earnestly and asking the Lord to send you to Manchuria soon. They desperately hope you can come this summer. We can only ask the Lord for His time, that you could come north soon. May you be full of the power of the Holy Spirit in the Lord to be a victorious testimony for the Lord. Amen.
Your little brother in the Lord,
An Ching T’ien
May 22, 1934
RECENT NEWS FROM LING TZU,
SHANTUNG PROVINCE
Greetings to Mr. Nee and the brothers and sisters
in the fellowship:
We thank God; He does things marvelously! Now we will tell of His doings so all the brothers and sisters will give praise and thanks.
More than a month before Miss Miao Yun Chun came to Ling Tzu, we prayed to the Lord for a sister to come here to work. Thank God, He answered our petition. On April 7, Miss Miao came from Nan Su Chou to Ling Tzu. Truly, we want to say in one accord, "I love Jehovah because He hears/My voice, my supplications,/Because He inclines His ear to me; /Therefore I will call upon Him all my days" (Psa. 116:1-2).
Miss Miao had originally decided to leave Nan Su Chou on the sixth and arrive in Ling Tzu on the seventh. But she had no peace in her spirit, so she left on the fifth and went to Tsinan on the sixth to stay for a night. To her surprise, the train from Nan Su Chou to Tsinan was cancelled on the sixth! Because she had left early, we did not miss her when we met her at the Hsing Tien Railway Station on the Tsingtao-tsinan Line. This is very marvelous! We must sing, "He does not make mistakes, because He is God! He does not make mistakes; He gladly gives grace!"
On the ninth and tenth, Miss Miao rested. On the eleventh, she went to Ts’ui Chia Chuang to meet with all the sisters. There was also an adulterous woman there who did not eat or drink and had no joy. Her hair was unkempt, and her face looked like a demon. She was a sinner about to hang herself! But after talking to Miss Miao alone and praying with her, she became clear in her heart and wanted the Lord: "So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad." This sister has also been baptized and comes to the table meeting. Oh, this matter truly is His work manifested in her! We all thank Him in one accord! Praise Him!
On the twelfth, Sister Miao went to Nan Kuan. On the thirteenth, she went to the Wu’s house and the Yuan’s house in Hsi Kuan and to the Yuan’s house and the Han’s house in Hsi Men.
Beginning on the fourteenth, there were eight days of gospel meetings on Kuai Huo Lin Street. The first two days, there was a little pressure from the power of darkness, but then each day was better than the previous one. Thank the Lord that we were never hindered by bad weather. This lasted until the meetings were over. Furthermore, the sisters from far away did not give up because of the sufferings of traveling back and forth every day. The sisters who live near found time in their busy schedules to come hear the gospel twice a day.
The fifteenth was the Lord’s Day, and the local brothers took charge of the meeting. On the twenty-second, we preached as usual, but the building was too small. We could not accommodate those who came to hear the gospel so we had to set up a tent in the garden. Now we have set up mattresses temporarily, because the weather is hot. With regard to building in the near future, if the Lord allows, we will build three buildings during the fall. Please pray for this.
On the twenty-third, a brother named Wang Shu came from thirty miles away to ask to be baptized. On this day, three brothers were baptized. Truly, "Can anyone forbid the water so that these would not be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit even as we?" Thank the Father God and the Lord Jesus Christ; after this was finished, it rained! In the afternoon, we broke bread and dispersed joyfully.
Beginning on the twenty-seventh, there were eight days of Bible study meetings in the house of Mr. Yuan Ling Shu at Nan Men, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Although Satan did his best to attack the Lord’s messenger by making her body weak and her throat sore, she overcame by relying on the Lord! "Blessed be the name of the Lord!"
On May 5, there was another baptism. Twelve sisters and seven brothers were baptized together. There were also a Brother Chao and a Sister Yuan who wanted to be baptized but could not do so because their parents forbade them! There is a river three miles east of the city called the Tzu River. We found a place for baptism where the water was deep and clear. It was near the boundary between the two towns of Chao Wang Chuang and Tai Fu Kuan. We set up four tents on the sandy beach at the side of the river for the brothers and sisters to change. There were three groups of both male and female observers on the west side of the river, with about thirty people in each group. We stirred up quite a bit of commotion among the inhabitants of the villages! There was even an unbelieving couple in Chao Wang Chuang who were willing to carry a yoke with food and water to welcome us! We did not accept their invitation because we did not have enough time. One brother and one sister from Wang Chuang Sze, about twenty miles east of the city, were also baptized. They came and returned on the same day. We really thank God for His provision and for all the brothers’ and sisters’ obedience.
On the eighth and ninth, the brothers and sisters talked with Miss Miao individually. There were so many that Miss Miao did not have any time to rest and became too tired. May God remember her labor and record it in her account!
On the tenth, Miss Miao took the train safely to Tsinan with a few sisters. Recently, one sister (from Wu Tai, twenty miles west of the city) and three brothers (one from Hsi Kuan, two from Nieh Hsien Chuang, ten miles south of the city) have left the denominations. There are about thirty people from nearby who break bread with us.
Our labor this time witnessed the enemy’s intensive attack, and there were many loopholes. But God was gracious. He caused the unbelievers to come into His name, the believers to obey His commands, the stumbled ones to rise, the broken-hearted to be comforted, and the daughters and mothers-in-law who were distant to be brought into peace. We must thank God again. He said to Moses, "I will have mercy upon whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." Has not this word come true among us? We also thank all the brothers and sisters for their prayers that accomplished God’s will. "To Him be the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen" (Rev. 1:6). Peace in the Lord.
Your brothers in the Lord,
Chu Lo Yuan, Yu Tao Shen, Yuan Chin Chou,
Yuan Hsi Ling, Yuan Hsi Chen, Yuan Hsi T’ing
We also greet all the brothers and sisters with peace in the Lord.
(Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 2) Vol. 25: Collection of Newsletters (1), Chapter 8, by Watchman Nee)
