THE CAMPUS WORK
We are hoping that the Lord can raise up a number of young people who are bilingual to go full-time. These ones would be useful to go and visit all of the campuses. Also, if the Lord wills, we will have summer conferences and training centers. The full-time ones could go to visit the campuses to work on the “farms.” When summer comes, the school terms will be over. Then all these ones who are reaped will probably be able to give two weeks to attend a conference plus a training concerning the Christian life. These would then go back to the campuses as seeds which are sown to grow into another harvest. We also hope that we could have a long period of training of maybe two or three months to train the ones who are willing to bear some responsibility in the Chinese-speaking work and in the Chinese-speaking meetings. Also, all the full-timers need this kind of training.
Because of this situation, we felt that it might be very profitable to have some houses close to the major campuses. We could call a certain house near a campus “the Chinese student center.” We do not need to use the word Christian in referring to the student center because we accept the unbelievers. This kind of Chinese student center would help the new ones coming from Hong Kong and mostly from Taiwan. They are new in the United States and they do not know where to go or what to do practically. With such a center near a campus, we will have some way to help them and to lodge them. Spontaneously, the host of this house would be able to render some help to them in the gospel. This will give the Lord a way to reap many. I feel that this is a golden time for us to go on with the Lord in this matter. Then we could do something for His move today on this earth. This work will also exercise a great effect on the English-speaking community. We all need to pray for this.
THE LORD’S SOVEREIGNTY
The Lord is really sovereign in the world situation. Due to the political change in mainland China, a number of Chinese fled to Taiwan and we were among them. The Lord did a marvelous work on that island. Within ten years the Lord gained about fifty thousand. The reason why we could have over one thousand Chinese-speaking saints in a conference is because of this source of Taiwan. The fact that the number of Chinese immigrants to the United States has been increased from twenty-thousand to forty-thousand is another factor for the Lord’s move. This is all sovereign of the Lord. Many Chinese come yearly to the United States and among these are many of the dear saints. The Lord has sovereignly prepared these ones for coming to the United States. I believe that one by one they all will become a strengthening to the Lord’s recovery in the United States. Again, this is something really sovereign of the Lord.
THE RECOVERY OF THE LOST ONES
Among the Chinese immigrants who are living in the United States, quite a few thousand came from the source of the local churches. Among these, only about two thousand are now in the local churches in the United States and Canada. We are hoping that through this Chinese-speaking work, many of them will be brought back to the Lord’s recovery. Some have already come back within this past year. This is also something for which we need to pray.
(Elders' Training, Book 04: Other Crucial Matters Concerning the Practice of the Lord's Recovery, Chapter 10, by Witness Lee)
