Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Peace to you in the Lord!
Campus ministry is a blessed work. We are not the ones who could accomplish anything. It is by the grace of the Lord sustaining us and leading us by the hand that our ministry in the past year was full of God’s abundant grace. Your prayer and support have also encouraged the coworkers at CWC. Thank you!
The Heavenly Vision for Campus Ministry:
Campuses across the United States have been seen an increase in Chinese students in the past few years, doubling, tripling, or over ten times the numbers in the past. God has brought such a multitude of students here, and He intends for them to become the citizens and elite soldiers of God’s Kingdom. Have the churches in the United States caught this vision? Are they prepared to fulfill this will of God? In reality many churches didn’t know there has been an enormous increase in Chinese students; some churches see the white of the student harvest fields, but they are not too willing to do anything for these students with rapid turnover because they’re concerned their efforts in campus ministries will come to nothing when the students graduate. Some churches feel they need to build up the families within the church first, then work on student ministry, but they do not realize family ministry within the church is never-ending, so student ministry is delayed year after year, without an end in sight or a start date. What a pity it is to let such an incredible opportunity to share the gospel with students pass by year after year. Chinese students don’t have the opportunity to hear the gospel in China, so God brought some of them to the free world. If they don’t hear the gospel in the free world, how disappointing it must be to God’s heart? Will these students have other opportunities to turn to God?
If today’s young students are lost in the world of darkness, how will it be for China and Chinese churches tomorrow? In recent years there is a rapid rise in the number of colleges and students across China, but moral character of the students is alarmingly dropping, and campus ministry in China is far from catching up to the need. What’s more, with the government not being open to religion, the chance of young students being changed and won by the Lord is getting slimmer. The God of wisdom has an amazing solution in sending tens of thousands of young Chinese college students, following the trend of studying abroad, to be educated in the free world, and their footsteps cover all major continents, countries, cities, and universities. A portion of them came to the Midwest in the United States, studying in campus towns with population in the ten thousands. They left China to study abroad with the goal of making a good living in the future, but God in heaven has a higher will and plan, wanting to see this group of students will come to know in this land of freedom the Lord who loves them, to gain eternal life, to commit to be the Lord’s disciple, to be trained as a soldier for the Kingdom of God, to stand firm and be beautiful witnesses for the Lord before Christ returns, and be sent back to China to witness for the Lord. Many Chinese and American churches see the opportunity for student ministry and work on this sacrificially; unfortunately, oftentimes their goal is only for the students to “enjoy the love of Christ” though caring ministries, hoping one day they’ll come to the Lord, but while numerous students have been cared for, there are not many who became believers.
(為神在中心校園事工的作為感恩與讚美-攝於新宿舍)
When faced with this great number of young students, there are many who caught this vision from heaven and see the need of this mission field, and they willingly try with all their might to bring these students before the Lord, but they have encountered many push backs and discouragements, having labored to serve these students, yet without a method. They often think of themselves as being too old, of there being a generation gap, of not having the same language or lifestyle or interests, of how difficult it is to understand what these students need, of how impossible it is to get along with them, and of the great challenge in sharing the gospel with them. The most important key to campus ministry is, however, is to teach the students to have a heart that loves the Lord, a willingness to be the Lord’s disciple, to live according to the Lord’s teachings, to live out a good testimony, to have joy in sharing the gospel, to invite others to fellowship. When students can lead other students, campus ministry will enjoy revival for sure. Discipleship training is the most important link in campus ministry. A student who believes must immediate receiving training. There must be discipleship training during the semester, and they must be encouraged to attend discipleship training during school breaks. Train students to become disciples as soon as you can, so you can continually have new troops on campus, where people are in continual flux, so you can continually win victorious battles on campus, for the sake of the vision from heaven.
Campus ministry is the most wonderful ministry. Over the decades CWC has worked in discipleship training ministry in the Midwest, students have been built up one group after another, and they have left Midwest campuses one group after another, dispersing after graduation, serving the Lord full-time or as lay-ministers. What a meaningful ministry! New students come all the time. With this new generation of students, even though they are younger, there is nothing to fear. The only thing we should fear is not having trained them well. They can grow before the Lord on their own very quickly, they can have great influence among local students, and they are more open to the gospel than those in the past, so we must quickly lead them before the Lord, and campus ministry will be sweeter as we serve.
Thanksgiving for Ministries This Year
Praise the Lord! In the past year, student population everywhere was growing, but the number of CWC coworkers decreased. Although we didn’t have enough people, God’s grace was sufficient for us. Every camp had many attendees, and brothers and sisters had gotten much out of them; the Lord not only helped us take care of all the physical details of the ministry, He also helped us fully meet the spiritual needs of the brothers and sisters. Praise the Lord! Not only brothers and sisters have been built up to serve the Lord in campus ministries everywhere, many brothers and sisters now serve the Lord as lay-ministers after graduation, some even have gone back to their home country to work and serve the Lord at the same time. May the Lord remember them. Some brothers and sisters have also dedicated themselves to the Lord full-time, preparing to serve the Lord all their lives.
(短宣隊在Univ. of MO – Columbia 傳福音)
I have frequently seen the Lord’s amazing work in the past year. Before each camp the Lord had given me opportunity to share the gospel with students at different campuses and lead them in prayer to accept Christ, so I could immediately invite them to the Discipleship Training camp, and they also filled out the application form right on the spot, learning diligently during the training and bearing good witness after the training, seeking after and serving the Lord. Yesterday (11/8), after Sunday service at a campus, brothers and sisters drove me to lunch, and there was a nonbeliever sitting next to me. I shared the gospel with him on the way and led him in prayer to accept the Lord, and during lunch he decided to attend the three camps being held by CWC during winter break. This is the result of brothers and sisters having been won by the Lord when they attended camps, then having gone back to campuses to live out and serve with good testimonies, sharing the gospel diligently.
In the past two years, more and more brothers and sisters have attended CWC training camps from “non-Midwest” regions. Many people drive for over ten hours from the east coast to attend. As of 11/24, over 150 adults have registered for the December Discipleship Training Camp, and approximately half of them are from the east and west coasts. This is because brothers and sisters who have received training and equipping at CWC in the past have bore good testimony wherever they worked after graduation, and they’ve encouraged brothers and sisters on the east and west coasts to come and learn. Praise the Lord! Through the ministry of the training camps, He not only changes people’s lives, He enabled brothers and sisters to influence others, who are now willing to pay the price of traveling from afar to attend Discipleship and Coworker Training. Praise the Lord for using the ministry at CWC to influence ministries far away. May God use CWC in greater ways in the upcoming year.
God continues to work at CWC and has blessed the ministries of CWC. Please especially pray for us and ask God to send more campus coworkers to join us in our work in this great harvest field in the Midwest.
CWC Building Project
Praise the Lord! Last year the completion of new family dormitory added over 100 beds, so even though the number of attendees was greater than in the past, lodging arrangement was not so tight. At the same time, however, we noticed Canaan Hall (meeting and dining halls) does not have enough restrooms for people to use after class, so we planned to add women restrooms in this second half of the year, with the goal of doubling the number of bathroom stalls. Since we only have one building coworker working on this, the progress is slower, but we hope to accomplish this before Gospel Camp in March.
Next year we hope to add a multipurpose hall outside of the current dining room. This room can be used as an extension of the dining room when there are more people, and sometimes it can be divided into one to three classrooms for workshops, according to the need. Please pray for this and ask for the Lord’s guidance.
(短宣隊在油漆新宿舍)
Midwest Winter Conference
This is the best opportunity for revival and sharing the gospel at the end of the year in the Midwest. God has sent many of His faithful servants to share with us words from the Lord. On one hand, this will build up brothers and sisters’ spiritual life, to prepare everyone to more fervently seek the Lord and serve him more faithfully in the new year. On the other hand, brothers and sisters can invite nonbelievers to hear the good news of the Lord. When brothers and sisters from everywhere, short-term mission teams, and speakers all work in unity to share the gospel, the Lord will surely do great and amazing work at this conference and help the nonbelievers you’ve brought turn to Him. Winter Conference will be held from December 23rd through 27th at Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Application forms have been posted to the CWC website and sent to churches and fellowships. Online application is now open, so please apply early. Strict deadline is observed as Friday, December 18th at 11:59pm, after which the online application will be closed. Please have brothers and sisters begin working on invitation, so everyone can together prepare our hearts to attend and receive the Lord’s blessings. Please also pray for the Winter Conference speakers: Rev. and Mrs. Morley Lee, Rev. Tsu-Kung Chuang, Dr. Thomas Leung, Elder David Lu, Rev. Benjamin Tam as well as pastors from the Midwest, such as Rev. George Hsu, Rev. Puong Lau, Rev. Wen-Yau Hsieh and Brother Henry Lee. May the Lord revive us through His servants. English speakers are Evangelist Mike Fisher, Pastors Mark Manning, Dan Matsuoka, and Steve Tan, etc. May God use their ministries to build up and strengthen the youths to witness for the Lord at this end times. Pray for Brother Dan Davis, his wife, and other American coworkers who are leading the children’s ministry. Through their ministry, may God not only lead and build up the children, but also the parents can attend meetings without disturbance and can focus on learning the Word of God.
(請為12月冬令會、門徒訓練與讀經營禱告)
Discipleship Training
After Winter Conference there is Discipleship and Coworker Training, which is held from evening of December 27th to noon on January 2nd, at CWC campsite in Warsaw, MO. This is a great opportunity for building believers to become disciples and coworkers for the Lord, and it is key to reviving campus ministries. More than 150 people have applied. Although our new dormitory is completed and can house more people, we still ask brothers and sisters to apply early. Strict application deadline is also Friday, December 18th. Please pray for speakers Rev. Morley Lee and Rev. Tsu-Kung Chuang. Application form and details have been posted online.
January Bible Camp
After Discipleship Training there is Bible Camp, from dinner on January 3rd to lunch on the 9th, also held at CWC campsite. We will study Minor Prophets. Bible Camp will not only help brothers and sisters know the twelve books of Minor Prophets, it also intends to help brothers and sisters develop the habit of daily Bible Study. Praise the Lord! By application deadline of November 15th, over 110 brothers and sisters have applied and began their assigned topical reports. If you missed the opportunity to apply this time, please attend the Discipleship Training this winter (because brothers and sisters must attend CWC Discipleship Training or Lay-Minister Training within two years of attending Bible Camp). Please pray for the speakers, Rev. and Mrs. David Su, and for the brothers and sisters preparing their homework and attending the meeting.
(帶職信徒訓練)
Prayer Requests for CWC:
- Pray for the pastoral ministry of CWC coworkers at the campuses, their strength and fruitfulness in their weekly ministry out of town, and travel mercy on the road.
- Pray the Lord would add one or two new coworkers to CWC in the coming year.
- Pray for the preparation works and the Winter Conference. Pray the Lord would lead nonbelievers to Christ, revive brothers and sisters, strengthen short-term mission team coworkers, and give wisdom and anointment to the speakers.
- Pray for Discipleship and Coworker Training and Bible Camp. May God build up student coworkers who can influence their campuses.
- Pray for the financial needs of CWC building projects for the Canaan Hall restroom and multipurpose rooms.
- CWC is a faith-based organization, and all meetings are funded by free-will offering. Please remember the monthly financial needs of CWC in your prayers.
Thank you for faithfully being our supportive prayer warriors. We hope to see you at our various winter meetings! Let’s fight for the Lord on the gospel battle field at Winter Conference.
May God bless you!
In Him,
Billy Ko (Pastor) December, 2015