親愛的弟兄姐妹主內平安:
時間過得真快，轉眼間半年已經過去了，暑假在校園中往往沒有那麼忙碌，但正是預備我們，靠著禱告與追求，重新得力，在未來新的學年中，為主多結果子的時候。
IV. 建立忠心守望的禱告會 (接續上期的禱告信)
「靠著聖靈，隨時多方禱告祈求；並要在此警醒不倦，為眾聖徒祈求，也為我祈求，使我得著口才，能以放膽開口講明福音的奧秘，」（弗6：18-19)
末世的教會是處在屬靈的爭戰中， 我們要穿上神所賜的全副軍裝，才能在磨難的日子抵擋仇敵，成就神所給我們的使命，得以站立得穩。保羅也提醒我們，穿上軍裝後我們也要持守得勝的秘訣，「靠著聖靈，隨時多方禱告祈求」。
「多方」就是：1. 在目的上多方 － 為追求、為建立、為守望等等。2. 在內容上多方－ 有感恩與讚美、敬拜與追求、祈求與代禱等等。3. 在方法上多方－ 透過詩歌禱告、經文禱告、公開禱告、分小組禱告等等。4. 在時間上多方 － 週三、主日、教會禱告會、同工禱告會、團契禱告會、禱告網等等，就是多多禱告。
「警醒不倦」：不要以禱告為重擔，要以禱告為我們的負擔、為我們的喜樂與享受；不要怕禱告、要不斷的禱告、要警醒禱告，要有敏銳的靈，免至我們不知不覺間，失去禱告的熱情。
「為眾聖徒祈求」：求主擴張我們的視野，不僅看見我們所喜歡的人的需要，也看到那些我們平常「不注意」、「不喜歡」的人需要，求主加添我們的愛心，使我們的愛心與禱告，能使更多人蒙恩。
「也為我祈求」：不僅我們傳道人需要禱告，傳道人也需要弟兄姊妹的禱告，連保羅這麼大有恩賜的傳道人，也知道自己事奉的果效，是連繫在眾弟兄姊妹的禱告上。
求主擴展我們禱告的視野，好叫我們的禱告更能摸到主的心意、更能建立我們，並達到神的國度與弟兄姊姊的需要，使神的家與神的國度能有更大的興旺。
哥城華人教會從正式成立開始，就在每週三晚上都有禱告會，雖然早期參加禱告會的人數並不是很多，只有五、六個人，但是這幾年來通常約有十多人，甚至二十人來參加，不僅有家庭的來參加，很多單身的學生也一同來參加。當大家一起禱告的時候，就看見聖靈在教會中工作。以前禱告會開始時的經文分享，都是由作牧師的筆者來帶領，最近幾年來，都是由弟兄姊妹自己準備與分享，目的是為了訓練弟兄姊妹讀經和分享神的話，並預備能有效地帶查經。每一位經常來禱告會的人，都要輪流分享，分享之前，要將他們準備的材料交給牧師修改，修改之後才可以分享，這個修改的過程，大家也覺得非常得幫助。分享神的話大約有半小時的時間（這包括禱告會一開始唱詩歌預備心的時間），接著是回應神話語的禱告，大家根據分享的經文、所得的感受禱告，之後再分享禱告事項，最後分小組禱告。感謝神，讓我們看到若沒有禱告與主的恩典，校園事工會很困難；若同心合意禱告，靠著神，就能夠看到神奇妙的作為。
此外，在每月一次的禱告會之後，就會組成一次全教會的探訪，弟兄姊妹先一起禱告，然後一起出去傳福音，主也將得救的人數加添給我們，弟兄姊妹看到禱告的大能、與主奇妙的恩典，就更願意繼續來參加禱告會。
從哥城華人教會過去的禱告會事工中可以認識到：
- 禱告會是校園事工的原動力，不僅有家庭的弟兄姊妹要來參加，也要更多鼓勵年輕的學生來參加，當學生多為校園事工禱告，他們就會更積極的在校園事工上齊心努力。
- 禱告會前，先要有神話語的靈修分享、與對經文的回應禱告，能使弟兄姊妹的心更靠近神，靈命得以提高，禱告更有力量。
- 禱告會要準時開始，準時結束，這樣學生就可以準時回家繼續作功課。
- 讓弟兄姊妹學習靈修經文分享，這樣可使弟兄姊妹更多參與禱告會的事工，更容易同心禱告，也建立讀經與帶查經的能力。
- 公禱要短，不要太長，可以多次禱告。太長的禱告會佔用大家太多的時間，不僅會讓別人失去禱告的機會，也會使在場聽禱告的人心思不集中，更使初學習禱告的人不敢開口禱告。
- 禱告不要等阿等的，等來等去就是浪費時間，使禱告的”流” (flow) 中斷、禱告會就變的很冷清，讓人覺得禱告是一件苦差事，要一個接一個、不中斷的禱告。
- 要「阿們」其他人的禱告，建立同心合意禱告的靈。
- 禱告會中可分別有公禱的時段，也有分小組禱告的時段。
- 禱告會開始的時段，可以以「靈修與追求」的禱告為主，以後可以以「事工與代禱」的禱告為主。
- 除了週三的禱告會外，還可以有其他的禱告會，如團契禱告會、主日禱告會等，讓更多人來參與守望的事工，使香壇的香味不斷上升至神的寶座。
青少年門徒訓營
感謝主！ 有超過一百多位年青的弟兄姊妹來參加這次六月青少年門徒訓練營。主藉著三位講員帶出美好的教導，讓年青人願意立志: 一生好好的學習以基督為主、跟從主、走主的道路、成全主給他們個人的使命、進入大學時可以帶著學業來事奉主，畢業後工作時，能在社會見證主、在教會與社會中，成為帶職事奉主的人。他們也很用心的準備宣道實習，週四下午與晚上，他們分隊在附近安老院或兒童院傳福音，聽見的人都心受感動，這些地方都期待他們明年能再去！願主在日後更大大的使用他們。
八月讀經營 (7月30至8月5日)
現在報名已經截止，有一百四十多位弟兄姊妹報名參加，這次是研讀分裂王國時期的歷史書，熟稔這些列王與先知後， 就能奠定將來我們研讀大、小先知書的根基。弟兄姊妹都很有興趣的研讀與準備功課，雖然正式聚會還沒有開始，但他們已在自己學習的過程中領受了許多。從六月一日至七月十日， 是他們寫專題報告的時間，所以他們有問題時，也會去請教指導老師，老師也藉著電話與郵件幫助他們解答問題。請為講員汪川生牧師、李玉惠姐妹及中心同工禱告，也請為弟兄姊妹學習的心志與領受禱告。
八月門徒與同工訓練營 (8月6日至12日)
為了要造就弟兄姐妹作主門徒、 並為各地校園團契栽培下一學年的新同工，補充因畢業離開的同工短缺、為了您的校園與您的教會，請多鼓勵弟兄姊妹來參加。也請為這次的訓練營禱告，求主提醒並預備弟兄姊妹來學習。這次講員為呂紹昌牧師、周如歡教士、及中心同工等，請在禱告中紀念他們，求神更多地使用他們。報名表已分寄各教會及查經班，詳細資料請參看中心網頁，並儘速預備心、並邀請更多人來參加。
暑期短宣隊
新學期是傳福音的好時機，中國來的學生，很多在國內已有機會聽見福音，主已在他們的心中作了一些預備的工作，現在等待我們去收割，我們一方面要作愛心的關懷與接待，一方面要與短宣隊同心合意傳福音，雙管齊下，盡快將這些預備好的軟土帶到主前，有不少學生是在來美第一個月就信主的。我們若不把握這美好的時機，等他們在美的時日越久，他們的心就會變的剛硬，更難信主。開學是最好傳福音的機會，也為我們未來的校園事工，打下美好的根基。這次短宣隊仍分兩梯次來美中各校園宣道，日期為 8月18-27日、及 9月8-17日， 請在禱告中記念各短宣隊在他們本教會的籌備事工，也預備美中弟兄姊妹的心，趁著開學傳福音的佳期，為主多得學生歸主。若您們校園需要短宣隊與您們一起同工， 請儘早與我們聯絡，我們會盡力安排，也請為這次的短宣事工禱告！
餐廳擴建工程
感謝主！餐廳工程正順利地展開，現在已開始上面的建造了。在炎炎熱日Pastor Shull 與他的孫子兩個人殷勤的工作，殊不容易，求主紀念並加添他們力量，盼望年底前能到達可以使用的地步。請為工程進行順利禱告，也為所需八萬元的建築費用禱告。
代禱事項：
- 請為八月份讀經營禱告，求主藉這營會，挑旺弟兄姊妹讀經的興趣與能力，並建立日後帶查經與分享神話語的同工。也為講員與同工禱告。
- 請為八月門徒與同工訓練營禱告，求主預備人心來參加，使他們成為下學年度校園中有影響力的新同工。
- 請為各營會的講員禱告，求聖靈大大地使用他們，讓神的話在人心中產生更大的果效。
- 請為暑期短宣隊禱告，求主裝備各短宣隊員，也興旺各地校園同工傳福音的心志，與短宣隊有美好的配搭，結出更豐盛的果子。
- 為餐廳擴建工程禱告，也求主賜下所需的經費。
- 為高牧師在Columbia, MO與美中各校園的服事禱告，使他滿得聖靈的能力，能帶出哥城華人教會與美中各校園的復興。
- 為江士民姊妹週間繁忙的行政工作、並週末在各地服事的事工禱告。
- 為維修同工Daniel Long一家禱告，求主賜給他聰明智慧，能以完成各項維修工作，並為他妻子的身體禱告。
- 為中心的經費禱告，求主彰顯祂的豐盛。
- 面對近年來美中學生人數的增加，及來參加中心各項聚會人數的增加，求神興起更多對學生事工有負擔的弟兄姐妹，與我們一起配搭同工禱告！
願主賜福您！
主內
高榮德敬上
Dear brothers and sisters, peace be with you in Christ!
Time flies by so quickly that half a year already passed in a blink of eye. Usually campus ministry is less busy during the summer time. Thus summer is a good opportunity for us to prepare and be renewed through prayers and spiritual pursuit. This will enable us to bear more fruits for the Lord in the upcoming new semester.
IV. Establishing faithful and vigilant prayer meetings (continued from last newsletter)
Ephesians 6:18-19 “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the LORD’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel”
The end time churches are in spiritual warfare. We need to put on the full armor of God in order to resist enemies, accomplish the mission that God has given us, and stand firm. Apostle Paul reminds us that after putting on the armor, we need to hold fast to another secret to victory: “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”
“On all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests,” means this: 1) Pray with various purposes such as for individuals who would pursue God’s will. 2) Pray with a variety of contents, including thanksgiving and praises, worships and pursuits, supplications and intercession. 3) Prayers vary in methods, such as praying through hymns, scripture verses, congregational prayers, or small group prayers. 4) Praying in all occasions – Wednesdays, Sundays, church prayer meetings, coworkers prayer meetings, fellowship prayer meetings, prayer networks, etc. Pray often!
“Be alert” – do not take prayers as a pressures but as a need and a joy. Do not be afraid to pray. Pray unceasingly. Pray with alertness and discernment that we will not lose the zeal.
“Praying for all the LORD’s people” – may the Lord enlarge our vision so that we not only see the need of those people we like, but also the need of those people to whom we paid little or no attention, and people we dislike. May the Lord increase our love so that more people are blessed through our love and prayers.
“Pray also for me” – We, as ministers need to pray. We also need brothers and sisters to intercede for us. A greatly gifted minister as Apostle Paul clearly understood that the effectiveness of his ministry was linked to brothers’ and sisters’ intercessions for him.
May the Lord expand our vision of prayers so that our prayers can touch the heart of our Lord, establish us spiritually, and meet the need of His Kingdom and the needs of our brothers and sisters. May God’s family and Kingdom have more revival.
Since we officially started, Columbia Chinese Christian Church (CCCC) has had prayer meetings every Wednesday. In the beginning, not many attended prayer meetings, only five or six of us. Over the years, we came to usually have more than ten and sometimes twenty. Some attendees are married couples. We also have many single students joined us. We saw how the Holy Spirit worked in our church as we prayed together. In the past, we started our prayer meetings with Scripture sharing. I, the pastor, was the one who shared and led. But in recent years, in order to train brothers and sisters to study and share God’s Word and be equipped as Bible Study leaders, brothers and sisters are asked to prepare and lead Scripture sharing portion at the prayer meetings. Those who are regular attendees of prayer meetings will take turns to share. They are required to submit a draft of their sharing to the pastor who would review the content, so that they can learn and better encourage others. Scripture sharing takes approximately half an hour. This includes hymn singing at the beginning of the prayer meeting to prepare attendees’ hearts. Then we respond to God’s Word through prayers. We pray in response to our takeaways from the Scripture sharing, followed by praying for prayer requests, and then pray in small groups. Thanks be to God, who let us see how difficult campus ministry will be without prayers and relying on His grace. Only by praying in unity with heart trusting in Him, then we see God’s wonderful works.
In addition, once a month, we organized church-wide visitations after the prayer meeting. Brothers and sisters prayed together before sharing the Gospel. The Lord added numbers to us and brothers and sisters witnessed the power of prayers and God’s amazing grace, thereby they are more willing to continue to attend prayer meetings.
We learned the following takeaways from CCCC’s prayer meeting ministry:
- Prayers are the powerhouse of campus ministry. Not only married brothers and sisters ought to come but also we should encourage young students to join. The more those students pray for the campus ministry, the more they will get involved in the campus ministry with one heart.
- Devotions and sharing of God’s Word as well as responding to Scripture sharing in the prayers can draw brothers and sisters closer to God, enhance their spiritual growth, and enable them to pray with more strength.
- Prayer meetings need to start and end on time so that students can go home and continue their homework and other obligations.
- Let brothers and sisters learn devotional sharing so that they will more actively participate in prayer meeting ministry. Devotional sharing also facilitates unity in prayers and enhances their ability to study the Bible and lead Bible study.
- Avoid long prayers when praying in public. When possible, pray several short prayers instead. Long prayers so much time that others may lose their opportunity to pray, lose their concentration, and the new believers being deterred to pray in public.
- Prayer should continue without pausing or always wait for others to pray first. Waiting wastes valuable time, interrupts the smooth flow of prayers, and makes the prayer meeting cold and dull. This turns praying as an unpleasant task. As such, we need to pray without pausing, and let one prayer continue right after another.
- Say “Amen” to respond to others’ prayers to establish unified spirit.
- Prayer meetings can segregate time for congregational and small groups’ prayers.
- Prayer meetings can begin with “devotional and aspirational” prayers (Phil 3:13). Later they can center on “ministry and intercessory” prayers.
- Besides prayer meeting on Wednesdays, many other occasions can have prayer meeting such as fellowship prayer meeting, Sunday worship prayer meeting, etc. These will let more church members join the ministry of “watchman” (Ezekiel 3:17), and such that fragrance from the altar of incense reaches God’s throne unceasingly (Revelation 8:3).
Youth Disciple Training Camp
Praise the Lord! More than one hundred young brothers and sisters attended the June Youth Disciple Training camp. The Lord delivered wonderful messages through three speakers. The youth resolved to serve Christ as their Lord all of their lives, follow Him, walk His path, and accomplish the individual mission given to each of them by the Lord. Therefore, they will be able to serve the Lord while studying in college. They can witness for the Lord at the workplace after graduation. They would become lay ministers in the church and in society. They carefully prepared for the mission trip during the camp. On Thursday afternoon and evening they split into teams and visited nearby nursing homes and a children’s camp. Those who heard their sharing were deeply touched and wanted them to come back again next year! May the Lord greatly use them in the future!
August Bible Camp (July 30 to August 5)
The registration is closed. More than 140 brothers and sisters applied for this camp. We will study the history of the divided kingdoms. Knowing these kings and prophets will lay a firm foundation for studying Major and Minor Prophets. Brothers and sisters are very interested in studying these books in the Bible and in preparing their assignments. Even though the official Camp has not started yet, they have learned much from their self-study. The period from June 1 to July 10 is designated for writing their topic reports. If they have any questions, they can consult the instructors who will help them answer those questions via phone or email. Please pray for speakers Pastor Chuang-Seng Wang, Sister Grace Lee, and CWC coworkers. Please also pray that brothers and sisters’ hearts will learn and comprehend.
August Disciple and Coworker Training Camp (August 6 to August 12)
In order to equip brothers and sisters to be the Lord’s disciples, to prepare new coworkers on campuses for the next semester, to replenish the vacancy left by previous coworkers, please encourage more brothers and sisters to attend for the benefit of your campus and your church. Please pray for this Training. Pray that the Lord to remind and prepare brothers and sisters to come. The speakers are Pastor Jeffrey Lu, Sister Jenny Wu, and CWC coworkers. Please remember them in your prayers that the Lord will use them greatly. The hard copy application forms have been postal mailed to each church and Bible Study Group. Please check the CWC website for details. Please also promptly prepare your hearts and invite more people to attend.
Short Term Summer Mission Teams
The new semester is the best opportunity for evangelism. Many students have already heard the Gospel in China and the Lord has prepared their hearts for the Gospel. Now they are waiting to be harvested by us. On one hand, we need to care and host them with love. On the other hand, we ought to share the Gospel with the help of the short term mission teams. With collaboration, we hope to bring these prepared as “good soil” to the Lord as soon as possible. Usually there are many students believing in the Lord within the first month of coming to the United States. If we ignore this golden opportunity, their hearts will be hardened and they will not as easily come to believe in the Lord. Therefore, the start of a new semester is a valuable occasion for both evangelism and for laying a solid foundation for our future campus ministry. This year the short term mission teams will still come to share the Gospel in the Midwest campuses during two periods of time: August 18 to 27 and September 8 to 17. Please pray for the preparations of the short term missions teams in their own churches. Please also pray for the brothers and sisters at Midwest so that they will win more souls over for the Lord at the beginning of the semester. If your campus would like to have short term mission teams serving with you, please contact us as soon as possible. We will try to arrange for you. Please remember this short term mission ministry in your prayers!
Dining Rom Expansion
Praise the Lord! The construction of the dining room progressed well and now the building of upper part has begun. It is no easy for Pastor Shull and his grandson to labor and toil during hot summer days. May the Lord remember them and give them strength! We hope that the dining room could be used before the end of this year. Please pray for the smooth progress and for the needed funds of $80,000.
Prayer Requests:
- Please pray for the August Bible Camp. May the Lord raise brothers and sisters’ interests and capability to study the Bible and build up future coworkers to lead the Bible study and share God’s Word.
- Please pray for August Disciple and Coworkers Training camp. May the Lord prepare people to come. May attendees become influential new coworkers for the next semester.
- Please pray for speakers of these different camps. May the Holy Spirit use them mightily and let God’s Word bring forth greater effectiveness in people’s hearts.
- Please pray for summer short term mission teams. May the Lord prepare every short mission team member. May the Lord revive the hearts of local campus coworkers to share the Gospel and serve harmoniously alongside with the short term mission teams in order to bear fruits more abundantly.
- Please pray for the dining room expansion. May the Lord provide necessary funds.
- Please pray for Pastor Ko’s ministry in Columbia, MO and also other Midwest campuses. Pray that he will be filled with the Holy Spirit and be enabled to bring forth revival at Columbia Chinese Christian Church and on other Midwest campuses.
- Please pray for Sister Cindy Chiang’ s busy administrative work during the weekdays and ministries in many places on weekends.
- Please pray for the family of our maintenance coworker Daniel Long. May the Lord give him wisdom to finish various maintenance works, also pray for his wife’s health.
- Please pray for financial needs of CWC. May the Lord manifest His abundance.
- With the increasing numbers of Chinese students coming to the Midwest and increasing numbers of those attending CWC’s various meetings, may the Lord bring more brothers and sisters who share our burden of campus ministry and co-labor with us!
May the Lord bless you!
In the Lord,
Pastor Billy Ko