2016-05 (五月禱告信)

親愛的弟兄姐妹們,

在主的愛中向您問安! 願上帝的恩典與能力成為我們向前奔走的力量!

轉眼又到了五月,是滿綴期末考與畢業的日子,接著就是每年一度盛大的畢業典禮;看著這麼多的畢業生、及一班可愛的同工離開我們,您會帶著怎樣的心情去歡送他們呢?這全在乎您的校園事工,是否從神國度的眼光而建立!您會擔心下個學期同工不夠嗎?這也在乎我們有沒有使校園成為宣教培訓基地,為神的國度建立人才 ? 如果是這樣,我們自己的校園就不須擔心會缺同工; 我們若能將畢業典禮變成差派典禮,讓更多畢業生帶著普世宣教的心志進入社會,我們豈能不為他們高興呢?

建立國度性的校園事工 - 宣教培訓基地

我們必須要帶著神的國度觀來作校園事工。建立學生是為了神的國度,而不僅限於本地校園; 否則,學生約三年就換一批,所建立的學生同工大都不會留在當地,必產生失望。因此,要帶著建立宣教士的心志建立學生,這也能幫助我們對他們的期望和要求不僅限於固定的來聚會,更要在他們在靈命與生活方面,能按神的教導生活,作個見證主的人;在事奉方面,當學生還在自己的校園時,就要學習傳福音、帶領小組查經、在團契中作關懷與牧養的工作。可以說,校園就是學生的「耶路撒冷」宣道工場,在校園傳福音,可以從在自己的宿舍帶領人靈修或讀經開始,之後甚至可以到附近的其他校園建立查經小組。學生若在求學期間就有校園宣教士的心志,帶領同學歸主,栽培初信者作主門徒,校園團契與校園事工必然大大興旺。當他們畢業離開時,我們帶著差派宣教士的心情送他們離開、為他們祝福、差派他們去「猶大」、「撒瑪利亞」,直到地極,作全職或帶職宣教士。 想到我們能差派新的神國生力軍,進入神的工場,也有新的同工起來在校園中接下福音的棒子, 作為校園團契或教會的帶領同工們,就能興奮和感恩地面對畢業學生的離開。

有一次我在大陸校園培訓時,一位大陸的傳道人對我說:「你們北美回來的學生,靈命的死亡率非常高!」是的,我們若用所謂的「創意」方法來作校園事工,以活動來吸引人聚會,學生們輕輕鬆鬆渡過本應受栽培與建造的時間,等他們畢業離開校園後,也很容易離開主,特別是回中國的同學。但我們若將校園團契作為建立宣教士的基地,學生在求學時就可以學習傳福音、關懷、帶查經、建立查經小組,當他們畢業回國後,就可以成為帶職事奉的同工。在他們工作的地點,若ㄧ時找不到合適聚會的情況下,他們仍然可以作個人福音工作,開放自己的家來小組查經,慢慢成立為團契或教會。我在中國培訓時,就常到曾經留學北美、畢業回國的弟兄姐妹所建立的教會中作培訓,感謝主使用這些帶職的宣教士!

回首過去,可以很清楚地看到 : 主帶領不少學生從中國出來留學,目的就是為了建立他們作宣教的同工。四十年前台灣的校園團契,就是一個宣教士的訓練基地,學生大學畢業後來美進修,在當時,很多校園都沒有查經班,他們就自行建立查經班,自己帶領查經、傳福音與關懷。不少今日的北美華人教會,就是從這些查經班轉型出來的,那時的大學畢業生,就是帶職的宣教士。求主使校園事工不會成為學生的「遊樂場」,乃是成為「宣教同工訓練基地」。

五月門徒訓練 (五月二十二至二十七日)

五月訓練營是關鍵性的訓練,目的是:1. 建立畢業的弟兄姊妹帶著宣教的心志進入社會,為主作鹽作光。2. 建立學生帶著宣教的心志回中國,或是帶職事奉,或是暑期探親,都能將福音傳開。3. 為了建立下一代的學生成為福音使者,在校園為主作見證。這次的內容以建立宣教為主:1. 建立工人作神話語的出口:提摩太前書、讀經與解經、解經的答疑、解經的步驟、難題回答。建立工人作生命的見證:屬靈生命的塑造、生命的約束(情緒、舌頭、思想、自制)。3. 建立工人事奉的果效:抓住生命的主、不可思議的使命、你還缺少一件、恆切禱告等主再來,門徒道路等。講員為:薛孔偉牧師、張西平牧師及中心同工等。 請為您自己、為講員及聚會代禱,求主幫助您能來參加,也帶領其他人來參加。截止日期為:5月20日。報名表已寄至各教會,詳細資訊及報名表也可上網查詢。

帶職信徒訓練營 (五月廿七日至三十日)

國殤週末的訓練營是專為:建立全職工作的基督徒成為帶職宣教士,使職業成為傳福音的工具,在職場得同事、在校園得學生。所以我們的課程有:

  1. 職場同工的建立: 提多書、從雅各書學真誠的基督徒。
  2. 職場同工的靈命: 跟隨主的腳蹤作門徒、門徒道路,生命的成長。
  3. 職場同工的研討會:
    1. 對教職員: 認識你的時代。
    2. 對上班族:保住鐵飯碗及保住鐵飯碗之後。
    3. 對弟兄姐妹: 發掘及運用你的屬靈恩賜。

中心的宿舍與兒童的節目,都是為帶職服事的弟兄姊妹所設立,請及早報名參加,預備心接受裝備。講員有:薛孔偉牧師,張西平牧師、及李力彌長老。請多為他們禱告,並請預備您的心來參加。報名截止日期也是:5月20日。報名表已寄至各教會,詳細資訊及報名表也可上網查詢。

六月青少年門徒訓練營(六月五至十一日)

一般的青少年營常常是青少年假期的「遊樂場」,但中心主辦的青少年門徒訓練營卻是明日宣教同工的栽培營會、帶領青年基督徒委身跟隨耶穌的訓練營。除了上課學習外,更有討論與宣教操練。聚會將以英語教導。講員包括: Joey Wang 牧師 (來自加州聖荷西)、陳瑞基牧師 (來自堪薩斯市),及 Barry Edwards 牧師 (來自Warsaw, MO)。請為此聚會禱告,並鼓勵您的孩子快快報名,報名表已寄至各教會,詳細資訊及報名表也可上網查詢。

聖地進修團 (六月二十日至七月一日)

這不是一個觀光旅遊團,而是聖經學習團。我們將從以色列人從約但河東岸進迦南開始,再踏足我們主耶穌在地上微行的腳蹤,也幫助我們認識舊約歷史中列王與先知的事蹟,南將起於別是巴、北將遠至但,讓神的話在我們面前解開,使我們愛讀主的話,並愛主更深。在以色列的這一段旅程,是由講中文的黎傳道夫婦帶領與現場講解;他們從香港建道神學院畢業後就前往以色列進修,至今 20 年, 晚上我們還有研經,這對我們研習聖經與聖地一定大有助益。到目前為止,我們已有 37 位弟兄姐妹報名,有些甚至遠從中國或紐西蘭來參加。我們沒有截止日期,只有車子滿額的限制,現在還有空位,如果您想參加,請儘速與中心聯絡。

八月讀經營 (七月廿八至八月三日)

讀經營是為了建立同工們能夠:1. 吸收生命之道 - 懂得如何研讀神的話與享受神的話。2. 成為神話語的出口 - 如耶穌所說:從他們的腹中要流出活水的江河;可以分享神的話、帶查經、教主日學、甚至講道等。讀經營的計劃是:幫助弟兄姊妹妹在六年之內仔細研讀一遍聖經。今年八月是六年循環的第一回,這次我們將研讀摩西五經(創世記至申命記)。讀經營的參加者必須是基督徒,並在過去兩年內至少參加過一次門徒訓練。所以若您想參加八月讀經營,卻還沒參加過門徒訓練, 請把握機會儘快報名先參加今年五月門徒訓練或帶職信徒訓練。

中心的事工非常多,同工卻不足,請為中心同工事奉的能力與智慧禱告,求主加添我們事奉的果效,也求主預備新的同工一起加入我們的事奉,帶領更多年青年學生成為主的門徒,請在禱告上多多記念我們。也求主使您成為中心的義務同工,鼓勵教會的弟兄姐妹來參加各項營會,更請您記念我們在財務(經常費、建築費、訓練經費)上的需要。

在祂的榮耀裡與您一起同工的,
高榮徳牧師

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Greetings to you in the love of the Lord! May the grace and power of God be our strength in moving forward!

May has come around again, a time decorated with final exams and graduation, followed by the grand annual commencement ceremonies. As we see so many graduates and a class of lovely coworkers leave us, with what emotions do you say farewell? It depends on whether your campus ministry is built with the perspective of God’s kingdom! Would you worry about not having enough coworkers next semester? It depends on whether we have made our campus into a training ground for missions that raise up people for God’s kingdom. If so, our campus should not worry about not having enough coworkers. If we can turn graduation ceremonies into sending ceremonies, so more graduates enter society with a heart for global missions, then how can we not rejoice for them?

Building a Kingdom Perspective Campus Ministry—Training Base for Missions

We have to do campus ministry with a Kingdom perspective, building up students for the Kingdom of God, not just for the local campuses. Otherwise, as students turnover approximately every 3 years, and most of the student coworkers we train won’t stay locally, it will certainly lead to disappointment. Training students as one would train missionaries, therefore, will also help us not limit our expectations and requirement of them to only regular attendance. In the area of their spiritual and daily life, we want them to live by God’s teaching and be people who can witness for the Lord. In the area of ministry, while they are still students in their local campuses, they need to learn how to share the gospel, lead small Bible study group, and participate in caring and pastoral ministries in the fellowship. One could say the campus is the “Jerusalem” mission field for students. To share the gospel on campus, one can start from leading a personal devotion or Bible reading in his or her dorm room, and then one can even start small Bible study groups in other nearby campuses. If students can have the heart of a campus missionary while at school, leading classmates to the Lord and building up new believers to become the Lord’s disciples, then campus fellowship and campus ministry will surely have a great revival. When they graduate and leave, we send them off and bless them as we would send off missionaries, sending them to “Judea”, “Samaria”, and to the ends of the earth, to be full-time missionaries or “tent-making” missionaries, as Paul was in Acts chapter 18. When we consider we can send out new troops for the Kingdom of God into God’s fields, and at the same time there are new coworkers rising up on campus to carry the gospel baton and become leaders in campus fellowships or churches, then we can face graduates leaving with excitement and thanksgiving.

One time while I was doing the Campus Training in China, a Chinese pastor said to me, “The spiritual mortality rate for your students returning from North America is very high!” Indeed, if we use so-called “creative ways” as the main draw for our campus ministries—to attract people with entertaining events and activities, so students can squander time that could have been spent on receive training and building up—then it will be very easy for them to stray from the Lord after they leave the campus after graduation, especially those who return to China. But if we turn campus fellowship into a base for training missionaries, then as they’re studying here the students are also learning how to share the gospel, care for others, lead Bible study, start small Bible study groups, and when they return home after graduation, they can become serving coworkers, even as they hold secular jobs. If they initially can’t find the right fellowship in the city where they work, they can still do personal evangelism and open their homes for a small Bible study group, which then may eventually become a fellowship or church. When I was leading training in China, I frequently visited and held training at the churches started by brothers and sisters who had returned after studying abroad in America. Praise the Lord for using these lay-missionaries!

Looking back I clearly see it: the Lord led many students out of China to study abroad for the purpose of establishing them as coworkers in missions. Forty years ago, the Campus Evangelical Fellowship in Taiwan was a training ground for missionaries. After graduating from college, many students came to America for higher education. At the time many campuses did not have Chinese Bible study groups, so they established their own Bible study groups, led Bible studies, shared the gospel, and had caring ministry themselves. Many of the North American Chinese churches today evolved from these Bible study groups. The college graduates of that time were the lay-missionaries. May the Lord help the campus ministry become not an amusement park for students, but rather become a training base for missions coworkers.

May Discipleship Training (May 22nd to 27th)

The Discipleship Training in May is a critical training, with the following purposes: 1. Build up graduating brothers and sisters to enter society with a heart for missions, to be salt and light for the Lord. 2. Build up students to return China with a heart for missions, whether it be to serve where they’re working or visiting family over summer vacation, that they would share the gospel. 3. Build up the next generation of students to become ambassadors for the gospel, to witness for the Lord on campus. Thus this time’s training centers around building up missions emphasizing three clusters of topics.

  1. Build up workers to speak the words of God: First Timothy, reading and interpreting the Bible, challenges and questions in interpreting the Bible, steps to interpreting the Bible, and Q&A.
  2. Build up workers to have living testimonies: Spiritual Formation, Self Mastery (emotions, tongue, thoughts, self-control).
  3. Build up workers for effective ministry: Hold on to the Lord of Life, Incredible Mission, One Thing You Lack, Pray Constantly and Wait for the Lord’s Return, the Way of Discipleship, etc.

Speakers are: Pastor William Hsueh, Pastor Stephen Chang, and CWC coworkers. Please pray for yourself, for the speakers, and for the training. May the Lord help you to to attend and lead others to attend. Registration deadline is May 20th. Registration forms have been mailed to the churches, and details and registration forms can also be found online.

Lay-Minister Discipleship Training (May 27th to 30th)

The purpose of the training over Memorial Day weekend is to build up working Christians to become lay-missionaries, so their career become a tool for sharing the gospel, and they can gain colleagues at work and students on campus. Our curriculum is as follows:

  1. Building up working coworkers: Titus, Learning to be Sincere Christians from the Book of James.
  2. Spiritual life of working coworkers: Being disciples by following the Lord’s footsteps, the Way of Discipleship, Growing in Life.
  3. Discussion panel for working coworkers:
    1. For Professors: Knowing the times you live in.
    2. For working folks: Job security and beyond.
    3. For brothers and sisters: discover and utilize your spiritual gifts.

CWC dormitories and children’s programs have all been designed with our working brothers and sisters in mind. Please register early and prepare your hearts to receive equipping. The speakers are Pastor William Hsueh, Pastor Stephen Chang, and Elder Aleck Lee. Please pray for them often and prepare your hearts to attend. Registration deadline is also May 20th. Registration forms have been mailed to the churches, and details and registration forms can also be found online.

June Youth Discipleship Training (June 5th to 11th)

Church youth camps are often just a playground for vacationing teenagers. The CWC Youth Discipleship Training is a training camp for missions coworkers of the future, a training camp that leads Christian youths to commit in following Jesus. Besides learning from lectures, there is also discussion and practice in missions. The training will be taught in English. Speakers include Pastor Joey Wang (from San Jose, California), Pastor Steve Tan (from Kansas City), and Pastor Barry Edwards (from Warsaw, MO). Please pray for this training and encourage your children to register early. Registration forms have been mailed to the churches, and details and registration forms can also be found online.

Holy Land Study Trip (June 20th to July 1st)

Church tours of the Holy Land are often just sight-seeing. The CWC Holy Land Study Trip is more. We will see start from where Israelites entered Canaan from the east bank of Jordan River, then we will follow the steps of our Lord Jesus while He was on earth. In order to help us learn about the events of kings and prophets in the Old Testament history, we will start from the south in Beersheba to as far north as Dan. May the Word of the Lord be unlocked before us, that we may love to read the Word of the Lord, to love the Lord deeper. In the Israel leg of our trip, Mandarin-speaking Minister Lai and his wife will lead us and be our onsite tour guide. After they graduated from Alliance Bible Seminary of Hong Kong, twenty years ago they went to Israel to further their studies. We will have Bible study in the evenings; this will certainly be greatly beneficial to our study of the Bible and the Holy Land. Currently we have 37 brothers and sisters registered, some coming from as far as China or New Zealand. There is no registration deadline, only a seat limit for the bus. There is still space available, so if you’re interested in joining us, please contact CWC as soon as possible. For detailed information and registration forms.

August Bible Camp (July 28th to August 3rd)

The purpose of Bible Camp is to build up coworkers to do the following.

  1. Absorb the Word of Life – know how to study the Word of God and enjoy the Word of God.
  2. Become a mouthpiece of God – as Jesus said: out of him shall flow rivers of living water; to be able to share the Word of God, lead Bible study, teach Sunday school, and even preach a sermon, etc.

The plan of Bible Camp is: help brothers and sisters to read the entire Bible in detail over six years. This August is the beginning of the six-year cycle, and we will be studying the Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy). Participants of Bible Camp must be Christians, and they must have attended at least one Discipleship Training in the past two years. If you’re interested in attending the August Bible Camp but have not been to Discipleship Training, please seize the opportunity to first attend the Discipleship Training or Lay-Minister Discipleship Training in May. For more detailed information and registration forms.

There is a lot of work to be done at CWC ministries, but we don’t have enough coworkers. Please pray for strength and wisdom for CWC coworkers as we serve. May the Lord add to our ministry effectiveness, and may the Lord prepare new coworkers to join our ministry, and lead more young students to become the Lord’s disciples. Please pray for us often. Also, may the Lord lead you to become volunteer coworkers for CWC, to encourage brothers and sisters at church to attend the various trainings. Please also keep our financial needs (general, building, training costs) in your prayers.

Serving together in His glory,
Pastor Billy Ko