2015-10 (十月禱告信)

親愛的弟兄姐妹主內平安:

九月20 日我們才剛結束九月的短宣事奉,感謝主!有來自加州及德州的三間教會短宣隊參與,我們共分了五隊,在25多個校園中傳福音。

親愛的弟兄姐妹主內平安:

九月20 日我們才剛結束九月的短宣事奉,感謝主!有來自加州及德州的三間教會短宣隊參與,我們共分了五隊,在25多個校園中傳福音。感謝主!大部份校園信主的人數都比往年為多,有一間校園甚至有20多人決志信主!也有不少人是剛到美國的同學就信了主。從八、九月份的短宣中,使我們體會到這兩年的學生,比以前更容易信主。撒迦利亞先知乘馬者的異象(亞 1:7-11),讓我們看到現在就是校園事工的好日子,我們要趁此機會,趕快向學生們傳福音,並建立他們作主的門徒。

以色列人從巴比倫被擄歸回耶路撒冷後,就開始重建聖殿,後來碰到許多的困難就停頓下來。聖殿重建的工作常常受鄰近的外邦人攻擊,甚至上告波斯王。波斯王亞逹薛西下令以色列人停止建殿。在無可奈何的情況之下,工程只好停頓下來。神卻讓撒迦利亞先知看到四匹馬的異象,要以色列人知道:一切的困難都會成為過去,以色列人要再次起來建殿。先知看到有四匹不同顏色的馬在遍地走來走去,這就是本異象最重要的一句話:「我們已在遍地走來走去,見全地都安息平靜」(亞 1:11) 。神要告訴人,神已平定了過去的難處,人們可以安心起來事奉神,過去的困難已不再存在、王的禁令與別人的反對也會成為過去,以色列人要起來再重建聖殿。

校園事工也是這樣,很多人以為年青一代的學生,年紀輕輕與我們有代溝,家境富裕,對福音沒有興趣,又愛玩樂,沒有時間聚會,校園事工真難作。其實不然,過去校園事工的困難,神已拿走,神已經預備好了很多學生的心來聽福音,只要我們肯去作,必看見福音的果效。他們比較容易信主的原因有以下幾點:

  1. 思想改變:過去的學生都相信無神論、進化論、共產主義等,現在的學生只知道這些名詞,卻不了解這些名詞的內容。當他們的心裡沒有無神論、進化論、共產主義,他們的思維其實與台灣和香港來的學生並無太大差別,既然他們沒有帶著什麼「主義」或「論說」 的背景,他們的心靈是柔軟的,正等著福音的到來。
  2. 親人是基督徒:不少學生的父母或祖父祖母是基督徒,這些學生從小就有機會聽到福音,他們離開中國時,家人都鼓勵他們,到美國後要常去敎會。所以他們到美國校園後,一被人邀請,就馬上到教會,也很快就信了主。
  3. 「宣教士」在國內福音工作的果效:神在很多國內校園裡興起不少「非正式的宣教士」,他們以讀書或教英語的名義居留國內,在私下裡傳福音,影響不少學生開始有興趣讀神的話,使他們開始認識神,當他們來美國讀書時,對神的事情已經不是一片空白,傳福音給他們,就比以前的學生容易多了;更有些同學,在國內校園聽見福音,就想信主,但在國內的環境不敢決志信主,出來讀書後,一碰到有人向他們傳福音,就決志信主,這樣的例子也實在不少。
  4. 國內校園團契的見證:在神奇妙的大能中,現在差不多國內所有主要的校園,都有學生團契,不僅學生可以學習神的話語,有一些校園團契的弟兄姊妹,積極的作個人福音工作,甚至在學生宿舍叩門傳福音,他們冒著危險傳主福音,讓不少學生有機會信主。主也使當地的學生事工得著更大的興旺。

當我們看到神在各地校園的工作,凡看見這異象又能跟上去的人,是蒙福的人,求主幫助我們能多為學生事工禱告、多奉獻、多到你附近的校園傳福音、建立門徒。邀請他們參與聚會,帶領他們到基督工人中心接受裝備,回到校園一同興旺福音,好帶出日後教會與神國度的興旺。

中心營地:

感謝主,家庭宿舍擴建工程已完工,在這一年的聚會裡,給了我們許多舒適及寬敞的家庭宿舍。在未來的幾個月,我們準備著手許多維修的工作:例如馬可樓(最早的宿舍及聚會和餐廳)已用了三十年,很多的門、窗都需要更新,很多房頂也需要更換;例如過去數年因聚會人數增加,迦南樓的洗手間就非常不夠使用,所以計劃在未來數月要加蓋幾間洗手間;又如兩年前因一場風暴,迦南樓屋頂受損,我們也要進行翻修;求主為這些工程的進行、工人們的安全、智慧與聰明禱告;除了迦南樓屋頂,保險公司曾有所賠償外,扣除這些,我們仍約需兩萬元的經費,也請為我們所需的款項禱告。

冬季各項聚會:

  1. 冬令會 將於十二月廿三至廿七日再度在密蘇里州堪薩斯城的Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center舉行。網上報名時間為十一月中開始至十二月十八日晚上十一時五十九分嚴格截止。感謝神將要藉著祂的眾僕人傳講美好的信息:其中有李秀全牧師、李林靜芝師母、莊祖鯤牧師、梁燕城博士、陸大齡長老,及美中各地的牧者等。求神藉著這個聚會使基督徒和教會得著復興,並挑旺美中弟兄姊妹愛主的心;也請您開始邀請福音朋友參加,盼望他們能夠歸主。我們也備有英語節目, 幫助使用英語的弟兄姊妹能認識主與追求主。當然我們也按著不同的年紀,預備了兒童節目,帶領兒童從小在主裡長進,也讓兒童的父母能安心學習主道。請您為聚會代禱,並開始預備您的心來參加。
  2. 十二月門徒及同工訓練營 將於十二月廿七日晚至一月二日中午在基督工人中心的營地(Warsaw, MO)舉行。這是裝備信徒成為主門徒的時刻,在忙碌的一學期之後,弟兄姐妹也需要有一些時間在主面前安靜、並在靈裡進深、迎接下學期的事奉,為主更有效的服事。在這學期也有不少弟兄姊妹蒙恩信主,他們都非常適合來參加此門徒訓練營。 請為聚會禱告,並儘早報名參加。
  3. 一月讀經營 將於一月三日晚至一月九日在基督工人中心的營地(Warsaw, MO)舉行。嚴格報名截止日期為2015年11月15日。我們將研讀小先知書。請盡早報名參加,好早日開始自修準備,現已有八十多位弟兄姐妹報名,並已開始有計劃的研讀。 講員為蘇桂村牧師與蘇傅麗秀師母,請為講員及聚會禱告。

謝謝您在禱告及財務上對基督工人中心的支持。願神豐盛地賜福您和您的一家。

在主裡與您一同服事的,

高榮德牧師

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

May the peace of the Lord be with you.

Praise the Lord! We just finished our September short-term mission ministry on September 20th. Short-term mission teams from three churches from California and Texas participated as five teams to share the gospel on over 25 campuses. Praise the Lord! More people than in the past such drives came to the Lord on those campuses. There was one campus where over 20 people came to the Lord! There were also many new students who accepted the Lord after having just arrived in the United States. The short-term missions found in the past two years that students more easily than before accept Jesus as their Savior. The vision of the rider the prophet Zechariah saw (Zechariah 1:7-11) shows us this is the day for campus ministry, so we must seize the opportunity to share the gospel with students and build them up to be the Lord’s disciples.

When the Israelites returned to Jerusalem from captivity in Babylon, they started to rebuild the temple. However, they stopped the work after meeting many difficulties. The rebuilding was frequently attacked by neighboring Gentiles, if only by reporting the work to the king of Persia. King Artaxerxes decreed that the Israelites stop building the temple, and so the work was left unfinished. God gave Zechariah the vision of the four horses so the Israelites would know this: such trouble will pass, and the Israelites would rise up again to rebuild the temple. The prophet saw four horses of different colors go throughout the earth. This is the most important phrase of this vision, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace (Zechariah 1:11).” God wanted to tell Israelites that God has settled the difficulties of the past, so His children could confidently serve God. The king’s forbidding and other opposition would become past tense. Though not without obstacles, the Israelites would rise up to rebuild the temple.

Campus ministry is like that. Many people think the new generation of students are on the other side of a generation gap from us, are from rich families and indifferent to present and future needs, are not interested in the gospel, love to play and be entertained, and have no time for meetings and fellowships. So campus ministry would be extremely difficult. That is not the case. God has diminished such past difficulties of campus ministry. God has prepared many students’ hearts to listen to the gospel. As long as we are willing to do the work, we will see the fruit of the gospel. Following are some reasons why new students are believing in the Lord more easily:

  1. Change in Ideology: Students in the past often arrived already committed to atheism, evolution , communism, and other such world views. Students today can define these terms but don’t particularly understand their content much less pursue it. When they don’t hold atheism, evolution, or communism in their hearts, their thought pattern is not much different from students from Taiwan or Hong Kong. Since they don’t bring with them much ideology or theory, their hearts are soft, waiting for the arrival of the gospel.
  2. Christian relatives: Many students have parents or grandparents who are Christians. These students have had the opportunity to hear the gospel from the time they were young. Before they left China, family members would encourage them to “go to church often” after coming to America. When they come to American campuses, once someone invites them, they immediately go to church, and shortly afterwards they believe in the Lord.
  3. The fruit of missionaries in gospel ministry in China: God has raised up many unofficial missionaries in Chinese campuses in China. They stay there either as students or English teachers, and they share the gospel in private, influencing many students to become interested in reading God’s word, so they begin to know God. When they come to study in America, they are not starting from scratch. Sharing the gospel with them becomes much easier than with students in the past. There are even some students who had wanted to believe when they first heard about the gospel in Chinese campuses, but they were afraid to make the confession due to the environment in China. When they study abroad, they believe as soon as someone shares the gospel with them. There are many cases like this.
  4. The testimony of Chinese campus fellowships: By God’s amazing might, almost all of the major campuses in China have student fellowships. Not only can students learn the word of God, some brothers and sisters in the campus ministry proactively serve in individual gospel ministry, even to the point of knocking on dorm rooms to share the gospel. They risk rejection, “reporting to the king”, and they spend their precious time to share the gospel of the Lord. So many students have the opportunity to come to faith. The Lord also blesses local student ministries to grow more vibrantly.

“Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6) We see God’s work in campuses everywhere. Blessed are all who see God at work. May the Lord help us to pray more for student ministry, to give more, and to do more in sharing the gospel and building disciples in the campuses around us. Invite them to fellowship gatherings. Take them to CWC training to be equipped. They can return to the campus and themselves become coworkers in the gospel, so that the church and the Kingdom of God may thrive.

CWC Camp Site:

Praise the Lord, the family dorm’s expansion was essentially completed. We have more comfortable and spacious family rooms than in the past. In the upcoming months, we will do needed some work to the older resources. For example, Mark Hall (the earliest of dormitories, the meeting place and dining room) has been in use for thirty years, so many doors and windows need to be repaired, and shingles need to be changed. With the increase in participants in the past few years, the restrooms in Canaan Hall could not meet the demand, so we plan to build more restrooms in the next few months. And two years ago there was a great storm that damaged the roof of Canaan Hall, so we need to repair it. May the Lord watch over the construction work and grant safety, wisdom, and prudence to the workers. After the insurance pays in part for the roof of Canaan Hall, we still need $20,000, so please pray for our needed funds.

Winter Meetings:

  1. Winter Conference will be held once again at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri, from 12/23 to 12/27. Online applications will be available from mid-November through 11:59pm on 12/18. This deadline will be reinforced strictly. Praise the Lord, as He will delivery wonderful messages through His servants: Rev. and Mrs. Morley Lee, Rev. Tsu-Kung Chuang, Dr. Thomas Leung, Elder David Lu, plus more pastors from the local Midwest. May God use this meeting to revive Christians and churches, and kindle the love of the Lord in brothers and sisters in the Midwest. Please start now to invite nonbelievers to attend, so that they will come to the Lord. We also have English programs, to help English-speaking brothers and sisters to know and pursue the Lord. Of course, we also have children’s program for various age groups, leading children to grow in the Lord while they are young, and so that their parents can focus on listening to the messages. Please pray for the meeting and start preparing your hearts to attend.
  2. December Discipleship and Coworker Training will be held at the CWC campsite in Warsaw, MO from December 27 to noon on January 2. This is a time to equip believers to be disciples of the Lord. After a busy semester, brothers and sisters also need to have some time to be quiet before the Lord, to have deeper spiritual growth, in anticipation of the ministry of the new semester and to be able to serve more effectively for the Lord. There have been many brothers and sisters who came to the Lord in this semester, and they are great candidates for attending discipleship training. Please pray for this meeting and apply early.
  3. January Bible Camp will be held at the CWC campsite in Warsaw, MO from January 3 evening through January 9. There is a strict deadline of 11/15/2015. We will study the Minor Prophets. Please apply for this early, so you may begin your self-studies. There are currently over 80 brothers and sisters registered have begun structured Bible studies in preparation for this meeting. The speakers will be Pastor and Mrs. David Su. Please pray for the speakers and the meeting.

Thank you for supporting CWC through prayers and financially. May God bless you and your family abundantly.

Serving together with you in the Lord,

Billy Ko (Pastor)