親愛的弟兄姐妹，
在主裡向您問安!
中國教育部四月份公佈，中國以留學身份出國在外的留學人數超過127萬人。他們其中有很大一部分是在美國學習。而學習的學科專業類別也都比從前更多樣化。中國政府為了鼓勵海外留學生學成之後回國創業和發展特別設立了多個獎勵政策。同時根據中國人力資源部發佈的資料顯示，2010年度，中國各類留學生學成回國人數約有13萬5千人。雖然這僅僅佔總出國人口的百分之十，但與去年相比則增長了24.7個百分點。這實在是一個大幅度的增長。
兩波風潮因此很明顯: 一波是大批的中國留學生將赴國外學習;而另有一波雖小卻是逐年增長的畢業後回國發展的海歸潮湧起。對這些學生而言，出國求學意味著一個更多的學習機會以及將來能賺更多錢的機會。但對我們這些海外的中國基督徒而言，神開啟了一扇門，就是帶領更多的中國學生來到這裡聽到福音並接受門徒訓練。比起從前也將有更多的人能夠回到本國帶領更多的人進入神的國度。我們可以自信地宣稱，我們在這裡所做的學生事工將可以幫助中國建立一個敬虔的未來。我們越早裝備學生成為成熟的基督門徒，中國及世界的屬靈前景就更光明。請為在美國及全世界各地的學生事工代禱。
未來聚會
- 五月門徒訓練 [五月廿二至廿七日]
現在距離五月門徒訓練只有不到一個月的時間了。這個聚會是裝備門徒及預備下學期新同工的最好時機。若您希望有更成熟的同工在教會或查經班參與服事,請鼓勵您教會的弟兄姐妹—包括您自己—一定來參加訓練。若他們已訂好機票回鄉過暑假無法來參加五月的訓練,您可建議他們早些返美得以在學校開學前趕上參加八月的讀經營及門徒訓練。感謝神為我們預備了兩位好講員:黃沃樞長老和蘇文峰牧師前來教導我們。中心的場地有限, 如同稍後提到的我們曾經很不得已的婉拒了一些弟兄姐妹,因此請您提早報名。報名截止日期為五月十九日。恕不接受過期報名。請在禱告中記念這個聚會。 - 帶職信徒訓練 [五月廿七至卅日]
帶職信徒訓練是為全職工作、且願意在靈命上追求成長，並在教會或查經班中更有效的服事主的基督徒所舉辦的訓練營。中心的同工不多,而學生事工的需求卻是廣大,我們實在盼望有越來越多的帶職者—這些通常在年齡上、及靈命上都較成熟的弟兄姐妹—投入神的工場。工作人士通常都擁有自己的房子和其他資源能夠幫助並帶領小組聚會。同時帶職的基督徒比全職牧者更能夠有機會接觸、關懷並帶領學生歸主。除了上面所提的兩位講員外, 還有第三位講員劉銘輝牧師。劉牧師在大學教書時,同時參與州政府的項目,又在教會忠心的服事主,經過幾年之後進入神學院進修。目前在新澤西州的普林斯頓中國教會牧會。帶職信徒訓練將在國殤週末舉行。我們將備有家庭套房及兒童節目。學生們必須先報名參加五月的門徒與同工訓練營後才能繼續參加此訓練。兩個聚會的報名表已寄給各教會及查經班。您若沒有收到, 請上中心網站查詢並下載報名表。 - 青少年門徒訓練營 （六月五至十一日）
這不是以娛樂或活動為主的營會。是為裝備青少年及大學生成為更堅定的基督門徒而舉辦的。參加者必須是重生得救的基督徒。營會主要的目標是裝備年輕人成為基督的見證人並且在未來繼續成長成為教會的同工。講員包括: Eugene Chu牧師、Berry Edwards牧師、 Jason McCray牧師、Steve Tan牧師、及Elwood Chipchase博士。 報名資訊已寄出。報名嚴格截止日期為五月卅一日，請勿耽延。您亦可上中心網站查詢相關資訊並下載報名表。 - 八月讀經營 [七月卅一至八月六日]
感謝神將一顆要認識神話語的饑渴之心放進弟兄姐妹心中! 很多人已報名參加讀經營並且已開始按照進度表準備作業。這次我們將研讀分裂王國時期的列王與先知。這些書卷不算太難, 並且準備時間比一月讀經營長了許多,您仍有機會趕上功課的進度。若您還沒有報名,請勿耽延。報名嚴格截止日期為六月十五日。李玉惠姐妹及新澤西州來的諶志豪牧師將是我們的講員。報名表已寄給各教會及查經班。我們並已將一些學習材料張貼上網。
建築工程:
因著大量的留學生來到美國學習，感謝神，也有更多的人來參加基督工人中心的各項聚會。在過去參加聚會人數還不太多的時候我們都是使用馬可樓作為聚會場地以節約能源，這樣場地較大的迦南樓也可作為活動及其他用途。尤其是在冬季聚會時，要往來迦南樓和宿舍之間陡斜的上下坡十分不容易，因此我們冬天時也從來不在迦南樓聚會及用餐。但去年十二月門徒訓練的報名人數超過了馬可樓的負荷，就因為我們實在沒有足夠的空間，使得我們不得不作出一個困難又痛苦的決定：在報名截止日期前拒絕了一些想要來參加聚會的弟兄姐妹。即便如此，馬可樓也是過於擁擠，於是我們在第二天將聚會及餐廳移到迦南樓。感謝神的保守，直到門徒訓練和讀經營結束後才下了雪。
為了解決這個問題，我們計劃在迦南樓和宿舍之間搭一條較好的通道。這條通道將有遮雨蓬便於大家在下雨或冰雪天裡安全的往來。請為此一工程代禱。我們計劃於五月開工，並盼望在冬天之前完工。請為工程的順利進行代禱，並求神賜智慧與平安給Dale和工人。至於工程預算，我們將會在取得估價之後讓您了解。
在祂的榮耀裡與您同工的,
高榮德（牧師）
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Greeting in the Lord!
In April the Education Department of China announced that over 1,270,000 Chinese students are studying aboard in various countries. Many of them are studying in the USA. The fields of their studies are more diverse than before. So the China government designed policies to encourage those who study abroad to return China to develop their careers. At the same time the Human Resource Department of China announced that in 2010 around 135,000 of these students return to China after their studies. Although it is only about 10% for the students return to China after their studies abroad, but it is about 24.7% increase than last year. It is quite a big jump.
Two waves are apparent. There is a huge wave of Chinese students going aboard to study. There is a smaller but growing wave of Chinese students returning home to develop their country. For most of these students, studying abroad means an opportunity to learn more and earn more. But for us Christians outside China, God is opening a door to bring even more Chinese students here so they can hear the gospel and be trained as disciples. More than ever can go back home and lead souls into His Kingdom. We can confidently claim that the student ministry here can build up a godly future for China. The faster we make students to be better disciples for Christ, the brighter China and the world will be spiritually. Please pray for the entire student ministry in the United States and elsewhere.
CWC UPCOMING CAMPS
- May Discipleship and Coworkers Training Camp [May 22 – 27]
It is just only less than a month away now. This Training is a good time to equip disciples and coworkers for the next school year. If you wish to have more mature coworkers serving in your church or the Bible study group, you really need to encourage the brothers and sisters in your church—including yourself—to come to be trained. If they have already booked their airline ticket to go home and cannot attend the Training in May, you still can suggest they return earlier to catch the August Bible Camp and the August Training before school starts. We thank God that He has prepared two good speakers for us: Elder Joseph Wong and Rev. Edwin Su. CWC campground capacity is limited. As sadly noted below, we’ve had to turn people away. Please apply early. The due date for the application is May 19. No more applications will be accepted after that. Please remember this meeting in your prayers. - Lay Minister Training Camp [May 27 to 30]
Lay Minister Training Camp is for brothers and sisters who hold fulltime jobs but are willing to grow spiritually and wish to serve the Lord with more success in their churches or Bible Study groups. CWC coworkers are few but the student ministry field is so big. We wish more and more working people—people who are typically older physically and spiritually—put themselves into God’s field. The working people often have houses and other resources that can help a small group. Often these working Christians can talk with people who fulltime ministers can never meet, caring for them and leading them to Christ. Besides those two speakers mentioned above, we have Rev. Minghuei Liu as the third speaker. Rev. Liu while he was teaching at the university and served on government projects, also served the Lord faithfully in the church. After some years, he then started to study in the seminary and currently pastors at Princeton Chinese Christian Church in New Jersey. The Lay Minister Training Camp will be held on the Memorial Day weekend. Family rooms and Children’s programs are provided. Students must attend the May Discipleship Training first before they can continue this Lay Minister Training. For these two Trainings, all the application forms have been mailed to your churches and Bible Study Groups. If you do not have them, you are welcome to visit our website and download the form and the information there. - Youth Discipleship Training Camp. [June 5-11]
This is not an activity or entertainment youth camp. It is training to equip teenagers and college students to become stronger disciples of Christ. Attendees already must be born-again Christians. The goal for this camp is to equip young people to witness for Christ to continue growing into workers in the churches. Pastors Eugene Chu, Berry Edwards, Jason McCray , Steve Tan and Dr. Elwood Chipchase will be our speakers. All the forms have been mailed out. We have a strict due date which this year is May 31. Please do not delay. You may also go to our website to download the related information there. - August Bible Camp [July 31 to August 6]
Praise God! He has put the hunger and thirst for Bible understanding into people’s hearts. Many people have applied for this Camp and have started to do their home work according to the syllabus. This time we will study all the kings and the prophets at the period of the Divided Kingdom. Those Books are not too hard and the preparation time is longer than for January Bible Camp. You still have opportunity to catch up with the homework schedule. If you have not applied yet, do not delay. The strict due date is June 15. Pastor Chihhao Shen from Detroit and Sister Grace Lee from New Jersey will be our speakers. Those forms have been mailed to the churches and the Bible Study Groups. We also post some study materials on our website.
BUILDING PROJECT:
As more students come to the United States to study, thank God, more people come to CWC meetings. In the past, if we did not have too many campers, we held meetings in Mark Hall to save energy. This also let the larger Canaan Hall serve for sports and other purposes. But in the winter, it was hard for campers to walk up and down the steep hill between Canaan Hall and their dormitories. So, we never used Canaan Hall for meetings and dining. Then last December so many people applied for Discipleship Training that they exceeded the capacity of Mark Hall. We made a hard and sad decision to turn down some applicants before the official due date, simply because there was no room. Even then, Mark Hall was overcrowded. On the second day we moved all meetings and dining to Canaan Hall. Thanks to God’s protection, the snow did not come until the Discipleship Training and the Bible Camp were over.
To solve this problem, we are planning to build a better walkway between Canaan Hall and the dormitories. This walkway will have a roof so that people can safely travel on rainy, snowy, icy or windy days. Please pray for this project. We are planning to start in May and wish to finish this project before the winter. Please pray for smooth construction, and wisdom and safety for Dale and other workers. As to the budget, we will let you know after we receive estimates. Please pray and remember us.
Serving together for His Glory,
Billy Ko (Pastor)