親愛的弟兄姐妹，
新年快樂！ 很抱歉這麼遲才寄出這封禱告信。我們剛剛才結束了基督工人中心一年中最忙碌且最密集的事工。從十二月廿一日至一月五日接連三個主要的聚會 – 冬令會、十二月門徒訓練及一月讀經營。一個小時前我才剛回到家。讓我向您報告神藉著這些聚會所行的大事。
冬令會：將近兩千一百個人參加了這次的冬令會。感謝神！大部分的人都是帶著渴慕的心來參加聚會。他們都非常用心地參加各堂聚會，並且渴慕神的話語。聚會開始的前一天，天氣非常差，有些短宣隊因飛機航班的取消，不能前來。但感謝神，每一位講員仍然在困難環境中一一抵達。其他的短宣隊也帶著喜樂的心扛起了更重的服事。特別謝謝 Sheraton旅館今年允許我們使用他們兩間的展覽廳讓我們可用來作為餐廳和書室。這間餐廳比過去的空間大了三倍，不僅餐廳同工服事起來更便捷，參加聚會的人也更能享受寬敞的空間。Sheraton旅館更讓我們使用餐廳隔壁的員工廚房，使同工們更有效地供應飯食。因著您的代禱，神的手也在聚會中大行奇事。這次一共有三百五十位左右的慕道朋友參加，其中近七十位在聚會中接受耶穌為個人的救主！謝謝神差派短宣隊前來和我們一起同工。他們不但在聚會中傳福音，更在廚房、嬰兒照顧、幼童班以及其他多項需要中參與服事。請為各校園的跟進工作代禱，使這些初信的基督徒能持續追求認識神並且在祂裡面成熟長進。
門徒與同工訓練營 – 從九月起到十二月就不斷有弟兄姐妹報名參加訓練。感謝神，有這麼多的人渴望接受門徒訓練，接受裝備來服事主。熱烈的報名超過中心設施所能負荷的容量，使我們不得不在預定截止報名前十一天停止接納報名。總共約有兩百一十位弟兄姐妹緊接在冬令會結束後前來參加訓練。感謝神，雖然新宿舍工程還在施工，但我們仍能安排出六個房間供更多人使用。感謝神及時的供應。我們為中心兩位美國維修同工為預備這些房屋勞苦地趕工感謝神。更感謝神帶領一些從馬里蘭、密西根、阿拉巴馬及其他遠道開車的弟兄姐妹來參加門徒訓練。有這麼多人樂意接受裝備服事神，我們看見神正興起眾人不僅在美中，更在全美國、中國、東南亞以及世界各地服事祂並擴張祂的國度。請為這些接受裝備的弟兄姐妹代禱，求神使用他們在自己的校園裡忠心地服事，更在不久的將來能在世界各地宣揚福音。
讀經營 – 經過幾個月的自修及準備後，一百卅多位弟兄姐妹前來參加使徒行傳的研讀。主使用這卷書幫助我們明白聖靈如何帶領使徒們傳福音。使徒行傳同時也激勵我們在以後如何靠著聖靈的能力傳講福音好消息及分享神的話。
新宿舍 – 同工Dale Beyer和John Bessie勞苦趕工了幾個月，使我們終於在門徒訓練時增加了六個可使用的房間。他們將繼續底層的工程，希望在三月福音營之前能將八個房間蓋建完成以供使用。我們的禱告是求神使我們有能力在今年 (2013) 底之前，全部十六個家庭宿舍都能完成使用。我們也在信心裡盼望在2014的夏天以前，整棟建築工程能夠完成。目前為這項建築工程所收到的指定奉獻遠遠不及實際工程進度。求神為我們及時預備$200,000 工程經費的需要，使得工作進度不致延遲。藉著您的代禱及支持，相信神必供應我們一切所需。
福音營 – 接下來的聚會將是三月十五至十八日舉行的福音營。這是一個傳福音的聚會。請您現在就開始邀請福音朋友來參加，好讓他們在暑假回國前能夠認識耶穌基督。感謝神預備莊祖鯤牧師為我們的講員。請為莊牧師及福音朋友代禱。
聖地進修團 – 將於六月十八至廿八日成行。主題是 「保羅宣教之旅」。我們將會前往以色列、土耳其及希臘。盼望您現在就預留時間參加。我們會在二月出將資訊張貼上網。請代禱並來參與。
代禱項目:
- 請為每一位同工在經過繁重的聚會服事後，體力的恢復代禱。
- 請為在冬令會中剛信主的弟兄姐妹的跟進代禱。
- 請為在十二月門徒訓練及一月讀經營接受裝備的弟兄姐妹在回到校園後，能夠忠心地服事神代禱。
- 請為即將到來的福音營的準備工作代禱。
- 請為新宿舍的建造工程代禱。
- 請在禱告中記念江士民姐妹，這個月要忙著趕行政工作的進度及準備報稅作業。
- 請為同工們新學期的校園事工代禱。
願神祝福您和您的全家！
在祂裡面的
高榮徳
牧師/主任
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Happy New Year! Sorry for sending this prayer letter late. We just finished our busiest and most intensive ministry of the year. Three major meetings, Winter Conference, December Discipleship Training and January Bible Camp were held from Dec. 21 to Jan. 5. I arrived home just an hour ago. It is time to report to you the great works that the Lord has done through these meetings.
Winter Conference: About 2100 people attended the conference. Thank God most of them came with hungry hearts. They were very attentive to all the classes and hungry for the Word of God. The day before the meeting, the weather was very bad. Some mission teams needed to cancel their trips because their flights were cancelled. But thank God that even through difficulties, all the speakers still made it to the Conference. The remaining mission teams shared more work load but still served joyfully. We especially thank God that this year Sheraton Hotel let us use their two Exhibit Halls to be our dining room and book rooms. The resulting dining hall was about three times bigger than our old dining room. Not only did it help our dining room coworkers serve meals easier, but also the attendees enjoyed the bigger dining space. Sheraton Hotel even let us use their staff kitchen adjacent to the dining room. This let all of our working people serve the meals much more efficiently. Through your prayers, the Lord’s mighty hand worked in the conference. There were around 350 nonbelievers at the Conference. Around seventy of them accepted Jesus as their personal Savior. Praise God for sending short-term mission teams to work with us not only on evangelism, but also in the kitchen, nursery, toddler class, and other areas. Please pray for the follow-up work in all campuses, so these young Christians will keep knowing Him and growing maturely in Him.
Disciples and Coworkers Training Camp – Applications forms were flying in from September to early December. Thank God for so many people who are eager to be trained as disciples, and who wish to be equipped to serve the Lord. The overwhelming quantity of applications was much beyond our facilities’ capacity. We had to close applications eleven days earlier than planned. About 210 brothers and sisters finally came for the discipleship training camp right after the Winter Conference. Thank God, although the new dormitory is still under construction, with work we were able to make 6 rooms available to accommodate more people. Thank God for His timely provision. We thank God for our two American maintenance coworkers who worked very hard to prepare for those rooms. We also thank God that some brothers and sisters drove from Maryland, Michigan, Alabama, and other distant locations to attend the Discipleship Training. With so many people willing to be equipped and to serve Him, we see God is preparing a multitude to serve Him and to extend His Kingdom not just in the Midwest US, but also in the whole USA, China, Southeast Asia, and all over the world. Please pray that these people will serve Him faithfully in their campus now, and will reach different parts of the world in the near future.
Bible Camp – After four months of self study and preparation for the Bible Camp, more than 130 people joined the camp to study the Book of Acts. The Lord uses this book to help us understand how the Holy Spirit guided the apostles to evangelize. Acts also motivates us to share the good news and the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit in the future.
New Dormitory – After months of hard works, our coworkers Dale Beyer and John Bessie made six rooms ready to be used in the Discipleship Training. They will keep building the lower floor of the dormitory. We hope by the March Gospel Camp, all the eight rooms of the lower floor will be ready for use. We pray that by the end of 2013, all sixteen family rooms can be used. We look forward in faith that by the summer of 2014, the whole building will be done. So far the offering designated for this project is behind the progress of the construction. We pray that an additional $200,000 can be offered in time so that the project will not be delayed. With your prayers and supports, we believe the Lord will supply all of our needs.
Gospel Camp – Our next meeting will be the Gospel Camp which will be held from March 15 to 18. This is the meeting for evangelism. You may start to invite nonbelievers to attend so that they can know Jesus Christ before they return to their hometowns in the summer. Thank God, Pastor Tsu-Kung Chuang will be our speaker. Please pray for him and the gospel friends.
Holy Land Study Tour – will be held from June 18 to 28. The theme is “Paul’s Missionary Journey”. We will go to Israel, Turkey and Greece. You may start to set aside time to attend. We will post the information in early February. Please pray and prepare to join us.
Prayer Requests:
- Please pray for the physical recovery of all of our coworkers after three heavy meetings.
- Please pray for the follow-up ministry of all the new believers from the past Winter Conference.
- Please pray for the brothers and sisters who have been equipped in the December Discipleship Training and in the Bible Camp, that they will serve the Lord faithfully after their return back to their campuses.
- Please pray for the preparation work of the coming Gospel Camp.
- Please pray for the construction of the new dormitory.
- Please remember Sister Cindy Chiang in the prayers while in the next one month she will be busy to catch up all the office work and prepare for the tax work.
- Please pray for the campus ministry of all the coworkers in this new semester.
God bless you and your family!
In Him
Billy Ko
Pastor and Director