Dear Brothers and sisters in the Lord, Peace to you!

I greet you from the fresh air and rarely virus-infected lakefront of the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. May the Lord uphold you in the midst of the pandemic. May He allow you to be away from the virus infection and receive spiritual strength to bear more fruit for the Lord.

 

People who turn around the era

Ever since the fall, people go farther and farther from God. Every time they reach the point of no rescue, God raises people He can use to turn around the era, bringing people back to God. Before the Flood, “every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” (Gen 6:5) God raised Enoch who walked with God to prophesy God’s future judgment and to persuade man to repent and return to the Lord. Sadly, the work of Enoch did not rouse that generation to respond. God then raised Noah who “preached righteousness.” (2 Pt 2:5) God judged all the sinners of that era. The flood let people have a new beginning. After the Tower of Babel, people worshipped idols and went away from God. God raised Abraham from the nations filled with sins to establish God’s people, the Israelites. Later God raised Moses to turn around the era to let Pharaoh release Israelites from Egypt to build a priestly kingdom. Yet in the land of Canaan, Israelites followed the Canaanites to pursue pagan gods and were suppressed by other nations. They cried out to God and God raised up judges like Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samuel to deliver them from danger and once again serve the God of their forefathers. During the kingdom era, the North and South kingdoms left God and used other gods to replace Jehovah. God sent the prophets: Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Nehemiah, Ezra, and others. They willingly offered themselves, even their lives, to become the persons who rescued God’s people and rescued the generation. More such people of faith are listed in Hebrews chapter 11. By faith relying on God, they did the work of turning around their era and bringing people back to the Kingdom of God. This is because God is “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Pt 3) God first gains the people who will turn around the era. Then He can turn around people from the era to Him and once again revive God’s Kingdom. The people who turn around the era are God’s means for reviving God’s Kingdom!

Today, the United States has been considered a nation that follows God. Look at your US coins and paper currency. They proclaim, “in God We Trust.” But unfortunately, Americans exchange God for other things like wealth, fame, career and power. In many hearts, people say, “in money we trust, in power we trust, in myself I trust.” Morals are declining greatly. Homosexuality and abortion have flooded the whole land. This US presidential election showed the rising of the dark power. The scary part is not Biden won or Trump lost. The most scary part is that people may have cheated in the election, not just from a small group who disregarded the law, but this kind of people were from all the states, all the counties and all the towns in the US. What hope is left in the US? On Halloween Day, perhaps thousands of witches united to curse President Trump. An American style of Culture Revolution seems to be exploding all over the US now. If this keeps going on, what hope is left in the US? God’s blessings will certainly leave this country. If the US loses ground on the spiritual realm, the whole world will lose ground too. We only pray to God to raise a group of people that can turn around the era during this dark and chaotic time. They can be witnesses for the Lord, stand firm and follow closely the Lord. They will preach Christ boldly and witness for the Lord! Let the revival era of Westley, Whitefield and Moody once again come to this country.

During the past forty years, the vision God has given to the Christian Witness Center is: “Building up disciples, Equipping workers”. This year during the difficult circumstance of pandemic, God has given us a deeper vision: “Building good soldiers, turning around the era”. When all the churches were trapped in the pandemic and people were afraid to go to church or go out to evangelize, God let CWC coworkers envision that: If the churches enjoy the relaxed and “safe” services virtually for a long period of time, eventually they will disappear in the too-comfortable environment. As a result, we resumed in person meetings for August Bible camp, disciple training camp, August and September short-term missions. It is because we saw that we have to go against the current tide during the pandemic and bravely come out from the pandemic to follow the Lord and be used by the Lord. Becoming an example for others and turning around the current situation in the churches, they become God’s victorious good soldiers and continue to influence more people to follow the Lord. The meetings over winter break will continue to be held in person as long as the virus infection rate does not rise drastically or the government does not issue shelter in place order or stopped church gathering (Thank God that the State of Missouri is still open on the gathering). We not only pass on God’s Words to let more people see that Jesus is precious, but also allow believers to be trained to be the brave good soldiers of the Lord. They are not trapped by the virus nor influenced by others. They willingly offer themselves for the Lord and learn to be people who turn around the era to reveal the mighty power of the Lord’s victorious life. May the Lord gain more vessels He can use to win over the world. Just as Paul wrote: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair, persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies” (2 Corinthians 4:7-10).

 

Meetings in the Winter 

1. Winter Conference—Its purpose is to connect believers in the Midwest to pursue the Lord together and share the Gospel, and revive Midwest churches and campus ministries in a great way. This year’s theme is, “People who turn around the era”. We hope that not only brothers and sisters’ spirit will be lifted up by God’s Word, but also be trained to be people who turn around the era, not being trapped by the pandemic but pursue the Lord together. Before mid-November, we still planned to hold an in-person Conference. But on 16th of November, the Mayor of Kansas City issued an ordinance to limit the indoor meeting to less than 10 people. So we will hold the Conference virtually. Even so, we still wish that all attendees will be as in past years, attending with sincere attitudes. All the participants are requested to turn on the video camera, attend each meeting on time. We only accept 1000 people. We will accept according to the following principles: (1) the order of application, (2) full time attending or not? (3) Gospel seekers will be prioritized. Online registration has begun. Please apply online as soon as possible and invite believers and non-believers to come. Strict deadline is December 18 at 4pm. Please register on time and do not miss this opportunity to pursue the Lord. Our speakers are Rev. Tsu Kung Chuang, Rev. Brian Lam, Elder Daniel Luan, Rev. Xiao Yuan, Rev. George Hsu, Rev. Puong Lau, and more. This time we will not provide a children’s program. Youth and English programs will be deferred to the Youth Camp in June. Please pray for all the speakers, coworkers and yourself. 
2. December Disciple and Coworker Training Camp—It is a camp to build up coworkers for campus fellowship and churches. It will be held in person at the CWC camp. We not only want to build up disciples, but also build up good soldiers for the Lord in the pandemic that they will be examples for others to walk out of the pandemic. Every year, we have about two hundred attendees. But this year there is a limit on numbers due to pandemic and the restriction of social distancing. Please register as soon as possible. Please pray often for this camp. May the Lord touch more people to come and strengthen their hearts. This camp is not just training believers to be the Lord’s disciples, but also building up coworkers to lead small groups on campus, and preparing brothers and sisters that when they return to their home countries they will  be little shepherds during the pandemic in small churches. It will be held on December 27-January 2 at noon at CWC camp in Warsaw, MO. The strict deadline is December 18 or till all vacancies are filled. Please register as soon as possible. Please also pray for speakers Rev. Brian Lam and Elder Daniel Luan etc.
3. January Bible Camp – This camp will study the book of Revelation. Many love to study this book to know what is going to happen in the future, but the main point of Revelation is this: the glorious Christ will return soon. Thus, Revelation mainly lets people know the glory of Christ and prepare hearts to welcome the glorious Christ. May the Lord use this Bible camp to enable each attendee to know the glory of Christ deeper and more attracted by him and become a person who loves the Lord deeper. It will be held on January 3-9 in the CWC camp in Warsaw, MO. The deadline for registration has passed. Please pray for the camp. May the Lord bless each attendee, speakers Rev. Chihhao Shen and Mrs. Juanna Wu, and the camp!

 

Pastor Ko’s Update

Thanks be to the Lord! Pastor Ko’s treatment—after many twists and turns—rejoined the original schedule, and he had surgery at Barns-Jewish Hospital St. Louis, MO on November 17. Many brothers and sisters joined the prayer network to plead for Pastor Ko at the Mercy Seat. Some fasted. After six hours of surgery, the doctors were satisfied that the procedures had removed all the cancer cells. He is now recovering and resting in the hospital. There are weekly updates posted on CWC webpage on Pastor Ko’s health situation. Please continue to pray for him that the Lord will heal his servant. You are welcome to join our online prayer meeting and Bible study every Sunday at 6:30pm (central time). Zoom meeting ID is 8110999917. Please text Pastor Ko at 573-999-6235 for password. Please join us.

 

Prayer Requests

1. The coming month is the busiest season for our CWC co-workers because we are planning for Winter Conference, Disciple Training camp, and Bible camp. Each day is filled with challenges and it lasts the whole month. We need you to pray for CWC co-workers daily.
2. This month our coworkers are busy preparing for the camps. They not only need to prepare teaching, but also need to guide about 70 Bible camp attendees on their assigned topic report writing. Each report will take at least one to two hours to read and then make changes back and forth multiple times. Please pray for CWC coworkers. We need your prayer support.
3. Pray for the work of maintenance coworker Scott and construction coworker Pastor Shull. May the Lord bless the work of their hands and allow more people be blessed because of their work and quiet service. Also pray for their families.
4. Please pray for the health of Mrs. Ko. Thanks be to the Lord that her health is improving. Still, due to the thyroid problem, she tires very easily. Recently she traveled with Pastor Ko back and forth to hospitals between St. Louis and Columbia. Please specially remember her in your prayers.
5. Pray for Brother Qing-Long Liang’s ministry in Columbia, MO be blessed by the Lord. May the Lord give him wisdom and power. Praise God for answering your prayers. His R-1 visa was approved by the Immigration Office. So he can serve the Lord without worries. And may the Lord bless his whole family also. 
6. Pray for our new coworker Rev. Charles Huang as he is temporarily staying in Columbia, MO. Thanks be to the Lord that he came earlier from Taiwan to join in our ministry during our busiest season. Before the three meetings, he not only needs to serve in Columbia, but also needs to find housing in Champaign, Illinois and get to know church coworkers and serve in Illinois. More importantly, he performed many of Pastor’s Ko’s tasks when Pastor Ko was preparing, hospitalized, and recovering, so that Pastor Ko could focus on his treatment. We thank God for Rev. Huang. May the Lord watch over his family and three children in Taiwan.
7. Pray for the speakers of Winter Conference, Disciple Training Camp, and Bible Camp. May the Lord anoint their words and they will be filled with God’s mighty power to bring out God’s message and revive people’s hearts.
8. Pray for the coworkers of the Winter Conference. May the Lord bless the work of their hands.
9. Pray for the monthly expense of CWC. May the Lord increase people who care and support CWC’s ministry.
10. May the Lord touch the hearts of more believers to join CWC’s ministry that the various local ministers in the Midwest will be greatly revived.

 

May the Lord’s grace and mercy during this year-end encourage us to pursue and serve him more!

 

Serving in the Lord with you,

Pastor Billy Ko