2021-12 (December Prayer Letter)

Dear brothers and sisters, peace to you in the Lord!

        When you receive this letter, we are intensively preparing for the three winter meetings. This is the busiest season of the year for the CWC.  Especially this year, under the epidemic situation, we must resist the devil with extra strong faith.  Please not only keep each of our co-workers and speakers in your prayers, but also start planning to attend at least one of our three winter meetings in person.  Let us equip ourselves well at the end of the year and the beginning of the new year.

Four Kinds of Believers in 2021

Scripture: Isaiah 1:1

2021 is coming to an end. In this past year, many churches, because of COVID-19 pandemic, had held services online for more than half a year that believers were unable to meet in person at God’s house. Later on, when churches reopened, many brothers and sisters returned to church for in-person gatherings, but still some have not done so for various reasons. From what happened at church today we see that there are four kinds of believers in God’s household, as were the four kings who Prophet Isaiah had served in the Old Testament. Isaiah 1:1 tells us that God called Prophet Isaiah to preach God’s Word to the people of Israel under the reign of four kings. Each of these four kings had his own characteristics, and from these four kings, we can also see four kinds of Christians during the pandemic.

(1) One Who Cannot Enter the Temple.

The first king Prophet Isaiah served was King Uzziah and the Bible described “He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD,…  He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God.  As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.” and brought a revival to the nation.  Unfortunately, “after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall.” He entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense which was for the priests who have been consecrated to burn incense. Uzziah became angry when the chief priest Azariah urged him to stop and leave the temple.  Suddenly leprosy broke out on his forehead, and he hurried away from the temple.  Till the day he died, King Uzziah was unable to enter the temple of God. 

In 2020-21, churches were forced to suspend in-person gatherings due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and many brothers and sisters, like King Uzziah, though longed to worship in God’s house, but were unable to go which, to those who love the Lord, was a very painful thing.

(2) One Who Dare Not Enter the Temple

Jotham, son of King Uzziah, was the second king Prophet Isaiah served. “He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD,…, but…he did not enter the temple of the LORD. The people continued their corrupt practices.” (2 Chron. 27:2) Though loving God, King Jotham might have lived in the shadow of what had happened in the temple to King Uzziah, his father, and dare not to enter the temple. When King Jotham did not go to the temple, the people continued their corrupt practices and overlooked the importance of worshipping God in the temple. Worst of all, his son became the second wicked king of Judah.

Now that churches have reopened, we must not be intimidated by the fear of contracting the virus, but rather be brave to go to church for in-person worship. God will keep us safe as long as we follow the guidelines: wear masks and keep social distance. Even if infected, God will walk us through the process. When we dare not go to church to worship, but only attend online meetings, it is our children who are mostly affected. Our children need to have spiritual friends of the same age from church to encourage and support each other, grow and walk together in their life, and online worship deprives them from this opportunity. If friends our children have are only from school and most of whom are unbelievers, it would be possible that our children will be influenced by the liberal thinking and stray away from God.

(3) One Who Don’t Want to Go to the Temple

The third king Prophet Isaiah served was Ahaz. 2 Chron. 28:1 “Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD”. King Ahaz had never been to the temple to worship God from an early age, and did not establish a close relationship with God. He worshipped Baal, built many altars for idols, and did many things detestable to the LORD. Not only did he not go to the temple to worship God,  he also opposed people to go, brought foreign idols into the temple for people of Judah to worship, and finally he shut the doors of the LORD’s Temple that no one is allowed to go and worship God.

Since the reopening of the church, many brothers and sisters have flocked in to worship in person, yet some people who have always been unwilling to go back to church for in-person worship still oppose it.  Not only did they not want to go themselves, they discouraged others to go, and even criticized and attacked the church with misleading information. We need to be watchful at times like this so that our enemy Satan doesn’t have the opportunity to split the church.

(4) One Who Yearns to Go to the Temple

Hezekiah became king after king Ahaz died. “He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done. In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the LORD and repaired them.” (2 Chron. 29:2-3) .  It has already been at least 16 years that people of Judah worshipped idols. King Hezekiah might have been waiting for this day and planned for it: “My father has closed the doors of the temple, and I will reopen it.” He encouraged priests and Levites to purify the temple, renewed the covenant with the LORD, and called to all people to celebrate the Passover to the LORD. Influenced by King Hezekiah, the hearts of the people turned back to God, and they smashed and destroyed idols and its altars, and they vowed a tithe of everything. God blessed the kingdom that, although they were under the attack of Assyrians, God defeated and wiped out the Assyrian army for them.

In the post-pandemic era, we need to have more people like King Hezekiah who are courageous to face all difficulties, grasp every opportunity to worship and serve the Lord in person to bring a revival to our church.

When the Missouri government announced on May 6, 2020 that the church could reopen, our church immediately reopened on the first Sunday to hold in-person service. Just half a month after church reopening, I was diagnosed with stomach cancer in early June and started chemotherapy. During that time, whenever my body permitted, I was in a room behind the stage to worship and preach. Although no one can see me, I rejoiced in the fact that I could worship with brothers and sisters in the House of God. Cancer came back in mid-August 2021, and once again I started chemotherapy which stopped me from going to church again.  Thank the Lord, because of His grace and with the prayers of many brothers and sisters, I am feeling a lot better now and am very much looking forward to going to the House of God. Recently, my doctor gave a green light for me to go to church and my heart is filled with joy and thanksgiving.  I know that God will always make a way for us when we yearn to worship Him at church. In Psalm 122:1 David says, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.’ Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem.” David heard that he could worship God in the Temple, he rejoiced and went immediately. May the Lord give us a heart of worship to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.

From the four kings of Judas, we see the four kinds of Christians during the pandemic, which one do you want to be?

 

(The  ministry report below was written by Sister Cindy Chiang)

 

Pastor Ko’s update and on-line Sunday Bible Study and Prayer Meeting 

 

Pastor Ko has started chemotherapy once every two weeks.  The result of chemotherapy in early November was effective.  The course of treatment is: nine hours of injections in the hospital, and 46 hours of injections back at home.  According to him, by  the grace of God he gradually can tolerate the discomfort of chemotherapy.  Except mid-November, early December, and late December when the treatment is at St. Louis, he can rest at home at Columbia for the rest of the days.  Pastor Ko wishes to attend the Winter Retreat, Discipleship Training, and the January Bible Camp. Please support him with your prayers.

Please check Pastor Ko’s  most up-to-date situation on  https://rb.gy/2m3v1a. We also welcome you to join this 24 hours unceasingly prayer chain. 

Please join our online Bible study and prayer meeting every Sunday at 6:30 pm on Zoom.  The Zoom ID is 8110999917 and the passcode is 737903.  Let us read the Bible and pray together.

 

Upcoming Meetings

(1) Winter Conference (December 22 evening to the noontime of Dec. 26)

Online registration has started on Nov. 16th and the deadline is 4 pm Central time on Dec. 19th. Please register as soon as possible. Although the outbreak of Omicron started at the end of November, so far only one case was found in the United States.  We will pray for the effective control of the epidemic.  However, there is no need to panic as brothers and sisters should believe that the Lord will watch over His children. According to the rules of Kansas City and Sheraton hotels, social distancing and masks are not required in December.  In addition to praying for God’s protection, our co-workers will take necessary precautions to ensure everyone’s safety. We ask you to cooperate with us and follow all the epidemic prevention policies.

 Due to the Pandemic, the number of churches and fellowships attenders have dropped from last year. This year the Winter Conference will return to in-person meetings. Please invite more nonbelievers to attend. In this chaos era, only Jesus can meet human beings’  needs.

This Conference will be held at Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center from December 22nd to December 26th, 2021.  The Chinese speakers are Rev. Caleb Huang, Rev. Tsu-Kung Chuang, Rev. Peter Chin, Mrs. Alice Chin, Elder Eric Wu, Rev.Wei Feng, and Rev. George Hsu, etc. And the English speakers are Rev. Albert Yip and Rev. Steve Tan etc.  There is also a Children program.   Please reserve  the time and prepare yourself to attend.

 

(2) December Disciple and Coworker Training Camp (December 26 evening to the noontime of Jan. 1, 2022)

This camp will be held in person at  CWC campground. The speakers are Rev. Larry Wong, Mrs. Alice Chin and the CWC coworkers.  The topics include: How to interpret the Word of Truth accurately? How to effectively teach the Word of God? How to equip yourself in the Word of God?    Inductive Bible Study method on the Gospel of Mark (the gospel preached by Jesus), a life of worship according to God’s will (the first four commandments of the Ten Commandments), preparation for ministries, etc.  Brothers and sisters who are willing to take root in God’s Word and want to lead Bible studies in Sunday school, fellowships, or preach, don’t miss this opportunity to learn.  The application form is on the CWC website (Please click here). The due date is Dec. 17 or till our space is full.  Please set aside the time and prepare yourself to attend. 

(3) January Bible Camp (Jan. 2 evening to the noontime of Jan. 8)

The Bible camp will be held in-person at the CWC Campground.  We will study the Books of the Minor Prophets.  The speakers are: Pastor Daniel Shen and coworkers of the CWC.  70 brothers and sisters registered before the Nov. 15 deadline.  They are now in the final stage of writing  their topic reports. Pray that God would give them and their advisors wisdom to work on the reports.  Please remember the speaker, the CWC coworkers and all the brothers and sisters in your prayers. If you miss this Bible Camp, you may still apply for the December Discipleship Training.   

(4) Holy Land Study Trip – Theme: Exodus of Egypt to Canaan, The Footprint of Jesus (6/20 – 6/29/2022)

For many years, brothers and sisters love to attend the Bible Camp to study the Word of God.  If we can actually visit the bible places, we would have more profound impressions.  For this reason, the center holds the “The Holy Land Study Tour” every 3 years.  Since we will study the Pentateuch in the next August Bible Camp, therefore, this holy land trip in June will be very meaningful.  Let’s make an advance notice now and get ready to join us.  We will take the route of the Israelites out of Egypt, enter into the Kingdom of Jordan, cross the Jordan River into Jerusalem, travel the desert of Judia, then Samaria (very few tour groups will arrange this route), enter Galilee and fly back to the United States from Joppa (now Tel Aviv). 

 

Thanksgiving and Prayer Requests

  • For CWC Coworkers:
    • Paster Ko and Mrs. Ko: Pastor Ko has to undergo chemotherapy once every two weeks. This high-dose medicine is quite harmful to the body. The doctors are considering immunotherapy. Please continue to pray for Pastor Ko’s health and ask God for powerful healing.  During the treatment, Pastor Ko and Mrs. Ko will  stay at St. Louis and they can go home for the rest of the days.  Please pray earnestly for him.  Also pray for Mrs. Ko, who is caring for him even herself, has  thyroid problems.  They need all your prayers.  Please also continue to pray  for Pastor Ko’s eldest sister in Hongkong that she will experience God’s peace and healing through chemotherapy for her lung cancer.
    • Sister Cindy Chiang: In addition to her weekend ministry, she is concentrating on organizing the three winter meetings.  Please pray that the Lord will give her wisdom to be a good steward in the house of God.
    • Brother Qing-Long Liang: Pray that he can balance his life among family, churches, and the CWC campus ministry.  Pray his wife has wisdom to care for 3 children and the children develop obedient and pursuing  hearts for the Lord.  In December, he will fully prepare for the 3 meetings. He will be in charge of the evangelistic ministry in the Winter Conference. Pray the Lord to bless his hands. 
    • Rev. Charles Huang: Pray that his whole family can have a good coworking relationship with Champaign Chinese Christian Church and help mobilize the evangelistic ministry there.  ministry.  In this winter season, he will also fully participate in the  3 winter meetings.  Pray the Lord to give him wisdom.
    • American coworkers Scott Jerome: Pray for our maintenance coworker and his family.  He has a handful of work in December and his wife is in charge of  all children programs in the winter meetings.  Please pray for his whole family.
  • For the expansion project 
    • Pray for the construction of the children’s activity center.  May the Lord watch over Pastor Harold Shull’s safety at work,  the progress of the project, and all the financial needs.   Pray for his health and Gods’ protection and healing be upon him. .
  • For financial need:
    • Pray for the monthly financial need for CWC. May the Lord show His abundant provision and let more people experience the blessing of giving.
  • For CWC
    • May the Lord touch and lead more new coworkers to join CWC’s ministry so that various ministries in the Midwest may thrive.
  • For churches in the Midwest during the pandemic
    • We see more and more churches have opened the doors for in-person meetings. May the Lord strengthen His flocks during the pandemic.  Pray God to give brothers and sisters brave hearts to serve Him diligently, resume the evangelical fellowship, and share the Gospel with non-believers. May the Lord use the vaccines to effectively control the pandemic around the world.  Although the new variant Omicron outbreak is continuing, we ask the Lord to give the church co-workers wisdom to know God’s will and lead the churches in this time.   May the Lord heal those who are infected, not only physically, but also set free their heavy hearts. By the name of Jesus, let us walk the path of victory.

 

Emmanuel!

 

       In Him,

       Billy Ko (Director)