Dear Brothers and Sisters, Peace to you in the Lord!
The time you received this letter, we have just returned from the August short-term mission trip and are getting ready to leave again for another 10-day mission on September 9. 45 brothers and sisters from five churches have formed four teams to participate in the September mission. Please remember these four mission teams in your daily prayers by following the CWC prayer calendar.
This is the first August/September short-term missions without Pastor Billy Ko among us. He was the one who had always keeping close contact with each mission team during the trip in the past. I felt a sense of something important was missing this year. So, I took on this responsibility on my shoulder on the second day of August trip to keep in contact with each team leader and cared for them. Praise the Lord, although this year some campuses have no new students, plus some churches and Bible Study groups have just started in-person meetings, people being outreached was not as many as before year 2020 due to the pandemic. But some churches have shared with me that because of the diligent ministry of the mission teams, the number of attendees to gospel meetings and Sunday worship has been the largest gathering since the outbreak of the pandemic! By this we are reminded again, ” preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season”. With the enthusiasm of the mission team, we pray that every church (Midwest, East/West Coast, in North America or the whole world) will return to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ: “Go” (evangelism) and “Make disciples of all nations” (discipleship). For this reason, I have asked Brother Robert Kao, a CWC board member, for the following article to remind us: to serve with a joyful and faithful heart.
Some Memories of Pastor Billy Ko’s Ministry
(by Robert Kao-Board Director)
The Christian Witness Center (CWC), located in Warsaw, Missouri, has a vision of fulfilling God’s Great Commission in the Midwestern states, each year holding numerous Discipleship Trainings, Lay-Minister Discipleship Training, Bible Camps, Gospel Camp, Winter Conference. The goals and objectives of the CWC include proclaiming God’s kingdom, evangelizing, cultivating disciples for Christ, building ministries for the church, equipping the campus-servicing workers, and training elite soldiers for the kingdom of God. Every time when we mention the CWC, we always think of its founder, Pastor Billy Ko. He was a faithful servant of Christ for many years. He not only ministered at many churches and fellowships in the Midwest, but also further help the East and West Coast churches and fellowships. He invited many of God’s servants to the CWC for evangelism and discipleship trainings.
It is mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 1:11, ” Therefore, we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power.” We see that Pastor Ko was worthy of being called a servant of God because he lived out the goodness of God and the work of faith in the Lord. He was like the verses described in Ephesians 5:9-10, “for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth, and find out what pleases the Lord.” Pastor Ko produced many fruits of light through the Lord and sought to serve the Lord’s favor. He served diligently in churches and fellowships everywhere he visited.
I remember one time we went to St. Louis together for a Sunday worship and a retreat planning meeting. Pastor Ko flew a small plane by himself. We took off from a small airport south of Kansas City early in the morning and picked up another co-worker in Warsaw before heading to our destination. I learned from Pastor Ko that we not only needed a license to fly a small plane, but we also needed to know several other skills to fly safely. It started by untightening the plane in the parking lot, pushing it onto the takeoff path, locking the doors securely, and communicating with ground air traffic controllers to make the journey safe and sound until we landed. We only spent about 2.5 hours for the round trip, instead of the 9 plus hours it would have taken to drive there, which saved us time for worship and retreat planning. The lesson I learned from this trip was that we can always use the right equipment and special skills to save time for serving the Lord in our busy lives.
Our church had an organ for worship for many years. But when three organ players moved away, no one knew how to play the organ, and it was no longer used since then. Later, the church coworkers agreed to donate it to the CWC. When we contacted Pastor Ko, he said it was good timing because the CWC’s organ had a problem and could not function properly. We arranged a meeting time at church to move the heavy organ. Pastor Ko came with only one brother to help that day. Including me, we had only three people. Pastor Ko looked at the organ first and showed a smiling face, because it was the same brand as the organ owned by the CWC. He asked us to lift one corner of the organ at a time. He then put a small board with small wheels under it. We placed four totals under the organ, pushed it effortlessly out of the building, and loaded up through the ramp to the trailer. Later, they transported it smoothly back to the CWC. His experience of moving the heavy instrument reminded me of Matthew 11:29-30 stated, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” After the organ was tuned, it was used for worship at the Winter Conference that same year. The congregation sang hymns with the music from the organ that had not been used for twelve years. We praised and exalted the name of the Lord in the meetings.
We were always reminded by Pastor Ko of the joy of serving the Lord. As Psalm 31:7 says: “I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, for You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities.” In his paths of serving the Lord, there were several difficulties and adversities, but we see that he still rejoiced and continued to walk in the Lord because he had chosen the way of faithfulness.
Another recent memory about Pastor Ko was the Sunday worship at Columbia Chinese Christian Church. At that time, he had started receiving chemo treatments. Before and after the worship, I heard his voice praying; however, I did not see him in the worship chapel. I assumed he was participating in worship through the online service because of his health. After the meeting, he called my name, and I was surprised to hear his voice come behind me. I found out that he was sitting in the baptismal room behind the podium with a different entrance from the congregation. I was touched by his heart of willingness to participate in person for the worship even though he was in physical distress.
We need to take up his baton and continue to fulfill God’s vision for the CWC workers. Not just in the Midwest, but on the East and West coasts. This reminds us of the training that Pastor Ko received at Calvary Bible College in Kansas City. May his disciples and workers become the Lord’s victorious warriors (Nikaos). As Revelation 21:7 says, “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be my Son.”
September Short-Term Mission
The August Short-term Mission teams departed on August 19 and returned safely on August 28. These teams went mainly to the “nearer” states, such as Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arkansas, etc. Wherever we went, we had experienced as the Bible says: “there was much rejoicing in that city. ” (Acts 8:8) and “he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. ” (John 4:36). The September teams will be heading out on September 9 for ten days until September 18. We will go to “farther” states, such as Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, and this year even to Louisiana. Pastor Ko had been regularly visiting brothers and sisters in these distant states in the past, now in addition to the CWC board members taking over this caring ministry on a quarterly basis, the mission teams will strengthen the relationship of -edifying and encouraging each other – CWC co-workers with the coworkers of that areas. God will remember what you have done for Him in His name. Let us “with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; ” (Philippians 1:27).
Future Meetings:
We will start the preparation for winter meetings soon after the September short-term mission is over. Please set aside time to attend the meetings and pay attention to the information on CWC website at this moment.
(1) December Winter Conference (12/22 to 12/26)
Still to be held in-person at Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Registration form will be posted online on November 15. God has prepared for us His faithful servants: Pastor Johann Lai, Mrs. Esther Lai, Pastor Brian Lam, Pastor Luke Zhang, Pastor David Lu, and Mrs. Ijia Hao as speakers. English speaker will be Pastor Albert Yip. Details will be posted on CWC website soon.
(2) December Discipleship Training (12/26 to 12/31)
This meeting will be held in-person at CWC (Warsaw, MO). Speakers are: Pastor Luke Zhang, Pastor Ekron Chen, and CWC co-workers. From past experiences, there will be more people participating in the December Discipleship Training. The reasons could be either brothers and sisters who come from afar to attend the Winter Conference would consider to continue staying over for the following Discipleship Training, or because many companies have shut-down for Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The preliminary registration form has been posted online (please click here). Please apply earlier and encourage other brothers and sisters to attend together. For those who wish to attend the following January Bible Camp, this is a good opportunity for you to fulfill the requirement of attending the Discipleship Training before eligible for the Bible Camp.
(3) January Bible Camp (1/1 to 1/7/2023)
This time we’re going to study “the History Book I: Exodus and Entering Canaan – The Establishment of the Kingdom of Priesthood”. The books are: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings 1-11, 1 Chronicles 1-9. Pastor Chihao Shen will be the speaker. Up to now, 40 brothers and sisters have already applied and have begun actively preparing homework. The application form and syllabus have also been posted online (please click here). Please apply earlier and start preparing for your homework.
The Progress of Pastor Ko Serving Memorial Garden
Due to the impact of global shipping delays and the fact that many workers taking summer vacations, the progress is quite slow. Right now, the retaining wall is done and the monument stones have been completed in China, waiting for shipping and arriving at the United States in November. Please continue to pray for this project, the construction workers, and the soaring material prices, etc. If you have burden on this Memorial Garden project, you may designate your offering to “Memorial Garden”.
Sunday Online Bible Reading & Prayer Meeting
Please attend the online Bible reading and prayer meeting every Sunday at 6:30pm (Central Time) via Zoom that we may be equipped for God’s kingdom, the account number is: 8110999917, password: 737903. In order to follow with the progress of the Bible Camp, we especially encourage those brothers and sisters who plan to attend January Camp to join this meeting every week.
Prayer Requests
- Pray for the September Mission Teams: May the Lord bless “their Beautiful Feet of Bringing the Good News of Good Things”, that they will share the gospel of Jesus Christ clearly, and lead many people to believe in Jesus. Pray also for the churches in the Midwest who have prepared to co-labor with the mission teams in one heart (Third John 5-8). May the Lord bless both the mission teams and the local churches that they “shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves (with him).”.
- Pray for the Three Meetings in Winter: Pray for the preparations of all meetings, especially for the new registration computer program for the Winter Conference that it would be available on the CWC website on-time. And also pray for the speakers’ preparation of messages, for the brothers and sisters’ hearts to participate; for the nonbelievers are willing to come and accept the salvation; for the preparation of short-term mission teams from different churches; for the protection during the meeting from COVID, and for the cooperation from the staffs of the Sheraton Hotel, and so on.
- For Co-workers
- Sylvia Ko: Thanks to the Lord for blessing Mrs. Ko with a baby grandson on 6/11. Mrs. Ko is currently with her daughter’s family help taking care of the little baby. Please pray that the Lord grant her strength physically and spiritually, and bless her daughter’s family through her.
- Sister Cindy Chiang : Ask the Lord to bless her with spiritual and physical strength to complete the September Short-team Mission trips. After coming back, she has to deal with many administrative works, minister at different churches on weekends, and prepare for winter meetings. Please pray that God will give her heavenly wisdom to accomplish all tasks.
- Brother Qinglong Liang: Please pray that the Lord will give him more than enough strength physically and spiritually to lead many to the Lord while going with mission teams to Alabama, Mississippi and other states. In addition, may the Lord provide his wife and three young children with their need at home that they have good health and obedient hearts. Also ask the Lord to give Brother Liang wisdom to lead his family to follow the Lord.
- Pastor Charles Huang: Please pray that the Lord will give him more than enough strength physically and spiritually to lead many to the Lord while going with mission teams to Louisiana and other states. Pray also for his wife who takes care of their three children at home, for the children to have fruitful learning in school. Pray that the Lord bless Pastor Huang’s ministry with the Champagne’s co-workers as they serve together, caring for students with godly testimonies for the Lord. Also shower pastor Huang with wisdom from above to minister the church with God’s Word.
- American coworker Scott Jerome: With the scorching summer temperature, Scott continues to mow the lawn, work on the construction of the “Ministry Memorial Garden”, and prepares the maintenance/repair work of CWC buildings. Please pray for strength physically and spiritually, also for his family’s spiritual lives and their ministry, and for the growth of the children in the Lord.
- For Expansion Project: Pastor Harold Shull’s wife was recently diagnosed with cancer. May the Lord comfort and heal her. Pray that the Lord shower them with more peace, joy and grace as they travel back and forth to the hospital. The construction of children’s activity center has completed. We hope to finish the needed maintenance/repair jobs before Winter comes.
- Renovation in the Fall: After more than 20 years of usage (some are still in the original materials), many buildings at the CWC have suffered damages and need repairs before this winter’s meetings. Such as: roofs of part of the Canaan Hall, Motel A, and part of Motel B is leaking during the rain. And also we need to replace cooling and heating systems for Motel A and Motel B. We can do some of the roof repair by ourselves (which will be cheaper), but still need to contract out some. Initial estimates for the materials and labors for the roof repairs is about $20,000. There is no estimation for the heating/cooling system yet. In addition: we plan to pave asphalt road from the Canaan Hall to the Memorial Garden, and at the same time complete paving the road in front of the maintenance co-worker’s dormitory (where Scott’s family lives). Thank the Lord that August and September mission teams had helped to do some preparation work before professional workers can be hired. Please remember the need for this project in your prayers. You can designate your offering to “Building Fund”.
- Please Pray for the CWC monthly financial need (general fund, building fund, training fund, etc.) asking the Lord to manifest His abundant provision and allow more brothers and sisters to experience the blessings of offering.
- Looking for a Bus: After years of “stitching and patching”, the 1989 old bus was officially declared “dead” after last year’s Winter Conference. We originally thought it should be enough to buy a “good enough used bus” for $10,000 (the previous bus was $3,000). Some churches have already contributed a total of $10,000 to the bus project, but it turns out that buying a decent bus now might cost $20,000. We have been looking for a bus since the beginning of this year, and have not found the right one yet. Please pray for the need, for we are urgently in need of a bus to transport a lot of equipment and supplies, etc, to and from the Sheraton at Kansas City for the Winter Conference.
- For CWC: Pray that the Lord will bring more co-workers to the CWC ministry for the furtherance of the gospel ministry in the Midwest.
Emmanuel
In the Lord,
Sister Cindy Chiang
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