Dear Brothers and Sisters, peace to you in the Lord!
I often feel that the CWC has two busy seasons: one is, of course, the Winter Conference in December, followed by the Discipleship Training, and the January Bible Camp when we will be very busy for over a month. And the other busy season is July-August-September. In these 3 months, after the August Bible Camp, Discipleship Training, and the 10-day short-term mission in July and August, we have another 10-day mission after Labor Day in September. This year, 41 brothers and sisters formed six short-term mission teams in August, and four teams of 42 members in September. Each team came back with abundant sheaves. Team leaders all reported: “The team members were overjoyed!”, and the responses from the local churches are: “Having the short-term mission here has helped our church a lot!” We give all the glory to the Lord. Some brief sharing from the mission teams will be shared after the message, please do not miss the reading!
It happens that after returning from mission trip on September 18, Elder Albert Shyu, the leader of a mission-team in August, passed on to me the message he shared at his church on September 11. Although I originally planned to publish a message about Bible study method, but with his consent, I decided to insert it in this October newsletter. It is not only in remembering of Pastor Billy Ko: a mission warrior, but also as a summary of this summer’s short-term missions.
A Mission Warrior
(Partial Sunday Service message at Chinese Church in Christ-Cupertino, Cupetino, CA on September 11, 2022 by Elder Albert Shyu )
The Great Commission is a principle, a direction, and here the Lord Jesus gave the disciples a concrete plan of action, which is to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. And after the Holy Spirit comes, the disciples will be empowered to preach the gospel step by step, from near to far. The entire book of Acts bears witness to this saying.
The mission warrior I’m going to share is Pastor Billy Ko, who went to be with the Lord not long ago. I met Pastor Ko in 1996 when I participated in a short-term mission to the Midwest for the first time. Pastor Ko was quite skinny and a little bit frail in stature. Nothing appealing from the outside, but his passion for evangelism and love for the Lord was incomparable by others.
Although I don’t see Pastor Ko often, but ever since the first short-term mission in 1996, I’ve been participating the mission every year or two, and every time I went, I saw Pastor Ko. I remember there were a couple of times in the early mission trips, we even stayed at his house with sleeping bag on the floor. And Mrs. Ko kindly welcomed us and prepared meals for us.
In the vast Midwest, centered on Missouri, the scope of CWC’s ministry has covered more than a dozen states with nearly a hundred cities. During the ten-day mission, we sometimes traveled to two or three states a day, leaving early in the morning and stopping late at night to preach the gospel. At the end of mission, an average of 1,000 to 2,000 miles added to our odometer was quite normal. I have been wondering if there is a more efficient way to do this kind of mission in order to save more time and energy. But come to the conclusion is that this is the only way because of the vast range, plus this truly was also a great training opportunity to the team members. Compared to Apostle Paul or Hudson Taylor, we surely have better mission environment now.
Pastor Ko was familiar with the Midwest, and had always traveled with the mission teams. In order to go to different places to lead meetings, he spent a lot of time on the road, and he always made good use of the driving time to contact the mission teams. Many times, when he called me to discuss short-term mission trips was at Pacific Time 9:00 pm, 10:00 pm or even later which would be close to midnight in Midwest.
Pastor Ko was very competent. He can drive and repair cars. I remember one time we went to a city, and as soon as we checked into the hotel, he asked me to take him to a nearby car repair shop. I asked him what for, and he said his car had a leaking water tank and he had removed it and just needed to take it to the shop and had it welded for he knew where the leak was. It only cost a few dollars fixing it. I really admire him, I studied Mechanical Engineering in school, knew some principles about cars, but not only I seldom touched the mechanical parts, I don’t even know how to do it. But Pastor Ko was very knowledgeable and capable of doing it which saved him a lot of money.
As you may have noticed, the CWC had an old school bus which was bought in a very low price. This bus has multiple purposes. Not only it is a passengers bus, but after removing the chairs, it becomes a big cargo bus, we can carry lots of equipment and supplies. Once a Chinese restaurant closed its business and donated all their kitchen equipment to the center. Pastor Ko went to the restaurant kitchen, dismantled everything and brought back to the Center and piled them on the open ground. Mission team members would spend that Monday we stayed at the Center to wash those very greasy equipment. It probably had taken a couple of years or so with many mission teams to finish cleaning them all up. The equipments now are installed in the new building when the construction was completed.
CWC often received used supplies from all around, such as tables, chairs, sofa, bedding, and home appliances, etc. The bed we slept on always making squeaky noises when change positions at night, and for those of us who used to live comfortably are really not easy. But it is indeed a good place for missionary training. Sister Chiang often said that the CWC buildings are new, but when you go inside, you felt it is old. The reason is: the furniture inside are old because most of the furniture were donated by others.
Those who have been to the Center probably would have learned some skill, such as painting, sawing, paving, planting flowers, sweeping leaves, and even laying tiles, etc. There will always be one Monday for the mission teams to stay at the Center to do physical work, which is a good training. Although CWC was not set up to train full time missionaries, through the annual short-term mission, it has become a good place to train missionaries.
Buildings in CWC are very unique, many of them were masterpieces of Pastor Ko. He designed it and have someone to build, and even joined construction work himself. He was very proud of the Mark Hall which second floor was built first, and then the first floor, because it was built on a slope. Pastor Ko could drive different kind of vehicles, knew how to sail a boat, and flew a plane. Once Sister Chiang shared a story about Pastor Ko one time flew to a small airport where the runway was not long enough and take-off could be difficult. He told Sister Chiang, if she did not hear from him after certain time, she should call the police… It brought tears in my eyes realizing that his ministry was sometimes life-threatening, but thanks to the Lord, God has kept him and his co-workers safe all through the years.
Pastor Ko loved the Lord and served Him for more than 40 years. Over the years, countless people came to know God and many were equipped to be disciples of Christ through the Gospel Camp, Discipleship Training, and the Bible Camp held every year at the Center. In addition, CWC has become the center of connection to all the short-term mission teams with churches in the Midwest. Through these camps, brothers and sisters from different churches study together, share together, and encourage and support each other. This is truly God’s grace, and I thank the Lord for Pastor Ko and all the CWC coworkers for their dedication.
Pastor Ko was a humble and polite person. Every time he saw me, he would ask me, with his unique accent of Mandarin, “When will you come back for the short-term mission?…” He didn’t talk much, but was always very kind and didn’t put pressure on people. He was also very humorous, easily to get along. It is invaluable that CWC ministry can do so many things with so little manpower and limited financial support, which I believe has a lot to do with the leadership and godly example of Pastor Ko.
Pastor Ko would often take us to explore new evangelism opportunities. Sometimes when passing through a small town, we would stop and visit the local university. Although there is no Chinese church or Bible study fellowship, we walked in the campus and see if there were any Chinese. We would start by finding a place where we can have a meeting whether it was to use a classroom at school, or use the house of a brother who live close by, or even at one corner of a restaurant. We would buy some food and eat together, and tried to find every opportunity to bring the gospel to any student. Some Bible study groups were established in this way.
Our church in California often has brothers and sisters moved here from the Midwest. Most of them have solid spiritual foundation and can quickly join church ministry because they were well trained in the CWC. This was a blessing from God that He brought the fruit of our mission back to us. Not only that, short-term mission also is beneficial to our own church:
- Great opportunity to train disciples: Two or three months before a short mission, we have trainings on how to share the gospel, how to share testimony, how to answer questions. We also go to supermarkets or parks to hand out gospel tracks, and share the gospel.
- With the preparation, we are not timid and can boldly share the gospel on mission field. And when we come back from mission trip, we have stronger burden to local evangelism.
- Because of our short-term mission to the Midwest, many graduates naturally chose to join our church when they move here for a job.
- Carrying the burden of evangelism throughout the church. The annual short-term mission trip has become a major event that everyone expects. The testimony of the mission team has also encouraged the congregation to have a burden of evangelism, and a great appreciation to God’s mighty works.
- Short-term mission is also an experience of personal spiritual growth, for it helps us to grow more maturely and to love the Lord and others more.
This is an opportunity established by Pastor Ko and his coworkers to serve the churches so that Chinese churches in distant places such as California, Texas, New York, etc., can participate in the ministry of the Great Commission. On one hand, we help Chinese churches or Bible study groups in the Midwest to invite Chinese students to the church, believe in the Lord, and be trained to become coworkers. After graduating, these students may move to somewhere else, or go back to their home countries and become a coworker in the local church, and continue to carry out the Great Commission. On the other hand, it also provides churches the opportunity to do missions and train coworkers so that the kingdom of God can be expanded and the mission given by God will continue to be passed on.
The ministry of the Christian Witness Center is truly very meaningful because many Chinese students have come to the Midwest for school and among them the gospel seekers come to the CWC with the freedom of worship, and freedom of sharing the gospel. This is a perfect environment for evangelism. We have seen the fruit of the CWC ministry. Just like Apostle Paul and Hudson Taylor, what Pastor Ko, Sister Chiang and the CWC coworkers have been doing is a “ministry” with far-reaching influence and eternal value in the eternal kingdom.
Thanks be to the Lord that He has called Pastor Moses Yu, Pastor Ko, Sister Chiang and other coworkers to start the ministry of Christian Witness Center in the Midwest. Through this ministry, Chinese churches and Bible study fellowships in this area have been edified, Chinese churches from afar have the opportunities to participate in short-term mission to fulfilled the Great Commission that the Lord has given us.
From Pastor Ko’s life, we have witnessed a mission warrior who devoted his life to preach the gospel wholeheartedly without complaint or regret, but with great results and far-reaching impact. Now he has left us and returned to heavenly home, but he has left behind an example of dedication to the Lord.
1 Cor. 9:23 “I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.”
September Short-term Mission Sharing
(1) Arlington Chinese Church. This is the first time for our church to participate the Midwest short-term mission, and the Lord Jesus has blessed us abundantly. At our first stop, Wichita, KS, we paired up with the local church and led 5 people to salvation through personal evangelism. At the second stop, we worked with the Chinese Church at Stillwater (OK) and had the opportunity to share the gospel with students and professors. In Kansas City, MO., we teamed up with Immanuel Chinese Baptist Church and visited the campus, shared in the fellowship with the elderly the next day, and visited St. Joseph (MO) Fellowship that evening. Thanks to the Lord, the mission team had the opportunity to lead two elders and a lady we met at a local supermarket to salvation prayer. We visited University of Central Missouri (Warrensburg, MO) on Thursday, and spent Friday to Sunday at Ruston, Shreveport in North Louisiana and Edmond, Oklahoma for gospel meetings and personal evangelism. By the power of the Holy Spirit, 7 people accepted Christ as their personal Savior, among them were students, restaurant workers and massage parlor workers. All team members have truly experienced God’s mighty power and His wonderful guidance along the way. We give all the glory to God!
(2) Chinese Church at Simi Valley. Thanks be to God for leading us to this year’s short-term mission to the Midwest where we had served more fellowship and churches, sow gospel seeds and edified coworkers. By personal testimonies and spiritual messages shared by the mission team, some churches and fellowship where in-person meetings have not yet been resumed have been encouraged and responded positively. Through gospel sharing and campus visitation, Team B has led 7 gospel seekers to believe in the Lord; and a total of 10 people accepted Christ as their personal Savior when Team A visited Memphis (TN), Omaha (NE) and Ames (IA). The sermons and spiritual messages shared in 7 meetings have also helped the local coworkers with positive response. Thanks be to God!
(3) Austin Chinese Church. We are very thankful to have completed a ten-day short-term mission during the pandemic. We have experienced the leading of the Holy Spirit that He helped us (sometimes miraculously) reach out to the people He wanted us to meet and gave us the opportunity to share the gospel to them. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, some people have accepted Jesus as their personal Savior. Seeing the enthusiasm and dedication of the local co-workers on mission, we are greatly encouraged. The mission trip helped us grow spiritually by learning to follow God’s guidance, fulfilling His great Commission, and enjoying His presence. Praise the Lord!
(4) Chinese Church in Christ-Cupertino, San Jose and Central San Jose. Our team visited 5 campuses: Leading five people to Christ at Grand Forks (ND). In Bismarck (ND) although there were no Chinese students, we were able to lead the mother of a local co-worker to believe in the Lord. At Brookings (SD) and Duluth (MN), we held a gospel meeting, followed by personal evangelism to lead people to the Lord. The church at Brookings (SD) has decided to resume in-person gatherings. The short-term mission team had also conducted coworker training at Grand Forks to strengthen the local fellowship.
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 plus 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.
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 retention 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
1. Pray for the Three Meetings in the 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.
2. For Co-workers
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- Sylvia Ko: Mrs. Ko is currently with her daughter’s family help taking care of baby grandson . Please pray that the Lord grant her strength physically and spiritually, and bless her daughter’s family through her.
- Sister Cindy Chiang : After coming back from the mission trip, Sister 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 in limited time.
- Brother Qinglong Liang: May the Lord give Brother Liang wisdom to manage his family and serve the church according to His will. Wisdom for his wife in arranging a workable time schedule for the children. Please pray for the Lord’s favor on the R-1 visa extension.
- Pastor Charles Huang: Pray that the Lord bless Pastor Huang with word of wisdom and spiritual gift shepherding the church in Champagne, also for wisdom in outreach ministry with the co-workers, and strength to help brothers and sisters in Macomb, Decatur, Carbondale resuming the regular in-person Bible study. May the Lord watch over the study of my three children, especially for my oldest daughter, Faith, in preparing for college next year.
- American coworker Scott Jerome: There are a lot of maintenance/repair work of CWC buildings to be done before Winter’s meetings. Plus Scott continues to work on the construction of the “Ministry Memorial Garden”. 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.
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3. For Building Coworker: 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 he travels back and forth to the hospital. Pastor Harold is focusing on the construction of the “Ministry Memorial Garden” and supervising the project of asphalt road. Please pray for wisdom and strength from the Lord.
4. Renovation/Maintenance before Winter: We mentioned in the last newsletter about many buildings at the center need repairs before this winter’s meetings. In September, heating/cooling systems in Motel A and Motel B have been repaired; leaking roofs of part of the Canaan Hall, Motel A, and part of Motel B have been repaired (total cost is $12,000.00); we plan to begin paving asphalt road from the main entrance of the Canaan Hall to the Memorial Garden, and at the same time complete paving the road in front of the maintenance co-worker’s house. The estimate cost is $35,000.00. Please remember the need for this project in your prayers. You can designate your offering to “Building Fund”.
5. 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.
6. Looking for a Bus: After mentioned the need of a bus, several brothers and sisters suggested some website for us to search for a bus, and we are looking into it. Please pray that we can find a bus that fit our need with a fair price. We hope to find one by the end of October for Winter meetings.
7. 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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