Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

Peace to you in Chinese New Year!

We always say “Happy New Year” during the Lunar New Year, but this year we need most a “Peaceful New Year”. Some church coworkers asked me, “Should we continue to hold special celebrations for Lunar New Year during this Wuhan Coronavirus epidemic?” My answer is that this virus is a nation’s disaster. Thus we need not a “Happy New Year”, but peace during the coming year. Happiness comes from what happens. Peace comes from abiding in Christ, through prayers to the Lord. We can adapt the Lunar New Year gathering to a prayer meeting. Only by abiding in Christ can we enjoy the real peace in this new year. Only by abiding in the Word of God can we receive comfort in the midst of suffering.

 

Psalm 91 – Getting comfort in the midest of pestilence and virus

Lunar New Year is a time for Chinese to celebrate. As the Wuhan Coronavirus spreads in Mainland China and spreads to other countries, everyone is in panic mode. Chinese New Year becomes a disaster. It should be a time of joy, not days of anxiety. As the situation develops everyone worries for themselves and for family members and relatives afar. Every day they ponder: Will they go to work? Or go to school? Will I stay at home for weeks or longer like a sick person? Their bodies are not sick, but their spirits are sick from living under the shadow of death. Their hearts are filled with anxiety, tension, and depressing thoughts. Psalm 91 gives us comforting message when we are facing urgent trouble:

You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

We all will experience low valleys and darkness. Difficulties are like cold arrows shooting at us. Plagues appear with higher frequency. Life is so hard. People are helpless facing fear. Suppose a person falls on the ground. Do we hesitate to should lift this person up? Do we in fear run away quickly? He who knows God will quickly go to help the fallen, because the peace of the Lord is in his heart. This doesn’t mean believers won’t contract the virus, but that this virus won’t become our disaster. God has promised, “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Everything that happens, including what people seem as difficult, God has promised us: our hearts will have peace because we believe in God.

The only requirement for this promise is that we first must become the ones who love God. When we prioritize God, God will prioritize us. For those who love God are precious in the eyes of God, and God will watch over them. As Psalm 91:14 says, “ Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name”. Loving God with one heart, the believer will not waste complaints even though in the difficulties. He sees God as precious because he knows the names of God. There are many names of God and each name reveals each of God’s good attributes. Difficulties can help believers rejoice in the Lord because they know God’s goodness. Believers can praise God in the mist of difficulties. And the result is that spirits are lifted up, delivered from the difficulties because God has set them securely on high.

In order to become the one who loves God, we must always dwell in the shelter of the Most High. “Dwelling” means living with God. It is not a mindset of a stranger or alien to God, but draws close to God daily by reading the Bible and prayer. Only when we constantly have fellowship with God in His shelter, then we will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. Thus, when trouble comes, we will discover that we are already dwelling in God’s refuge and fortress. God has already delivered us from the deadly pestilence. Even we are in different kinds of difficulties, still we live in God’s presence in peace and joy.

The secret of overcoming difficulties is to become one who loves God and exults in God. During these days of Coronavirus epidemic, we should spend more time getting close to God and trusting in God. Only abiding in the Lord that we can have a heart of peace and live safely. For this reason, we should constantly pay attention to the following things during these days:

1. Be closer to God—Abide in the Lord. In the midst of busyness and fear, we need to get closer to God even more urgently. Maintaining a good devotional life, letting God’s love and peace dwell in our hearts.
2. Live normally—the US Department of Health has already suggested people in the US live normally, not stopping normal activity. We Christians should not stop church meetings. Attend all the meetings by faith. Encourage more people to attend prayer meetings. Use prayerful hearts and hands to uplift God’s people. Let God’s mighty healing hands be upon everyone’s body and spirit.
3. Maintain regular church meetings—As long as the epidemic doesn’t require quarantine, we should keep going to church meetings. If a big gathering is not permitted, we should attend smaller group meetings. If quarantine is needed and we cannot go out for church, we still can worship at our homes. We can use technology to join in church meetings. Keeping regular church lives will lead us to support one another during these hard times, walking the path of the Lord together.
4. Grasp the opportunity to share the Gospel—When people’s hearts are upset they more easily pay attention to the Gospel. We should grasp the opportunity to share the Gospel. If they are willing, we can visit them at their homes. When they are afraid and do not want to be visited, we can use a phone call or video call to care for them and share the Gospel. This is the time that people want and hope for and even expect comfort. We not only love them, but also directly share the content of the Gospel with them. Because only when they become new creatures in Christ, they can truly experience the peace of Christ in their hearts.
5. Grasp the chance to invite them to the Gospel Camp—People always need the Gospel, but in times of trouble they know they need the Gospel. We should hurry up to share the Gospel with them. Don’t forget to invite them to the Gospel Camp. If one person who is willing to put down work and study and travel this far to the Gospel Camp, he has more chances to believe in the Lord. We need to seize this opportunity to let them hear the Gospel and believe in Jesus. Let the eternal peace from the Lord come into their hearts. God is the one who gives peace. God also has prepared people’s hearts to hear the Gospel. Since God has done the preparation works, He wants us to cowork with Him to invite people to hear the Gospel and let the nonbelievers become children of God. Crisis always can turn into opportunity. During crisis, people are more willing to become children of God.

March Gospel Camp

The fear from the Wuhan Coronavirus is surrounding us. The shadow of death is upon us anytime. People need the Good News even more urgently to carry them through in these days of disasters. Mankind needs God’s peace. May the Lord use this virus crisis as an opportunity for people. If people do not turn to God in crisis, God’s Gospel will rarely interest them in times of ease. Gospel Camp is only a bit over a month away. It is a critical moment to share the Gospel. Both US and China need the Good News. May God light the fire of Gospel from the Midwest that we can share the Good News to our homeland. Let us work hard for this Gospel Camp by praying fervently. We first sign up. By this example and with prayer, then we invite people to come. Thus more people will attend the camp and more people will turn to the Lord. The theme for this camp is New Life and New Mission. It will be held from evening of March 6 till noon of March 9. Speakers are Rev. Tsu-Kung Chuang and Rev. George Hsu. Location is at CWC in Warsaw, Missouri with freewill offering. We have family housing and a children’s program. Students and families are all welcome.

March East Coast Disciple and Coworker Training Camp

The purpose of the camp is to equip more brothers and sisters to be the Lord’s disciples to revive the churches and campuses of the East Coast. Let God’s glory and power stir more people’s hearts. Trying to match spring breaks of east coast campuses, this camp will be held in two waves March 11-14 and March 12-15. Each wave is three days and three nights (full time attendance is required). The camp site is at Christian Servant Renewal Center near Raleigh, NC. Speakers are Sister Grace Lee, Pastor Ko and other pastors. Freewill offering. Please contact Mrs Ling Jiao (919-699-4431) or Sarah Chen 803-317-9396. For detail contact TrainingInEC@gmail.com.

May Disciple and Coworker Training Camp

The prosperity of a campus ministry depends on building up students to become the frontline campus coworkers. Within the first year of believing in Jesus, students should be able to witness among their classmates, express caring, and lead others to believe. In order to reach this goal, campus fellowships should have regular disciple training classes. So encourage people to attend the CWC’s Disciple and Coworker Training Camp. With these two efforts, the student coworkers can be built up. So they can have one or two years to influence other students to believe in the Lord and follow the Lord before their graduation. This semester will end in three months. Before the students purchase tickets to return home, we need to encourage them to defer a week in order to attend disciple and coworker training camp, to prepare themselves to share the Gospel in their home town and return to campus to serve the Lord. The camp is May 17-22 at CWC camp. Speakers are Rev. Kenny Lai and CWC coworkers etc.

May Lay-Minister Disciple Training Camp

This camp is to build up working brothers and sisters to become little shepherds who love the Lord and faithfully follow the Lord and offer themselves for the Lord’s works. They can be examples for others and also feed and nurture the Lord’s lambs. The Midwest generally lacks pastors, so more working brothers and sisters are needed to become little shepherds. The speakers are Rev. Kenny Lai, Elder Johnson Lee, and CWC coworkers. It will be held from evening dinner time of May 22 till lunch of May 25 at CWC camp. Since the time is so short, everybody should arrive before 5:30 pm on May 22. A freewill offering helps defray costs. To accommodate the needs of families, the camp will have family dormitories and children and youth classes.

August Bible Camp

August Bible Camp will study the Biblical Books of Poetry (also called Books of Wisdom) from Job to Song of Solomon. Reading the Books of Wisdom not only will give us joy and peace in our hearts, but also brings wisdom from above for us to live on earth. The camp is held from July 26 till August 1 at CWC camp. Speakers are Rev. Chihhao Shen and others. Deadline is June 15. Please sign up—the sooner the better—and start doing homework. Prepare yourselves and other brothers and sisters to pursue and study God’s Words together.

Prayer Requests:

1. Pray for this semester’s campus ministries everywhere. Pray that student coworkers can be built up quickly.
2. Pray for the sufferers of Wuhan Coronavirus that both their physical bodies and spirit are healed.
3. Pray for the preparation work of the CWC coworkers for the March Gospel Camp. And also pray the Lord to prepare hearts to attend.
4. Pray for the invitation work of the Gospel Camp and brothers and sisters have enthusiastic hearts to share the Gospel. Pray the Lord that brothers and sisters can apply earlier so that they can encourage the nonbelievers to apply. Also pray that the nonbelievers will accept Christ sooner.
5. Pray for Rev Tsu-Kung Chuang and Rev. George Hsu and the short-term mission team. May the Holy Spirit give them wisdom to prepare the message that can touch people’s hearts to bring out the effect of the Gospel to save people.
6. Pray for the East Coast Disciple Training Camp in early March that the Lord will prepare brothers and sisters’ hearts to attend, so that more brothers and sisters can be witnesses of this age on their campuses and churches so God’s works can be revived. Also pray for the building expansion project of the East Coast Camp.
7. Pray for the May Disciple and Coworker Training Camp and Lay Minister Coworker Training Camp. May the Lord use the camps to build up more student coworkers to be witnesses on their campuses. During summer break or after they return to their home countries, they can boldly share the Gospel to be faithful witnesses.
8. Pray for Sister Cindy Chiang as she is very busy on preparing tax documents. By God’s great power, wisdom, and strength, she may mail out your offering receipts by the end of February.
9. Pray that the Lord will raise up more coworkers for CWC that can serve on campuses to share the Gospel, and train more young students and scholars to be the Lord’s disciples.
10. Pray for Brother Qing-Long Liang and his family who are serving at Columbia, Missouri and in other campuses, that their work bears good fruit. May the Lord bless his whole family.

Immanuel,

Pastor Billy Ko