There are meetings three times a day in Kuling Mountain (with the exception of
Began remembering the Lord: April 1947 (We still have not formally established the Lord's table.) Native origin: Shaoshing and Xiaoshan, Chekiang Occupation: Farmers Present number: Males: 69; Females: 54 Number in the meetings: Males: 44; Females: 33 Present number in the table meetings: Males: 16; Females: 16 Names of leading brothers: Hsu Xiu-gen, Chou Yuan-lung, He Chai-gen Neighboring denominations: In Yiyang—China Inland Mission; in Zhaobin— China Inland Mission outpost (fifteen li from our village) has already stopped. Nearby transportation: Fifteen li from the Yiyang Station of the Chekiang-Kiangsi Railroad; Kiangsi-Chekiang Highway is on the eastern side (passing through Yangshuchiao); two li from a river port on the west. Education: We began a night school in the spring of this year (two hours every night). On Mondays we teach the Bible, on Tuesdays we teach hymn-singing, on Thursdays we teach from the cooperative text and the popular lessons. We teach the rest of the classes on Friday, Saturday, and the Lord's Day. Notes: Our numbers include all men and women both young and old. Locally there are thirty-two households registered. Ninety percent of the population has a native origin of Nansha. Because there is a prayer meeting on Wednesday night, we do not have classes. There is a prayer meeting that begins at 3:00 p.m. on Friday afternoons.
1. Transportation Lines to Jixin Village
GRADUALLY BEING REVIVED There are meetings three times a day in Kuling Mountain (with the exception of prayer on the Lord's Day morning and rest on Wednesday). There are two meetings in the morning. The first is a basic training for the ministry of the word. Messages have been given on submission to authority and the exercise of the spirit, emphasizing the separation of the inner man and the outer man. The second meeting is for individual judgments. Only one person is allowed to testify in each meeting, and then his problems are discussed after his testimony. It seems to be a practical training in the judgment in the house of God. The evening meeting is for the preparation of the edification of new believers.
Since coming to the mountain, my spirit has been gradually revived before God, and recently I have been moving gradually upward. (From the meeting in Shanghai all the way to Foochow, my entire being was prostrate before God as if I were paralyzed. I had no feeling or strength. It is really marvelous. Praise the Lord!) I hope I will not need to struggle in dealing with the negative things again, but can be strengthened in the positive things. If you have anything to say to me, I am willing to receive the help. Your brother in the Lord, Lee Yin-hsin July 7, 1948 A FINAL LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Four publications—The Ministers, The Gospel, The Way, and The Present Testimony—have all been published on time. Although they are all bimonthly magazines, we must publish one publication every half month. Therefore, every department is very busy. We would like to answer some subscribers' questions and ask you to attend to a few points: 1)News of Believers will be discontinued with the eighth issue. The Present Testimony will continue after News of Believers. Its contents will be more specific than that of News of Believers. Subscribers to News of Believers will receive at least one copy of The Present Testimony from us. Whoever would like to continue to subscribe should fill out the subscription form and send it to us. If you do not notify us, we will discontinue your subscription in the following issue. (Please read the back cover of that publication to find out how to subscribe.) 2)Because of too many subscribers from the localities, we have no more copies of Issue No. 1 of The Gospel. From now on, those who subscribe to this publication will receive copies beginning with the second issue. This paper is very expensive. (It costs one hundred million yen to typeset one hymn with music and to have one picture on the front.) We hope that when you give copies to people, you will not just scatter them like tracts but will give some consideration to whom you are giving them to. 3)Some readers subscribe for others. It is best to give this information to your friends personally. Forgive us for not notifying them for you. Furthermore, it would be best if you would mail your personal letters directly to your correspondents in Shanghai (other than those who are working in the Gospel Book Room). Please forgive us for not being able to verify information or conduct business on your behalf.
4)When filling out a subscription order: a) Be sure to write legibly. b) Subscribers from other provinces must give us the name of their province and city or county so that we may prepare cards and labels. c) When subscribing to several publications, it is important to use the same name and address for each subscription because we file subscriptions according to a person's last name. 5)When changing your address or the number of copies in your subscription, it would be best to send us the paper wrapper from your subscription which contains your name, address, and quantity on it. At the very least, include your previous address. This will reduce the amount of time we have to spend in looking for your record. Please remember this. This will save us some trouble. 6)Although there are temporary prices for the three publications—The Ministers, The Way, and The Present Testimony—in reality we have only charged enough to cover the postage for The Ministers. (The price of sending one paper is now at least ten thousand yen.) While we were editing and typesetting the first issue of The Ministers, one roll of white newsprint cost almost five million yen. The price for one roll has now increased more than tenfold. The other costs, including typesetting and printing, have also risen with the rise of the cost of living and have increased more than tenfold. Our most recent cost was more than ten thousand yen for typesetting one word. You can imagine the rest of the costs. But thank God, through the offerings of many brothers and sisters, He has allowed us to put out these publications on time. We are sharing this so that you can thank God with us for the publications that have already been put out, and so that you will know how heavy our burden is in order to pray for us. 7)Although certain places can receive letters and wired money, the post office may not accept printed materials. Sometimes we send the materials by airmail. Even though we are willing to spend the money, sometimes it is not even accepted as airmail. We are now trying to find people who will go to these places to carry the publications with them. We hope that the churches in the far regions like the Northwest would also be able to receive these four publications. 8)We are unable to calculate foreign postage and domestic airmail postage because we have only a few workers (who are all very busy) and because the postage rates increase unexpectedly. (At present it costs more than 300,000 yen to send one magazine by domestic airmail.) We can only ask our readers to calculate the postage costs from the stamps on the publications when they receive them.
We hope to serve all the local churches well in the matter of the publications. It is difficult, however, to avoid errors because we are so busy. If we forget something, please tell us so that we may correct the error. May the Lord bless every reader. The Shipping Department Shanghai Gospel Book Room August 17, 1948 (The monetary system changed while we were proofreading this copy. We are now charging by the "gold yen." If anyone has a need but is unable to pay the cost, we are still willing to consider giving the publications free of charge.)
CONCERNING THE MINISTERS NATURE:To show the way to serve, to help the serving ones and the churches in the different localities go on, and to solve the problems related to the ministry. TIME OF PUBLICATION:Temporarily set at bimonthly. PRICES:A) In order to prevent those who do not need this publication from carelessly disposing of it, we are forced to temporarily set the following prices: The three issues of this half year are temporarily priced at two gold dimes in national coinage. (National and international postage is not included in the price. Air or surface mail postage costs will be added.) B) We will consider giving the publication to those who really need it but cannot afford it. C) We will receive gladly from those who are able to make a donation to help with the cost of publication. SUBSCRIPTION:Whoever would like to subscribe to this publication should fill out one of the cards provided, and mail it to the Shipping Department, Gospel Book Room, P. O. Box 5008, Shanghai. (In every place with a local church, please contact the local church there.) WIRING MONEY:If you are wiring money through the post office, you will need to include our post office branch name. Please mark on it: Jingan Temple. THREE KINDS OF PUBLICATIONS Beginning September 1, we have changed the price of our publications to the following gold yen values: 1) The Ministers:Issue Nos. 1 through 3 in the second half of this year will temporarily cost a total of two gold dimes. 2) The Way:Issue Nos. 1 through 3 in the second half of this year will temporarily cost a total of six gold dimes.
3) The Present Testimony: Issue Nos. 1 through 3 in the second half of this year will temporarily cost a total of two gold dimes. ATTENTION 1) Whoever subscribes after September 1 must calculate their price in gold yen. 2) We will not ask for more money from anyone who did not receive this issue of the publication or did not know that we had changed the price to gold yen and had sent their money to us according to the old prices. 3) Please do not send us stamps in lieu of money. Because large pieces of mail require high value stamps, we cannot use stamps of small value. If you are in a locality which truly cannot wire money, then please send us stamps of high value (at least one gold penny per stamp) in place of your money. Gospel Book Room, P. O. Box 5008, Shanghai September 1, 1948
ISSUE NO. 3 November 1, 1948 THE WAY FOR THE WORK HEREAFTER— A RECORD OF A FELLOWSHIP MEETING Our former pathway in the Lord's work has caused us to encounter some practical difficulties. This year we have spent considerable time to solve our problem through the two meetings in Foochow and Shanghai. Today we will come back again to this matter. THE PROBLEM OF THE PAST While we saw the light concerning the church quite clearly in the past, we did not see the light concerning the work so well. The Normal Christian Church Life, which was published following a co-workers' conference in Hankow, shows that our vision was clear about the matter of the church. We saw that the churches are local, a matter which is much clearer today than throughout the history of the church. By reading many books, we certainly can realize that the local character of the church has never been as clear as it is today. In relation to the work, however, we have always felt that we lacked the same clarity. This was because Jerusalem seemed to be superfluous when viewed from the perspective of Antioch. When we were in Hankow, we surveyed the entire book of Acts, but we were not able to take Jerusalem into account. Starting from chapter thirteen, the book of Acts lined up with our work, and our work lined up with the book of Acts.
However, we did not know how to apply the events that occurred before Acts 13. At that time we did not have sufficient light. Due to the trials and difficulties we have encountered during these several years, we now see the usefulness of the first ten or more chapters of Acts. We have discovered the usefulness of these chapters. Please pardon me for speaking in this way, but this is the fact. We have to acknowledge that through the meetings in Foochow and Shanghai the first twelve chapters of Acts have become clearer to us than ever before. Just as the local churches after Acts 13 have never been seen with such clarity as in the time at Hankow, the work has never been seen with such clarity as it is today. The difficulties in the past are in the past; today the situation is different. THE WORK BEING REGIONAL One of several matters that we discovered relates to regions. While churches are local, the work is regional. This, I feel, is very clearly revealed in the Scriptures. We did not see this five or ten years ago because we just did not see it; we could not help it. Now, however, we have definitely seen it, and it can be stated in just two phrases: The churches are local, and the work is regional. In other words, the church is local, but the work is regional, being composed of many localities combined together to form a region. In the book of Acts it can be clearly seen that the twelve apostles had a definite region for their work. Peter, John, and their group worked in one region, while Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Barnabas worked in another region. In the first chapter of Philippians, we can see many different regions. In 2 Corinthians 10:13-14, we find these words: "But we will not boast beyond our measure but according to the measure of the rule which the God of measure has apportioned to us, to reach even as far as you. For we are not extending ourselves beyond our bounds." Here we are clearly shown something related to a region, a measure that God apportioned to the apostles. God drew a circle for them, and within that circle there was an area of work for them. Therefore, the work is related to the matter of region. The churches, however, are not related to a region. No church should exercise control over other localities, because the churches are local. In the past we made a great mistake in confusing the sphere of the work with the locality of the church. Now we clearly see that the work includes a number of localities within a certain area called a region. Just as Peter and John were in the region around Jerusalem, Paul and Timothy were in another region around