Good missionary shepherd
Interview with Pastor Li Xiuquan
Pastor Li went to pastor the Chinese Bible Church in the suburbs of Boston in March 1977. At that time, the author was attending a church meeting and had the opportunity to receive the teachings of him and his wife. I benefited a lot. This was the Lord’s grace. After the pastor found out that I had written the book "Physicists Read the Bible", he especially encouraged me to do more literature ministry. He is really a good mentor and helpful friend of mine. It is a great honor to interview Pastor Li on behalf of Kingdom Resources Magazine. Pastor Li has been serving as pastor for more than 40 years and has spared no effort in promoting missionary work. His words from experience and from the bottom of his heart are worthy of our reflection and action.
You have served the Lord for more than forty years. How many stages can your service be divided into? How do these stages inspire your views on the kingdom and missions?
plum:I have served the Lord for forty-two years, which can be divided into three stages. The first stage is from 1963 to 1977. For the past fourteen years, I have been engaged in student work at the Taiwan Campus Evangelical Fellowship. The second stage is from March 1977 to December 1994. He succeeded Pastor Jiao Yuanlian as pastor of the Chinese Bible Church in the suburbs of Boston for eighteen years. The third stage was from 1995 to the end of 2005. God led us as a couple to learn cross-cultural missionary work during these ten years.
Thank you Lord for giving me the opportunity to serve in gospel organizations and local churches. I deeply feel that the interaction and integration between evangelical institutions and local churches is very urgent and important. Pray that the Lord will give today’s Chinese church leaders a “kingdom perspective” that is thoughtful of local churches and institutions.
I have had the opportunity to do evangelism and pastoral work among students in the past, and I especially noticed that in the missionary history of the Western church over the past two hundred years, there are many examples of college students participating in overseas cross-cultural missions. For example, at successive mission conferences in Urbana, the United States, God inspired and called hundreds of “missionaries” to join the ranks of missionaries. Therefore, serving in the Campus Evangelical Fellowship for more than 20 years has also given me a strong sense of missionary mission.
Looking back on your past ministry career, what is the most memorable moment?
plum:There are many unforgettable scenes, but two of them had a profound impact on me:
The first scene occurred at the Urbana Mission Conference in 1973. Among the 16,000 attendees, it was an eye-opening experience, and at the same time, I saw how insignificant I was. This missionary conference gave me a great shock and directly affected the direction of my ministry in the second half of my life.
The second scene covers two events forty-two years apart. First, after graduating from college in 1961, he was assigned to Xiao Kinmen on the front line in Taiwan due to military service. Every time when I look at the land of China on the other side, for the sake of my compatriots, I cry and beg the Lord to open the door of the gospel as soon as possible so that my compatriots, my flesh and blood, can be saved as soon as possible. In 2003, I was in Xiamen, standing on the shore facing Kinmen, and prayed to God with tears in my eyes: "Lord! Thank you for listening to my prayer 42 years ago. You have opened the door to the gospel in China. Let the gospel enter China. Now, your servant begs you sincerely; mobilize the church in China to take the gospel out of China and make China a truly "missionary China."
These two things left an impression that I will never forget. Thank you for asking this question so I can share my feelings.
Who are the people who have had the greatest influence on you in your ministry? Why?
plum:On my journey of learning to serve, there were four servants and handmaids of the Lord who had a profound impact on my spiritual life, life, and ministry.
The first was Pastor Adeley of the Inland Mission (Overseas Christian Mission). In the preface of his Chinese biography, I said that he was: "a foreigner who is more Chinese than the Chinese, a missionary who loves the Chinese more than the Chinese." He has deeply helped my family. The shaping of spiritual life.
The second person is Superintendent Kou Shiyuan of Christ Home. Before and after I graduated from college, I followed him like a shadow and attended the Bible study classes, camps and special gatherings he led, which gave me a solid foundation in Bible reading, Bible study, and Bible interpretation.
The third one is Professor Zhang Mingzhe, we call him Uncle Zhang. He constantly reminds us that when following and serving the Lord, we should not forget the order of "life → life → service".
The fourth is my wife Li Linjingzhi. During the more than 40 years since our marriage, she has been relying on the Lord to learn to be a “wife of noble character” (Proverbs 31:10, A Wife of Noble Character). Always speak the truth with love, support me, remind me, and encourage me.
What scripture has been the motto for your ministry?
plum:You asked me so many good questions, you may write my biography after the interview. (The author laughed, but he didn’t even dare to take it seriously.)
There are many scriptures that have influenced me, but I will only mention four here.
Matthew 1:14 “The Word became flesh” is my motto in my daily life and missionary service.
John Chapter 3 Verse 30: "He must increase, but I must decrease." It has a very practical impact on the growth of my spiritual life and the coordination of team service.
The scripture that has the greatest impact on me in pastoring the church is Psalm 78:72: “So he shepherded them with the purity of his heart, and guided them with the skill of his hands.” This verse is what we often say, “ Square inside and round outside.”
From pastoring to participating in missionary work, Isaiah 49:5-6 has had a breakthrough impact on us as a couple. God used this passage of Scripture to call me to move from co-cultural missions to cross-cultural missions.
According to your observation, what major challenges will the global Chinese church face in the next ten years? How do we respond?
plum:In the next ten years, I deeply feel that both overseas and Chinese churches in China will have an unshirkable responsibility to face the challenge of "world missions." Under this very serious premise, I will briefly share the burdens in several aspects:
First, the implementation of handover and succession - especially in overseas Chinese churches, the two generations seem to be drifting apart. There needs to be a closer connection between our generation and the next generation.
Second, the cooperation between Chinese churches and non-Chinese churches - Chinese churches have always been conservative. If we want to participate in world missions, we must humbly learn from Western churches and cooperate with them.
Third, the response between mainland Chinese churches and overseas Chinese churches - overseas Chinese churches should first come up with feasible missionary strategies and available channels. When the door of overseas missionary work in mainland China opens, they should "cooperate inside and outside" to engage in the Great Commission and wait for the Lord. The Second Coming of Jesus.
Can you analyze and compare the current situation and characteristics of missions in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, Chinese churches in North America, and churches in mainland China?
plum:Mission missions in Taiwan are taking off. In the past ten years, there have been two gratifying phenomena in Taiwanese churches: many churches have successively held their "first" annual missionary meetings; seminaries have also begun to focus on missionary work and established missionary departments.
The missionary work in Hong Kong is much more advanced than in Taiwan and can encourage Taiwan. The Hong Kong Missionary Communications Association plays an important strategic role. They discussed some important issues related to missions very seriously. For example: how to solve the problems faced by missionary children (Missionary Kids); how to care for and counsel the psychological problems of missionaries, etc.
There are many countries in Southeast Asia with a large number of Chinese people, including Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, etc. Their situations are different. In the case of Singapore, their English-speaking churches are much more active in missions than their Chinese-speaking churches. Over the years, the seminary has also made great efforts to promote missionary education and cultivate missionary talents.
Mainland China is a vast country and it is difficult to obtain comprehensive and up-to-date information. As far as I know, the vast majority of churches in the Three-Self and Two Associations are completely blank in terms of missionary work. In contrast, house churches are quite active. House churches promote "missionary immigration" to preach the gospel to China's 55 ethnic minorities. However, under the influence of external political and economic factors, the power of universal mission is still weak.
The Chinese church in North America is ahead of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia. They are uniquely endowed with more and better resources. The church often holds annual mission meetings to encourage believers to directly and indirectly participate in cross-cultural missions.
Years ago, many churches had Word Ministry Sunday, emphasizing the importance of word ministry. Now it seems to have been replaced by the Internet and missionary conferences. What is your view on the future of Christian literature ministry?
plum:I don’t think text ministry will be replaced, because ministries such as the Internet and mission conferences still need to use text as a tool. Nowadays, VCD, DVD and other ministries basically still use words, so text ministry is still very important. We need to train more talents in this field. I personally admire colleagues such as Su Wenfeng and Su Wen’an for promoting writing camps in North America to train writing talents. In fact, the "Kingdom Resource Center" launched by Sister Gao Lili also started from the literature ministry. They are amazing wordsmiths.
Knowing that you will have a more comprehensive and in-depth participation in the WFC, how can we pray for you and work with you?
plum:Mrs. Li and I are in great need of your prayers. I will take over as the Director General of the World Huafu Contact Center at the end of July 2006. I feel that the responsibility is heavy, the road is long (a long way to go), and I need God’s special grace and mercy. I hope to build on the foundation laid and the direction pioneered by successive directors-general over the past nearly thirty years, and continue to advance and fulfill Heavenly Father’s commission to the universal Chinese church.
