Joy of Preaching

Last September, the author once again had the opportunity to participate in a short-term mission trip to the UK arranged by the Overseas Chinese Missionary Society (COCM). This was truly the Lord’s grace. I have 26 days of annual leave every year, and it is natural for me to dedicate two weeks of it to the Lord’s work. Based on my past missionary experience, I know that participating in short-term missions will not only help local churches or fellowships and preach the gospel to people who have not yet believed in the Lord, but will also expand my spiritual horizons, renew my spiritual life, and be empowered to run again. future. As someone who likes to use words to serve the Lord, I can also use it to hear and witness touching testimonies, obtain writing materials, and share the vision of literature and propaganda. Just on the way from the United States to England, God gave me two unexpected surprises. I can only admire God’s wonderful deeds and His abundant grace.

▲The author (right) and Pastor Wu Jinping

Angels accompanying

The first stop was flying from Norfolk to Washington, D.C., and I realized that the person sitting next to me was a young American. Through conversation, I learned that he was also going to Europe to participate in short-term missionary work. An international evangelical organization has a camp in Belgium and often holds different meetings there. This young man was going there to serve the Lord for three months. We are both brothers in the Lord, so of course we hit it off immediately and had a great time talking to each other. Unfortunately, the flight was short, and the plane landed in Washington soon.

The second stop was Heath Airport flying from Washington to London. I found that the person sitting next to me was a young American lady. Under the dim light, I saw her taking out a book to study. It turned out to be a Bible! She is the second angel sent by God to accompany me.

After talking with her, I learned that she was from Wisconsin and her family loved the Lord devoutly. Now she was going to fly to a Bible college in England to study. There are six brothers and sisters in the family, and she is the first one to leave home and study abroad. Although I was a little scared, I was very excited to embark on the journey. I also took this opportunity to let her know that China is a vast gospel field and introduce gospel organizations to her. Maybe after she graduates from Bible college, God will call her to be a missionary to the Chinese people! It is also the responsibility of Chinese believers to introduce the needs of the Chinese gospel to foreign believers, especially those who have the burden of the gospel!

vast field

There are a large number of Chinese students studying in the UK and continental Europe, and their number exceeds the number of international students in the United States. The reason is very simple.

Since the September 11th Incident, the United States has strictly reviewed student visa applications for those who want to study in the United States. It is said that some Chinese from Muslim countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia have difficulty getting visas. In addition, the tuition fees for studying in the United States are relatively high, and it is difficult to obtain medical insurance. But it is different in the UK and European countries. It is easier to get a visa, the tuition is relatively affordable, you have the opportunity to work to make a living, and the government provides medical insurance to foreign students. Take the city of Preston I visited as an example. It is a very small city and the Chinese church in the city is very small. It only calls itself a fellowship and has no full-time preachers. It was common for outside speakers to be present in Sunday worship services, which were then converted into Bible study meetings. However, a university in the city is carrying out extensive construction projects to expand its campus. The reason is that there are nearly 3,000 Chinese students studying at the university. Last summer, two charter flights flew from Shanghai in mainland China to the airport of a large city near the city. The passengers on board were all Chinese students from the school.

I stayed with a brother Yang who loved the Lord. The couple came from Hong Kong and made a living by opening a takeaway shop. Even though I don’t speak Mandarin well, I still try my best to smile and say hello to the Chinese students who come to me, and hand out gospel tracts to them. After the author arrived there, I immediately visited the local Chinese students with a sister, and took the opportunity to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival and welcome the New Year to invite the classmates to have a dinner together. They were also happy to chat with a Chinese from the United States to learn about the situation in the United States. At that time, the US presidential election was in full swing, and they were also very interested in the US elections. Before eating, I introduced myself as a Christian, so I would like to thank you for the meal. After prayer, the topic naturally led to faith and the Bible. Time slipped away in the relaxed chat, but I hope that the gospel seeds sown will bear fruit one day. At the very least, some students have thanked me for giving them a basic understanding of Christianity.

Teaching and training

The author's main work on this short-term missionary trip was not direct missionary work, but preaching and teaching Bible courses. Many churches in the United States have senior pastors. Even if there is no pastor, the church still has deacons and elders who can stand on the podium and preach during Sunday services. However, many churches in the UK not only lack senior pastors, but also lack church leaders who can preach. For the expansion of the Kingdom of God, external evangelism and internal teaching must be carried out side by side and complement each other. For example, it is a wise move for COCM to assign teachers to different churches to teach extended theological courses. For the convenience of members, extension classes are sometimes held on Sunday afternoons and sometimes on Sundays. Generally speaking, if the students are restaurant workers, retirees and housewives, they choose to hold it on Monday or Tuesday. If participants are young students and professionals, choose to hold it on a weekend. Each class lasts about three hours.

The author visited a church in Doncaster. There were only 50 to 60 people gathering for Sunday worship, but nearly 20 people were willing to choose to read or attend the extended course. This shows the believers' love for God's words, and the author was deeply inspired. What is commendable is that the person in charge of the church, Preacher, stated that this time after the lecturer left, she would hold a special gathering for the members who came to participate in the extension course to discuss and review the content of the course they had just learned. This kind of coordinated service between foreign teachers and good local shepherds will definitely yield good results.

Word Ministry

Word ministry is one of the most effective ways to spread the gospel and cultivate the spiritual life of believers. Although computers and the Internet have become increasingly popular, both have their own strengths and should complement each other rather than choosing one over the other. The author saw that the Chinese Evangelical Church in Liverpool has a small library. Pastor Wu and the female evangelist not only love reading spiritual books themselves, but also encourage members to do the same. It is the grace of God that allowed the author, co-workers from Kingdom of God Resources, and teachers and students from the literature camp to jointly publish good works of gospel preparatory work such as "Plowing in Life", "Vegetables in the Eight Directions", and "Song of Songs in the Heart Garden". Book. The author took the opportunity of short-term missionary work to donate these books to the churches he visited, and gave a brief introduction during Sunday sermons. In addition, in individual conversations, he introduced the vision of “Kingdom of God Resources” and good Christian websites that he knew, so that church pastors and members could receive spiritual food supplies through these media. Many believers expressed their gratitude after hearing this information, because they never knew about it before, but now their eyes have been opened.

The author believes that in addition to bringing spiritual food to feed others, good missionaries should also show them where they can find spiritual food for themselves.

Mission Postscript

There is no doubt that the Chinese people were able to hear the gospel because of the early Western missionaries who came to China one after another to preach. Today, we have received God’s grace and become His children, so we should learn from Paul’s good example and remind ourselves to repay the debt of the gospel. He said, "I am indebted to both the Genres and the barbarians, both the wise and the foolish. Therefore, to the best of my ability, I will preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome." (Romans 1: 14─16)

Thanks to God's grace, the huge gospel needs in the UK and continental Europe have gradually attracted the attention of Chinese believers in North America. The author knows a couple who are preparing to leave for China as missionaries. Elders Lin and Lu, who were on the short-term missionary trip with the author last time, also continued to go to the battlefield. The Chinese Mission 2004 held in Philadelphia inspired believers’ enthusiasm for missionary work. Now the publication of "Kingdom Resources" magazine provides missionary information and a forum for exchanging missionary experiences. Let us seize the opportunity, perform our duties, support and participate in missionary work, and fulfill the great mission of spreading the gospel!

Author profile

Yu Guoliang was born in Guangzhou. He believed in the Lord and was baptized since he was a child. He went to Hong Kong when he was seventeen and graduated from the Department of Physics of the Chinese University of China. After teaching in a middle school for two years, he went to the United States and obtained a master's and doctorate degree, specializing in atmospheric science. Currently doing scientific research at NASA. He wrote the book "Physicists Read the Bible", co-authored the three books "Life's Tonic", "Bafangyuan Shu" and "Heart Garden Song of Songs" with teachers and students of the Chinese Character Camp, and translated "Wonderful Power and Wonderful Love" , "Chemistry in the Bible", "Creation Theory - Myth vs. Science" and other seven books. The articles are scattered in magazines such as Life, Guidance, Pu Gongying, Jumu, Messenger, and Feiyang. He was interested in the Bible, literature, history, science, travel, and writing. He currently lives in Virginia with his wife and has a son and a daughter.