Return to rest and regain strength

[Response to the 2011 KRC Cultural Practice Camp] 2 All evangelist colleagues who need spiritual revival, healing and release, comfort and strengthening are welcome to come together!

It was only in late July last year that I noticed the introduction to the Kingdom of God Cultural Practice Camp in the "Kingdom of God" magazine. At that time, I thought that no matter how rich and attractive the content was, it was really an elusive dream for our big family who wanted to seize the "Abraham Promise" to sign up to participate. With the intention of blessing the camp, I put down the magazine at hand and said to myself, "It is more pragmatic to 'concentrate on praying and preaching'!"

▲Pastor Zhuo Fuking (second from right) benefited a lot from the superb course "Building All-round Leadership" delivered by Gao Lili (middle), which greatly made up for the shortcomings in his service. Most preachers lack a background in social work. If they can enrich their leadership studies based on biblical truth, they will have a multiplicative effect in pastoral care and church management.

God takes away the burden from my shoulders

Just as I was immersed in church chores and moving forward at my usual pace, I suddenly received two phone calls at the same time. The ones on the other end were a surprise invitation for our whole family to attend the camp. What is even more heartwarming is one of the simple and thoughtful words: "I think you guys need a good rest, and you also need support!"

These words took me back to an earlier prayer in my July devotional. I said to God, "I need rest!" I knew it wasn't physical rest, but spiritual rest. On August 1, God said to me through the scriptures:“I will take the weight off your shoulders and let your hands drop the baskets.” (Psalm 81:6)I don’t know how God is going to “remove” the burden from my shoulders? But the wonderful thing is that while I was waiting, there was this great miracle of God answering my prayer.

In a hurry, with the support of the church co-workers and the blessings of the members, the family of seven got into the car and headed towards Pennsylvania, 700 miles away. When we arrived at our destination, it was already 3:30 in the morning. Because the camp had repeatedly told us not to miss the morning spiritual practice time, we were very alert and "sleep casually" before reporting to the venue. In a hazy state, I only remember that Pastor Xu kept emphasizing "mellow coffee". Although the color was not white, to be honest, it was the "morning manna" that I needed most.

The wisdom of leading the flock

In the camp, a course called "Building All-round Leadership" greatly made up for the lack of service. In the past, I took a lot of leadership courses in seminary, but in practice, there is still a lot of room for learning and growth. After all, many of the brothers and sisters led by preachers are senior executives in the workplace, and their corporate management concepts are somewhat different from those of "church administration."

If preachers serving in North America have no background in “social work” at all, it will be difficult for them to grasp the reality of leading the flock. Nowadays, there are outstanding people who have served as senior executives in the corporate world. They are willing to put aside their generous salary and devote themselves to the cultivation and service of God’s Kingdom resources. They share their valuable experience of “practical” leadership with all the saints. This is really a good thing for churches and institutions. blessing. I believe that only by using "the language of the workplace" to talk to church colleagues can we more effectively lead the team toward the goal that is in line with God's will.

My family members also gained a lot

A week of rest flew by under a tight schedule. I feel like I just arrived at the camp and I haven’t made up for the lack of sleep yet, so I have to rush home again. During the more than ten hours of driving, when "everyone was asleep, but I was awake alone", the memories of the camp were fragmented, like a DVD played on repeat, accompanying me safely home.

There is a passage in which the teacher’s wife and her son, who usually could not even raise their hands when singing, actually “danced with all their strength before the Lord” as the students in the class filed into the spiritual practice one morning. This should be This camp was the biggest “breakthrough” for my family!

▲After attending the camp, Pastor Zhuo and his family were completely renewed and filled with joy. Taken together with my wife and children on Christmas Day at the church I pastor.

Another scene showed the son who looked sad as soon as he arrived at the venue. He asked more than once on the last day, why didn’t we bring them to participate before? There were also three younger brothers and sisters who were following the class. After a few days of love from the children's class teacher and all the older brothers and sisters, they were satisfied and happy, but they reluctantly said goodbye and returned home. What kind of camp is "The Kingdom of God Resources and Culture Practice Camp"? Frankly speaking, it is difficult to explain it in a few words. What I see is a group of people in the kingdom of God who are willing to contribute their gifts and talents. They use their life-saving spirit to serve, cultivate, and renew the children of God's family, thereby developing people's potential and promoting spiritual unity. , to expand the camp of God’s kingdom. To all the evangelists and co-workers who need spiritual revival, healing and release, comfort and strengthening, I would like to invite you as a "experiencer" to come to the camp and experience the harvest of "returning to rest and regaining strength" together here!

Author profile

Pastor Zhuo Fujing is from Taiwan. He and his wife, Lin Ying, have four sons and one daughter. After graduating from Taifu Theological Seminary in 1994, he devoted himself full-time to serving until now. Currently pastoring Trinity Evangelical Church in Chicago.