Are We Needed Here? Regulations and Reflections on Spreading the Word.

I have in front of me a current article detailing the updating of the religious regulations for expatriates living here.  Any grouping over 50 is to have a national observer and the members are to be registered with the government. At no point are nationals to worship with expatriates.  I am not going to make direct comments on these regs, but it does definitely curtail sharing.

However, on my FB account a memory from a year ago popped up today. I am going to reprint two postings that illustrate that although we are thankful for the work given us here, Our Father can work without our being present. A quote from the The Aboriginal Activists Group, Australia perhaps explains best: “If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” It is not us. It is Him and each of us knowing Him better....that is the point.

May 11, 2017

(I am going to be a bit obscure in this posting. You understand why.) A few days ago an acquaintance of mine related this family story. His grandfather was an elementary teacher here in Taian. One day there was an alarm sent out that the Japanese were attacking the city. Everyone began to flee, including the grandfather. However, suddenly the man "heard":  "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep." He looked to see who had spoken, but no one was around him. He responded, turned around, calmed the students, and lead them to safety rather than just fleeing.

The man went to a relative who was a C. The relative recognized the words as a coming from John. The grandfather understood the message to be for him. He became a member of the Jesus Family organization. This was a group committed to communal living as in the book of Acts. In a little while he felt led to move to an out- of- the way village and founded a group of Jesus Family. My friend said there were 125,000 such groups active when they were closed down in the early 50's.

My friend is quite excited about the current freedoms they are enjoying. He said that over the May 1st holiday 3 or 4 groups of young people from his organization were able to go to the colleges in the area and hand out tracts, etc. He said the current report is that today there are as many C's as party members. I thought you would be blsd by this story.

May 16, 2017

Yesterday I spoke to the friend whose grandfather's story I had relayed to you. He thanked me for doing that. He said that people could now know the truth about here. He went on to talk about the J Family groups. He said that at the end of the feudal period when much of the land was being confiscated and given to the peasants who had worked the huge landholdings, many of the feudal lords were killed. But that a certain portion of these lords were C and willingly gave up their lands for distribution before the government insisted on it. They were previously, or often then joined, the J Family and became respected members. They and their descendants are often the leaders of the church today. I am reminded that one of the reasons for being here is to communicate here to you there.