I just returned home from a 4-week trip. I spoke at 2 seminars for lay persons, 2 conferences for pastors, led 2 revival meetings, and gave 2 special lectures. It was a tight schedule. When I reached Taegu in the morning, where I was scheduled to lead a revival, I realized that it had taken exactly 24 hours to get there from Houston. The revival started that very evening.
I didn’t have a single day of rest, but I didn’t feel tired throughout my trip because wherever I went, I saw beautiful people. Members of the churches that sponsored house church seminars made me feel thankful and grateful by serving participants with overwhelming kindness and sacrifice. The people served during the conferences with dedication and thoughtfulness, and that made me proud. The testimonies the shepherds and their spouses shared at the seminars and conferences always moved me to tears. The testimonies of the pastors and their spouses who are striving to build New Testament churches encouraged and challenged me.
The House Church Conference for Pastors is sometimes sponsored by one church and sometimes jointly sponsored by several churches in the area. Conference fees don’t cover all expenses, so sponsoring churches bear a financial burden, but churches are so willing to sponsor conferences that there’s a waiting list. It’s unbelievable.
During the day, the conference offered five 90 minute long intensive courses on the Life Bible study series. Mrs. Myung Hee Lee led a shepherd training course in Korea, and Brother Charlie Oh led a course on Christian money management, the first time this class was offered.
At night, we held symposiums where pastors and their wives shared their experiences of their house church ministries. Afterwards, people were divided into groups according to their ministry situations where they discussed their problems and sought solutions together. In North American conferences, Wednesday afternoon is spent sightseeing. Through this, pastors and missionaries get to know each other and form friendships. Many of them have few chances to take vacations, and they enjoyed this opportunity.
A pastor posted on the house church ministry website: “The house church, which had humble beginnings in Houston, has now become a force that cannot be ignored and has paved a way for the Biblical church into the 21st century.” I have to agree.
Our church members’ service and sacrifice has made everything possible. We are already seeing some fruit from the effort, but we will only see the full picture when we go to heaven, where we will see the long-term results of our service to pastors and missionaries. There, we will forget all our labors and all that will remain is thankfulness to God, who allowed us these opportunities to serve Him and receive heavenly rewards.
