The three-day four-session blending conference among the churches in Hawaii actually started with the blending meeting at the home of the Burnetts, an elderly couple in Malilani, in the
middle of Oahu Island on Jan. 30 morning. Indeed, the beautiful islands situated in the midst of the Pacific Ocean deserve the title of “Little Melting Pot of the World”. In this small gathering we had over 30 saints from 11 nations, who filled the house to visit this elderly couple, enjoying
the sweet blending, testimony and fellowship, which actually served as a prelude to the blending
conference. Sister Rita Burnett, though sick with cancer, was strong in spirit and greatly moved
by the visit of the saints from different places. Her strong spirit, her absolute love for the Lord
and her love for the saints were so encouraging to all. Together we sang “What miracle! What
mystery! That God and man should blended be! …” Upon the lunch food set in love by the local
saints we feasted together with exultation and simplicity of heart. The fellowship of the stream of
the divine life within the saints testified to the Oneness of the Body of Christ and the reality of the New Man!
At 7 in the evening, in the auditorium on the Manoa campus of the University of Hawaii, the first
session began, on the general subject of “The Recovery of the Priesthood”. About a total of 110
saints attended the conference. There are two churches in the Hawaii islands —- the Church in
Honolulu and the Church in Hilo which is located in the Big Island. Together with the other
saints in other islands, the total number is over 140, half English speaking and half Chinese
speaking. The only means of transportation between the islands is the airplane. In order to
receive the saints from the other islands who had paid a price (including five Russian young
people from Hilo), the saints of the Church in Honolulu provided rich and delicious food outside
the auditorium in both evenings. All the saints were richly fed in body, soul and spirit.
After the conference closed at noon on the Lord’s Day, all the saints came to the backyard of the
church house which was purchased half a year ago, to enjoy the rich love feast provided by the
local saints. There is a green patch of garden in the yard, which was planted with the help of a
gospel friend. With the prosperous vegetables and fruits, we are really grateful to our God who
gives all things liberally that, on this island where food is rather expensive, we should be able to
have a constant supply of fresh and organic vegetables, and fishes, crabs, seaweed and sea
cucumbers caught from the sea as well!
On Thursday evening, Brother James Lee had fellowship with the Chinese speaking saints,
saying that God sows people all around, and that God sowed us to this island, not only for our
own livelihood, but for His purpose, which is to make us all seeds of gospel for His kingdom. In
addition to the fellowship with some core brothers on Saturday morning, Brother James also had
fellowship with working saints, both English and Chinese speaking, on Sunday evening,
exhorting us to be watchful, to be content with what the Lord has blessed us with, to be
aggressive spiritually, to redeem the time and to take Christ as our center. On Monday morning,
over 20 saints had brunch together at Brother Peter Wong’s home. Afterwards, there was
fellowship regarding campus gospel. Brother James pointed out that the crucial thing was that
there would be one or two saints who are really burdened, have a loving heart, have prayers and
even move close to the campus, thus starting the campus work slowly and organically. By noon time, Brother James Lee departed to fly back to California, ending his one-month ministry trip
around the world with his wife.
