The Blending and Increase in Europe
We are continually reminded of Brother Lee’s speaking in 1991 regarding the consummation of the age:
“Before [the crushing of the great human image in Daniel 2] transpires, the Lord’s recovery must spread to Europe and be rooted there. The spreading of the truths of the Lord’s recovery will be a preparation for the Lord’s coming back to bring the recovery and restoration not only to Israel but also to the entire creation.
“Of the three influential factors in today’s world, the Far East and the United States have been occupied and taken by the Lord’s recovery. Europe still remains as a region in which the Lord’s recovery needs to be rooted and grow. I hope that we would bring this fellowship to the Lord and pray. We should tell the Lord, ‘Lord, these days are the consummation of the age. Lord, in these days rekindle my love toward You.’” (The World Situation and the Direction of the Lord’s Move, p. 19, emphasis added)
We believe that in these days the Lord is surely intensifying His move in Europe. In the past two and half years the number of saints meeting in Europe has increased by 50 per cent to a total of just over 4,500 saints. There are now 88 lampstands in 24 countries in Europe. The outward environment, especially with regard to the mass migration of refugees into Europe, is also under the Lord’s sovereign hand as He arranges the world situation and governments to further His move and prepare His bride.
We are very encouraged by the European brothers’ training and the blending conference that were held in Baarlo, the Netherlands, in October 2016. The conference was the sixth annual blending conference held on the continent in recent years. Around 800 saints joined the conference from 34 countries, and 185 brothers from 24 countries participated in the training. The European countries represented were Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Yugoslavia. There were saints who also joined from Australia, Canada, China, French Polynesia, Israel, Honduras, Hong Kong, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States. We are very thankful to be able to have these times of blending with all the saints in Europe.
We are now looking forward to the International Training for Elders and Responsible Ones (ITERO), one of the seven feasts bequeathed to us by Brother Lee, which will be held in Leipzig, Germany, in October 2017. We have begun to fellowship regarding how to receive the saints for this time and hope to have a finalized proposal by the winter training. The initial fellowship among the leading brothers in Europe is to invite the saints from all over the earth to a blending meeting in Leipzig on the Lord’s Day of the ITERO weekend. The saints would then be welcomed to join various blending trips to visit the saints in Europe the following week. The blending trips would then culminate in eight regional conferences throughout Europe on the weekend after the ITERO. The regional conferences would take place in one city in each of the following eight regions: the Nordic and Baltic countries, the Balkan countries, the Iberian Peninsula, Eastern Europe, Italy, French-speaking Europe, German-speaking Europe, and the British Isles.
Leading up to this week of blending, we would like to reach as many people in Europe as possible. Next year will be the 500th anniversary of the drafting of the 95 Theses by Martin Luther. The greatest thing that Martin Luther accomplished, however, was translating the Bible from Greek into German. This allowed the Word to be opened up for the first time to people like us. We believe that people will be particularly aware of the Bible next year, especially in Germany and throughout many other parts of Europe. We are looking to the Lord regarding printing a few hundred thousand Recovery Versions of the New Testament in the European languages that are available, such as English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian (with Polish being available in the coming years). Europeans need this ministry, and they respond to it. Each time we go out with the free New Testament, approximately half of the people who receive one ask for further contact. We believe this is because of their respect for the Bible and their desire to understand it. This next year will be a very significant time. We are burdened to get this ministry into the hands of as many seeking Europeans as possible.
The Continued Burden for Training and an Enlarged Training Center
We need to take the trained way and care for training. Currently, in Europe there is the two-year full-time training (FTTL) for the young people who finish their university studies and who want to give some time to be trained. We believe that the number of trainees will grow exponentially very rapidly.
We also realize the need for all kinds of training. One training we have been practicing for some time now is the one-week training, which we are able to have for one month in the autumn and one month in the spring. Brother Lee said that we need a comprehensive training—a training in truth, life, the church, and the gospel—and this was the way he took when he went from China to Taipei (Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 3, p. 8). We are endeavoring to take the same way. Our capacity for additional trainees during these times is about 40 people a week, and we reach our capacity each month that the trainings are held. Even with our limited capacity we have had over 1,000 saints now who have passed through the one-week trainings from all over Europe and other countries throughout the earth. Some of these ones are new to the church life or may have never been to a meeting before, yet after one week in the truth, pursuing life, realizing what the church is, and having a heart for the gospel to be spread to others, they are changed.
Our burden is to have trainings available almost all the time. We are trying to develop a more efficient and enlarged training facility, and as was previously reported, we are planning to rebuild the training facility at Bower House in London. We now have the government’s permission for this development and have commenced the detailed design. We are also expecting to purchase the land adjacent to Bower House, which would be a preparation of the expansion of the training in future years. In the meantime, we have a Christian camp near Bower House that we purchased a few years ago, which we would also like to develop. By the end of November, we should receive the planning decision for this property.
It could be that by next spring, through initial developments at the campsite, we would have a much larger capacity for these trainings. If we have a larger capacity, we could lengthen the times that we have the trainings and also have more months of training. It is very affordable to fly from anywhere in Europe to London, especially when flying into Stansted airport, which is only 30 minutes from Bower House. We believe the Lord will continue to use these trainings to further His move in Europe.
built up in the riches of Christ. We have surely been nourished by the divine Word. Now if we all would be faithful to live for God’s administration in caring for money and material matters, there would be no financial needs in the recovery. For example, certainly we can exercise our spirit and our will to save a small amount of money each week, perhaps just two dollars and fifty cents, and give this to the Lord for His move on earth. One day, instead of having our lunch at a restaurant, we may eat a simple meal prepared at home. Then the money saved could be given to the Lord. Imagine what the situation would be if we all were faithful to do something like this week by week!” (Life-study of 1 Corinthians, p. 627)
While many saints and churches may be burdened to participate, we currently have less than 5% of the amount needed to proceed with the building project. Even if only those in North America and Europe would do as Brother Lee suggested above, within the next two years the total amount needed to complete the building works would be covered.
We need the training, and we need to see the Lord expand Himself in Europe. May we be those who pick up the burden to labor as one, in a blended way and in a corporate way. We pray for the Lord’s blessing and that we would all stay in the one accord so that the Lord is happy to bless. We do believe the Lord will do something in these coming years.
