Praying to activate God’s move, joining the training together to be wrought upon by the Lord
In the second year of training, our propagation team went to Tianwei Township in Changhua for five weeks of gospel outreach. We arrived in Changhua with the hope of gaining a large number of people and establishing the church in Tianwei. Quite different from people we met door-knocking in urban areas, the rural folks seemed more plain and cordial. Quite often, we would share a simple hymn in Taiwanese and people would invite us to enter into their homes. Although the doors were open, idols were a strong force to reckon with, because almost every household had an altar and every short section of the road had a temple.
In one village, where all the neighbors were very familiar with one another, once the report of our bringing some people to salvation went out, the whole village began opposing us, and those who were at first open to us turned their hearts away. Ephesians 6:12 says: “For our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly.” Faced with the strong spiritual forces of evil, we were not willing to give in; the gospel of the Lord must have an outlet here. We made a strategic move: kneeling and praying desperately for the gospel and for the human situations. As a result, we experienced that prayer was truly the means to activate God’s move. As the Holy Spirit worked in that place, people were once again open to us. By the Lord’s name we cast out the demons, broke down the idols, and ministered the Triune God to the people who needed help. We saw how many forsook their idols and turned to the true God.
During the 35 days of our propagation in Tianwei, at least 30 days were like a dream for us, as we brought people to salvation day by day. This was the first time we experienced what was said in Acts 2:47, “And the Lord added together day by day those who were being saved.” Going through this propagation, I can see that our God is always with us who preach the gospel, until the consummation of the age.
