A Chessman

By new Campus Fellowship co-workers, Li Xiu-Quan and Lin Jing-Zhi

During our thirty-eight years of serving the Lord, we have come to realize that our generation has experienced the Lord's grace in a special way. We have have been privileged to stand at the cross-roads of two centuries, to experience the transformation of time and to see the dawn of the new millenium.

As we were preparing for the transition into the new century, America witnessed many significant events. One of these was Urbana 2000, a conference of historic significance and impact.

Twenty-seven years ago we had the opportunity of attending this same conference. As sixteen thousand people sang How Great Thou Art and as the message of the main address made its impact on everybody's heart, we found ourselves interceding in prayer for the whole world. And as thousands of weeping young people dedicated their lives to the Lord, the Lord opened our eyes too. We saw the need of the whole world for the Gospel and we touched the Lord's heart of love for the world. Ever since then we have had in our hearts a deep sense of call to world mission.

On our return to Taiwan at the beginning of 1974 we shared our impressions of that conference with our Campus Fellowship co-workers. Then in March 1975 we ran a a special missionary exhibition and workshop in our new conference hall. Every seat was taken over those two evenings and all who attended were deeply moved. And so our student ministry started to reach out towards the whole world.

From 1979 onwards, Taiwan Campus Fellowship has hosted a youth missions conference once every three years, a Taiwan Urbana, and over these past twenty years and more we have seen thousands of young people dedicate their lives to the work of the Gospel at home and abroad.

A chessman on the Lord's chess board

Before His ascension to heaven the risen Lord gave us His great commission: "Go and make disciples of all nations." (Matthew 28:19) and that Great Commission continues to echo in our own hearts. The apostle Paul declared, "I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision." (Acts 26:19). And for my wife and myself, the vision that came to us at Urbana '73 has not only lasted for the more than twenty ensuing years, but its call to complete dedication to mission has become even stronger. It will continue to be the direction, content and driving force for all our future service.

As we enter on this new century, my wife and I have been trying to count all the Lord's blessings to us, and I have been struck by how wonderfully He has guided us . The Lord seems to have divided our thirty-eight years of service into three stages, placing us in different situations:

The first stage was our fourteen years of student ministry. The Lord enabled us to devote the enthusiasm and energy of our youth to work amongst college and high school students, bringing them to the Lord and training them to follow and serve Him. For twelve of those years we served as full-time co-workers of Taiwan Campus Fellowship. For the other two years we were receiving training in Singapore and participating in ministry among Chinese-speaking students there.

The second stage was church ministry. The Lord led us to devote the wisdom and love of our middle years to a church in Boston in the United States. One characteristic of this church was its support of overseas mission as well as local mission. As senior pastor, we encouraged the brothers and sisters in the church to work hard in Christian service and to learn together. We thank the Lord that the church not only did a great job of praying for and financially supporting missionary work, but it also sent out missionaries to various areas of the world.

After going on short-term missions trips to South America and North Thailand, my wife and I had an even stronger sense of the Lord's calling and we once again volunteered for missionary outreaches in rural areas. Then, after several years of anticipation and preparation, on the morning of November 20 1994 we finally became missionaries ourselves.

This third stage of active overseas missionary work lasted for six years. The Lord had led us to devote our late middle-age to the task of world mission. We praise Him for all we learned over those six years of overseas ministry in North Thailand, Burma and Cambodia, and for what we experienced of God's power. In March of this year, the Lord has wonderfully brought us back to Campus Fellowship U.S.A. (or Overseas Campus) to head up its overseas ministries.

As we look back on the Lord's step-by-step guidance and planning, we have come to realise that we are simply chessmen on the Lord's chessboard. The Lord has prepared His complete plan for our lives, according to His own good and perfect will. It is He who planned out our lives. He first got us first involved in student work; then He directed our move to church ministry and then to missionary work and finally back to work among students and scholars. For students are the human resources for mission and the church is the base for mission. From U.S. history we see that world mission was initiated by the devotion and prayers of students. So the Lord has led us to be involved in ministry in all of these areas - students, scholars, church and world mission. What a wonderful plan!

Royal endowments - and today's opportunities

As we step into this new century, my wife and I kneel once again at the feet of our Lord. Our desire is to devote the rest of our lives to the Lord and we are willing to be completely consumed on the altar of world mission.

We also want to encourage Chinese Christians to get involved in world mission. For one thing, missiologists predict that the 21^st century will be the century of Chinese missions and we firmly believe that this prediction will come true; on the other hand, Esther 4:14 appropriately reflects today's Chinese Christians: "Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

The Chinese are a people upon whom the Lord has especially poured out His grace. Wherever there is seawater, there are Chinese. The Lord has also granted them talented brains, skillful hands, patience and perseverance. All of these are indeed royal endowments, aren't they? Shouldn't we grasp today's opportunities? Should we not inject Chinese energy into world missions before the Lord returns? May Chinese missionaries join the western missionaries who have labored in the field for hundreds of years. Let us all become partners and work together to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth as we await the Lord Jesus' return !

Note: Li Xiu-quan and Lin Jing-zhi will join the American Campus Fellowship (Overseas Campus) beginning from March 2001 to head the overseas ministry department. This article is their vision and testimony.