What we can learn from the ‘New’ Church
Over the past few years I have had the privilege of hearing accounts of the underground Church in China, and more recently the Church among the people in Northern Russia.
First the account I heard from China. It was related first hand by a Canadian teacher whose specialty was how to experience and be led by the Holy Spirit.
He was invited to help ‘teach’ the underground Church in China, which suffers much persecution. While the Chinese government tolerates public ‘christian’ churches, they still greatly persecute the Spirit-led Church. We all realize the reason of course, is because they are the only Church threatening satan’s kingdom.
When ‘Bill’ attended his first underground Church meeting, which I believe was held in a house, filled with people; during the worship or introduction time, his interpreter leaned over to him and told him; “the seven old ladies sitting in the front row, have all raised the dead”. He said it rather matter of fact, but the impact on ‘Bill’ was immediate, and it was acute. What did he have to offer believers mature enough in the LORD to be raising the dead?
He testifies that over the following weeks, he was taught far more than he ever was able to teach. The account of his first morning prayer meeting went something like this: The assembled in a home at 4:00 am and simply began worshiping the LORD. There was some prayer during this time, but mostly seeking the LORD and His Presence. Finally at about 5:00am, ‘Bill’ thought he should start to say something, being the western teacher and all. He no sooner opened his mouth than the old lady put her fingers to his lips and told him ‘we do not speak now, we LISTEN’.
From 5:00 until 9:00am that is exactly what they did, they LISTENED to their LORD, they experienced their LORD and they grew in knowledge of their LORD. This is how they conducted ‘church’ every day, seven days per week. Out of this intimacy comes the knowing to be able to withstand terrible persecution and misery, out of this intimacy comes the maturity which sees the dead raised.
The old lady told ‘Bill’ how she first raised a dead person. It did not begin with raising a dead person; it began with months and years, spent getting to know the LORD. This knowing came out of the prayer life described above. One day, during a prayer time the LORD told her to go next door and pray for her sick neighbor, which she did, and her neighbor was healed. These types of encounters continued over the years until finally one day He told her to go to the local hospital and attend a certain room, where she would raise a dead person. She obeyed and much to the surprise of all who witnessed the person, who was dead, was indeed raised back to life.
The ‘secret’ of seeing these great miracles, does not come out of running here and there laying hands on every sick or dead person she encounters. The ‘secret’ is in the 4 hours she spends daily LISTENING to what the LORD is saying. She is living what Jesus said, when He said He only did what he SAW the Father doing. That of His own self He could do nothing.
There is a lesson here for all of us in the western church, who think we have it all figured out with our programs and agendas, our doctrines and our traditions.
A SECOND LESSON
This is another testimony of a western evangelist/teacher who was called to the people in the far north of Russia, probably Siberia, but I am not certain of that detail. They are indeed living at the ends of the earth, in conditions I cannot even imagine. They are very definitely related to the Inuit or Eskimo of the Canadian north. Their way of life and physical features are obvious.
However, ‘Bill’ spent months preparing for and getting to this people, which required great personal hardship simply in the ‘getting’ to where there people live. They are not at the end of a highway, or even a dirt road for that matter, they can only be reached by snowmobile or dogsled in winter, and special tracked vehicles in the ‘summer’.
The gospel was received in one of these isolated communities and because of the coming winter, not too much time could be spent teaching these new believers, nor did they have a pastor they could leave with them. They did however leave them with some Bibles and promised to return the following spring.
About six months later they returned as promised, not really knowing what to expect, feeling apprehensive about not leaving a teacher/pastor to guide the new flock. What met them amazed them! This ‘un-churched’ group of new believers was experiencing the Book of Acts, with Blessed worship time, with people simple enjoying His Presence. During these times, the people would wind up on the floor simply experiencing the LORD, unable to stand under the anointing.
‘Bill’ had to find out how this could be, since they had such little teaching, and no one had been able to stay with them. He asked one of the elders present how this wonderful thing had happened? The reply: “We read the Book of Acts……wonderful isn’t it!”
These ‘simple’ people had structured their Church after the Book of Acts, simply explained if it happened in Acts, they received it, if it did not, they did not.
These are both critical lessons the Church in the west need to learn from the emerging Church elsewhere.
You might be interested to know, that one of the underground Church prayers for the western church, is that we will suffer persecution, so that perhaps we will be roused from our slumber and see how far from the mark we have fallen.
