Dear Family in Christ

Marching Westward

A group of young people called by the Lord have begun their discipleship training school. Twenty-six people including nine young ladies and seventeen young men went out between May 12th and June 3rd on foot, sharing the gospel, from Qingchuan in Si-chuan Province to Lanzhou City in Gansu Province. They walked the entire 670 kilometers! In May 2013, Isaac led a mission team traveling on foot from Kangding, Sichuan Province, to Shiqi. It was snowing as they walked through a mountainous region. Isaac met a Tibetan family of five who were making a pilgrimage to Lhasa. Every step they took, they bowed and touched their heads to the ground—this way, it would take them many months to make the journey! This scene touched Isaac deeply—these Buddhists were so devoted—so willing to suffer and pay such a price to follow their religion—yet making this arduous, interminable, kowtowing journey all the way to Lhasa seemed a glorious thing to them! (The distance from Golmud City in Qinghai Province to the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet, is 1160 kilometers—a walk that takes about 256 hours of normal walking.)

The “Back to Jerusalem” movement began in Shandong Province in the late 1920’s with members of the “Jesus Family.” They believed God wanted them to take the gospel back to Jerusalem, preaching in the towns and cities all along the way. In the 1940’s, as Brother Zhang Guquan established the “Northwest Spiritual Worker’s Band” and Pastor Mark organized the “Preach Everywhere Band,” the vision began to sprout and grow. The Northwest Spiritual Workers’ Band sent the first workers out from Le Dao Yuan Spiritual Homes in Weifang, Shandong Province, in 1946. Their vision: “Christianity is our faith, the Northwest our direction, Spiritual Work the work done by the Holy Spirit, and our Band a team of workers in one accord.” The Northwest Spiritual Workers’ Band included intellectuals, seminary students, university students, engineers, and members from wealthy homes. They went out carrying Bibles and a few changes of clothing. Some of the sisters had had their feet bound, as was the custom with girls in those days. They had no financial support. They did this during the time between the Second World War and the Chinese Civil War, setting out with hearts willing to lay down everything, even their lives. Coming from Weifang, Shandong they went clear to the western border of China at Kashgar, Xinjiang Province. They braved wind and rain and were faithful unto death. They walked 4700 kilometers (which would take about 1,140 hours of walking), thousands of kilometers of which was through desert, wind, and storms. They suffered countless hardships and even imprisonment in order to answer the Lord’s call. Now, from 2011 until 2017, the young people in Discipleship Training School have walked a total of 4860 kilometers, preaching the gospel as they have gone along.

The Discipleship Training School has this walking mission trip once a year, and on the average, each person carries 25 kilograms of items and provisions for the journey. The purpose is to build up their willpower, stamina, and endurance and to reveal to them their weaknesses and selfishness, so they can get past themselves, be changed, help one another, encourage one another, communicate effectively, and operate in unity. They experience and learn to rely on God through the trip as they preach the gospel. Every year God does miracles in their lives. As they walk and preach the gospel, He lifts them up, transforms them, makes them grow, and teaches them self-reliance and independent judgment.

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a ‘child’ in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Romans 10:15 “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”

Encouraging One Another: Because the journey on foot is so long (they walk an average of 8 hours a day), the students get blisters on their feet. In the evening, Isaac applies medicine and bandages their feet himself. He treats them as his own children; with the heart of a father he loves them and cares for them as only a father would! The feet of one 14-year-old girl in the group, Yang Yang, were unusually blistered and painful, yet she still kept going joyfully along, praising the Lord.

On May 14th it began to rain at dusk, and the young people set up their tents in the rain. Isaac sent a WeChat message to ask parents and others to pray, and God heard their prayers. With-in 15 minutes the rain stopped! God controlled the weather! Brothers and sisters involved in this mission trip experienced God and were encouraged and built up in their faith.

Sharing the Gospel: The grandpa was a fifth-generation Buddhist. After sharing the gospel with him, the students and Isaac gave him a Bible. He was reading it the following morning…May God work through His Word in his heart!

We are Thankful for…God is with us at every step; we feel so much peace! Some strangers that we meet bring water and fruit to us without our asking.

Every place we come to, the team reads the Bible aloud together, prays, and spends some time praising and worshiping God.

Brothers and sisters of local churches along the way welcome us warmly and usually provide us with food and places to stay.

Thank you for your prayers for us! May we all continue faithfully to carry Christ’s commission forward; may God bless you!

Celebration of Nexus Brazil Registration:

Chinese have joined hands with Brazilians to fulfill the Great Commission! Brazil is the biggest country in Latin American and the second-largest missionary-sending country in the world. Nexus is partnering with the Church in Brazil to serve and support a Brazilian and African couple and South African couple in China. These two countries have served China for decades; thank God that now we Chinese have the opportunity to serve them for the purpose of advancing the kingdom of God.

Nexus Brazil is conducting its first Mission Conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in September. We invite you to celebrate the goodness of God in Brazil with Nexus and brothers and sisters in the Southern Hemisphere!
Latin Americans, of many races and colors, are passionate people!

Sincerely, Your servant,
The Nexus family