中文 Guest Pastor – Yung Chou & Te Yu Hsu

We first met Rev. Mark Geppert in the spring of 2005. We were under training at our mother church in Taipei, and we prayed for God to send a helper to us. After attending his “Attack Lambs” seminar, we invited him to Atlanta, courageously, because Bread of Life Christian Church in Atlanta (BOLCC-ATL) had not started yet.  Just three months after the church was founded, Mark came and taught the “Attack Lambs” seminar. He led us to walk and pray in Chinatown – home of the most poor, needy, and forgotten people in Atlanta. Since then, hundreds been saved and more than forty baptized. This outreach program also trained and established some of our co-workers. We learned so many “must know” essentials about pastoring a church from him.

In 2006, Mark came to teach “Unity,” not only in our church but also within other churches, teaching us that as long as we make an effort to keep united and humble ourselves, we would be one as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are One. This message blessed our church with the spirit of unity, and we were encouraged to invite other Chinese church pastors to have monthly fellowship as well. Our first missionary traveled with SEAPC to Tibet the next month. When he came back, he dedicated his life to China.

In 2007, Mark led the Cambodian Christian Children’s Choir to visit us. It touched the hearts of three sisters to join a prayer chain for world orphans. One was sent to Shanghai a year later and sought the opportunity to serve orphans in China. In the past two years, four heart specialists came from China to research in Atlanta. They attended BOLCC-ATL and had a chance to meet Mark, one finding his hospital had worked with SEAPC in Tibet already.

In 2009, we joined the SEAPC Coins for Kids project, encouraging our children to earn coins for Tibet’s children. Their diligence in making money by laboring at errands should be an inspiration to us all, because they believed they could help at least one child have a heart operation. Six weeks later, they reached the goal with some help from matching donations from the congregation. The best part of this story is how parents noticed that their children maintained good behavior even after the campaign finished!

As we have just celebrated our fifth anniversary, we are eyeing to reach out and influence the world more. We were blessed through Rev. Mark and SEAPC. We are praying that, in the future, SEAPC will be our blessing again. We have invited Rev. Mark to come in July, expecting to touch God’s glory. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him … that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!”

Yung Chou and Te Yu

YungChou (Sam) and Te Yu (Felicia) Hsu

Bread of Life Christian Church in Atlanta, Norcross, Georgia | www.atlantabolcc.org

第一次遇見馬可牧師是在二○○五年春天。那時，我們在台北的母會接受訓練，禱告主差一位使者來幫助我們。參加馬可牧師的「羔羊戰士」培訓之後，我們邀請他來亞特蘭大，這可說是勇氣十足，因為那時亞特蘭大的生命糧基督教會 (BOLCC-ATL) 都還沒有開始。教會成立才三個月，馬可就來作「羔羊戰士」的培訓。他領我們在中國城行走禱告，那裡是亞特蘭大窮人、困苦人和被遺忘的人最多的

二○○六年，馬可來教導「合一」，不只在我們教會，也在其他教會當中。他教導我們，只要我們努力保持合一，謙卑我們自己，我們就會像父、子、聖靈一樣合而為一。這個信息使我們教會得著合一的靈，我們受激勵邀請其他中國教會的牧者和我們有每個月一次的團契。一個月之後，我們的第一位宣教士和東南亞禱告中心一起去到西藏。他一回來，就把生命奉獻給中國。

二○○七年，馬可領柬埔寨的基督兒童合唱團來到我們這裡，感動了三位姊妹的心，開始一個為全世界的孤兒的連鎖禱告。其中一位在一年以後被派到上海，尋求機會服事中國的孤兒。過去兩年，四位心臟專家從中國到亞特蘭大作研究，加入亞特蘭大生命糧基督教會 (BOLCC-ATL)，有一次機會遇到馬可牧師，其中一位發現他的醫院已經和東南亞禱告中心在西藏展開合作。

二○○九年，我們加入東南亞禱告中心的「孩子存銅板」計畫，鼓勵我們的孩子為西藏的兒童積攢銅板。他們出力打雜賺錢，相信可以至少幫助一個孩子接受心臟手術，這樣的殷勤真可激勵我們每一個人。六週以後，他們在會眾的幫助之下達到了目標。最棒的是，家長們發現他們的孩子在募款結束之後，仍保持同樣的好行為。

剛慶祝完建堂五週年，我們的目標是要繼續外展，影響世界。因著馬可牧師與東南亞禱告中心，我們領受祝福。我們祈求，東南亞禱告中心要再次成為我們的祝福。我們已經邀請馬可七月來到我們當中，盼能觸摸神的榮耀。「這人的腳登山何等佳美‥‥對錫安說“你們的神作王了！”」

YungChou (Sam) and Te Yu (Felicia) Hsu
Bread of Life Christian Church in Atlanta, Norcross, Georgia | www.atlantabolcc.org

Pastor Tong Liu’s November Article

身為一個教會牧師，我一直深信宣教始於禱告。主在馬可福音十一章17節說：「我的殿要稱為萬國禱告的殿。」常常，我們的禱告只著重於個人的生活、教會的事工或所在的當地，但主很明確的告訴我們，教會應該是為萬國禱告的殿。宣教不只是另一種教會活動，而應該是會眾生活的積極延伸，因為禱告會產生負擔，激起對宣教禾場的熱情。、

為什麼禱告這麼重要？首先，禱告使我們與神同心。就像那失羊的比喻，我們大多數的人都只關切羊圈裡的九十九隻羊，但神旳心卻是要出去找尋那隻迷失的羊。禱告能使我們體會神的心是何等顧念失喪者。第二，禱告捆綁撒旦的工作。身為一個基督徒，必須要知道神藉著禱告所賜給我們的權柄。馬太福音十八章18到19節說：「我們在地上所捆綁的，在天上也要捆綁。」

身為牧師，我們要幫助我們的會眾藉著禱告參與宣教。在我們教會，我們每主日為一個國家與一個未得之族禱告。記得有一次，我們為一個叫作 Fulani 未得之族禱告，接下的一週，我去非洲的一個小村落傳道，當我發出呼召時，當地的牧師把一個人帶到我面前，說：「牧師，這個人接受了基督，他是 Fulani 族。」你可以想像我是何等歡喜雀躍地把這個見證帶回去，與我們的會眾分享。神回應了我們的禱告！

我們教會的每一個小組都認領一個宣教機構、宣教士或植堂教會，為他們禱告，在屬靈上支持他們。每年十月的宣教月，當這些宣教的工人回到我們教會時，我們的會眾就有機會與他們代禱的宣教士建立個人的關係。

我們差派禱告團隊到不同的宣教工場作行走禱告。過去十年來，我們曾差派團隊到蒙古，為這國家禱告，並與當地教會同工。我們看到了神如何改變這國家。十年前，這是一個沒有盼望的國家，但是最近他們發掘了最大的金礦和銅礦，當地的經濟成長，教會也增長。現在他們全國有五十萬名基督徒。我們也曾差派禱告團隊到西藏，和“東南亞禱告中心”同工，在西藏拉薩建立禱告殿。有一天，這將會改變那地區的整個屬靈氣氛。

我越來越體認到，禱告是傳福音最有效的策略。當我們一同禱告，神會賜下驚人的結果，因為我們的神是聽禱告的神。

劉彤牧師
生命河靈糧堂

As a local church pastor, I have always believed that missions start from prayer. The Lord says in Mark 11:17, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” So many times our prayers in church only focus on our personal lives, church ministry or local surroundings, but the Lord specifically tells us that the Church should be a house of prayer for ALL nations. Missions are not just any other church activity. It should be an active extension of the lives of the congregation, because prayer generates burden and stirs up passion for the mission field.

Why is prayer so important? First of all, it helps us align with the heart of God. Just like the parable of the lost sheep, most of us will only care for the 99, but God’s heart is out there looking for the lost one. Prayer can help us to understand God’s heart for the lost.  Secondly, prayer can bind the work of Satan. Being a Christian, it’s important to understand the authority that God has given us through prayer. In Matthew 18:18-19, it says, “whatever we bind on earth, it will be bound in heaven.”

As pastors, we need to help our congregation engage in missions through prayer. One of the things that we have done in our church is to pray for one nation and unreached people group every Sunday. I remember one time we prayed for an unreached people group called Fulani. The following week I went to Africa to preach in a little village. After I gave the altar call, the local pastor brought a man to me and told me, “Pastor, this person accepted Christ and he is Fulani.” You can only imagine how much joy I came back with to present this to our congregation. God has answered our prayers!

We also have each cell group in our church adopt a mission organization, missionary or daughter church to pray for and spiritually support. When they return to our church during Mission Month in October, it helps the congregation build a personal relationship with the missionaries that they are interceding for.

We send out prayer teams to various mission fields to do prayer walks. For the past 10 years, we have been sending teams to Mongolia, praying for the nation and working with the local church. We have seen how God has changed the nation. Ten years ago, it was a nation without hope, but recently they have discovered the largest gold and copper mine. The economy is growing and so is the church. They now have over 50,000 Christians in the nation. We have also sent prayer teams to Tibet, working with SEAPC, to establish a Prayer House in Lhasa, Tibet. Eventually, it will change the entire spiritual atmosphere of the region.

More and more, I’ve realized that prayer is the most effective strategy of evangelism.  When we pray together, God brings extraordinary results because our God is a God who answers prayers!

Pastor Tong Liu

River of Life Christian Church