Seed Sprouting Testimony (English)

Seed Sprouting Testimony In Memory of Pastor David Jeng

2015-9-4

Arise My Soul In Commemoration of Pastor David Jeng Sister Jenny Gao

Time flies by quickly. With a blink of the eye, Pastor David has left us for two years! September 4th is a gloomy day that could never be erased from my heart, for it not only brought me extreme sorrow and unsurmountable depression, but my faith was greatly challenged. Although the pain and sorrow deep inside me has somewhat subsided with time, I tend to tear up with endless sorrow whenever I think of him.

Until one day God said to me, “Forget the by-gone, march on.”

Until one day David’s words reminded me, “Don’t spend your days in weakness, and don’t pass time in frustration because this is not the Lord’s way.” It woke me up from a deep dream, making me see the light amidst darkness. As a seasoned Christian, I felt ashamed when I realized my weakness and despair. I came to the conclusion that sorrow could only make us depressed and pessimistic, that it could only make us stumble, unable to move forward. Such unhealthy state of mind is something that is not only unfavored by God, it is also something that Pastor David would not like to see.

Today is the second anniversary of Pastor David’s joining our Lord in heaven. How can we remember him in a meaningful way? For me, I want to awaken my soul, restore my faith in God, reflect upon my past, rise up from my weakness, remind myself of Pastor David’s words, and fulfill his wishes. That’s what I should do.

Before he passed away, Pastor David left us with these words, “I’ve seen the revival of our church has begun. The church must earnestly move forward.” This is how a grain of wheat would give itself and to be buried in the soil in exchange for the growth of more grain. It is also the testimony of his love for the Lord and the church throughout his life. He led our church with a grand vision, hoping that it would become a shining city on the hill, brightening the corner where we are, and become an influential church in the community. How I admire his capacity!

I remember that, when preaching the Gospel, he repeatedly emphasized the core values of our church. He specifically mentioned, “The church must place the holy Bible in a position of ultimate authority. Whatever we do must be according to the Bible and follow 2

the Bible. Otherwise, the church will lose its value.” “Remember that the holy Bible is the church’s ultimate core value. We must absolutely follow God’s words.”

Talking about the church being the house of God, Pastor David would remind us that we were members of God’s household, “Our heavenly father’s work is to make His house a reality among the family members, and to establish the relation between you and your parents, and more importantly the relationship among our brothers and sisters.”

He hopes that every one of us would love the house of God, and live the reality of the house of God. This is his wish and his expectation of us all. He’s expecting us to forever follow the Lord, closely following his guidance, and moving the church forward.

As we are remembering our Pastor David today, we must follow the way he loved the Lord, loved the church, and lived his life for Jesus. We must finish the tasks that Pastor David left unfinished and complete his unfinished journey.

Oh Lord, I beg for your mercy. Wake me up, and help me to rise from sorrow and despair.

Please lift me up, watch over me; for the sake of my spiritual growth and the revival of the church, please do not cast me aside.

Brother David, may you rest in peace in the arms of the Lord.

We’ll always remember you in our hearts.

I believe that, when I’ve wiped away my tears, become strong, and charged forward without fear, you’ll be there clapping your hands and smiling at me.

May the Lord Revive Me Oh Lord, revive me and change my heart.

Get me out of the confinement of the world, And into the realm of Heaven So I’ll again turn my eyes to your face, And march toward the goal without return Oh Lord, revive me and change my heart.

Shatter the shackles of the earthly life, and set me free Read the Bible and pray, experience the reality of the Holy Spirit Worship, glorify, and thank you all the time 3

Oh Lord, revive me and change my heart.

Refresh my soul, and change my life.

Put my heavenly pursuit above earthly matters.

Live the life of Jesus, and make me more like Him. Oh Lord, my soul is to rise, and please revive me.

The church is to revive, let it begin with me.

Hymns Praying As One Lyric: Jenny Gao / Music: Flora Wang

We are praying as one The hills and mountains shall quake We are praying as one, with the shields raised And the swords drawn Yes we will pray, we’ll pray as one Overcoming death’s sting and Satan’s grasp Yes we will pray, we’ll pray as one The battle is won, the glory is the Lord’s Yes we believe, and pray as one The Lord’s Spirit will move Yes we declare, proclaim as one, revival must come As the fire burns in our midst

Pray As One Body This hymn was written in April 2012 when Brother David fell ill and was in emergency care at the hospital.

Upon hearing the bad news, brothers and sisters at the church were extremely worried. We decided to rely on our Almighty God for his power, pray as one body for strength to overcome death, and to cast away Satan, and to protect our shepherd. The Lord answered our prayers and we won the battle -- our brother was saved from death.

Later Brother David said on the podium that, when he went to Taiwan to preach the Gospel despite his illness, brothers and sisters from many parts of the world sang this hymn together and prayed for his recovery. It was so powerful and effective that he felt great at that very moment. It helped him a lot in coping with his illness and recover his physical strength.

4

I Will Live For You, Lord Lyric: Jenny Gao / Music: Flora Wang

Oh Lord, I fall down at Your feet To dwell in Your love, come night or day May You lead me, through all of my days Always by my side Lord, come what may Though the darkness closes in, Lord Though the tears may never end My heart belongs to You Though the cross I now must endure Though I just can’t go on My heart is forever Yours Lord by Your love, come make me pure Cleanse me, Lord Make me more like You Lord, by Your love You try me and Lift me up, that I’d live for You My Lord, my God, You draw me close To turn to You and live for You My Lord, my God, come breathe in me Fill me, Lord, to be Yours forevermore I will live for You, Lord I will follow You, Lord I will offer to You my life, my all

All My Life Belonged to You In April 2012, Brother David was staying in the hospital after being revived from the brim of death caused by septicemia. When I went to visit him at the hospital, my eyes quickly welled up with tears the moment I saw him. He looked so weak and tired, which made me very sad. Seeing me entering the room, he tried to sit up to shake hands with me. He not only talked about his illness, but was also more 5

concerned about what was going on in my household. When I showed him the three hymns I had written, he became very excited and asked Sister Merry to read them out to him right away. With his eyes closed, he made corrections as he was listening. We prayed together before we said goodbye.

I was deeply touched by the fact that he remained so strong and optimistic in his battle against his illness, and that he was concerned more about the church and the brothers and sisters than himself despite of his illness. I admire him for his desire to sacrifice for the love of God. So I wrote this hymn to express his desire to live for Jesus throughout his life and give all his life to Jesus. He will be our role model forever.

6

Onward, Onward, The Church Moves Onward Lyric: Jenny Gao / Music: Flora Wang

The Lord’s servant, beloved brother Clothed in glory amidst the clouds From this realm and all labor released Resting gladly in our Father’s arms Heav’ns resound in praise triumphant Angels in dance with him rejoice Crowned with a crown of gold refined Robed in honor and majesty In heav’n is my spirit And here on earth my longing Here you will find my brothers Here you will find my heart’s song Trust in the Lord in your weakness Come give Him all your sadness His Bride now will carry on Following Him with all Her heart Onward, onward, the church moves onward On brothers’ shoulders the burdens bear Arise, shine, and brighten the corners Kept by God from up above We will, with one heart, we will, with one love Build the church while marching on Though heaven’s far it’s only a moment ‘Til that day when again we meet

7

Onward, Onward, the Church Must Move Forward September 4, 2013, our church was covered with darkness when the bad news came that Pastor David had left us to join the Lord in Heaven. Brothers and sisters fell into endless sorrow. It was very difficult for us to face what happened in front of us‌.Like everyone of us, I was struck with unspeakable pain and sorrow, and could not help holding my tears. I was confused. And I tossed around in bed and could not sleep at night. I was perplexed, depressed, and could not get out the nightmare even days later.

Sorrow could only bring us weakness and perplexity, pessimism and low spirit, and compromise our faith. This is not what the Lord or our Pastor would like to see. We must overcome pain and sorrow and rise up from depression. This is the only way for us to move forward. Inspired by Psalm 20 and 21, I wrote the following hymn to remember Brother David at his memorial service and to encourage our brothers and sisters to turn sorrow into strength and move forward hand in hand.

The Hymn consists of three stanzas: First: Brother David Got Rewarded by the Lord, Joining Him in Heaven Second: Brother David’s Expectation -- Following the Lord, the Church Must Move Forward Third: Our Determination -- Work Together to Move the Church Forward

8

The True And Eternal Life Bro. Michael Yee

Time flew by so quickly, and Brother David has been gone for two years. There have been two doubts that have been nagging at my heart ever since.

First, why didn’t God listen to the prayers of the churches in oneness? Recalling the time when Bro. David was ill, brothers and sisters who worked near the church would use their lunch break to gather together at church to pray for him. During that time, he and Sis. Merry would come and pray with us when his physical condition permitted it. So, if such prayers in oneness could not move God’s hands, then how do we come ever again with faith to pray. It’s very difficult to believe that his departure is the acceptable, perfect will of God. Second, Sis. Merry has once testified that Bro David has once said he finally understood God’s will: God is to gain the church! So what does “God is to gain the church” mean? Why does God gain the church through Bro David’s departure? How does church move on with the loss of the pastor? How is the church to be gained? Such an answer seems too abstract to me.

The first year after Bro. David left, I’ve been pondering these two questions and yet I still couldn’t understand. Fearing that I am thinking too much and end up being in an extreme condition, I told myself: God’s way is higher than men’s, God’s thoughts are higher than men’s, and that man’s life is filled with many unexplainable questions to begin with. Moreover, these two questions shouldn’t have much of an impact. These questions were set aside from the quick passing of time and business of life, and these two unexplainable questions gradually sank deeply into my heart, not to be mentioned again.

The first half of this year, the small group Bible study and morning devotion schedules have been covering 1 John and 1 and 2 Corinthians; those books mentioned resurrection and the eternal life.

From reading those books, it was as if God’s word had been opened to me to answer my two unanswered questions. Although I had the knowledge of resurrection and eternal life, when truly facing death my reaction from my natural man is the same as everyone else. I have always used my old life and worldly view to perceive death with death 9

being the end of all things, so I couldn’t truly comprehend the true significance of resurrection and eternal life that are mentioned in the Scripture. As a matter of fact, all the things that men do on earth correlate with the eternal life. If men would have only this life, then it would be like the words in Ecclesiastes: vanity of vanity, all is but vanity, for it matters not how you live your days on this earth, whether you succeed and became famous, or you are poor and became unfortunate, at the end all return to dust, who will remember? What significance and worth are there to all this? If the dead do not rise, we should eat and drink for tomorrow we die. (1 Corinthians 15:32) Thank God, we are all pilgrims and sojourners on this earth.

Our significance and worth living on this earth depends not on its duration, but depends upon whether I have been faithful to what God has entrusted to me, and that includes myself, family, work and service.

With all the happenings of events taking place in the world recently: such as global warming and the climate change, Islamic extremists, and the legalization of homosexual marriage by the Supreme court, we must admit that we are living in the end times, the Lord’s return is so near. Reminders have surfaced from the New Testament era until now, but the point is, whether I am ready or not, what men prepare on earth is for the eternal inheritance up in heaven.

Although Bro. David has left us temporarily, we believe that God will continue His work in His church until completion in order to fulfill the eternal purpose of God. Let’s all prepare ourselves to become an adorned bride. Thank God, He has still measured days for us, and placed time and opportunities in our hands. Brothers and sisters, let’s encourage one another to press on, in order to gain the prize which God has prepared for us. Lastly, I will quote 2 Corinthians 4: 12, 17 and 18 to conclude my sharing: So then, death is at work in us (Bro. David), but life is at work in you (brothers and sisters).

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

For we fix our eyes on not what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Amen!

10

The True God Bro. Gang Li

Time flies. Pastor David has already been gone for two years.

I’ve been having the burden to write a testimony of him but didn’t know how to start. These days, I happened to translate a message transcript by Pastor David. The title is “An Influential Church”, which talks about “influential Christians”. All of a sudden, I felt ashamed. I realized I’m too far away from that goal - an influential Christian.

Many things happened in these two years with my own spiritual condition going up and down. Many times I would feel depressed.

Some of the services that the church entrusted me to do, I didn’t do well and was frustrated. But as I look back carefully, I have to admit that the Lord has been leading me all the way. I also see that a lot of teachings from Pastor David has been influencing me and changing me deeply. Maybe it’s subtle and sometimes I’m not even conscious of it.

But as I think about it, these are true seeds planted by Pastor David.

Pastor David paid much attention to our Bible reading and spiritual growth. Even when he was sick he still led some members in the Green Olive group to study the Bible at night. Although the Bible study had to be stopped later because of his health condition, his concern and burden toward us in that area of growth have stayed in my mind. About three years ago Pastor David invited me to study the Bible with the coworkers to prepare for the Friday Bible study material. He valued my opinions very much. I could feel that he really cared about whether brothers and sisters can gain something from the Friday night Bible study. He often asked me: “If you come to church from your office on Friday evening with all the physical fatigue, when you get the study material, how would you feel? What would you want to gain the most?” He asked me to tell him my real thoughts. He said the reason he invited me to the Bible study was because I haven’t been a Christian for very long, and I’m not accustomed to spiritual cliché.

He also told me to feel free to tell him whenever I felt it was difficult to lead small group Bible study. Even if I told him at the last minute before the Bible study started, he was still glad to help us out. He said brothers and sisters did pay the price to come to the Bible study on Friday evenings. Many of them were in some sort of need. If they couldn’t gain anything then their effort would be fruitless, and in that case it would be such a pity. What he said kept resonating in my mind.

Nowadays, every time I lead the small group study I have very heavy burden in my heart. I try to gain something first myself and help the 11

members gain something. I will attempt to invoke deeper discussion and avoid superficial routine. Of course I’m still in the learning process.

My own spiritual experience and understanding of the Bible is still shallow. I haven’t seen much progress yet, but I believe the Lord will remember my heart and lead me step by step.

Another impression I have of Pastor David is his sincerity, he had the heart of a good shepherd towards brothers and sisters. I remember we held a small group gathering in my house, Pastor David and Sister Merry also came to join us. In our conversation we talked about young immigrants who have to wait a very long time before getting their green cards. Through many years they have to wait painfully at one company without much freedom to move around.

Upon hearing this, Pastor David looked very sad and concerned. I could tell his sadness and concern were from the bottom of his heart.

Sister Merry also said Pastor David would lose sleep that night. I believe what Sister Merry said is true. Before Pastor David departed, he cared about me a lot and often asked me to come to his house to eat dinner and do some sharing with me. Now I am leading a small group.

Like a toddler just learning to walk, sometimes I also ask brothers and sisters to come to my home to eat dinner and practice loving each other.

I also attempt to visit some brothers and sisters. Before sleeping at night sometimes we pray for brothers and sisters in the small group. I used to be an indifferent and numb person. But through these services, the Lord has gradually put the care for brothers/sisters, family members, and friends in my heart.

At one of the co-worker meetings, Pastor David said the leading of young people shouldn’t be bounded to a certain formality. It should be flexible, as long as we can bring them to the Lord.

Considering that our small group consists of mainly young people from China and they use WeChat a lot, last year we attempted to memorize Bible verses daily on WeChat. Later on we added the intercession portion. The Lord did the work Himself, many brothers and sisters participated in this. I believe throughout the year we all gained something more or less. Later on many other small groups also adopted this approach. Last year was a year that I was serious about the Lord’s words. Because of this, the Lord was serious about me as well. Many great things happened last year: first of all the Lord himself led me to establish a new family; secondly the Lord led us to change to a new job; thirdly my father got baptized; and finally I had a dramatic trip to Taiwan and China at the end of the year. In retrospect, the leading of the Lord is so real. My heart is full of gratitude. Just like a hymn that 12

Pastor David liked: All the way my Savior leads me.

In recent years, the “survival rate” of new believers in our church has been very low. Many newly baptized brothers and sisters quickly stopped coming to church. They didn’t read the Bible nor pray.

They completely left God. This year I had a burden that I need to be a good example myself and I want to make my own effort to change this situation. Now I’m leading a newly baptized brother to read one chapter of New Testament a day based on our church’s Bible reading schedule. Everyday we’d post a verse that touches us on WeChat.

Thank the Lord, we have been doing this for half a year. I’ve started doing morning devotion. That is really a most precious time in the day.

I read the Bible, pray, sing hymns and draw close to the Lord. In the new believer’s class, brother Jengyi encouraged everyone to record our prayers on a prayer book. After hearing that I started to write spiritual journals, in which I wrote down the words I said to the Lord and prayers. Sometimes I look back at the writing, and highlighted those prayers which were answered by the Lord. For the past half a year, I can say the Lord is the God who listens to prayers.

I remember when Pastor David was in critical condition suffering from Septicemia, God allowed him to see what is true and what is false. The testimony he shared has been hovering in my mind.

I often ask myself how many things I do are true, and how many are false, those that are false won’t be counted when it’s time to give an account to the Lord. Before I preach the gospel to someone I’d ask myself: Do I really care about him/her? When I pray I also ask myself if I really have a grateful heart to the Lord. When I do my work or service: do I really do it for the Lord? I hope that in the remaining days of my life I would have more truth in everything I do. This is a desire of my heart and I would like to take this chance to encourage each other.

13

Love, Faith, Action, Carrying On Bro. Peter Le

One of the lasting memories I had of Pastor David was in 2013 during my last semester in college. At this very time, the gallery auction that I co-curated and hosted had opened to the public in Downtown San Jose. Pastor David and Pastor Merry had visited our on-campus bible study group and I remembered he had called me over to tell me that he was very pleased with the gallery. Quite taken aback and surprised that he knew about the gallery... I didn’t know what to say, but “thank you.” At the time, his encouragement gave me a glimpse of what God had done in my life and what God can do when there is a vision. And so, I held onto that.

In the following months, and after Pastor David passed away, I recalled many of our brothers’ and sisters’ testimonies of Pastor David in which gave me a larger picture of who he was, how much he loved God and how much he was a man of God. This invigorated me to actively pursue God and continually serve within the church as much as I was able--hopefully, to be a supporting pillar of the our church.

Even as the Lord was working in me, my short-sightedness directed me into a revolving door that spun for over two years where I tried to find myself and unfortunately my own will in the “world.” With working several different jobs and uncertainty, I missed many pivotal opportunities to grow in Christ. When I left my job at a startup in late 2014 to take care of my ill younger sister, I had shifted on working toward a career path in Animation. Believing that God was paving the way for my “dreams” to come true, there was an opportunity at Paramount Animation and an internship at Pixar. Big opportunities in which I thought God had finally given me a break. However, neither opportunity flourished and I was back at square one. No job, and a heaping sum of hurt ego.

I questioned God for some time. Where do I belong? Didn’t I have a good vision in where I might be able to glorify God the best?

God could use me over there! God I loved this! God you gave me these gifts! Why can’t I use them for you? Please use it! And I continued to pray and pray and pray. But I just didn’t get it at the time, now knowing how much I was trying to have my way with things. I had a very bad case of sore eyes.

At the start of January 2015, on our first Friday night bible 14

study, we had viewed a 2013 video recording of Pastor David’s sermon for the new year. The message was on Genesis 13:14-17, in the lines of “Lift Your Eyes Now and Look - Arise and Walk in the Land” 14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward,15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. 17 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.”

After the video, we split into small groups. We ended up writing these small reminders for ourselves on notecards in which we would receive in the mail on the specified dates. That night I took the Pastor David’s sermon to heart and God slowly began to lift me out of where my head was. It was clear to me that I had to start with myself, and that I was always at the right place where God could use me. I just needed to get out of God’s way.

In the next month God led me to take a position at Chick-FilA, a fast food restaurant. Though I was reluctant at first, God pushed me to accept the position and to continue to move forward. Honestly, It would have been reckless if I had spent another 6 months working solely on my art portfolio. Many times in the first month, I questioned God again and again with the same concerns. I had encountered several moments of insecurity, embarrassment and also conflicts with coworkers. But a few weeks into February, I received my first notecard.

It had said: “God is always good!!”

“God is always with you!!”

“Job 1:21” “Have faith” These small reminders put me back into place and in which I really started to exercise my faith. For the many times I feared picking up the phone, I had quickly prayed to God to be with me as I answered.

And I remember out of all those times, only two times the phone conversation with a customer ended with me feeling distraught and defeated. Had I only prayed. But with this in mind, this was certainly God’s faithfulness. As I slowly began to change from the inside by 15

trusting and relying on God more, eventually my circumstances began to change as well.

I received my second notecard in early July after the summer conference: It said: “Don’t be stupid!!!!”

“Fix your eyes on Jesus!!”

Though I was still at Chick-Fil-A, and though I was still struggling to find a better opportunity, I needed to be reminded to keep my eyes on Jesus. I was well equipped after the summer conference with a mindset and heart to be an overcomer and to preach the Gospel.

And after the Ethiopia missions trip, I had learned how much God truly loved His children and how every single member of the Body of Christ is significant. It was a privilege to get to see the unbelievable work that Pastor David had started in Ethiopia. And it’s amazing because he just had a “vision.” And how grand was it?

As I have just turned 25 years old this past month, and 3 years a Christian, I am reminded of how much work needs to be done and how much I am still scared of the Gospel. Scared of the one thing that would give someone eternal life. Scared because I might offend someone, or I might get hurt, or direct someone down the wrong path.

This fear has to change today.

Through my reflection on Pastor David and through seeing the work of a man with just a “vision,” I am once again, greatly encouraged to stand for God and His Kingdom. And even though my friendship and memory of Pastor David is very faint, I’m eternally grateful how God had used him through these past two years to put life and strength back into me. May I arise from my slumber, wipe the crust out of my eyes, look out and about, and walk, walk, walk. Thank you, Pastor David.

16