It was sovereign of the Lord
that after the raising up of the eighth church in
Regions I-VI of the Philippines, the church in Casiguran
in December 1983, the Lord also called out several
working saints to serve Him full-time. Therefore,
in January 1984, Brother Liu Chi Cheng started the
prelude to the Full-time Training by way of pursuing
with these newly called-out ones. Daily they would
pursue together until November, 1984 when Brother
Witness Lee came to hold a conference, called out
for more college graduates to be trained, and at the
same time instructed Brother Liu to start the Full-time
Training for the young people. In line with the burden
issued out of Brother Lee’s instruction, the
daily pursuit meeting metamorphosed to a Full-time
Training. From a mere number of 16 trainees, the number
rises to 205 trainees (July 21 - November 1997). As
of date, over 3,000 were trained at the Training Center
in Malabon. The present 54 co-workers taking care
of the 489 churches are products of this Training.
Indeed, what Paul told Timothy is realized here, “And
the things which you have heard from me through many
witnesses, these commit to faithful men who will be
competent to teach others also” (II Tim. 2:2).
Many of the trained ones grew to
be the pillars in their respective churches, besides
the 50 who became co-workers to take care of the churches.
What is much instilled is the vision of Christ and
the church, the present practice of blending for the
building up of the Body of Christ to consummate the
New Jerusalem. Every trainee is given the opportunity
to learn the 30 characters - genuine, exact, strict,
etc., memorize them and exercise them for his transformation.
Due to proper spiritual eating, their zoe life grows
much faster than when they were not yet in the training.
Those who continue for the second year are guided
to have the six one’s: one spirit, one soul,
one prayer, one work, one labor, and one building.
All the trained ones, besides practicing the six one’s,
exercise also the six not’s: not afraid of suffering,
not afraid of hardship, not going fund raising, not
showing one’s poverty, not afraid to die, and
not wanting one’s life. Everyone is trained
to be armed with a mind to suffer.
Although the training was originally
geared to expand the Lord’s work in Regions
I-VI of the Philippines, yet because the Body is universal,
not only saints from Regions I-VI are trained but
also those from Regions VII- XII and even some from
abroad, among whom are saints from Korea and one from
New Zealand.
We bow our head to worship God’s
divine provision for everything. The Training since
1984 to date has been carried on completely by faith.
The trainees come by faith, the training go on by
faith. “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye
to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye,
buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without
money and without price” (Isa. 55:1). Those
who desire to be trained and possess the following
qualifications are accepted for one year:
1. Loving Christ and the church.
2. Between 20 and 40 years of age; single.
3. College graduate.
4. Physically fit and mentally sound.
And those who desire to be trained
but who are either undergraduate or unable to give
one year of their time are also accepted under the
following condition:
1. Loving Christ and the church.
2. At least 18 years of age no upper age limit; single
or married.
3. Able to read, write, and converse fluently in
Filipino.
4. Physically fit and mentally sound.
The training is the Lord’s,
as long as He wants it He provides for all its needs.
We are just His serving ones, we abide by His leading
for His desire is our command. On our part we just
need to be faithful and prudent until the day we meet
Him face to face.
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