From Pastor Fred Hsu

Letter from Home 6/22/2018: North America Chinese Homecoming

I did a little recounting; since the Chinese Gathering in Vancouver in 2009 until
today, I have participated in “Homecoming” related gatherings and pre-gatherings, both domestic and international, at least 55 times – I was shocked! Every time I learn so much and this time what I have received is even more profound. From knowing to truly understanding is the accumulation of many events. Certain things took me many times to fully comprehend. The more I understand the Kingdom of God, the less abstract it becomes. It moves from two dimensions to three dimensions, from black and white to color, and it even turns into animation before my eyes, entered into my spirit, and becomes a molecule of my cell, changing my life. Like a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly— it is in changing that things find purpose! God’s purpose for me is more fundamental than what I set my mind to do.

We are human beings, not human doings — being is more important than doing. I did not fully understand this before, but now I can certainly say that the most fundamental human need is to know God, be cherished by Him, and truly understand His heart, so we can change from being an orphan to being a son, from being lost to being secure in His love. Jesus said, I am the way, I came to take you to my Father—Jesus is not the end, the Father is (John 14:6)! I have flown out of the cage of religion and tradition, and now am returning to the Father’s home and entering the Father’s heart.

At the last gathering, there were 700 adults and 200 children in the evening and 500 adults during the day. Most of them were Chinese, and the majority of them were from California. Non-Chinese and people from out of town were the minority.

Pastor Gideon Chiu loves to share the heritage he and David Demian received from Pastor Bob Birch, their spiritual father. One important message Pastor Bob had in his life is “Those who have ears, let them hear what the Spirit has to say.” He repeatedly shared this to a point that many were tired of hearing it, but Gideon and David were eternally grateful. They not only received the message but also walked in it. It has become their lifetime practice and has also become a secret ingredient of “Homecoming”. Pastor Gideon said that if Pastor Bob stopped preaching on it because no one wanted to listen at that time, there would be no “Homecoming” today.

The three most important keys of “Homecoming” are: (1) Seek God’s presence and His face. We do not initiate except when we hear His voice. God is enthroned on the praises of Israel (Ps 22:3), so our worship is not to prepare for the message – we simply worship till God comes. It’s like what Moses said, if God’s presence is not with us, though angels can lead us into Canaan, we will not go (Ex. 33:1-15). Our pursuit is not the success but His presence. (2) The outcome of the battle is not determined in the battlefield nor by the sophistication of our weapons but is determined in the prophet’s chamber (2 Kings 13:15-19). So every gathering is another strike until victory comes and we have already witnessed its effect on many nations: Canada, Malaysia, North Korea … Heaven is impacting the earth, even the political situation is shifted! (3) God’s strategy is establishing a family.

The unity of the family brings authority to accomplish God’s commission.
“Homecoming” is not meetings but a journey, not a movement but a restoration.
Unity is not a mere agreement of opinion but a commitment to God and each
other, even to the point of death. Gradually, the global leaders came together as one. Last year in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao and overseas
Chinese made a covenant to become one family. And today, we who are in NorthAmerica are willing to follow suit and not fall behind.

On the second night, we watched a short video of Chuck Pierce at the
“Homecoming” in Hong Kong in 2012 where God told Chuck to make a key and
present it to the Chinese on his knees, saying, “You take the lead, we will follow.”
David Demian heard God saying: I have waited for a long time, I want to respond to my children. The Chinese in North America, like Joseph, was sent from all nations. Now is the time to rise and take your place! I am mobilizing the Chinese in wave after wave. You are no longer immigrants – you are ambassadors of the unshakable Kingdom of God. I have prepared you for such a time as this. Arise, arise, arise! Let the fire of God burn in your spirit, no more blindness, sleepiness, and laziness. No threat can hinder my will. David Demian did not say anything else but declared that today is time for the Chinese in North America to enter into God’s destiny. We began to sing the song in spirit: Now is the time that the Chinese will enter their destiny, open up the ancient gates! The dance team also began to affirm: Go, go, go! Chinese arise! May God glorify Your son, and Your son glorifies You. David continued to declare: Gate of heaven is open, God said, come up here!
God is equipping you. If you believe then you will be moved to a new level in your work, family, church, and ministry. Angels are touching each one and marking on your foreheads “Holy unto the Lord”. Those who have been marked by God are willing to offer themselves up to the Lord so at home, in the office, in the market, or on the street, people will know that the hand of the Lord is on you. Don’t reason, just believe, don’t try to understand, no more wasting time. This is the hour!

David Demian also pointed out that Chinese people are afraid to make mistakes, and if they do, they are very hard on themselves, so they would rather get good at copying and take orders from others. It is both their strength and weakness. They are therefore less likely to listen to God’s voice and take the risk of doing what God wants.

It is indeed safer to do what others have done, not having to pay too high a price of waiting upon the Lord, but we also would lose the originality of God because God never does things the same way. If we want to listen to God’s voice, we must dare take risks and not be afraid of making mistakes! But now all these must change. When we hear people say we have never done this before, or it is absolutely impossible, we should be excited because it is another opportunity to experience God and not to look at ourselves, and to boldly go forth with the authority that comes from the unity of family!

Pastor Grace, Fred, Nicole, Joy Lynn, Daniel Cheung and Caleb Chiu shared how their lives were impacted by “Homecoming”. All their testimonies were good and touching. People were moved and lives changed because no one was preaching, they just shared lives, and they themselves were the message and not any written sermons. What the hearers received were not information but Impartation.
Unknowingly, the messages were internalized, lives transformed, and they were molded into God’s workmanship — orphans become children and children become parents. Like homemade brewing, it’s totally genuine and authentic and this is another secret ingredient of “Homecoming”!

Many of the testimonies were lovely: Pastor Grace said that at the end of the first evening of worship, a coworker said that the core leaders should go up and dance with the dance team. While going up to the stage hand-in-hand, Pastor Fred asked her, what are we doing up here? She said, I don’t know. She further shared: as long as we are of one heart, even just going up the stage as we were told is fulfilling the heart of the Father. Nobody says: Go up? Why didn’t you tell me sooner! We were like children and say, OK, if I need to go up, I will go up. It is the childlike humble ones that can enter into the kingdom of heaven. The core leadership team needs to be like this—laying down ourselves and just wanting to please God. Yet most churches often focus on pleasing people. But the core team of “Homecoming” have learned that the secret is not that we know what to do but to listen to God, know each other heart to heart, and be willing to be a committed family. Only by this can we destroy the enemy.

Pastor Fred shared: He can preach about many truth but the real change comes as he sees the life examples of mature fathers and mothers in the journey.
“Homecoming” helped him to turn from self-centered to God-centered, and he
began to realize that the Heavenly Dad is also lonely, He is looking for a resting
place. Understanding Abba Father’s longing sometimes moves him to tears when reading Malachi, Deuteronomy and even Leviticus.

Nicole and Joy Lynn shared in the same afternoon. Nicole said that we can learn how not to be offended when we make a covenant to be family. We will not easily break up because of offense. Because of the covenant, Nicole can feel the change and the enemy can no longer bring division into the relationship. Joy Lynn shared that when she was pushed to the end of her love as peers, God lifted her to a higher
level and she became a mother and was able to love more. When her spiritual
father has more spiritual sons and daughters and has less time for her, she was
jealous. One day God lifted her to another level. The Lord said to her, you asked
for too much and are not grateful. Your heart is distanced from the heart of your
spiritual father. He is so busy yet you still maintain as a child. Joy Lynn was then
changed from being a daughter to a mother and she would eventually bring many
children into glory. She said to us: let’s stop being small minded but grow to be fathers and mothers!

Caleb is the most special one. He is Pastor Gideon’s son and he carries the
anointing of two generations: His anointing of relationship is like his father, the
anointing of worship is like his mother and his preaching is like David Demian. In the last session, he was asked to share and he said: God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God’s core value is generational inheritance. Bible says that God hated Esau because Esau despised his birthright. For the son to despise what the father treasures it is truly displeasing to God and it makes God angrier than about any other sins (Mal 1:2-3, Rom. 9:13). Jesus is a good example – He only does what He sees the Father do (John 5:19). Joel 2:28 said that the old men will dream dreams and the young men will see visions and Caleb said, as a son, my vision is to fulfill my father’s dream. Pastor Gideon added that one time when Caleb was sitting beside him someone was complaining about that person’s own father. When Caleb heard that, he said to the man that it’s never a son’s place to correct his father. Caleb once said that although my father’s armor was old and dented, it is an honor to wear it. When Caleb was a teen Pastor Gideon told him that ever since Caleb’s great Grandfather they have been carrying the next generation. Pastor Gideon said I am carrying you on my back until one day we will come to a wall and I will not be able to get over that wall. I have served this generation but you will not stop there, you must climb over and continue to fulfill God’s mission. Caleb said that won’t happen! After I climb over, I will bring all my friends to carry you over and together we will continue to run!

For “Homecoming” to have such a strong foundation there is another very
significant person – Pastor Daniel Cheung, Gideon’s best friend in high school.
Daniel was the captain of the basketball team and Gideon was a teammate. As a captain, Daniel always passed the ball to his teammate can score. Later when they built the Zion church he said the same thing to Pastor Gideon: you have the calling from God, and I am here to support you. That was their dream. For 50 years since high school, the two had never quarreled. He acknowledged that Pastor Gideon is the head and he is willing to submit to him. As a result, Pastor Gideon had complete trust in him. He consulted Pastor Gideon in all matters but Pastor Gideon gave him full authority to handle all things. He said that Gideon is like David and he is like Jonathan, the two become one. The important thing is not who gets the credit but the whole team wins! The safest place is where God puts us. In the body of Christ, everyone has his own place. One Cantonese saying says, if you don’t have a big head, don’t wear such a big hat. The most precious thing is the family and in the family, all positions fit together. We can walk together, do things together, cry together and laugh together. When we are fighting the enemy together, we are no longer using single bullets but the combined power of dynamite! The time we live in today is an extraordinary period, the fight between light and darkness is fierce and the persecution is approaching. It is no longer time to just serve our own denomination or to build one’s own ministry or invest in big buildings. Joining our hearts together and walking as one is the only way to face the power of darkness.

One last secret I would share: You and I are the two-ounce explosives needed for the critical explosion. When we combine forces it will be powerful and missing your two-ounce may be critical. We are all part of the body. If God wants you to come, you come. If God wants you to stay, you stay. Through our obedience, the body of Christ can accomplish God’s work. Heavenly Dad will rejoice in our obedience. The important thing is to seek Him together, listen and obey. This is “Homecoming” and it is the Heavenly Father’s dream. Ah! As long as Dad is happy our hearts are satisfied!

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