New Year’s Thanksgiving Letter: Looking Back at 2011
Tuesday, December 27th, 2011
Dear elders, brothers, and sisters in Christ,
Peace to you all. Thanks to be our Lord, for His mercies last forever! Looking back at the past year, God’s grace has been abundant, and His blessings have been countless!
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Psalm 103:2). We feel deeply in our hearts that from the beginning to the end of 2011, God has been constantly watching over those who belong to Him. During the year, our coworkers, inside and outside of China, old, middle-aged, and young, have been led by the Holy Spirit to different evangelizing and training fields. From Jakarta in Indonesia to Bangkok in Thailand, from Tokyo in Japan to Pusan in Korea, from Hong Kong to Manila in the Philippines, from Mexico City to Europe, and to different areas of China, our coworkers have been sent in different teams and groups. Thanks be to God, for His glory, power, grace, and abundance followed our steps wherever we went. More than ever we felt humbled, powerless, and unworthy! We could not help but praise Him: His plans are wonderful; His wisdom is boundless! Meanwhile, God prepared housing for us at our prayer and training center in Madrid, Spain as well as in London, England. In both places, God demonstrated His miraculous grace in seemingly impossible circumstances. All we could do was to bow down and worship, and sing praises of our Lord!
We held coworkers’ retreats in China in April and outside of China in August. Coworkers from both China and other countries participated in both locations, and the attendance was larger than last year’s. During the retreats, our coworkers all experienced the authority of God’s word and witnessed the power of whole-hearted prayers. Broken and shaken by God’s word and the Holy Spirit, our coworkers reflected, repented, and their lives were renewed and changed to different degrees. On fire for God with missions and visions, they returned to their individual battle fields. We give our God wholehearted thanks for His mercy and faithfulness!
We also want to thank God for giving us “the bread of adversity and the water of affliction.” During the year, attacks and disturbances from Satan never stopped, “yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore” (Isaiah 30:20). Therefore, we were humbled and thankful; we hid under God’s wings to reflect and construct, and we regarded our Almighty God as our shelter.
Looking into the future, we are confident that God’s promise is the source of our strength. “He will increase, and I will decrease.” – Let this be our New Year’s motto. May God’s glory be manifested in heaven and earth forever! The day of our Lord’s coming is near. Looking around, we see the sins of all people on earth reaching up to heaven; we see frequent disasters everywhere; we see God’s wrath coming down! Even though we are in different places, let us pray together with one heart. Let us plead to God to renew His deeds and show mercy in His wrath! Amen!
Let us remember and intercede for one another in front of God! Let us support one another. Let us depend on the one who adds strength to us and triumph! Glory to glory, let us delight God’s heart!
Blessings,
Home of Grace of North America
Dec. 15, 2011