May the Captain of NEF – God – Guide All HisLimbs at NEFtw Towards the Path that Pleases Him inEvery Way...
NEFtw is turning 30 this year. As the president ofNEFtw, I have been putting countless thoughts into thedirection we are heading, after NEFtw was founded threedecades ago. How can we carry on with our predecessors’footsteps? Is the thirtieth year a critical transitionpoint given by God to NEFtw? After seeking throughprayers, the words of God given to my heart were “LivingOffering and Revival”.
Offer Oneself as a Living Sacrifice to God
Let us start by talking about “living sacrifice”. Weoften say, “Our occupation as a nurse today was selectedby God; even our role as a Christian was also selectedby God. Each of us has two identities: one as the chosenpeople and the other as the royal priesthood.” At work,we encounter deaths of patients all the time. When peopleare dying, nurses can be at the forefront praying forthem and preaching the gospel to them. God has givenus this sacred mission and no one can deny our status asthe royal priesthood for we are God’s citizens who willindeed enter the holy kingdom of God to declare thepraises of Him who called us out of the darkness into Hiswonderful light. Thus, God’s first task to us is “livingsacrifice”.
Romans chapter 12 verse 1 states, “Therefore, Iurge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer yourbodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God –this is your spiritual act of worship.” We often hear anold Chinese saying “stand firmly on your feet at thirty”,which means that by the time one turns 30 years old, one should be well-established in one’s career, character andknowledge. One day on Good TV channel, I heard PastorDavid Pawson mentioned, “We often say to sacrifice ourselveslike a lamb to God.” He then said, “We frequentlydescribe a lamb as a young and gentle sheep that curls insidethe arms of a shepherd. In fact, a lamb is a one yearold ram given in sacrifice that wears thorns on its head,and a one year old ram is the equivalent of a 30- year-oldmale.” When Jesus offered himself as a living sacrificefor crucifixion, He was a mature 33 years old adult whowas completing the task given by God. As NEFtw is enteringits thirtieth year, what kind of prospect does Godwant us to face? Is it achieving great establishment in career,knowledge and morality? Or is it offering ourselvesas living sacrifice to God like Jesus Christ?
Revival under God’s guidance
Next up is “revival”. Ezekiel chapter 37 verses 5to 6 and 10 state, “This is what the Sovereign Lord saysto these bones, ‘I will make breath enter you, and youwill come to life. I will attach tendons to you and makeflesh come upon you and cover you with skins; I willput breath in you, and you will come to life. Then youwill know that I am the Lord.’…So I prophesied as hecommanded me, and breath entered them; they came tolife and stoop up on their feet – a vast army.” In here,“bones” refers to the defeated Israeli army; “come tolife” means rebirth; “attach tendons” represents makingloving connection through pastoral care; “make flesh”means teaching the truth through rehearsing the soul andbible studies; “cover with skins” means covering andsupporting each other like in the discipleship training.This passage indicates that the Israeli army went froman “extremely drained” skeleton to an “enormous army”and their revival took place step by step with great confidence.The captain of NEFtw is God. As long as we arewilling to put forth acts that follow God’s will and arepleasant to Him, we may leave the next forty, fifty yearsin God’s hands. Because the institute was set up by God,“revival” will require more than efforts from the people.It will depend significantly on God’s guidance providedwe have full confidence and obedience to God. Memberswill change through time, but NEFtw will be here everlastingly.Let the work be passed down from generationto generation!
May the Limbs of NEFtw be Reunited!
Coincidentally, the 3rd Lausanne Congress onWorld Evangelization was held in Cape Town, SouthAfrica in 2010. The new concept of preaching at workwas raised and it called upon working Christians to beprepared and to perform live witnesses at work. NEFtwis a fellowship at nursing facilities. It is not big amongstdifferent missionary organizations but definitely one ofthe first workforce fellowships since it was founded in1982. At the earliest stage, God entrusted Ms. KatherineHan to start NEFtw, which made me believe even morethat each and every Christian nurse was hand-picked byGod specially.
At the thirtieth anniversary, it is important whetherNEFtw members can stop, look, listen, revise, and restart.God will provide us with new promotional strategieslike putting new wine in the new wine bag. If thepercentage of Christians in Taiwan is about 5%, with200,000 nurses, there should be at least 10,000 Christiannurses. Let NEFtw siblings rejoin the team! May theCaptain of NEF – God – guide all the NEFtw limbs towardsthe path that pleases Him in every way! Let us allshout to the Lord, “Here I am, send me!” May God’s willbe done in NEFtw as it is in heaven!