Recently we, the brothers from the church in London, Canada, have received a copy of a letter that was written by someone who is troubled by things in the recovery that he cannot understand. Here is our response modified only slightly so that the source of the original letter would not be so obvious.
Dear brother,
We appreciate the love for the Lord and concern for the recovery that you expressed in the letter you wrote. In that letter you mention that you were told that you should be careful because there are "some rebel churches" in Canada. You were also told that the thing that makes them rebel churches is that they are "having fellowship with the churches in Brazil." We feel that we should respond to your letter because this is a direct reference to the church in London. There are no other churches in Canada or in the Great Lakes area which are presently having fellowship with the churches in Brazil such as we are enjoying.
The main part of your letter is a cry for understanding why there seems to be "a kind of partition between some sectors of the church (universally) and the South American churches." You said that, "Every time I mention the churches in South America I am told that they have a different flavor, a different goal, etc." You also, based on your own experience, said that you fail to see the difference. You do not have any negative feelings towards the churches in South America. On the contrary, you have been built up and encouraged by the churches there. Your reaction to the things you are being told is, "I feel hurt because of this. It seems to me as a division in the Body."
Your letter documents your own experience in the church life which has been far away from South America for more than two decades. According to your letter, you have visited the churches in South America once during that time and accompanied a brother from there once while he visited some of the churches in your area. You testified how much blessing and encouragement these experiences have been to you and to the other brothers from your area who participated.
Dear brother, we would like to testify to you that we have been enlightened, strengthened, encouraged and blessed very much through our fellowship with the churches in South America. Our church life has been revolutionized but not in the sense of doing or becoming something "different". The things that we have been encouraged in the recovery to practice have become real and living to us more than ever before. We can testify that many of the saints are calling on the Lord, pray-reading His Word, reading the ministry books, preaching the gospel, shepherding new ones, serving, enjoying fellowship with other churches far and near, etc. more than ever before. We feel that both ourselves and the majority of the saints are entering into the things we have received from brother Nee and brother Lee more than ever before. Yes, our fellowship with the churches in South America has made a difference, but in a positive sense, in the sense of practicing in spirit and life the things we have been taught. It has not produced something "different" in nature.
We also need to let you know some of the reactions this fellowship has stirred up. We have been criticized very much. We regularly hear things about the church in London from various places similar to what you heard. It seems that saints all over the globe know more about us than we know about ourselves. If the things we have heard about London were all true, we would be the first ones to condemn such a church.
Furthermore, it has not been just the responsible brothers who have heard such things. We think it is accurate to say that every saint among us who has been in the church long enough to have friends in other churches, has heard criticism of the church here. This has been a test to each one of the saints. When our church life was relatively routine we did not experience this kind of test but when we began to go on with the Lord then it came.
Some of the saints have been affected by the criticism. After all, charges such as being a "rebel" church are very serious. They have caused some of the saints to lose their respect for the leadership of the church here. Of these, some have been disheartened and their love for the Lord has grown cold, some have moved away, and some still live here but have stopped meeting with the church. Some of these have refused any kind of contact, let alone fellowship, with any of the leading brothers from the very first time they heard criticism of the church here. We don't even know what they were told.
Other saints have heard criticisms of the church here and have dug into the Word with the ministry books to learn the truth. The very books that are used to condemn us are the ones that we have studied the most. We want to be true to the Lord according to the vision that the Lord has given us in His recovery. We have been forced to seek the Lord more deeply than ever before. We have been tested concerning our own opinions and natural concepts and have been forced by the negative voices to allow the Lord to deal with us more than ever before. In short, some have been damaged but some have been strengthened by what is happening. The church in London was not affected by the storms in the late 70's and 80's that swept through the recovery. It seems like the Lord had to allow the saints here to pass through a test to see what is real (1 Cor. 11:19).
Your questions about why the churches in South America are considered "different" are not for us to answer. The ones who make such statements should demonstrate in what way they have deviated from the truth. We are not the Lord. We cannot see into others' hearts and discern the true nature of what is there. So we believe that we can only judge according to the fruit that we can see. In this respect, we have to confess that our experience of fellowship with the churches in South America has been very positive. We know that if we would cut off the fellowship with South America and conform to what some think, then the criticism of London would cease. How can we do that? We believe we would offend the Lord.
Nevertheless, we are not trying to be different or to make trouble. We honour the brothers and churches in all of the recovery, not just South America. We want to be in fellowship with all the churches and receive help from wherever we can. We have video trainings here and some from here attend the trainings in Anaheim each time. We are actively trying to keep our saints in a healthy fellowship with all the churches. But this has not been easy for us because various saints and leading brothers from other churches tell the saints from London that we are "off" and encourage them to move elsewhere. Saints with a good heart do this because they believe the things being spoken about London but very rarely has anyone asked us directly concerning the things they heard. We challenge anyone who is concerned about what is happening here to come to London to see for himself.
We believe that with more blending of the churches these kinds of problems could be avoided. By blending, we do not mean simply attending various trainings and conferences together, we mean visiting other places and having open, deep fellowship with one another to enter into one another's spirit and exercise to care for the saints and the churches. You mentioned how a brother's visit to your area shortened the distance that the saints there felt toward South America. The recovery needs much more of this kind of visiting among all the churches and regions. Not only would misunderstandings be cleared up, but also the things that are really short could be corrected.
Brother, do not be disheartened. The Lord is in control. Our responsibility is simply to be faithful to Him. He will build His church. He will gain His bride. We want to be a part of that.
Yours in Christ,
The leading brothers in the church in London, Canada
We are open to fellowship. Please email us at: info@churchinlondon.org