Manna issue 69 - Introduction to the General Assembly of the United States 美總簡介
Learn about our churches in the US.
by USGA
認識我們美國的教會 - 美國總會
The True Jesus Church in the Western
Hemisphere was first established in
Honolulu, Hawaii, but it was not until
1967, after the first World Delegates
Conference in Taiwan, that church
activities started in mainland United
States (US). Upon their return, two
US delegates—a deacon from the east
coast and a deaconess from the west
coast—began to congregate some
members and to spread the gospel.
真耶穌教會在西半球第一個建立的地方，是夏威夷檀香山，但在1967年之後，
在台灣第一次世界代表大會之後，才開始有教會在美國本土活動，之前都沒有。
自從兩位執事回來之後，東岸有一位執事，西岸有一位女執事，
開始聚集一些信徒傳福音。
From the mid-1970s, there was a
steady increase of immigrants from
Taiwan and Hong Kong, bringing
new momentum to the sacred work
in America. To effectively utilize
human and financial resources, the US
church held its first National Delegates
Conference under God’s guidance
in El Monte, California, from 24–26
July, 1976. At the conference, the
Evangelical Coordination Council (ECC)
was established to actively mobilize the
sacred work in the US.
從1970年代中期開始，有來自台灣和香港的移民人數穩定增加，
為了美國的聖工帶來了新力量。
為了有效運用人力及財力資源，在神的帶領之下，
美國教會在1976年七月24-26日，
在加州艾爾蒙地舉開了第一次美國全國的代表大會。
會議中，成立了福音聯絡委員會(ECC)，
積極地動員美國的聖工。
At the time, the US church did not
have any full-time ministers. However,
thanks to the arrangement of God,
by 1986, three full-time preachers
had joined the ministry. To expand
His kingdom, God prepared suitable
servants at various stages. These
workers dedicated their gifts and
labored in unity to lay the foundation
for the sacred work and church
organization. Under God’s gracious
guidance, churches were established
one after another. In accordance
with the by-laws of the International
Assembly, the General Assembly of
the United States (USGA) was officially
established on January 1, 1986, setting
a new milestone in the development of
the sacred work in the US.
當時美國教會並沒有全職傳道。
然而感謝神的安排，在1986年的時候，有三位全職傳道加入福音事工。
為了擴展祂的國度，神在每個時期都準備了合適的工人。
這些工人奉獻自已的恩賜，同工勞力，為教會的組織和聖工奠定了的基礎。
在神恩典的帶領下，教會一個接著一個成立。
根據聯總規章的要求，美國總會(USGA)在1986年一月1日正式成立，
在美國聖工的發展上，立下一個里程碑。
There are currently nineteen
churches and six houses of prayer in
the US, with a total membership of
about 3,460. Most churches started off
with foreign students who had a sense
of commission. They conducted family
services and membership would grow
to a point where they were able to
establish houses of prayer. When they
had church buildings, these officially
became churches.
目前有19間教會，6間祈禱所在美國，
信徒人數大約有3460人。
大部份的教會一開始是由有使命感的外國留學生所組成的。
他們舉行家庭聚會，信徒人數就會增長到他們可以成立祈禱所的程度。
當他們有教會建築的時候，這些就正式成為教會了。
ORGANIZATIONAL STATUS 組織現況
The USGA council comprises eleven
council members, including the
chairman. There are five departments:
the Department of Evangelism, the
Department of Pastoral Ministry,
the Department of Training, the
Department of Literary Ministry, and
the Department of Administration. Each
department is managed by one director
and one or two assistant directors, who
are responsible for mobilizing the work
of the church on a national level.
美總委員會由11位負責人組成，包含主席。
有五個部份：
宣道部，教牧部，訓練部，文宣部和行政部。
每一個部門有一個部長管理，一到二位副部長，
他們負責以全國教會的角度，來動員教會工作。
Presently, the USGA is subdivided
into four regions and one special region
(Hawaii). Each region has a regional
coordinator, who is responsible for
developing the work of the region and
coordinating the local ministry and
human resources.
現在，美總底下又分為四個地區，及一個特別區(夏威夷)。
每一區都有地區聯絡員，他會負責發展該區聖工，
協調當地的福音及人力資源。
MEMBERSHIP STATUS 信徒人數現況
Growth of the Churches 教會的成長
The graph below shows the number
of churches and houses of prayer
established since the 1970s. Starting
from only four, their numbers have
increased steadily over the years.
Today, there are twenty-five churches
and houses of prayer in the US.
下圖表示，自1970年以來，教會和祈禱所的數目。
一開始只有四間教會，逐年穩定漸增。
今日，美國共有21間教會和祈禱所。
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7TjM_tljinNVkxsQkE2UUlNR1k/view?usp=sharing
Geographical Distribution of the Churches 教會的地理分佈
The chart below shows the geographical
distribution of the churches and houses
of prayer in the US. With the exception
of one church in Hawaii, the rest are
on the mainland, with the majority
(sixteen) located in the southwestern
and eastern regions.
下圖表示，美國教會和祈禱所的地理分佈。
除了一間在夏威夷的教會之外，其他的都在美國本土，
而大部份(16間)都在西南地區和東岸地區。
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7TjM_tljinNLU92YmRWWVRSSlE/view?usp=sharing
CHALLENGES 挑戰
a. The prevalence of ecumenical
views among Christians in America
hinders our efforts in preaching the
truth. The results from the semi-annual
evangelical services and spiritual
convocations can be limited. Unless
truthseekers receive the Holy Spirit and
believers persistently pray and carry
out personal evangelism, it is difficult
for the church to grow quickly. The
pastoral care required for new believers
is also challenging. If the church and its
workers do not truly pay attention to
caring and praying for them, these new
members are likely to stop attending
church after the first year or so, or to
remain weak in faith, unable to mature
spiritually. As the end time draws near,
people are less inclined to obey the truth
of the Bible. Yet, despite the challenge
we face in the end time, God’s grace
is sufficient. We often witness how
God miraculously guides His church to
overcome these hindrances.
a.美國基督徒有一些普遍盛行的觀點，會阻礙傳揚真理的效果。
導致半年一次的佈道會和靈恩會效果有限。
除非慕道者領受了聖靈，或是信徒持續禱告，實行個人佈道，不然教會很難快速成長。
新信徒的牧養工作也是一大挑戰。
若教會和信徒沒有真的小心注意他們，為他們禱告，
在第一年之後，這些新信徒就可能停止聚會，信仰上很軟弱，靈性上就很難長大成熟。
隨著末世逐漸接近，人們越來越不願意去遵守聖經的真理。
雖然我們在末世會面對挑戰，神的恩典卻是充足的。
我們時常見証到，人奇妙的帶領教會，來克服這些阻礙。
We must pray earnestly, be watchful,
continue to ask God to open the door
for the gospel, and preach the truth of
salvation by the Spirit in season and out
of season.
我們一定要認真禱告，非常小心，一直求神開啟傳福音的門，
不論得時不得時，靠著聖靈傳揚救贖的真理。
b. The US covers a vast area, and
this poses a great challenge to both
evangelistic and pastoral work. Most of
our churches are in cities. Therefore, it
has been difficult to follow up effectively
with truthseekers who are from other
parts of the US. Although the USGA
currently has eleven full-time ministers
who are responsible for the twenty-five
churches and houses of prayer, we still
lack human resources. These ministers
usually take care of geographically
dispersed churches and therefore find
it difficult to carry out pastoral work.
In addition, most members do not live
near their local churches, and therefore
a large majority attends church services
only on Sabbath days.
b. 美國包括了很大的區域，這對福音及牧養工作，形成巨大的挑戰。
我們大部份的教會都在城市裡。
所以，很難去有效地追蹤那些來自美國其他地方的慕道者。
雖然目前美總有21位全職傳道，他們會負責21間教會和祈禱所，
但我們仍然缺少人力資源。
這些福音工人通常要照顧那些地理分散的教會，
所以發現很難作好牧養工作。
此外，大部份的信徒並沒有住在靠近本地教會的地方，
所以有一大部份的人，只有在安息日才來參加聚會。
Hence, we thank the Lord that the
USGA launched its English website in
February 2012 and its Chinese website
in October 2012. Besides church news
and announcements, the site also
provides members with abundant
material for spiritual nourishment at
home. Anyone willing to benefit from
these resources may take advantage of
the content on these websites for daily
devotion and strengthening of faith.
因此，我們感謝主，美總在2012年二月，上線了英文的教會網站，
2012年十月也上線了中文的教會網站。
除了教會的最新消息和公告之外，
這個網站也提供信徒在家自學，許多靈性營養豐富的資料。
任何想要從這些資料中尋求幫助的人，
就可以利用這些網站上的內容，
好好來每日靈修，加強自已信仰的力量。
c. To train full-time workers for
the ministry in the US, the USGA
established its theological training
program in 1993. To date, there have
been seven batches of trainees—a
total of nineteen students—from UK,
Canada and USA, who have completed
the program and been ordained as fulltime
ministers.
c. 為了美國福音事工，訓練更多的全職工人，
美總在1993年開始成立了神學訓練班。
到了今日，總共訓練了七批的工人 - 總共19位學生，他自讓自英國，加拿大，和美國，
已經完成了全部的訓練，被按立為全職的工人。
To cater to the needs of the ministry
in the US over the next ten years, it will
be necessary to recruit five additional
trainees to undergo the program, but
this will be a challenge. “The harvest
truly is plentiful, but the laborers are
few.” We need to ask the Lord of the
harvest to send out the workers into
the field (Mt 9:37–38).
為了要再下一個十年，讓美國的福音事工的需要得到足夠的人力，
需要再召募額外5位新的的學生來完成這個訓練，但這也是一個挑戰。
37於是對門徒說：要收的莊稼多，作工的人少。
38所以，你們當求莊稼的主打發工人出去收他的莊稼。
(太 9：37-38)
d. Multimedia content in English is
scarce. Information technology has
made great strides in recent decades,
and the majority of the US population
consumes a large variety of media
daily. However, most of the church’s
English publications are still only
available in print. Therefore, it is vital to
expedite the production of much more
multimedia content in the next five
years for the purpose of evangelism.
d. 目前英文的多媒體內容還十分稀少。
資訊科技在最近幾十年有很大的進展，
每天大部份的美國人都會利用很大量的媒體。
然而，大部份教會的英文刊物仍然只有書面的媒體。
所以，為了能達成傳福音的目的，
在下個五年，要加快更多的多媒體內容是很重要的。
Greater effort to proactively plan
for and produce multimedia content
that caters to the needs of members
and truthseekers in various locales is
needed. This will enable us to preach
the truth to a global audience more
expeditiously.
若能產出更適合各地區信徒和慕道者的多媒體內容，
就能夠以更加積極主動的計劃來達成更好的果效，。
這就能讓我們可以更迅速地向全球的觀眾來傳揚真理。
e. Membership in the US has been
predominantly Chinese. However, in
recent years, we have seen members
from other ethnic groups gradually
being added to the church. English is
used as the primary language of the
younger generation, even among the
Chinese members. Consequently, there
is linguistic and cultural diversity in the
church.
e. 在美國的信徒大部份都是華人。
然而最近幾年，我們有看見教會，有其他種族的人漸漸的加入。
英文是年輕一代所使用的最主要語言，甚至華裔也使用英文。
這樣的結果，就造成了教會內有語言上和文化上的差異。
To reach out to the English-speaking
population, various regions have been
holding English hymnal evangelical
services, locally known as “Hosanna
outreach.” Some churches also
encourage speakers to deliver their
messages in English. Based on current
trends in the composition of the
members, sermons delivered in English
look set to become the norm.
若要向外接觸到說英語的人口，
很多地方都已經用英文來舉行詩歌佈道會，
當地叫作"和散那聯合佈道會"。
有一些教會也鼓勵信徒用英文來傳福音。
因為目前信徒組成的原故，已經成為一種潮流，
所以看起來用英文講道也會成為一種常態。
Nevertheless, many new believers
have testified that language is not the
greatest obstacle in evangelism. With
the guidance of the Holy Spirit, even
sermons in which English is not used
as the primary language can move a
person to believe in the Lord. In smaller
churches or places of worship where
members relate well with one another
and the church is like a big family,
cultural differences are no longer
significant. Only the new culture
created in Christ, which incorporates
all ethnic groups and transcends
differences, can effectively overcome
the many hurdles we face in the work
of evangelism.
然而，許多新信徒都說，語言並不是傳福音的最大阻礙。
因為有聖靈的帶領，即使不是主要用英文講道，仍然可以感動人來信主。
在比較小的教會，或是聚會所，信徒互相之間都很熟悉，教會就像一個大家庭，
文化上的差異就不再那麼重要了。
只有因為基督所形成的新文化，才能融合所有的種族，超越各別的差異，
能夠克服很多我們在福音工作上，所面對到的許多阻礙。
Retracing the footsteps of the
True Jesus Church in the United States,
we can only thank God for His amazing
guidance in the growth of the church.
On this land, through sweat and tears,
the workers of God have offered their
time and effort in numerous areas of
holy work. However, regardless of what
we may have accomplished, it is the
future that is of greatest importance.
We pray that the Lord will continue
to strengthen the brethren’s faith and
love. May the Holy Spirit guide the
church in its future path, so that the
gospel preached by the true church
may reach every part of this land
and bring glory to the name of God.
Amen.
若再回顧美國真耶穌教會發展的進程，
我們只能對於教會的成長，深深的感謝神，因為有祂奇妙的帶領。
在這塊土地上，流下了很多的汗水和眼淚，
神的工人為了聖工，在很多地方，獻上了他們的時間和精力。
然而，無論我們已經完成了什麼工作，
未來的發展仍然是最為重要的事。
我們向神禱告祈求，主耶穌來繼續加添弟兄姐妹的信心和彼此相愛的心。
願聖靈帶領教會走向未來的道路，
讓真耶穌所傳的福音可以擴及到這塊土地的每個角落，
歸榮耀給神的聖名。
阿們。
小頁 markvmax@hotmail.com
Manna 嗎哪 56 (1)