今年五月，主將呼召世界各地的華人教會前往香港聚集，我相信這將是一場非常重要的聚會，因為華人在 神所定的末日全球命定中所扮演的角色，現在將開始被揭開。
大約十年前，主開始告訴我有關華人的角色，而這一切是以非常戲劇化的方式發生的。
一場意外
2001年七月，一位朋友邀請我到一個洛杉磯的會議中演講，這個人是華人中一位關鍵性的領導者，這個會議是一個很大型的活動，有來自北美和亞洲各地的數千名參加者，因為我的朋友曾去參加聚會，他要我來分享我們與華人信徒正一起經歷的國度原則。
因為會議是在學校剛放假時舉行，路得和我決定安排一趟全家的旅行，也花點時間去迪士尼旅遊。我們帶著五個孩子和保母同行，開著八人座的休旅車，準備來一趟二十四小時的長途車程前往洛杉磯。
我們開了一整天車都很平安，正進入奧瑞岡，午夜時分，孩子終於都睡著了，路得和我正開始要一起談心，突然我們前方的高速公路有一陣大響聲，有幾輛車子被撞得四散，在我來得及反應前，有東西打中了車子右邊的前後輪胎，車子開始有點失控地傾斜，只以剩下的兩個輪胎勉強維持平衡。突然我們向右傾斜，車子開始快要翻倒，正當覺得我們要傾倒時，突然有個力量把我們拉向左方，左右左右地我們持續大力地來回晃動，直到車子很驚險地停住，我跳下車，在驚恐中，我看到右邊根本已經沒有輪胎了，全都掉落了，很快地我發現有一輛卡車載著停車場用的大型水泥路障，這輛車失去控制，讓這些路障在黑暗的高速公路上散落得四處都是。
「你們還活著真是奇蹟！」看到我們撞上水泥路障的人對我們說。「看起來好像有個人把你的車子往上拉，讓它停下來。」我們知道的確是這樣，是主的手如此偉大地保守我們，在這整個過程中，孩子們仍在熟睡。而且不只是這個意外事件，甚至後來我們把他們抱到警車上，又帶到附近的旅館放到床上時，他們也沒被吵醒，第二天早上當他們醒來時，還以為已經到了洛杉磯。
現在我們要決定，回家呢？還是繼續前往洛杉磯？無論哪個決定，我們都要在奧瑞岡郊區等待車子的零件送達。但是 神再一次介入，我們的一位朋友，聽說我們的狀況後，找到了只要花幾百元就可以帶我們全家到洛杉磯的航班，我們都覺得這是主要我們繼續旅行的記號，於是我們把車子留下前往會議去。
領受華人命定的啟示
當我們到達時，我尋求主要在會議中分享什麼內容。此時祂對我說了些我完全沒有預期到的話。
「什麼攔阻了我的國度在中東建立，大衛？」主問我，我有點驚訝，我不知道答案是什麼。
「是對逼迫和死亡的恐懼。」祂繼續說。
我曾經住在埃及這個穆斯林國家，我非常了解主所說的。
「但我已經預備了一群人，大衛。」祂解釋說：「我的身體中有一個族群，不懼怕逼迫和死亡，那就是華人，他們在猶太人和阿拉伯人末日命定的釋出中，將扮演非常特別的角色。」
我對於這個啟示很訝異，我的心一直在我的民族阿拉伯人身上，當我旅居在加拿大時，神也給了我一顆愛猶太民族的心，但我從沒有想過這和華人之間有任何關聯，突然地，我了解神要我來這個華人的會議演講不是偶然的，事實上，這也是仇敵如此努力地攔阻我們來參加的原因。
我對於這個啟示非常興奮，我做了我從沒做過的事，我在早晨的場次演講時就宣告晚上我會講這個主題，我要說出神在末日對於華人和中東的命定。
當路得聽到我如此分享時，她很關心，一方面，她知道我從沒有在事先說過我要講的內容，我總是等到最後一分鐘，因為我要給聖靈最大的彈性來使用我，在會議的特定時間點說出任何祂要我說的話，另一方面，她也不能理解我要說什麼，華人和中東會有什麼關聯？路得知道每次我要談阿拉伯世界的議題，都面臨從極端份子而來的危險威脅，她想要知道我很確定這是我必須要談的主題，而不是冒著沒有必要的危險。
基甸（趙仲權）是我的牧師，也是好朋友，他是一位華人(我的教會是溫哥華的錫安教會)，也參加了這個會議。路得分享著她的顧慮，身為一位牧師，他的心被牽動著，因此來問我是否可以考慮更改主題，我告訴他我會問主，然後我們就去了下午場次，在這一場聚會中，甘保羅說：「我活著的原因之一，是因為華人與中東相關的命定。」這句話和他的信息完全無關，所以我把這當成主的確認，我要在那晚分享我心中的信息。
仇敵的攔阻
當我在晚上的場次傳講主所告訴我華人和中東的命定時，主的同在以難以置信的方式臨到，深深地觸摸了人們，我只能如此描述，那是一個啟示到來的神聖時刻，主抓住了我們所有的人。事實上，我的朋友，會議的主持人，是如此地激動，他立刻起身，宣佈要將這個信息印製一百萬張CD，在華人世界中發送。在場的人被這項啟示所感動，他們願意在這個異象上撒下奉獻的種子，就在這時候，在這裡，所有用來印製和發送一百萬張CD的款項都被募集了。
這是事情真正有趣的地方，我們去了一家要錄製生產這個會議CD的專業公司，要取得這段信息的拷貝，你無法想像發生什麼事－竟然是空白的！我在開始分享信息前的禱告聲音非常清晰，但在我要開始講道時，變成完全無聲，一直到結尾禱告為止，錄音又從我說「阿們」時重新開始有聲音。
這件事真奇怪，我們在想錄音設備一定有些問題，接著我們想起基甸有用攝影機錄下整場會議內容，我們決定即使品質不是最好，仍要取得錄音內容。但是當我們去索取基甸的錄影帶時，你知道發生什麼事嗎？當我開始要演講前，錄影帶變成空白的，錄影在我剛結束時才開始有聲音。
我的第一個想法是這是一場仇敵的爭戰，突然地我被主提醒，關於我許多年前在埃及服事時的類似經驗，那天晚上我在演講一個信息，我感覺到好像被一個啟示的靈所充滿－我開始說我不曾聽到過的事情，或是過去不曾思考的事情。人們感到非常感動，會後他們要索取信息的內容，但是當我們去取得錄影帶時，發現全部都是空白的。
所以當主讓我回想起這個經驗時，祂說：「同樣地，大衛，這段信息，我要在這裡和此時釋放，但還不是我要廣為傳播的時機。」所以我在離開這場聚會時，知道主將對我們顯明了華人的命定中一些深刻的事情，但我還並不確定下一步是什麼、下一步是在什麼地點和時間。
幾個月後，我從洛杉磯來的朋友打電話給我，邀請我十一月去參加亞洲的幾個會議，我禱告，我感到主說，去吧！同時我也計畫九月底去以色列，去參加耶路撒冷的一個聚會，那是全世界各地對猶太民族有負擔的領導者聚集的地方。
接著發生了九一一事件，路得和基甸自然地非常關心我要去中東的事，因為那時的飛航班次仍是混亂的，要安排飛行很困難，所有新的機場安全措施都造成很大的問題和延遲，可以想像一位埃及人要在這樣的時刻飛往以色列是多麼地困難。
我認真地禱告，感到主對我說：「你不是為了聚會而去的，你要在那裡見到一個人。」我和路得跟基甸分享，我們一起禱告，我們感到我必須去找一位見證者。當到了那個聚會，我在幾場會議中演講，我和許多人有許多會面，但我沒有感覺到任何特別之處－我沒有感覺到主對我說：「這就是我要你見的人。」所以我帶著困惑地返回家了。
展開與華人信徒同行的旅程
幾天後，我再次接到我在洛杉磯的朋友的電話，「大衛，發生什麼事？」他問我 : 「我收到台灣的一位牧師的訊息，我們十一月到台灣時，他要邀請你到他的教會演講。」
「是的，我記得見過那個人。」我告訴他。
這個人有參加那邊的會議，事實上他的飛機原本在我要抵達前，就要離開，但因為九一一事件引起的許多問題，他的班次又改變了，必須多留好幾天，而這幾天內剛好有我的演講場次，他聽到我分享，就希望能和我見面，但他不會說英文，所以必須透過口譯來安排。當他告訴我他是從台灣來的，我提到我十一月份會去那裡旅行，他邀請我到他教會裡領袖們的會議中演講，我沒有多想－他是一個看起來很和善的人，我認為他可能是一個小教會的牧師，希望我去鼓勵他的領袖們，因為我的朋友在安排這趟旅行，我告訴他可以和我朋友聯絡來安排。
「大衛，你知道這個人是誰嗎？」 我朋友問。「在全台灣有一位領袖，是所有其他領袖都信任和尊敬的，就是這位周神助牧師。」他來對我解釋，周牧師是台灣最大的教會的使徒性監督，這教會在亞洲和全世界有一百多家子教會，突然我了解神要做的是比我所了解更大的事。
所以當我們十一月去亞洲時，我們去周牧師邀請我們去的教會，當我們抵達時，我們發現周牧師「碰巧」已經計畫召開一個國際的領袖會議－讓所有來自世界各地的子堂到台灣來－與我們的拜訪完全相同的時間，全部都在離台北很遠的渡假中心聚會，但是因為我們在旅行行程中只有一開始的時間能夠和他們聚會，周牧師安排了一輛巴士，把幾百位領袖載回台北的母堂，好讓我可以和他們分享信息。
我永遠不會忘記此次的聚會，當我開始分享主對我啟示的，有關華人的命定時，突然我的譯者(後來我才知道他是好消息電視頻道的總經理，這是全世界唯一每週七天，每天二十四小時的華人基督教電視台)開始哭泣，哭到他無法翻譯我所講的內容，然後所有的領導者開始哭泣並走動，他們是那麼地被懾服，走出了座位，倒在祭壇和講台上，呼叫華人的命定。
在這個時刻，主對我說，那個日子要來到，亞洲華人會聚在一起－他們會敬拜主，祂要對他們說話，並趨動他們踏上自己的旅程，看到他們民族的命定完成，不只是為了華人和中東的利益，而是為了整個基督的身體。我心中相信，這就是今年五月在香港要舉辦的聚會，自從2001年十一月在台灣的那次聚會之後，一小群來自加拿大的領導者，開始展開一段與華人信徒同行的旅程－首先在台灣、然後香港、再來是中國和澳門，但這是另一個時候發生的另一段故事了，現在我認為加拿大的教會需要有智慧，這是非常重要的，就像以薩迦支派一樣，要能夠辨識出神的季節和時間，並瞭解神對我們整個加拿大的基督身體的託付。
過去十年，透過我們在加拿大的旅行，神帶給教會極大的醫治和祝福，但這個祝福不是只為了我們的益處－它也是為了預備我們的呼召－成為列國的醫治者。但是就如同我們在加拿大的旅行，我們必須跟隨神所啟示的腳步，好看到醫治和我們命定的釋出，在我們到列國去的旅程也是如此。我們不能說：「我們是列國的醫治者。」然後就隨我們想去的地方或時間去到各國，我們必須完全降服於王－等候祂，聽祂的指令，然後以順服回應，如此我們將能變成主手上的利器，因為我們有特權能夠參與祂末日的計畫，把列國的命定揭開，讓祂的旨意完全成就在地上。
在上週奧林匹克的轉播中，我聽到一件令我感動的事，這是一段在加拿大看到的專題報導，旁白說：「加拿大有許多為人所知的特色，像是我們的親切友善和憐憫心，但現在時候已到，世人將知道我們是領導者。」
我認為這是一項先知性的陳述，說明了我們加拿大的教會在此刻的命定，唯有在我們成為神所渴望的遵行者時，我們才能成為神所要的領導者－一個信徒的身體，能在超自然的合一下同行，堅定地降服於一個頭－主耶穌基督。我們使主很高興地知道，無論祂心中想什麼，祂對祂身體的心意是什麼，會有一群加拿大教會回應說：「主，我在這裡，請差遣我！」
無論我們是否被呼召今年五月去香港參加聚會，或是以禱告來遮蓋這個聚會，或是以信心來種下財務奉獻的種子，加拿大的教會，我們是為此刻而生的！這是我們的命定！向著標竿直跑 ! 要得著神在基督耶穌裡從上面召我得來的獎賞。(腓立比書3:14)
獻上至愛
大衛 David
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(來源:TOD)
From My Heart: The Destiny of the Chinese
By David Demian
This May, the Lord is calling a remnant of the Chinese church from all over the world to gather in Hong Kong. I believe this will be a very significant gathering because of the part the Chinese have to play in God’s end-time global purposes which are now beginning to unfold.
It was almost ten years ago that the Lord first started speaking to me about the role of the Chinese. And it all happened in a very dramatic fashion.
I had been invited by a friend of mine to speak in a conference in Los Angeles in July 2001. This man is a key leader among the Chinese and the conference was a large event, with thousands in attendance from throughout North America and the Asian world. Because my friend had been to the gatherings, he wanted me to share the principles of the kingdom in which we were walking with the Chinese believers.
Since the conference was just after school had let out, Ruth and I decided we would make a family vacation of it, spending some time in Disneyland.. So we packed our 5 kids and nanny into our 8-passenger van and set out on the 24-hour trek down to LA.
We had driven all day without incident and had just passed into Oregon. It was about midnight and the kids were finally all asleep. Ruth and I just settling into sharing our hearts together when suddenly there was complete chaos on the highway ahead of us – cars strewn about everywhere. Before I could react, something hit my front and rear right tires and the van started careening out of control, balancing precariously on the remaining two tires. I was sure we were about to start flipping over when suddenly we shifted to the right. Then just as it felt we would fall over, something pulled us back to the left. Left right, left right we kept wildly swinging back and forth until amazingly the van came to a halt. I jumped out and to my shock saw there were no tires at all on the right – they had completely blown out. I soon learned that a truck which had been carrying large concrete stops that are used in parking lots, had lost control, spilling these blocks all over the darkened highway.
“It’s a miracle you are all alive,” people said to us who had seen us hit the concrete block. “It looked like someone literally held your van upright and brought it to a stop.” And we knew that’s exactly what had happened. In fact the hand of the Lord was so great upon our family that the kids slept through the entire experience. And not just the accident, but even afterwards as we transferred them, first to police cars and then into beds in a nearby hotel, they never woke up. In fact when they got up the next morning, they actually thought that they were in LA!
So now we had to decide should we go back home or continue? Either way, it looked like we would be waiting for days until the parts for our van could arrive in this remote Oregon community. But God intervened once again and a friend of ours who had heard of our plight, found flights for the whole family to get to LA for just a few hundred dollars. We felt this was a sign from the Lord He wanted us to continue our trip and so we left our van and headed to the conference.
Once we arrived, I was seeking the Lord about what He would have me share in the meeting. That’s when He spoke to me something completely unexpected.
“What hinders My kingdom from being established in the Middle East, David?” the Lord asked me. I was so taken aback by the question, I didn’t know what to answer.
“It’s the fear of persecution and the fear of death, “ He continued.
Having lived in Egypt, a Moslem nation, I could understand very well what the Lord was saying.
“But I have a prepared a people, David,” He explained, “ a remnant of My body who have no fear of persecution or death. These are the Chinese people and they will have a very special role to play in seeing the end-time destiny of the Jews and the Arabs being released.”
I was stunned by this revelation. My heart has always been for my people, the Arabs and then through my journey in Canada, God had also given me a heart for the Jewish people. But I had never seen any connection between this and the Chinese. And suddenly I realized it wasn’t a coincidence that the Lord had asked me to come speak to a conference of Chinese people. In fact, maybe this is why the enemy was trying so hard to hinder us from coming.
I got so excited by this revelation that I did something I never do. While I was speaking in the morning session, I announced what my topic would be in the evening – I would speak about God’s end-time destiny for the Chinese with the Middle East.
When Ruth heard me share this, she became concerned. For one, she knows that I never announce what I’m going to speak ahead of time – I always wait until the last minute because I want to give the Holy Spirit the maximum flexibility to use me to speak whatever He wants at that particular point of time in the meeting. But also she couldn’t figure out what I was trying to say – what connection could there be between the Chinese and the Middle East? And because Ruth knows the danger that I face from extremists whenever I talk about the Arab world, she wanted to know that I was sure this was a topic I needed to address so I wouldn’t be taking any unnecessary risks.
Gideon, our pastor and good friend, is Chinese (as is our church, Church of Zion in Vancouver) and he was also in attendance at the conference. Ruth was sharing her concerns with him and, being a pastor, his heart was moved so he came to me asking if maybe I could consider changing topics. I told him I would ask the Lord. Then we went into the afternoon session. In that session Paul Cain was talking when suddenly out of the blue he said, “if there is one reason for me to be alive it’s because of the destiny of the Chinese people relating to the Middle East”. Now this had absolutely nothing to do with his message and so I took at as a confirmation from the Lord that I was to proceed with what was on my heart to share that night.
When I spoke in the evening session what the Lord had told me about the destiny of the Chinese and the Middle East, the presence of the Lord came in an incredible way and deeply touched the people. I can only describe it by saying it was a divine moment of revelation in which the Lord captured us all. In fact, my friend, the conference host, was so stirred, he immediately got up and announced that he wanted to print one million CDs of this message and pass them throughout the Chinese world. The people were so struck by the revelation they wanted to sow into this vision, and right there, on the spot, all the money was raised to print and distribute one million CDs.
This is when things got really interesting. We went to the professional company who was recording and producing the CDs for this conference to get a copy of the message. And wouldn’t you know – it was completely blank! You could clearly hear my voice as I prayed just before beginning my message but the moment I was about to start to preach, everything went blank. And it remained blank until the closing prayer. As soon as I said “Amen” the recording began again.
It was so weird we figured that something must have gone wrong with the recording equipment. Then we remembered that Gideon had been recording the whole meeting on his camcorder. So we decided even though it wouldn’t be the best quality, we could still take the audio from there. But when we went to Gideon’s tape, what do you think we found? Just before I began to speak, the tape went blank and the recording never resumed until just after I finished.
My first thought was that this was warfare from the enemy, when suddenly I was reminded by the Lord about a similar experience that happened when I was ministering many years before in Egypt. That night I had been speaking a message when literally it felt as if I had been taken over by a spirit of revelation – I started saying things I had never heard or even thought of before. And the people were so touched that after the meeting they asked for a copy of the message. But when we went to the tape, everything was blank.
So as the Lord brought this experience back to me, He said, “It is the same, David for this message. I wanted this message spoken, declared here, now, but it’s not the time for it to go wider yet.” So I left this conference knowing there was something profound the Lord was showing us about the destiny of the Chinese but I wasn’t sure what, where or when the next step would be.
A few months later, my friend from LA phoned me and invited me to go to some meetings he was having in Asia in November. I prayed and I felt the Lord said go. In the meantime, I had also planned to go to Israel at the end of September, to participate in a conference in Jerusalem that was a real gathering place for leaders from across the world who have a heart for the Jewish people.
Then Sept 11th happened and both Ruth and Gideon were naturally very concerned about me going to the Middle East. It was hard enough to fly because the airline schedules were still in such a chaos and all the new airport security measures were causing huge problems and delays. But imagine how hard it was for an Egyptian to be flying into Israel at a time like this!
So I really prayed about it and I felt the Lord say to me, “You aren’t going just for the conference, but there is someone I want you to meet there.” I shared this with Ruth and Gideon and as we prayed together, we felt a witness that I needed to go. While at the conference, I spoke in a few sessions and I had many meetings with many people. But I never felt anything special – I never felt like the Lord was saying to me “this person is the one I was telling you that you had to meet”. So I came home a bit mystified.
A few days later, I got a call again from my friend in LA. “David what is going on?” he asked. “I got a message from a pastor in Taiwan who wants you to speak in his church when we are there in November.”
“Yes, I remember meeting that man,” I told him.
This man had been at the conference and actually his flight was supposed to leave back home before I was even going to arrive. But then with all the problems from 9-11, his flights were changed and he had to stay a few extra days. And it happened that I had been speaking during one of those days. He had heard me share and had asked to meet with me. But he didn’t speak English, so everything had to be done through an interpreter. And when he told me he was from Taiwan, I had mentioned I would be traveling there in November and he had asked he could have me speak at a leaders meeting at his church. I didn’t think much of it – he seemed like a very nice man and I thought maybe he is the pastor of a small church there who would like me to encourage his leaders. And since my friend was arranging the trip, I told this man to be in touch with my friend to make any arrangements.
“David, do you know who this man is?” my friend queried. “If there is one leader in all of Taiwan that is trusted and respected by the other leaders, it is this man, Pastor Chow” And he went on to explain to me that, Pastor Chow was actually the apostolic overseer of the largest church in Taiwan which in turn had 100+ daughter churches all over Asia and the world. Suddenly I realized God was up to something much bigger than I understood.
So when we got to Taiwan in November, we went to the church where Pastor Chow had asked us to meet. Once we were there, we found out that it “happened that” Pastor Chow had already planned to have an international leadership conference – bringing all the leaders from all the daughter churches all over the world to Taiwan – at the exact same time as our visit. And they were meeting at a retreat centre far outside of Taipei. But because we only had one short opening in our travel schedule when we could meet with them, Pastor Chow had arranged to bus the whole group, hundreds of leaders, back to the main church in Taipei so I could share with them.
I will never forget this meeting. As I began to share what the Lord had revealed to me concerning the destiny of the Chinese, suddenly my translator (who I later found out was the president of Good TV, the only 7x24 Chinese Christian TV station in the world) started weeping to the point he could not translate what I was sharing. Then all the leaders started weeping and travailing and were so overcome that they came out of their chairs and lay across the altar and the platform calling out for the destiny of the Chinese.
And in that moment, the Lord spoke to me that the day would come when there would be a gathering in Asia of the Chinese people – where they would worship the Lord and He would speak to them and mobilize them to undertake their own journey to see the destiny of their people fulfilled not only for the benefit of the Chinese and the Middle East, but for the whole body of Christ. And I believe in my heart, that this is the gathering that will take place this May in Hong Kong. And ever since that meeting in Taiwan in November 2001, a small remnant of leaders from Canada have been walking a journey with the Chinese believers – first in Taiwan, then Hong Kong, then in China and Macau. But this is another story for another time. Right now what I believe is critical is that the church in Canada be wise, like the men of Issachar, to recognize the seasons and timings of God and to know what is the mandate the Lord has for us as the body of Christ in Canada.
God has brought great healing and blessing into the church in Canada through our journey in the last ten years. But this blessing wasn’t for our benefit alone – it was a preparation for our calling – to be a healer to the nations. But just as in our journey in Canada, where we had to follow the steps that God revealed in order to see healing and the release of our destiny, so it must be in our journey with the nations. We cannot say “we are healers to the nations” and just go wherever we want, whenever we want We must align ourselves in absolute submission to the King – waiting on Him to hear His command and then responding in obedience. In this way we will become a sharp instrument in the hand of the Lord as we have the privilege to partake in His end-time plan for the unfolding of the destiny of nations as He brings complete fulfillment to His purposes on the earth.
I was struck by something I heard during the Olympics broadcast last week. It was a feature on Canada during which the narrator said: “As Canada we have been known for many things, for our kindness, for our compassion. But the time has come for us to be known as leaders.”
I believe this is a prophetic statement about our destiny as the church of Canada in this hour. And we will only be the leaders God intends when we become the followers He is longing for – a body of believers who walk in supernatural unity one with one another in unrelenting submission to One Head, the Lord Jesus Christ. May we give the Lord the pleasure of knowing that whatever He has on His heart, whatever His desires are for His body there is a remnant of the church of Canada saying “here are we Lord, send us!”
Whether we are called to physically go to Hong Kong this May for the gathering or to cover it in prayer or to participate by sowing financial seed by faith, Church of Canada this is the hour we were born for! This is our destiny! Rise up and press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil 3:14).
All my love
David
THE HOMECOMING CHINESE GATHERING
For more information about the gathering details, registration, hotels and travel information, please visit www.chinesegathering.com.
To be included on the special Chinese gathering prayer mailing list, click here or send a blank email to [email protected].
To sow into the Chinese gathering, online click here and choose “the Homecoming Chinese Gathering” as your giving option. To sow by cheque or money order, please mail your offering to the Watchmen office at PO Box 23125, Kelowna, BC, V1X 7K7 with a note clearly indicating that your giving is to be directed to the Homecoming Chinese Gathering