More Ambitious Steps of Faith! Into Unevangelized Fields

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Having had our eyes opened to the principle of achieving faith, we then proceeded on year by year and need by need. In numbers, those early
years, we went yearly from 10 to 15, to 25, to 50, to 75. And with the incoming recruits, we began the launch by faith into new unevangelized
fields. This is not the place to go into further details beyond the simple fact that the WEC is now established in 57 fields worldwide, with 1500
missionaries.

Much more thrilling, the new marching army has now begun of our national brothers, from peoples and tribes to whom we first went with
Jesus. They are now joining our ranks as “missionaries” to other peoples. There are Brazilians, Japanese, West Africans, Indians and Koreans lining up with us Americans, British, Germans, Dutch, Swiss, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, and so on.

By the call of God in 1941, there was the birth of the Christian Literature Crusade, operating by the same faith and sacrifice principles as we in
WEC. CLC now numbers 600 workers in 43 countries at 150 book centers. All literature points to Christ, and sales are in the millions of dollars.

What can we: say, but what Balaam was forced to say of God’s Israel, “The shout of a King is among them” and “What hath God wrought!”
(Num. 23:21,23). It has been Paul’s word adapted to modern conditions: “Whereunto we also labour, striving according to His working, which
worketh in us mightily,” with “many deaths working in us, but life in you” (Col. 1:29 and Cor. 4:12).

The gaining of this intercession for a worldwide missionary outreach and my privileged part in it as Secretary covered 35 years, from the first word of faith for the ten to the present worldwide expansions. It was the fourth major intercession of my life. Needless to say, it involved many stresses and tensions, sometimes in the opening of closed fields, often in finances, sometimes in personnel problems and losses.

Always there was relearning and repracticing of that fundamental evidence of a Spirit-led calling—that we are loving one another as He
loved us. By grace we have continued together. There was the plain commission inherited from C.T. Studd, and what followed for me and my coworkers was intercession in action.

The first fruit to the altar was the ceasing at the home base to use mission monies for personal needs. Then there were many continual “deaths.” We appeared to other societies and churches as a weak, unorganized, “scary” company of daring men and women. We were even called “modern Franciscans”! Usually we had not great educational backgrounds, no personal funds and not much backing from home churches. However, church backing has much changed now. There was no controlling committee, except the one C.T. Studd called our “Committee Always in Session.” This Father, Son and Holy Spirit “committee” (occasionally visited by a fourth, the Devil!) conveyed guidance to us by
the open fellowship method.

So deaths worked in us personally and corporately, in the “foolishness of faith.: But God enabling us, we went forward; and there has been and still is the gaining of this intercession. To some extent, we have lived in the glorious condition described in 1
Corinthians 4:9-12:

For I think that God hath set forth the apostles last, as it were appointed to death, for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.

We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honorable, but we are despised.

Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place; and labor, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer
it.

How I thank God for being given such years of the Royal Priesthood, in the authority of faith and vicarious sacrifice—commission, cost, completion.