II. How to Ensure the Safety of God’s Chosen People in Various Countries Overseas

A. Processing the Legal Status of God’s Chosen People

In conducting church work in various countries overseas, the first priority should be to properly arrange placements for personnel doing their duties, guaranteeing their safety so they can do their duties normally. Another important matter is handling the issue of legal status, which must be attended to as soon as God’s chosen people arrive in a new country. Without legal status or if their status is not legitimate, there is always the risk of deportation, no matter how good their living environment may be. Individuals whose status is not legitimate are considered illegal residents, and these people’s safety is at risk; without their safety ensured, they cannot do their duties for long. Therefore, in overseas countries, arranging proper placements for personnel doing their duties is the first task for leaders and workers. Once their placements are properly arranged, the next step is to arrange for them to start processing their legal status. In any country, at the very least, the goal in processing legal status should be to enable brothers and sisters to reside there legally. This is also an important item of work in ensuring the safety of important work personnel. To achieve legal residency, the first requirement is that one’s status must be legal; they cannot be residing somewhere illegally. Leaders and workers should do as much as possible to arrange placements for the brothers and sisters according to the government’s regulations for legal residency. Leaders and workers can either be directly involved in this placement work or follow up on it. If there are matters they cannot see through, they should promptly seek from upper-level leaders and workers. In the absence of special circumstances, they should practice according to the church’s previous rules. Leaders and workers need to make inquiries from time to time, and if they learn that someone has issues with their legal status or any special circumstances, they should arrange for personnel handling external affairs to resolve the processing issues for the legal status of God’s chosen people. Of course, the first step is to find a few specialized lawyers to handle status processing. In hiring lawyers, precautions must be taken to avoid being duped—fake lawyers or those not specialized in processing legal status should not be hired. Leaders and workers should first of all consider these aspects related to the processing of legal status, and these matters must be arranged well. This work is also part of protecting important work personnel and ensuring their safety, so when it comes to doing this work, leaders and workers must not just stand by idly. Some people say, “Arranging placements for personnel doing their duties is the work of God’s house; we only need to do it after receiving direct arrangements from the Above. If the Above doesn’t arrange it, we don’t need to bother with it, and even if something goes wrong, it has nothing to do with us. Besides, each country has different regulations on immigration and legal status; we aren’t able to handle such a major issue! Everyone has to just rely on themselves and hope for the best—if they can stay in a country, they stay; if not, they go back.” Are these words correct? (No.) What do you think of this attitude? (It is irresponsible.) In one sense, it’s irresponsible; in another, it is a manifestation of false leaders not doing real work and shirking responsibility. For leaders and workers, arranging placements for important work personnel overseas is also an important item of work. Once placements are properly arranged for them and they can do their duties normally, the immediate next step is to arrange for external affairs personnel to guide them in processing their legal status. Especially when special situations arise during the processing that brothers and sisters cannot handle, leaders and workers should think of ways to find solutions, and not ignore the issue. If there is any problem with processing legal status, it is no small matter and should be handled and resolved as early and quickly as possible. Don’t delay—what can be done today should not be put off until tomorrow; putting it off until tomorrow could lead to consequences which would be terrible beyond imagining. If leaders and workers are negligent and derelict in their responsibility, not giving urgency to the matter and delaying the best time for processing legal status, thus causing personnel doing their duties to be unable to do so normally, who bears the responsibility? These individuals made their requests to church leaders and the processing personnel, and the leaders and workers were aware, but because they either didn’t take the matter seriously or made excuses not to handle it, the legal status processing of some important work personnel was delayed, which impacted certain important items of the church’s work to some extent. So, who do you think should bear the responsibility here? (The leaders and workers.) God’s house has repeatedly emphasized this matter. The leaders and workers are not unaware of it, nor are they uninformed or lacking understanding; rather, they know about it but don’t take it seriously. As long as it doesn’t concern their own matters, as long as it’s someone else’s issues, they put it off whenever possible, ultimately delaying a matter as significant as the processing of the legal status of God’s chosen people. When consequences arise, the leaders and workers must bear the responsibility. This responsibility is not just talk—if it impacts the church’s work, especially the important work of God’s house, then the responsibility borne by the leaders and workers becomes significant. At the very least, they will be given a demerit by God, it will be a transgression—that is the consequence. If it’s something that falls to you to do, something within the scope of your responsibilities, and you don’t do it or ignore it, or delay it due to certain personal reasons, then you must bear the responsibility. Some people say, “I didn’t know how to resolve it; I didn’t have any way forward.” But did you take it seriously and seek from the upper-level leaders and workers at the first opportunity? Some others say they forgot about it because they were busy with other work. Even if they truly forgot about it due to being busy, how can they keep forgetting after someone raises the issue with them and reminds them repeatedly? What problem does this indicate? (They haven’t kept the matter of processing the legal status of the brothers and sisters in their hearts; they have no sense of burden whatsoever.) The fact that they can forget such an important matter shows that they lack a sense of responsibility and are not trustworthy. You can forget something as significant as processing the legal status of God’s chosen people—would you forget the processing of your own legal status? If you wouldn’t forget your own matters but can forget others’, it proves that you have poor character, lack love, and are selfish and base. You’ve completed the processing of your own legal status, yet you treat the processing of the brothers’ and sisters’ legal status as an ordinary, trivial matter—or even ignore it entirely—and ultimately delay the processing of their legal status, this significant matter. Can you bear that responsibility? Aren’t such leaders and workers utterly lacking in conscience and reason? They’re so selfish and base! They care only for themselves and disregard others—what problem does this indicate? Aren’t they false leaders? (Yes.) The essence of their problem is thus fully exposed. They simply don’t want to attend to the processing of the brothers’ and sisters’ legal status; they find it troublesome. In their hearts, they think, “What does processing the legal status of the brothers and sisters have to do with me?” This is the attitude with which they treat the matter of the legal status processing of the brothers and sisters, ultimately delaying this significant matter, impacting the brothers’ and sisters’ performance of duty, and impacting the church’s work. Would you say such false leaders deserve punishment? (Yes.) They should be held accountable because it was intentional; it was certainly not an accidental delay caused by objective factors. If there were a natural disaster, like an earthquake, a flood, or some major political event that interrupted transportation and communication, making it impossible to handle these matters, that would be understandable. But if none of these events occurred, and they still forgot or neglected the legal status processing of the brothers and sisters, delaying such an important matter—these individuals’ legal status—then such a leader or worker is derelict in their responsibility. They shall be given a demerit and held responsible. Do you understand? (Yes.) Seeing that you are a leader or worker, you have the responsibility to do the work you should be doing. For everything within the scope of your responsibility, you must properly handle and complete it according to the requirements of God’s house. But if you intentionally avoid doing or delay it, this is a dereliction of your responsibility, and this dereliction is a transgression. If you intentionally delay a matter and don’t handle it, your failure will eventually become a transgression, and you will be given a demerit by God. You will be held accountable for this matter.

In countries overseas, if there are certain problems with the legal status of God’s chosen people, or if their neighbors or strangers file complaints about them or report them, they may face the danger of being deported. It also may happen that some of God’s chosen people in countries overseas are detained and penalized or arrested and imprisoned by the governments of certain countries on fabricated charges. Regardless of the situation, when leaders and workers know about it, they should not act like turtles hiding in their shells; they should handle this matter at the first moment, with the ultimate goal being to ensure the safety of the brothers and sisters, not allowing them to fall into the hands of evil people. If leaders and workers only care about arranging the work of the church, but pay no attention to the matter of the processing of the legal status of the brothers and sisters, resulting in brothers and sisters being arrested or deported due to lacking legal status, what consequences are these? Haven’t such leaders and workers ruined the brothers’ and sisters’ opportunity to do their duty? Doesn’t this directly impact the work of the church? The nature of this problem is then quite serious. If the leaders and workers have not handled this matter before, they can find among the brothers and sisters someone skilled in handling external affairs to consult a lawyer to handle this matter, striving to achieve the goal of protecting the brothers and sisters and protecting the safety of important work personnel. This is also an important item of work that leaders and workers must perform overseas; local leaders and workers must take the initiative to attend to this matter. In addition to protecting the safety of local brothers and sisters, they even more so must protect the safety of foreign brothers and sisters; only in this way is there assurance for the work of the church. This is the responsibility that the leaders and workers in each country ought to fulfill toward the local brothers and sisters and foreign important work personnel; they should not just stand idly by. Some leaders and workers say, “They are foreign brothers and sisters, and we are not familiar with them; there is no personal relationship between us. They were sent by God’s house to preach the gospel here—what does that have to do with us? This mishap is something they brought upon themselves; they didn’t inquire into the situation clearly before coming and didn’t handle these matters well. We have no way to intervene with this mishap; who knows what the government will do to them.” They just use various excuses to evade and avoid these matters, and do not try to find ways to step forward to resolve them. Is acting this way correct? (No.) Why not? (If the leaders and workers do not step forward to resolve these problems, and the brothers and sisters, meanwhile, have no path for resolving the problems, then trouble will certainly arise. The leaders and workers have not fulfilled their responsibility to protect the brothers and sisters—this is a dereliction of their responsibility.) The duty of leaders and workers is to fulfill each and every responsibility that leaders and workers ought to fulfill in God’s house. The scope of God’s house is not limited to the local area, the local region, or a certain country; God’s house has no national boundaries, no regional limitations. Are there racial limitations in God choosing people and saving people? (There are none.) Are there limitations of nationality or region? (There are also none.) There are none. This is the principle by which God does His work; thus, this principle is the truth! No matter which country the brothers and sisters are from, they all believe in one God, follow one God, and also eat and drink the truth that one God fellowships and supplies. They experience the work that one God does, and worship one God. Regardless of skin color or race, in God’s house and before God, they are one—they are one family. Since they are one family, there should not be distinctions among them; there should not be racial or regional limitations; there should not be divisions of “you are Asian, I am European,” or “you are White, I am a person of color”—there should not be these distinctions. If you still make these distinctions in God’s house, then it is clear that you do not regard God’s house as God’s house, and do not consider yourself a member of God’s house. Therefore, when foreign brothers and sisters encounter problems such as deportation or unlawful arrest, regardless of where they come from, what their nationality is, or what skin color they have, they are brothers and sisters—since they are brothers and sisters, when they face problems, the local leaders and workers should step forward and handle this matter in a dutybound manner, and should not make distinctions among people. This conforms to principles, fully aligns with God’s intentions, and is the truth that people ought to practice.

Currently, many of God’s chosen people from China are going to various countries overseas to preach the gospel and testify to God. After they arrive in these countries, the first thing they must do is process their legal status before they can work with peace of mind. Processing legal status is not a simple matter; it requires the cooperation of people from the local church. Those in charge of churches in various countries should seek out some brothers and sisters who understand their country’s policies and know its laws to help God’s chosen people from China resolve the issue of processing legal status. Resolving this issue is of paramount importance. The leaders and workers of various countries’ churches should make every effort to cooperate, as only by fully resolving the issue of people’s legal status can the church’s work proceed normally; otherwise, the church’s work will be affected. Those in charge of churches in various countries should be prepared with people capable of handling such matters. Doing this benefits the church’s work and is also a manifestation of being considerate of God’s intentions. Some leaders and workers might say, “We have never handled this kind of matter, and we don’t know what to do either.” In this situation, they should seek out people who understand these types of affairs. Among God’s chosen people in each country, there are those with education and knowledge, and there are also those who understand national laws and policies. For them, handling these matters only requires a bit of consultation to find a path—isn’t that so? In handling this type of matter, you should not be passive and inactive; if you do not understand something, you should find a lawyer to consult. As long as the relevant kind of lawyer is found, there will naturally be a path. We may not understand this matter, but the lawyer will. Having a heart that seeks is the right attitude; having a heart that seeks is a manifestation of having a sense of responsibility. If certain difficulties arise, you should pray, seek, and fellowship together with one heart and mind, and after finding the principles and path to resolve the problem, you should completely resolve it. Only then can the church’s work proceed smoothly. If, when discovering a problem, leaders and workers can promptly learn about it, follow up on it, and resolve it, are they not responsible leaders and workers? (They are.) Such leaders and workers not only have a sense of responsibility but can also promptly resolve problems, which means they have hope of becoming leaders and workers who are up to standard. Regardless of their depth of understanding of the truth, if they focus on resolving problems, then they are able to do real work. At the very least, they can achieve making fewer mistakes or no mistakes; and even if they do make some mistakes, they can promptly correct them to recover some losses, ultimately achieving the goal of safeguarding the work of God’s house. Do you think fulfilling this responsibility is difficult? (No.) In fact, it is not difficult; it depends on whether people have loyalty in doing their duty and whether they can fulfill their responsibility in their work. You just need to put in some thought, spend a bit of time, and invest some energy; it does not require you to spend money or take on any risk. You just need to step forward to help resolve problems and handle matters well, and in this way, you can become up to standard. So, this is not a difficult matter, and for leaders and workers, it should be easy to achieve. But there are some people who cannot accomplish even something this easy, and it is very clear that this is not due to insufficient caliber or ability, or to conditions or the environment not allowing it, but rather because they are unwilling to do it. When special situations arise that involve the legal status or residency of important work personnel, or matters concerning their placement, leaders and workers have the responsibility to undertake this work. It does not matter who you are arranging placements for, or their nationality or race; all you need to do is accept this from God. This work is entrusted to you by God; it is your responsibility and obligation, as well as your mission. This work which you accept comes from God, not from any person, so you should not concern yourself with who these people are that you are arranging placements for. Some people might say, “Protecting the local brothers and sisters is acceptable, but it’s not our concern if foreign brothers and sisters come here.” Do people who say this have a sense of responsibility or humanity? (They do not.) They consider the local brothers and sisters as brothers and sisters, but do not consider foreign brothers and sisters as brothers and sisters—does this stand? (It does not.) Does this conform to the truth? (It does not.) Why does it not conform to the truth? (False leaders are not considerate of God’s intentions; they ignore foreign brothers and sisters, and do not step forward to handle issues when problems arise—they do not safeguard the work of God’s house.) False leaders shirk responsibility with various excuses and do not do real work. They claim they are willing to expend themselves for God and are willing to practice the truth, but when it truly comes to critical matters of the church’s work, they hide. This is being irresponsible. For all issues related to protecting the safety of brothers and sisters overseas, leaders and workers must handle them promptly, treating it as a responsibility and a task to be completed. They should not make excuses to avoid it, nor allow their neglect of this work to affect the progress of the various items of work of God’s house.

B. Providing All Brothers and Sisters With Basic Legal Knowledge

What other aspects of the work related to the safety of brothers and sisters overseas can you think of? (In overseas countries, leaders and workers also must provide all brothers and sisters with some basic legal knowledge, so they develop a sense of legal awareness and avoid engaging in activities that violate the law.) Leaders and workers should provide all brothers and sisters with basic legal knowledge and understanding of various government regulations. They should learn more about these areas from local brothers and sisters in the country they are in, such as immigration policies and policies related to daily life, and then organize brothers and sisters to study these so that they strictly adhere to national government regulations and refrain from doing anything that violates the law. In particular, God’s chosen people from China, who have been under dictatorial rule for so many years, lack legal knowledge and do not understand the importance of law. As a result, they act casually and carelessly, like uncivilized people. When they come to live overseas, they appear very ignorant and often do things that show a lack of understanding of the rules. For example, in some Western democratic countries, social order is managed very well, with regulations prohibiting noise from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.—no sounds such as dogs barking or the rumble of construction machinery are allowed. If anyone violates these regulations and is reported, the police will handle it. In mainland China, no one manages these matters; wherever there are people residing it will be wantonly noisy, with the sounds of loud music, dancing, drinking, and partying, and no one intervenes. If anyone tries to do something, they may face retaliation, so Chinese people have no choice but to endure it. Western countries are different; everyone is protected by the law. If your dog frequently barks in the middle of the night, disturbing your neighbors’ rest, they will file a complaint against you. What you are doing affects others’ normal lives, you have violated legal regulations—it is legitimate for them to use the law as a weapon to file a complaint against you. There are also people who continue construction work until 11 or 12 at night, affecting their neighbors’ rest and resulting in complaints. The police then come to issue a fine and warn them not to make noise during the designated hours. Some people even lack awareness of environmental cleanliness, littering and leaving garbage strewn all over the streets. Western democratic countries are especially orderly. Residents have set times for throwing out garbage, and garbage trucks come on scheduled days to collect it. After the collection, the streets remain clean. Those who do not understand this may litter, which is also considered a violation of regulations. This impacts public sanitation and the appearance of the city, so complaints may be filed against them. Chinese people, not following the rules, often get complaints when living overseas. After being reported many times, they develop opinions about Westerners, saying, “Westerners just love to file complaints; they file complaints over every little thing,” to which I say, “They filed complaints against you over so many matters, and you haven’t reflected on yourself but instead blame them for filing complaints. Were they right to file the complaints, then? Were the things you did right or not?” They were entirely right to file those complaints; you harmed their interests and affected their lives, so why shouldn’t they file complaints against you? This is done to safeguard social order and demonstrates that this country is governed by law; everyone is protected by the law, and the law in this country is not just for show—everyone can use the law as a weapon to safeguard their own rights and interests. They are filing complaints against you because you don’t understand the law and have violated local regulations. You should first learn the local regulations and act according to laws and regulations—then, do you think they would still file complaints against you? (They wouldn’t file complaints anymore.) So why do Chinese people never file complaints, no matter how serious the matter is? (They have been oppressed by the government for too long. They don’t dare to file complaints. Chinese people also don’t have any concept of defending their rights.) China is not a country ruled by law. It is not governed according to the law. China’s laws are merely for show, and filing a complaint there is useless. If you do file a complaint, and the other party has power and influence, they may go after you. If you have no influence, you wouldn’t even dare to file a complaint; filing a complaint could easily bring trouble upon you. So when Chinese people encounter persecution—especially in cases where someone is killed—no matter how unjust the death, the matter is simply settled privately if the perpetrator pays some money. Why don’t the victim’s family members file a lawsuit? They know they would never win; it would cost a lot of money, yet they would still not obtain justice, nor would the perpetrator be brought to justice, so they choose not to pursue it legally and instead settle it privately. China’s laws are merely for show; China is not a country governed by law, with no arena for seeking justice. Filing a lawsuit is pointless. So, no matter what illegal situations Chinese people encounter, they dare not file complaints. This is because the Communist Party does nothing but commit misdeeds, is beyond reason, and does not govern according to the law. In China, as long as one is an ordinary person, no matter how serious the issue they face is, it does not count as a matter of concern in the eyes of the Communist Party—no one will address it. Things like affecting others’ rest, or even cases of theft, robbery, and burglary, are simply not considered issues by the Communist Party. In Western countries, however, it is different. The West has a democratic system and is a society ruled by law; so long as someone’s rest is affected, there will be a complaint filed, and the police will come to look into it and handle the matter. Westerners have this legal awareness and do not do such foolish things; only those who come from overseas and do not understand the rules do these foolish things. When Chinese people first begin living overseas, they often receive complaints. Over time, they learn about the local laws and regulations and no longer dare to do things that violate the law or disturb others. Therefore, leaders and workers should organize the brothers and sisters to learn about the various laws and regulations of the country they are in. No matter what they intend to do, they must first consult the law—even if raising chickens or pigs in their own yard, they should first check the government’s regulations. They can look up information online or consult with local brothers and sisters and in this way find accurate answers. In all matters in various Western countries, the government has specific regulations. For example, in construction, there are regulations on how high electrical outlets must be from the floor and how far apart each outlet must be. There are also specific standards for the thickness of stair railings and the width of stair balusters. Each step of construction is inspected by government personnel, so instances of buildings that violate construction codes or unregulated construction are rare. If residents want to build a house, a tool shed, or a small storage shed in their yard, they must obtain government approval. If they want to raise chickens or ducks, there are regulations on how far the enclosure must be from their neighbors’ property. Even if leaders and workers do not understand these laws and regulations, if church work involves these matters, then the leaders and workers must pay attention to them. They should first consult local laws and government regulations; becoming clear on these matters is beneficial to our performance of duty. Although legal matters are not directly related to the internal work of the church, providing basic legal knowledge to everyone is still beneficial. At the very least, they can gain some knowledge, understand some rules, learn how to live properly, and achieve a semblance of humanity. Additionally, leaders and workers should fellowship with those responsible for external affairs, helping them develop legal awareness. For minor matters, it is unnecessary to consult a lawyer—they only need to understand local regulations and strictly follow them. For major matters, however, they should consult a lawyer to gain an understanding of the local laws. In summary, no matter what is being done, all actions must comply with laws and regulations. Practicing in this way for a period of time will allow people to experience the importance of following laws and regulations, and they will follow rules when doing things. This is also beneficial to the work of the church.