J1Y2B4L4 - The History of the True Jesus Church (II)

The History of True Jesus Church (II)

Germany (1985)

United Kingdom (1972)

• Family services began in Germany with two Taiwanese in 1979.
• With the help of workers from the U.K., the first Spiritual Convocation on the European Continent was held in 1980. Afterwards, annual Spiritual Convocations in Heidelberg were held for the entire European Continent. Eventually, bi-annual Spiritual Convocations were also held
• In 1982, services became more consistently held in a brother’s rented room in Heidelberg. The first baptism in Heidelberg was in 1984.
• In 1985, the house of prayer in Heidelberg was established and in 1987, registered under the name of Wahre Jesus Gemeinde. The location for their services changed several times, until they purchased an apartment in 1992, used solely for church purposes. From 1984 to 1991, three service locations in the German-speaking areas of Rhineland, Hamburg, and the combined areas of Salzburg and Vienna in Austria.

• In 1950, Malaysian brethren moved to the U.K. for study and work.
• In the 1960s, members arrived from regions within Hong Kong, specifically the New Territories and Ap Chau. Their faith remained cold until 1972, when workers from Taiwan and Malaysia encouraged the members. Service was held for the first time, and houses of prayer were established in Sunderland and Newcastle.
• Thirteen members were ordained as deacons and deaconesses in Newcastle in 1975. In Edinburgh, the members rapidly increased in number from 20 to over 200, while Newcastle reached over 400.
• The first TJC building in the U.K. in Newcastle was dedicated on July 12, 1976. More than seventy infants and adults were baptized
• Edinburgh and Sunderland soon followed suit, dedicating new church buildings in May and July of 1979, respectively

France (1983)

• The gospel of the True Jesus Church reached mainland Europe in 1977, a deacon and two brothers began holding services together. Membership increased through immigration and conversion, and the prayer house was registered with the French Authority in 1983.
• The old Véritable Jésus Église building outside Paris was then purchased in 1992 and dedicated in 1994. Unlike our other churches in the western hemisphere, the Véritable Jésus Église in Paris decided early on to use French as the main sermon-delivery language.
• As a result, the church has been able to reach out to native French speakers. Today, 70% of the members are first generation church members. Paris church is also one of the most ethnically diverse of our churches in the west.

Korea (1948)

• It was in Taiwan that one brother who was later ordained as a minister to preach to the Japanese people in Taiwan, learned of the truth.
• In 1941, five Japanese Pentecostal ministers traveled to Taiwan to observe and discuss doctrine. Two of them accepted the truth and changed their Pentecostal church into the TJC, adopting the doctrine and sacraments, and re-baptizing members according to the truth.
• Taiwanese workers could assist in the newly established Japanese churches. A theological seminar was held in Tokyo in 1942. The seminar led another truth-seeker to Taiwan in October 1942, where he baptized into the church and eventually became a preacher there.
• When Japan lost control over Taiwan, he was sent back to Japan, where he helped to establish churches in Nanjyou and Jyohe, and houses of prayer in Tokyo, Idare, Ueda, and Haken.
• Taiwan continued to communicate with and support the Japanese churches, despite the changing political situation. Finally, in October 1963, the Japanese General Assembly was formed.

• Like Taiwan, Koreans were educated in Japanese during the Japanese occupation, making it relatively easier to spread the seeds of the gospel from Japan to Korea.
• In July 1941, one truth-seeker visited the True Jesus Church in Japan. During his visit, he received the Holy Spirit and was baptized.
• Not long after, another Korean truth-seeker also received the gospel in Japan. In January 1945, he brought the truth back with him to South Korea, preaching to members of the Presbyterian church.
• Three years later, the True Jesus Church was established in Korea, in August 1948. The two members preached all over Korea, establishing churches, and a year after the First National Delegates Conference in April 1950, the Korean General Assembly was formed.

1946

Nigeria (1978)

Ghana (1985)

West Malaysia, Sabah (1927)

• A member of the Mount Zion Church of Jesus Christ in Nigeria came into contact with the Taiwan General Assembly in 1976.
• Later, during a visit to the United States, he was baptized in the Kern River in Bakersfield, California, 1978.
• Upon returning to Nigeria, he introduced the truth to members of his old church. Some believed and were baptized.
• The following year, two True Jesus Church workers were invited to Africa to discuss the truth with board members of the Mount Zion Church. As a result, a second group of 322 people were baptized in 1979. God worked with them, and there were many miracles and wonders.

• After his baptism in Liberia, the same businessman returned to Ghana the same year and preached the truth to his friends, opening a way for the gospel.
• He preached the truth in his hometown in Port Harcourt, baptized new believers, and helped to establish the church there.
• In 1985, church workers went to preach in the capital city of Accra and other places in Ghana.
• They baptized about forty people and established another church.

Liberia (1985)

• One brother, deeply moved by the copy of the Holy Spirit Times sent to him by a friend, traveled to Singapore to seek out TJC there.
• He received the Holy Spirit three days after his baptism on January 11, 1927, and later brought others with him to preach the gospel in Sandakan, where the first True Jesus Church in Malaysia was established.
• During World War II (1941–45), the Japanese army occupied the entire region of Southeast Asia, forcing the believers to disperse and go into hiding when the situation worsened. Despite this, they kept their faith and continued family services. After the war, the believers gradually returned and resumed services.
• In 1952, the Sabah church was officially registered.

• In 1981, the International Assembly sent members to Liberia where they distributed pamphlets titled “Words of Life” during their transit at the airport.
• Two years later, during his flight to Liberia, one of our preachers met a businessman from Ghana. They discussed the truth, and the businessman was baptized three days later.
• The church sent workers to continue preaching in Liberia, and they eventually conducted a baptism at Buchanan.
• A church was later established in Liberia in 1985.

Indonesia (1941)

• After living in Indonesia, a nonnbeliever returned to his birthplace in Fujian. There, he contracted an illness and was healed at TJC. He returned to Indonesia and while working in Jakarta, he met with another brother, who offered his house for worship for the twelve members in Jakarta.
• A few months later, the two brothers rented a house with a front section for worship and a back section for the physically ill.
• In 1941, the first TJC in Indonesia was established, and by 1952, the government allowed for churches to be established across the country.
• The Indonesian GA opened a school in Jakarta in 1970. It was named the Kanaan Christian School and offered education to the general public, from K to 12th grade. Today, there are about 3,000 students in the school’s three branches. Its teachers and students are required to attend Sabbath services, and students receive two hours of religious education every week from the Indonesian General Assembly.