Thirty-Five Years of Sowing in Europe, Preparing for the Coming Decade

Today’s Main Verses for Pray-reading

The Most High rules in the kingdom of men

Daniel 4:17

The Most High is the Ruler over the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He wills.

Those who sow in tears will reap with a ringing shout

Psalm 126:5–6

Those who sow in tears / Will reap with a ringing shout.

The night is far advanced, and the day has drawn near

Romans 13:11–12

It is already the hour for you to be raised from sleep … The night is far advanced, and the day has drawn near.

Where two or three are gathered into the Lord’s name

Matthew 18:20

Where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst.

Continuing steadfastly with one accord, from house to house

Acts 2:46–47

Continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple … the Lord added together day by day those who were being saved.

The marriage of the Lamb has come

Revelation 19:7

Let us rejoice and exult … for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.

Today’s Prayer Burden

After thirty-five years of sowing in Europe, the coming decade will be a crucial time for the Lord’s move there. May the Lord prepare the situation of the churches in Europe through a new pattern of church life, with all the saints growing in life, being knit together, and functioning. May the seed already sown bear abundant fruit, and may the churches become a prepared Bride, ready for the turn of the age and the Lord’s return.

Today’s Prayer

Lord Jesus, open our eyes to see that You rule the world situation and advance the age! Thirty-five years ago You opened the door to Europe, and for thirty-five years You have been sowing, calling, and building up the churches. Lord, show us Your hidden work and the ripe opportunity today. Rekindle our first love, and bring us into the current of Your move in Europe!

Lord Jesus, time is short, and each day brings us closer to the end of the age! Work the urgency of the age into us. Save us from being slow, drawing back, holding something in reserve, or remaining indifferent. Lord, the coming decade is crucial not only for the spread in Europe but also for each of us to advance in life and be gained by You. May we enjoy the Triune God as grace every day, accept Your sovereign arrangements and discipline, and be transformed unto maturity. May we not only hope for a breakthrough in Europe, but first allow You to break through in us! Lord, gain us to consecrate ourselves, pray, and act today, making each day a day of preparation for Your return!

Lord Jesus, turn our concept, practice, and living thoroughly! May we no longer make meetings the center, but treasure each living member; may we no longer depend on large gatherings, but enter into the fellowship of two or three, home by home and vital group by vital group. May we not wait for people to come to us, but go to them and build genuine, intimate, organic relationships. Lord, make the churches in Europe a living network in which we are knit together, supply one another, and all function. Through the high-peak truths, the corporate God-man living, and shepherding according to God, may the new ones be perfected continually, the vital groups multiply, and the Body of Christ be built up. May the sowing of the past thirty-five years bear abundant fruit in the coming decade, and may the situation of the churches in Europe be prepared as the reality of the Bride awaiting Your return. Amen.

Ministry Fellowship

1. Thirty-five years of sowing (1991–2026)

Before March 1991, I had not thought that the Lord’s move needed a new direction. But after the war between the United Nations coalition and Iraq, I was deeply impressed. The recent battle with Iraq lasted only four days and four hours, a total of one hundred hours. After that battle I reconsidered the world situation. We must consider what the Lord wants us to do today. The Lord’s move in His recovery today needs an appropriate direction to match the recent changes in the world situation.

In recent years, while we have been changing to practice the church life according to the God-ordained way, the world has also been changing. In view of the present world situation, the Lord’s move in His recovery today needs an appropriate direction. We should not think that the recent changes in the world situation are meaningless. The Lord is not only the Creator of the universe; He is also the Ruler of the whole world.

Everything that happens in the world situation is of the Lord. When we see the many changes in today’s world situation, we should wake up. Our eyes need to be opened, and we should exercise our spirit to say, “Lord, what is Your intention in all these changes? What do they have to do with us?”

Recently several brothers went to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. They testified that the people there were open to the divine truth and exceedingly hungry for it. Through our contact with people in Leipzig, about eight received the Lord. In Berlin the brothers contacted a Russian-speaking woman, and she was baptized. She was our first fruit in East Berlin. After praying with the brothers to receive the Lord, she invited them to dinner at her home, and that very evening they baptized her. This surely confirmed the openness there and testified that a door had been opened for the Lord’s move in Europe.

The Lord’s recovery is growing in the Far East and in the United States, but in Europe it is still in its initial stage. We should remember that the United States, Europe, and the Far East are the three major factors influencing the present world situation. The Lord’s recovery has taken root in the United States and the Far East, but Europe remains an empty space. For this reason, the present direction of the Lord’s recovery must be toward Europe. The recovery there is still in its initial stage.

The importance of Europe

Europe is extremely important to the present world situation because of its geographical position, its people, its history and culture, and its measure of capability. Furthermore, in the ultimate fulfillment of the vision of the great human image in Daniel 2, Europe is more crucial and important than any other nation or race. The striking of the two feet of the great image is the striking of the entire human government (Dan. 2:34–35).

We need to see this as a basis for understanding the Lord’s intention. Before human government is smashed, the Lord’s recovery must spread to Europe and take root there. The spreading of the truth of the Lord’s recovery will prepare the way for the Lord’s return and bring in the restoration and revival of Israel and the entire creation.

Of the three factors influencing today’s world situation, the Far East and the United States have already been occupied and gained by the Lord’s recovery. Europe, however, still needs the Lord’s recovery to take root and grow there. I hope we will bring this fellowship to the Lord in prayer. We should say to Him, “Lord, these days are the consummation of this age. Rekindle my love for You in these days.”

(Witness Lee, The World Situation and the Direction of the Lord’s Move, ch. 1.)

2. The coming decade is crucial; each day brings us closer to the end

At the 2026 autumn training in Amsterdam, the brothers fellowshipped:

“I would even say that the coming decade may be more crucial for us. How will we cooperate with the Lord in His recovery? How will we enter into the word we have heard this week and experience the Triune God in these three aspects: through His justification, through His becoming grace for our enjoyment, and through all the dealings and discipline unto maturity? Time is short, and each day brings us closer to the end. I feel that there is an urgency within me, and there is also an urgency in the Triune God. His people should pay attention to this word.”

(2026 Autumn Elders’ Training, Message 8.)

“This clearly shows us that Jacob realized everything was in the sovereign hand of the sovereign God. Brothers, I was also very touched by the messages we heard in the past. As we come to the end of this age, in the previous message Brother Lee Longhui said that he was not making a prediction, but perhaps it would be ten years. I also have a strong feeling within me that the coming decade will be crucial for the Lord’s move on earth, especially for the progress of the Lord in each one of us. This is not the time for us to be slow, to draw back, to hold something in reserve, to be indifferent, or to take things lightly. So the coming decade is very crucial. I feel this is extremely significant. Brothers, I do not know how to emphasize this further. I believe the Lord will use these conferences and trainings to lead us and guide us step by step to the end of this age. Do not take this lightly. This is what God is speaking to His beloved and precious recovery. We have traveled a long way in the past one hundred years or more. We have not yet reached the goal, but we hope that we will.”

(2026 Autumn Elders’ Training, Message 9.)

3. A new pattern of church life to meet the world situation and prepare for the Lord’s coming

Brother Lee’s foresight: the closer the Lord’s coming, the more the church returns to its original condition

Brother Lee saw what the church would be like before the Lord’s return. He saw farther than all of us: the church would gradually and slowly return to its original condition. What was the church like originally? It was like the church in the first century: there were no large meetings, only small meetings. The closer the Lord’s coming, the more the church will return to its original condition.

Treasure each member and build a personal relationship with each one

First, our concept must be turned around completely. We must see that the most important thing is each member, each person, and we must build a personal relationship with each one. Building a personal relationship with people requires being “small”; without being small, we cannot build personal relationships. If you want to care for someone where he is, why do you ask him to come to you? Actually, you are asking him to support your gathering. If you no longer had the gathering, would you still ask him to come? For example, if the government stopped you from holding a large gathering, or if you yourself felt that the gathering was not the issue and was unnecessary, you would no longer ask people to come; you might even give up asking them to come, and then there would be no question of “coming.” It is actually very difficult to get people to come to a meeting. Therefore, our concept is crucial. This is a matter of turning our concept around!

The old system is built on meetings; the new system is built on relationships

The old system is built on “meetings,” whereas the new system is built on “relationships.” For example, when a church builds organic relationships, it is like a neural network, with a first circle, then a second and a third. The homes, groups, and districts may care for the same people or for different people; the sisters can also participate. At least half our time should be spent building and strengthening these organic relationships. It would not be too much to spend all our time on this.

I say that Brother Lee had foresight in leading the Lord’s recovery to take the new way. He did not see only that the church needed to increase and the number of believers needed to multiply. He also saw what the world situation would be like before the Lord’s coming and that the church must move in this direction.

(Brother Yu, “In the End Time, Practicing the New Way and Building a New Pattern of Church Life,” February 11, 2020.)