[Billion Soul Harvest Movement]
It begins with presence, shaped by love, and spreads God’s kingdom through the Holy Spirit.
In the Billion Soul Harvest (BSH) conference, leaders are paired together in prayer. This movement is characterized by restoring the essence of worship communities. For instance, in a house church in Beijing, when the Chinese government enforced a policy that prevented gatherings of more than five people, the church adopted a model of worship communities consisting of four members. They engaged in activities such as walking in the park, reciting scriptures, sharing testimonies, praying, singing hymns, and sharing meals together. This led to a heightened intimacy and deeper fellowship. Despite the dissolution of the house church by Xi Jinping’s regime, the ‘four-member micro communities’ spread throughout Beijing’s homes, workplaces, cafes, and campuses, resulting in the congregation increasing by 100 times. This wasn’t merely due to reducing the unit size but rather by recovering the essence of the worship community.
The essence of the church is defined by the presence shared among believers. This principle is encapsulated in the saying, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20). This emphasizes that the essence of the church does not depend on the number of attendees but rather on the presence of Jesus in the gathering. The early church exemplified this by meeting in homes, breaking bread, and forming intimate communities centered around the table, rather than focusing on size.
In the digital age, we experience the fastest connectivity yet remain deeply isolated. The church of the future will be characterized by small communities, where scriptures become a lived reality, prayer becomes a way of life, and table fellowship becomes worship. A single person’s transformation, fellowship at a table, and united prayer among two or three can redirect history’s course. As these holy routines connect, life changes, communities form, culture shifts, and civilization moves.
The essence of the church is not in its numbers but in the shared presence of believers. This presence allows for deep communion and mutual love. The new commandment to love one another (John 13:34-35) is not an addition to the law but a radical replacement of old commandments represented by ‘love God, love your neighbor’. This emphasizes that true community and the energy to love both God and neighbor arise only when founded on genuine love among believers.
All churches continuously divide and rebuild from groups of two or three, spreading towards the ends of the earth. This is the harvest method of the last days. Attend to Jesus’s diagnosis—”Fields are ripe for harvest”. Albeit quietly, yet without halting and unseen, let all believers open Acts chapter 29, be filled with God’s image and truthfully witness Christ across the earth. Start immediately, because two or three are enough.