The purpose of this monthly digest is to help to encourage and assist in the daily reading of the ministry in the Lord’s recovery. Its two specific goals are: (1) to help the saints to enter into the riches of The Collected Works of Witness Lee and (2) to provide ministry content for the churches in their corporate weekly pursuit. The Collected Works of Witness Lee comprises one hundred thirty-nine volumes arranged chronologically by year. In this digest we will focus primarily on specific topics from many of these volumes and introduce selected readings on these topics to saints who do not have access to the printed volumes. It is our desire to help the saints get into the riches contained in The Collected Works of Witness Lee topic by topic. This publication will help the saints and churches develop a taste and deepen the desire for reading the ministry in a consistent way. It is intended to supplement and not replace the Recovery Version of the Bible, the Life-study messages, The Holy Word for Morning Revival, and The Ministry of the Word magazine. Each issue of Ministry Digest will be divided into four sections with four messages in each section. The first issue begins the following four sections: 1. The History of the Lord’s Recovery 2. Words for New Believers 3. Maturing in Life 4. The High Peak of the Divine Revelation

In this issue we will continue the four lines of ministry that began in the first issue of Ministry Digest (vol. 1, no. 1). The first line—The History of the Lord’s Recovery—continues with chapters 13 through 16 of The History and Revelation of the Lord’s Recovery, which are in volume 2 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1981. These chapters speak of the “national defense” and “public security” in the Lord’s recovery, the revelation that we have received from the Lord, the raising up of the work in Taiwan, and the trials of the churches in Taiwan. The second line—Words for New Believers—continues with chapters 8 through 11 of Lessons for New Believers, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1959. These chapters speak of meeting, how to meet, and various kinds of meetings. The third line—Maturing in Life—continues with chapters 13 through 16 of The Way for a Christian to Mature in Life, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1955. These chapters speak of watching and being ready, the filling of the Holy Spirit, the way to be filled with the Spirit by giving the Lord the ground, and paying the price to buy the oil. The fourth line—The High Peak of the Divine Revelation—continues with chapters 1 through 4 of The Dispensing, Transformation, and Building of the Processed Divine Trinity in the Believers, which are in volume 1 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994–1997. These chapters speak of the dispensing of the processed Divine Trinity in the believers, the transformation of the processed Divine Trinity in the believers, and the [6] building of the processed Divine Trinity in the believers. Chapters 2 and 3 were spoken by a brother during the same conference based on Brother Lee’s outlines.

In this issue of The Ministry we conclude our series of messages entitled “Vision in God’s Economy,” comprising Brother Lee’s fellowship with the elders and co-workers in Taipei in March 1986. The present vision and practice in the Lord’s recovery are the culmination of all the visions, which God has given to men in His holy Word. Our vision and practice today are according to God’s New Testament economy to build up the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem. This is the vision, which matches the age, and it is the basis of the one accord among us. Six other messages in this issue are taken from the International Conference of Co-workers and Elders in September 1997. The subject of this conference was “Vital Factors in the Lord’s Present Move.” These vital factors are related to the apostles’ teaching, the Body of Christ, and the elders’ shepherding of the church. Caring diligently for these factors ensures that in our living and laboring we are kept in the central lane of the divine revelation with one way for one goal—the goal of God’s eternal economy—which we carry out by shepherding in cooperation with Christ’s heavenly ministry. These messages were spoken by twelve brothers in a blending way, and they include excerpts from Brother Lee’s written ministry. In this issue we report on our endeavor to acquire an enlarged campus for the spread of the work of God’s New Testament ministry in the Lord’s recovery. We also provide fellowship concerning the Lord’s move on the earth through letters from Ghana, France, Poland, and Romania. Lastly, we provide a report concerning the translation of the written ministry into the Spanish language.