Important announcement

January 27, 2006

Dearest Praying Friends & Family:

How are you? I pray that this letter finds you joyfully learning the lessons God has for you, for His kingdom's sake. From some of you I've heard pretty tough news; may the Lord specially show you His great mercy & grace. From some of you I've heard very, very happy news; praises to God!

It has been about 7 months since I last wrote to you en-masse regarding missions, & many of you know that after many years of preparation I was planning to depart from the U.S. this year. Your support through the years was invaluable to me, & I could hardly have ever deserved it. At very strategic times when life was hard, God used many of you to encourage me. Thank you very, very much.

All of your goodness to me makes this important announcement all the more difficult to make: at the beginning of last month I made the decision to cancel my plans for overseas service.

The decision was not made lightly. I discussed it with some close brothers, some pastors, and the staff of my mission boards, & it was clear that this was the best path for me to take at this time. Cancelling my plans for overseas service now is not only the best for me, but also is the best way to honor the ministry of each mission board & to glorify our holy God. Serving In Mission (SIM) & Evangelical Formosan Church's Global Life Enrichment Center (EFC/GLEC), & Project MedSend, while extending their prayerful support, have accepted my resignations from mission appointment.

My prayer is that there is no misunderstanding about the reasons for this decision. It certainly was NOT that I felt under-supported; on the contrary many of you made clear to me that you were behind me 100%, & the different organizations I worked with also graciously gave me full support. It also is NOT because I no longer feel mission work is important; rather, I know that it is vital to God's kingdom... our world yet needs to hear about Christ!

Rather, the reason for my withdrawal is because of the unreadiness of my HEART. Even though my financial, occupational, cultural, physical, language, family, & organizational preparations were all "in place," I had failed to guard my HEART against idolatry. I had turned away from worshiping the one, true, wonderful God, to worship other things, including my own fears & my own plans for life. From these sinful roots sprang forth other problems which further clouded my ability to serve & lead effectively in God's kingdom, & disqualified my service as a church leader per 1 Timothy. For this reason I stepped down from leadership in my local church (EFC & Living Water Christian Fellowship) months ago. Sadly, I was the one who had failed to submit my life to the holy goodness of Christ.

My offense was most deeply against our loving God, of course. I have asked His forgiveness, & He has graciously granted it in Jesus. He also continues to love me through helping me understand the roots of my sin, helping me work through its effects, & giving me a close band of brothers to encourage & challenge me according to His holy standards. God's word assures me that this process is not punitive, but rather restorative. Even in the last month I have been blessed with opportunities to serve His kingdom in non-leadership roles in my local church, in my family, with friends, & at work. God has been too good to me.

Still, I know that I hurt others besides God. The boards I was working under invested a considerable amount of time & other resources into me, & I let them down. Several people gave me money before I ever formally asked for it; I returned or redirected their contributions according to their wishes. My family & my local church were all ready for my departure & were deeply praying for my readiness.

I hurt you, too, in taking your loving support lightly as I failed to stand strong for God's kingdom as your representative.

Please forgive me for so deeply wronging you.

Yours Truly,
Sidney Wu