[TLFisher]

Witness Lee may not have heard or neglected this next part for whatever reason. John So speaks about it when he gave his testimony in Manila March, 1990.

Our saints were in the training in Taipei. We sent about 25 to 30 young people there. They were the best of our young people. If we are conspiring, we wouldn’t send anybody there. I would send the worst of our young people. Of course, in the church life, everybody is the best, okay? They began to tell our young people [from Stuttgart]—the young people in Taipei--: “Stuttgart stinks like garlic. Don’t go back to Stuttgart.”

Listen, we sent our young people there to Taipei to be trained, not for you to tell them that they stink. Maybe they smell the fermenting there, their own fermenting. I don’t know if fermenting smells or not—I am not an expert, you know. They told our young people, “Don’t go back to Stuttgart. Stuttgart stinks like garlic.” That shocked our young people. That’s worse than my telling Jim Batten, you know that if you baptize people in Germany, they’re going to baptize you. What is worse, tell me? You judge. Na Ning, you challenged me tonight—you judge what is worse?

I never told people Taipei stinks. But they told our young people: “Stuttgart stinks.” Using this word: “stinks”—oh, my goodness. When I heard that, what did they smell when they came.to Stuttgart? The 5 brothers. Maybe they smelled something in Stuttgart, but at least if we stink, please tell me. But the German saints liked the stinking Stuttgart. They probably were “used” to the stink in Stuttgart so they came back. They wanted to come back. So they are disobedient now: “we tell you not to go back, yet you want to go back—you are really this bunch of rebellious people. They are contaminated by John So.”

So they want to go back, they want to go to the training in Irving on the way to stinking Stuttgart. They want to go to Irving training. Fine, you know, go. Even you said we stink, we still let them go to Irving. So the training in Taipei ended on the 15th. These dear young people were so tired out after the training, you know, digging and the full schedule—my goodness—they all lost weight. They want to rest in Anaheim. They made arrangement with the church in Anaheim to take them for hospitality. Al Knoch says, yes, praise the Lord. We’ll take you”. My, my, my. The office found out.

What? Anaheim is going to give hospitality to our young people and they already make plane arrangement to go to Anaheim. Authoritative word came down, “No, you cannot give hospitality to these saints from Europe.” Poor Al Knoch, he had to come there and says, “Sorry dear saints, we cannot give you hospitality.” You know Al Knoch, right? He was so embarrassed. Well, the saints said okay, then we will go straight to Irving. So they change the ticket again. Each time you change, you have to pay fifty dollars each, okay? And these people are not very rich, huh? Like the Filipinos here, right? So they change to go to Irving. Then word came again, “sorry, we cannot take you that early. You should just come one day before the training starts.” And they change again. A 150 dollars altogether each. Then they flew to Irving one day before the training starts.” And when they arrive there, in the office to register they were told, “we are not sure whether you could attend the training…come back tomorrow. By that time our young people are boiling already. You cannot realize, it’s not only fermenting, it’s boiling. It’s really boiling.

You know the Germans, right? You know the Germans. If they boil, they really boil. So they came the next day. “Okay, we’ll let you with a special red tag called the mercy seats, a disciplinary section, right in the back a red section. You have to sit there to show everybody you’re under discipline.” Now they are steaming—from fermenting to boiling to steaming. Do you think they can enjoy the training like that? Sometimes if it’s not the Lord that contains me, I’ll steam up.

One of our leading young brothers there says, “I demand to have an explanation?”

“I don’t know one brother said.” Ray Graver said, “I don’t know who made this arrangement.” What are you doing? Training, or are you playing? Maybe that’s part of the new way, I don’t know. I’ve never heard that before. That’s something new. Then one brother said this, Do you really want to know? Do you really want to know the reason?

“Yes, yes.’

“Ask John So.”

Ask John So? What did I do? And, if it’s really my fault, let me sit there and give me the red tag. What does this young people—these 35 young people—what do they have to do with me? I am not their father, I am not their commander-in-chief. I am not their source. I am not their apostle. Under such circumstances, brothers, tell me who of you have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches?

John So's Testimony March, 1990 pages 12-13