Gospel Day

An international holiday on the 25th of December might have been a great day for many Christians, depending on the vision concerning Christ in the light of the scriptures. Though I do not subscribe to this religious festival as they are mere traditions of man imbibed into a religious system which are purely unbiblical, I dare not condemn nor commend on those who celebrate or not celebrate this pagan festival. The word of God that I enjoyed recently gave me a clear light in this regard: 

Romans 14

5 One judges one day above another; another judge every day alike. Let each be fully persuaded in his own mind.

6 He who regards that day, regards it to the Lord; and he who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who does not eat, does not eat to the Lord, and he gives thanks to God.

13 Therefore let us judge one another no longer, but rather judge this: not to put a stumbling block or cause of falling before your brother.

19 So then let us pursue the things of peace and the things for building up one another.

22 The faith which you have, have to yourself before God. Blessed is he who does not judge himself in what he approves;

This day being a holiday and the reason being because of Christ, as the church in Gurugram we took this opportunity to gather the saints together for prayer and pursuing the word of God, for gospel preaching, and also for blending together with the saints. We practically did not make any solid plan as such, though we simply notify the saints about coming together. The Lord used this day to spiritually educate us on how to shepherd the new ones and preach the gospel using the day as the background to speak and preach Christ.

After the prayer and fellowship, we divided into teams and went for home meetings and gospel preaching. My team went to meet a new brother who is a strong catholic. We sang a hymn and read the Bible together concerning who is Jesus in Matthew 1:21, 23, and prayed for his family. Then, we went to meet a new one who has not been in contact for a couple of years, preached the gospel and led him to the Lord by helping him to pray the sinner's prayer. After the home meetings, when we came back to the meeting hall, a group of saints and new ones gathered and a meeting was going on. The Lord then led me to minister on the five women in the genealogy of Jesus and the significance of the name Jesus and Emmanuel as a gospel to the new ones. The speaking was an instant inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and the meeting was enriched with the word of God. Then, in the evening we had a home meeting where we enjoyed the message on "Prophesying."

One new family who just came into the church life joined the meeting from morning till night. They felt so blessed to be able to participate in the Lord's move in this way. Their first time to come into the church life was indeed a time of feeding and feasting on the word together with the saints, from morning till night. What a new and fresh beginning! They felt so blessed by the Lord. May the Lord shepherd them continually to become remaining fruits.

All the other teams were also busy with different home meetings in the afternoon. A team visited a new family and regain back the family for follow-up shepherding. Another team went to visit a group of students who came into contact recently. Yet another team stayed back at the meeting hall where a new sister came for fellowship, then another new couple came and the saints shepherded them. 

What a Gospel Day! Praise the Lord!

One great blessing in the church here this year is the revival of the saints and the recovery of their functions. Unlike other years, most of the saints are functioning regularly these days. May the Lord continue to shepherd the church in Gurugram, and may He also increase in us inwardly and cause us to increase in numbers as well. 

Lord, bless the church in Gurugram!

Bengali Translator

A brother has been serving as a Bengali translator for over a year now after he moved to a Bengali speaking city. He has been translating the ministry books at his own pace as he also has a strong burden for evangelism. Though the translation work is being carried out, the progress is slow.

This time on my way back from Guwahati to Delhi, I took a flight that stopped by at Kolkatta. I had three hours layover; time good enough to fellowship with this brother.

The Lord led me to fellowship with him three important things:

Constitution 

As a brother serving the Lord, there is a great and urgent need for truth constitution. Service is and must be the issue of our constitution. If we are constituted with Christ as the word of God, what we serve will also be Christ as the word of God. Otherwise, there will be a great shortage and even a loss in our service. We are not called by the Lord to do merely a human work; here we are to serve the living God. We cannot serve the living God without the living word of God. Now that the ministry of the word is amply available, they must be pursued daily; study and get constituted to the extent of being able to flow out Christ as rivers of living water. For this, I also encouraged him to use daily HWMR as nourishment from the word in line with the ministry of the age. I also offered him to join us on our weekdays morning prayer and life-study pursuit. I have released my burden to help him, the choice is his.

Translation Service

I encouraged him and even charged him strongly to give at least four hours a day for the translations service. He must maintain a strict schedule and make a goal in his service, without which nothing much will be accomplished. I gave him a dateline for translating four books before the end of 2020. The books are- The All-inclusive Christ, The Economy of God, The Knowledge of Life, and The Glorious Church. Now, the onus is on him. I hope that he will receive the burden, take it seriously, and accomplish the work in time.

Fellowship in and Oneness with the Body of Christ

I also fellowship with him the importance of fellowship in the Body with a  warning on the danger of being independent from the Body. His attitude towards the brothers, the ministry, and the Lord's move, in general, must be proper. There should never ever be a negative speaking of any brother or about the ministry. He must exercise his spirit to enjoy the Lord and be one with the ministry. I was also very bold in directly telling him not to talk about his family's financial need to anybody except to the Lord. I testified to him how the Lord provided my needs, and encouraged him to trust the Lord and live by faith. The Lord is faithful to meet all his needs.

Above all, I fellowshipped with him not to expect anything for anyone, except the Lord. And that he need not feel upset when brothers did not contact him for propagation in his city as the Lord knows why. I assured him that he is our brother and is very much in our consideration and fellowship as he has been feeling that he had been sidelined for some reason. The Lord knows why and the Lord will fully restore all broken relationships when we are one with Him and also learn to be with the members of the Body of Christ. This fellowship was so sweet and he took it in a very positive way. I thank the Lord for His sovereignty in leading me to fellowship with him. May the Lord fully recover him.

We had a wonderful time together fellowshipping, praying, and enjoying a delicious Bengali fish meal together. That's how I spent my three hours layover at Kolkatta. Still, looking forward tot he day the Lord would raise up his testimony in Kolkata.

May the Lord bless my brother and preserve him fully and purely for His testimony among the Bengali speaking people. 

Assamese Translator

It's been years since I have the burden to gain an Assamese translator to make the ministry of the rod available for the local people of Assam. Prayers have been offered for the same. The Lord heard the prayer of the Body and in His time He manifested the chosen one.

An Assamese brother who got saved from a Hindi-Brahmin background has a very great burden for his own people. He was indeed right when he shared his heart's desire to serve the Lord among his own people. He, being educated, knew the value of Christain literature. It has been his heart's desire to translate good Christian literature into his mother tongue, the Assamese. As I heard him release his burden, face to face, my innate response was, "Brother, the Lord has heard your prayer. That's the reason I am here, to fellowship with you about the practical detail."

Since the time we first spoke over the phone almost a year ago, he showed interest in translation. But, his family went through a tough time. His father became severely ill and later went to be with the Lord. But before that, his father got saved, and also fulfilled his father's desire for him getting married. In an impromptu arrangement, the marriage was fixed and done while his father was still alive. All this process took over a span of a year. Now that everything was done, the Lord released him and led us to meet face to face. The Lord knows the best.

Besides, he also constructed a new house and dedicated two rooms for the Lord's use; one for Bible study, fellowship, and prayer; and the other for his translation office. In fact, when we visited him, we were the first ones to make use of the room he dedicated it to the Lord. We had fellowship and prayer and dedicated the room for the Lord's use.

Since our brother is so seeking for the truth, I was led by the Lord to minister to him the truth concerning Christian life and church life. Using relevant Bible verses, I showed him the vision of the Body of Christ, and the practical expression of the church in a locality as the local church standing on the ground of oneness. I also ministered to him the truth concerning the Lord's recovery using the Bible verses and the church history. I also introduced to him the New Testament, Recovery Version, with translation comparison with other versions and footnotes as a study aid. 

Our fellowship that day lasted for about three hours; the flow of life was so sweet and strong. I felt deep within that the Lord had just accomplished something new and great for His testimony and move in Assam among the local Assamese.  The inward peace and joy, the love and affection, and the sweet oneness we experienced were truly indications of the Lord's hand for His testimony. 

Officially, I have made it clear to him that he would be taken into consideration for full-time translation service in fellowship with my coordinator, which I did later. Though he was the only one I could meet, there is a need for another proofreader, which he said he has. This is another proof of the Lord's leading and blessing for His move.

Lord, bless the literature service in Assamese and bless Your testimony in Assam!

Shepherding in Guwahati

After the distribution of the ministry of the word in Guwahati, I decided in fellowship with the brothers and also my wife to stay back for a few days to participate in the shepherding work of the new believers. The day the distribution was done and I arrived in the city, protest erupted due to the central government's proposal to amend the citizenship law of the country, Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB). Amidst the violent protest by the people, the city was shut down with curfew imposed to avoid violence. Nevertheless, the protest was all around.  Through we exercised caution not to go out during the day, in the evening, we still went out every day, walking past by the protestors who were burning materials to highlight their protests on the main road. In spite of the tense political atmosphere, the Lord shepherded us to shepherd the new ones in their homes.

Every afternoon and evening, as long as I was there, I could go to visit the saints and shepherded them. I enjoyed a wonderful time of shepherding with a brother and a sister who serves there as well. I could see great hope in the city as the Lord has imparted His divine life into at least thirteen families to my count. Perhaps, there were more. During my few days of stay there, I was aware of these thirteen solid seeking families. They are good enough seeds for the strong testimony of the Lord in Guwahati. 

At the moment, the church in Guwahati is going through a lot of situations. I judged them as the enemy's attacks. Since the very beginning, families after families who came to serve here had to face major problems. Mostly the health of the serving ones' families was under attack. The latest ones being a brother and a family who had been serving there for quite some time and the situation seems quite stable. Suddenly we realized that they were severely attacked in their health. One brother had such a serious skin disease that he could not even come out of his bedroom; he had to take bed rest the whole day. That went on and on for months when he finally decided to move out of the city for proper medical treatment. Another brother and his wife were also severely attacked. He and his wife were diagnosed with a severe illness which prompted them to go to Chennai for medical treatment. In this way, the key serving ones were driven out one by one. 

Now, a single brother who has been so much burdened by the Lord is serving there alone. Another single sister whom the Lord burdened came to take care of the new ones for eight months. Her burden is to strengthen and establish the local sisters within eight months and leave for the next destination wherever the Lord would lead her. Another brother who used to serve in the city a decade ago is now freshly burdened to come to this city with his family for at least a year. Now the situation is such that, those who were assigned to serve came and could not continue, but those who received the burden directly from the Lord are volunteering themselves to come and serve in this city.

On the one hand, it is the enemy's attack, yet, on the other hand, it is the Lord's purifying work. Serving the Lord should and must be according to the vision and revelation received from the Lord. And it must be out of burden from the Lord and received by the serving ones directly. With this new arrangmenet, I have great hope that the Lord will continue to strengthen His testimony here in Guwahati.

This city is the gateway to North-East India. It is a crucial city for the Lord's move all over the North East. It is also strategically located to commute to all the other states in the North East.

Lord, bless Your testimony in  Guwahati.

Udalguri: A Blessed Bonus

Udalguri was the first time I ever heard of from two sisters who were visiting their childhood place in Bhutan lodged for the night not far away from Bhutan border. The Lord gave them the discernment and the burden that this city should receive the ministry books. The two sisters reported to me about their visit and strongly suggested that I visit this town and meet the key Christian leader there as there are many Bodo Christians who may need the ministry books. I reckoned the sisters' fellowship as the Lord's speaking and requested them to make necessary arrangements for the literature distribution. In fact, after prayer and fellowship, a schedule to visit the town was made. But due to the fellowship of another brother the plan was rescheduled, considering the time and means to reach this town. The Lord moved through the members of the Body and led us to visit the town.

Though we planned to meet on 9th Dec Monday, we had to prepone the visit to the town on 4th December, Wednesday. The Lord knew why it had to be that day, Wednesday, and not as per our plan on 9th Monday. 

As we visited the town, the key Christian leaders of the Bodo Baptist Church welcomed us. They themselves testified that our visit was very timely on Wednesday as they all could come together only on Wednesdays as they were busy all the other days. Only on Wednesdays, they could spend enough time to fellowship with us, otherwise, it would just be a quicky meeting with just one or two brothers on the other days. The Lord timed everything!

After much warm welcome, we introduce the ministry books one by one. I felt such an anointing within me that I simply let the word of Christ flowed out from within my spirit, using the ministry books. They all were so impressed and enjoyed the ministering of the high peak truths. I personally could only testify that it was not me who spoke; it was indeed the Lord. The ministry of the word flowed forth like rivers of living water with the ministry books as the course for the flow.  On the one hand,  it was an introduction and distribution of the ministry books, yet on the other hand, it was a propagation of the ministry truths. 

The result of this meeting was the open door for the ministry of the word to reach some 120,000 Bodo brothers and sisters. The key brothers placed an order for the entire set of books by Watchman Nee and Witness Lee in addition to the free Rhema booklets that received.

After such a wonderful time together with the brothers, we also prayed together and ate lunch together. They volunteered to drop us to a nearby town of over an hour's journey from where we could catch a bus to Guwahati, our next destination. Without that care, it would not have been easy for us to go to our next destination. The timing, the day, and the place for this meeting was all sovereignly arranged by the Lord.

Lord, bless Your move among our Bodo brothers and sisters! Bless the ministry books to supply them with healthy spiritual food. One day, the seeds sown as the ministry of the word will bear abundant and remaining fruits unto the raising up of His testimony among all the Bodo speaking localities. 

This was a blessed bonus in our ministry literature journey; 

Not planned, yet well planned.

Not expected, yet well accepted.

Tezpur: A Call from a Brother

A brother who invited me to speak the word of God in his wedding meeting a few years ago has now been blessed with a baby girl. His sister is serving as a medical nurse in one of the hospitals in Tezpur. This, therefore, became a base for him to serve the Lord in this city and now he has the burden to raise up the Lord's testimony by 2020. At his invitation, we came to this city for the ministry of the word literature distribution.

One of the significant things was the Lord's leading us in meeting many seeking medical doctors and medical students. While we were fellowshipping with two medical students in a cafe, another medical doctor overheard our ministering and joined us in. After flowing out the words of life to these hungry souls, my heart was deeply for the follow-up shepherding. I encouraged our local brother to pick up the burden to shepherd these seekers. Thereby, we established a weekly home meeting in the campus every Lord's day afternoon. This was very unexpected and unprecedented. It even came as a surprise to our brother. Nevertheless, it was the Lord's doing for His testimony.

Besides, one pastor opened up his situation and his longing for the oneness among the believers in the city. Though he has established his own Christian group, he was going through turmoils within his own group. Divisions after divisions were the history and story of Christianity. His reading of the ministry books gave an inkling about what the Bible says about the church and the standing of the local church on the ground of oneness. He also expressed his burden to study and pursue the ministry books and perhaps, meet with our brother. As a response to his opening, we ministered the truth concerning Christ and the church. I personally hope that he will sincerely and seriously study the word of God and pray that the Lord would lead him and recover him for the Lord's testimony in Tezpur.

Lord, bless your move in Texpur and raise up Your testimony by 2020!

Itanagar: Preparing the Vessels

A brother and his wife who both are professors in a reputed engineering institute in Itanagar gave us enjoyable hospitality during our distribution trip to the city. This brother and I had been to the same full-time training together some sixteen years ago. We both came from the same evangelical background from which the Lord graced us to move forward further for His testimony. We both were called to serve full-time and even consecrated our lives to serve the Lord. Yes, we are still serving the Lord full-time now, as He graces us one, we will do so until His return or until we fall asleep. But the way He carved our paths is different. He led me to serve in a full-time way in the publication work and him as a full-time professor in an institute. But we both are serving the Lord through our respective fields.

Besides enjoying fellowshipping with his family, the Lord opened the door to fellowship with their relatives at different times.

Doctors and Professors  

One evening, we visited their sister to get to know her as it was my first time to meet her. I was informed that she was not open to the ministry at all and even she strongly opposed the brother and sister standing for the Lord's testimony. It was a second "knocking" to see if we could at least fellowship. Initially, she really was not interested to fellowship with us. But as I began to converse with her, I discovered that she had been a class-mate during her medical studies of one of my best school friends. Using that connection, I interacted with her and she became more open. She asked a question on the "Tabernacle" in relation to today's "churches." That gave me the ground to minister the word a length.

Using the Bible references to "tabernacle", I began from God's plan in Genesis 1:26, tracing the history of Israel all the way from Egypt to Canaan, with emphasis on the tabernacle, temple, the Lord Jesus Christ, the believers as the church, the dwelling place of God in spirit. This was to clarify the truth concerning Christ and the church, the Body of Christ. I also recommended two books for her to study, The Normal Christian Church Life, and The Orthodoxy of the Church, both by Watchman Nee and gifted a copy of the latter.

On another night, we visited the same house again and met the husband of the sister. Though he professed to be a believer, the fact was, he became a "baptized believer" to get married to the sister who was a Christian. His faith was shaky and he himself doubted his own salvation. Moreover, he was not serious about his faith either as he has been waiting for the time when he will have the inward urge to really devote himself to God. 

I took his stance as an opportunity to share the gospel by using my own testimony of how I encountered the living God at the age of nineteen while at college. I also expounded the truth concerning salvation using John 3, the life of Nicodemus and emphasized on the need to be born of God in the spirit. Later, another brother continued the sharing by showing him the way to experience the living God by calling upon the name of Jesus using the Bible verse from Romans 10: 8-13.

The couple is doctors and now medical professors as well. To me, the two would be gained by the Lord for His testimony as I view them in faith.

Father and Mother

Though we had no intention to meet the father and mother of our host, we still got to meet them as we drove near their house in a bid to avoid the city traffic while on our way to distribution. With much joy, they welcomed us as the friends of their eldest son. We encouraged them to love the Lord and opened their home for Bible studies and prayer meetings once the construction is over. I believe that the parents' home is prepared by the Lord for His testimony.

Ministry Station and Truth Book Room

Our brother also showed us the plan he has for constructing a library and book room for many seekers to come and receive healthy spiritual food. This he did out of his burden, he designed and built it with his own expenses, all for the Lord's testimony. 

Overall, what I could see clearly is the preparatory works for the Lord's testimony in Arunachal Pradesh. The Lord is preparing and perfecting His building materials, both organic and physical, for His strong testimony. The state, though it has been witnessing thousands of indigenous people turning to Christ, they were mostly influenced by the pentecostal movement of signs and wonders. There is a great need for the supply of the healthy word of God. Only the ministry of the word in the Lord's recovery can meet the need. For this, the Lord has been preparing our brother and sister; saving them, giving them good families, jobs, properties, all for the Lord's testimony. Now, our burden is that the Lord will raise up His lampstand by 2020.

Lord, bless Your move in Arunachal Pradesh, and establish Your testimony in Itanagar! 

Comforting One Another

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14But we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are sleeping, that you would not grieve even as also the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so also those who have fallen asleep through Jesus, God will bring with Him. 

1 Thessalonians 4:18Therefore comfort one another with these words.

The father of a family who has been in contact for a decade had a kidney failure two weeks ago and later succumbed to his bodily weakness. I was traveling for the ministry literature distribution then. Only after I was back to Gurgaon I could visit the family. In fact, today we visited the family still in grief of the lost of their father.

Though we were ready to handle the burial and funeral service of the brother even when I travelled as I was about to I form the brothers for the same. Yet we were not fully given the ground to do so. This family being from a Hindu Brahmin background, they had to go along with the rituals after the death of their father, perhaps, due to family pressure. We had no say in the matter whatsoever. Neither were we consulted nor were we given any ground. Neither was the family regular for any church meeting or did they give us regular time to visit them. It was all left to their discretion and decision.

Nevertheless, as Christian brothers we visited them today and comforted them with the comfort of God. The Bible verses quoted above were read together and we enjoyed a sweet time of fellowship together. Though the pain of losing one's dear ones still gripped the entire family, we comforted them with the word of God and prayed for them.

Besides, we also encouraged them to pay heed to themselves who are still alive and that they need not worry about the one who was already gone. As the living ones, we must love the Lord and pursue the Lord, awaiting His return with the hope of being caught alive as Paul exhorted the Thessalonians.

We also gave them the opportunity to have a regular meeting at their house at their own will and time. Every believer is precious in the Lord’s eyes and we will shepherd the family as long as they are open to the Lord's shepherding.

Perhaps, this is the new beginning in their Christian life for the church life. Though they promised to open their home and start coming for the meeting, we look to the Lord for His shepherding. We trust the Lord will shepherd them to be established in the Christian faith and in the present truth to bear the Lord's testimony together as the church here in Gurugram. 

Lord, gain the whole family fully, reconstitute them for Your testimony. 

Shepherding in Shillong: Household Salvation

Acts 16:31And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household.

A few years ago when I visited the church in Shillong, groups of saints in batches came for fellowship. One of the groups, in fact, the first group who came comprised of mostly sisters from the economically lower section of the society and most of them from Gentile backgrounds. 

Our fellowship began with the question, "How many of your family members are not yet saved?" I vividly remember a sister who raised her hand and said she was the only one in her family who was saved. Then, the Lord burdened me to fellowship on claiming the promise of God in Acts 16:31 for household salvation. I fellowshipped with the saints that they pray earnestly for their unsaved family members and claim the promise of God. I gave my own testimony of how the Lord burdened me to pray for my own family salvation when I first got save in 1997, December 31st night. Gradually, the Lord answered my prayer and saved all my family members one by one, the last one being my father, after thirteen years of prayer.

I also encouraged the saints to exercise their faith and pray until the Lord fully answered all their prayer, especially in their household salvation. The size of the household depends on the faith they have in the Lord. If their faith is their close blood relatives, that's their household. If their faith is stronger, the household could be all their relatives, near and far. Even stronger would be, the entire, clan, tribe, village, town, district, state, and even country. But I encouraged them to go according to the faith apportioned to them by the Lord, and not beyond. But faithfully pray, and pray, and pray.

This time when the Lord led me to visit Shillong again, in one fo the home metings, a sister, by name Lakshmi, testified to me her wonderful experiences of the fellowship I gave a few years ago.

She said, "Brother when you came last time you encouraged us to pray for our family members who are not yet saved. Since then, I started praying for all my family members. The Lord answered my prayer, and now all my family members are saved! Here is one of my sisters who got saved and baptized." As she spoke she pointed to the sister who was saved and was present in the home meeting that night.  Then I told her, "Sister, I only ministered what the Bible says. You believed in the word of God, prayed over the word with faith. Therefore, the Lord honored His word and your faith in His word. And the Lord saved your family. Glory be to Him!" I was overjoyed to hear such a testimony! Praise the Lord! 

She further said, "Brother, you told us to read the Bible every day and even eat the word. You told us to pray-read the word of God. I did not understand and I did not know how to pray-read. I tried and tired and tired. Finally, I touched the spirit in the word. And now, I am enjoying the word of God by reading it." I simply replied, "Praise the Lord! This is what the ministry taught us, the way to enjoy the word."

When I spoke those words a few years ago, I did not prepare to speak them. As we fellowshipped, the words just came out. I simply followed the Lord's anointing within me and ministered the word of life as the Spirit led so. Now, I could see the result of faithfully ministering the word, most of the time, not knowing why. It was all the instant speaking of the Lord through His word.

May the Lord bless this sister and her testimony for many more household salvation!

Shepherding in Shillong: A Seeking Sister Student

We were at a school cafe in Nongstoin introducing the ministry books to a Pastor who serves there. It was about lunchtime when students came and ate their lunch at the same cafe we were in. As we were introducing the ministry books, a seeking sister student overheard our words. After she ate her lunch, she came and inquired if we were Christians. We replied with joy in the affirmative and introduced the ministry books to her as well. To our surprise, her countenance was such of a very hungry seeking sister, waiting to devour spiritual food we were to serve. Her very visage captured my attention.

I wasted no time but introduced the New Testament Recovery Version, explaining to her how good the translation and footnotes are. Her innate response was, "Sir, I want this Bible. How much does it cost?" I was so joyful to hear that and wanted to gift her as a gift. But she insisted that she would pay for it and that she had only Rs.200 though the Bible cost Rs.500. She then went to get the money she had and paid for the Bible. I also gifted her, Shepherding Materials, in addition to the free Rhema books she received.

Later, she testified that that day she was about to take leave from school. But something within her being drew her to come to school that day. Though she didn't know the reason then, after we met, she realized that it was for this purpose. Besides, she is also a key member of the student's fellowship. Though we could not meet the student Christian group, she became a channel to pass on the free books to all the students.

She testified to us that she lost her father at a young age and her mother is jobless too, now taking care of the household needs. Her uncle is the one supporting her education with a couple of her siblings. Even with such an economical background, she insisted on paying for the Bible even when I offer to gift her was such a testimony. In addition, after she received all the books, mostly for free, she felt she should pay for it if she could. I interrupted her and asked her what she would like to become in life. She replied, "A medical doctor." Then, I replied back, "When God bless you to become a famous medical doctor, you can support the literature ministry. As for now, enjoy the ministry books."

In fact, we had no plan to visit Nongstoin. We came here because of the proposal of our local brothers. We were open to the Lord's leading through the members of the Body. We simply obeyed the Lord's leading. And this was just one of the results of following the Lord's leading step by step.

Besides this sister, there was also another seeking brother who placed an order for the entire set of books in English. It was to feed the Lord's chosen ones in Nongstoin that the Lord took us all the way, about three hours' drive from Shillong, through beautiful landscapes and hours of breath of free fresh air.

Lord, bless Your seekers in Nongstoin and raise up Your testimony!

Shepherding in Shillong: Brothers' Testimonies

Four local brothers from the church in Shillong, two from the Khasi speaking meeting and the other two from the Hindi speaking meeting accompanied us in our literature journey in Meghalaya. We traveled along with these brothers to Jowai, Shillong, and Nongstoin. As we journeyed together in a car, we also enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship, listening to their testimonies, and also ministering the truths and sharing some common practices of the local churches. These are key functioning brothers who are leading the saints practically.

The Ministry Books

Almost fifteen years ago, a brother received the ministry books from a Pastor who was initially opened to the ministry and later turned negative. This Pastor received the ministry books and gave them over to our brother when he shifted from Shillong to Nepal. These books were instrumental in opening the eyes of our brother to see the all-inclusive Christ and also the local church. The books he received were: The All-Inclusive Christ, The Economy of God, The Basic Revelation in the Holy Scriptures, and others. Through these books, he saw something of the church and he even started preaching the truths he enjoyed. Later, through a brother, he was introduced to the church in Shillong. Now he and another brother are pursuing the life-studies online on a daily basis.

Almost seven years ago, another brother received the seven Rhema books. He had been a theologian and a Pastor. In his thirst for the truth, he would read spiritual books and devour them over and over again. When he read the ministry books, he continuously read them over and over again at least five times. He was overwhelmed with the high peak truth on Christ and the church. The books he initially read were: A Basic Element of the Christian Life 1,2,3, the All-Inclusive Christ, The Economy of God, The Knowledge of Life, and The Glorious Church. 

His testimony on calling upon the name of the Lord is superb! The moment he read about calling upon the Lord, he would go up to a mountain near his home every day, for about one to two hours, just to call out loud, the name of the Lord, O Lord Jesus! This he had been doing for about three and a half years, every day despite the weather. If it was cold he would wear warm jacket, if it was raining he would take umbrella. He loved to call upon the Lord's name. The result he testified was amazing: He became very joyful! Before the exercise of calling upon the Lord's name, he was a moody, sad, and serious Christian. After he released his spirit and touched the Lord in spirit by calling upon the Lord's name, he then has been a joyful brother. His whole being changed! His attitude towards people changed! Despite being poor materially, he has been so happy and joyful. O what a testimony! I was so impressed and also so happy to hear such a testimony!

I truly praise and worship the Lord for all His marvelous and mysterious works on these brothers. Now they are becoming pillars for the church in Shillong and are instrumental in shepherding the saints in the local churches all over Meghalaya! What a blessing to have heard from these dear brothers enjoying the ministry practically! What a blessing to be able to travel with them for the distribution of the very ministry books they have been enjoying!

The ministry of the word is for all and is a great blessing to the children of God! I have been so much encouraged by these testimonies and I feel even more blessed that I am serving in the distribution of these wonderful ministry books!

Praise the Lord!

Shepherding in Shillong: Brothers' Fellowship

On the 8th of December, the Lord's day afternoon, the leading brothers of the church in Shillong came together for fellowship. Initially, a brother and I thought of fellowshipping on the truth concerning oneness as desired by the Lord in the Bible as expounded in the book, The Genuine Ground of Oneness. But as we gathered together and started the fellowship, the Lord's leading was to speak on the more urgent need, I believe, as the Lord sees it for the church. The burden on truth constitution was released.

Constitution

For about three hours, we enjoyed the flow of life through the ministry of the word. We ministered from the life of the children of God, how the Lord led them out of Egypt into the wilderness and fed them with just manna and manna only for forty long years with the main goal of reconstituting them. Using this analogy, we fellowshipped at length on the urgency for the saints to be reconstituted with the up-to-date speaking of the Lord in His recovery. For the practical constitution, we introduced the Holy Word for Morning Revival and encouraged the brothers to try it first and then introduce to the saints. To avoid misunderstanding, we also clarified the distinction between the publication work and the local churches.  The publication works are for the feeding and shepherding of the saints in the local churches.

For the constitution of the saints, we also encouraged the brothers to pursue the ministry books, especially the Holy Bible, Recovery Version, and also some crucial ministry books. The ministry books are meant to help enjoy and understand the word of God and not to replace the Bible.

For this, I also encouraged two brothers to take care of the ministry books; one for Hindi for which I gave one entire set of Hindi books, and one for English for which I left two books of the ministry books by brother Watchman Nee and Witness Lee.

Fellowship, Blending, and Building

We also fellowship the need for the saints in the local church to be blended as one though there may be different language speaking meetings. Here in Shillong, they have Khasi speaking and Hindi speaking meetings. The two meetings should just be one church under one administration within the same local church. 

We also encouraged the church to blend with nearby local churches in North East India. If possible, they may also blend with churches in different parts of India and abroad. We released our burden to help the brothers see the vision and need for fellowship, blending, and building up of the Body of Christ in oneness. 

Prayer

After a sweet time of fellowship, we brothers prayed together and committed ourselves, the saints, and the church to the Lord.

The brothers in Shillong also are in fellowship with at least 15 other local churches all over Meghalaya. May the Lord shepherd and recover all of them!

May the Lord bless the church in Shillong! 

Shepherding in Shillong: An Officer's Family

A high ranking officer, an IRS, who also is my distant relative was just posted to Shillong. One Lord's day afternoon we visited them for a short while fellowship. The time spent with the family was very encouraging. 

I have met this family about a decade ago the first time when my own elder sister invited me to attend a Baptist congregation in Imphal where I shared on "Christ as Life" when I was given the time. It was after that message that the wife of this officer invited me to their home for lunch. Since then, our relationship in Christ continued, though not frequent.

As I visited them this time, I was very glad, at the same time very surprised at their countenance and their reaction to our visit as Christian brothers. I could easily sense that they have grown so much in the Lord; their love for the Lord has grown so much. Listening to their testimonies of loving the Lord and their effort to serve the Lord in whatever way they could was such a joy to my ear. In fact, I have so much burden for them and have been praying for them in my family prayer. I could literally see the answer to my prayer.

The brother testified of me that I have been very blessed as I have been serving the Lord and he, just a servant of the government of India, despite being a very reputed high ranking job. He confessed he is just a government servant and I am the servant of God. Though I take no pride in what the Lord blessed me with, I am glad that he could see and realize the value of God and serving Him. Not many high officers have this view. I even questioned him if he would allow his own son to serve God. To my surprise again, he replied that if the Lord so wills, that would be his first choice. In fact, he testified that he left it to the Lord even as his own father gave him the choice of serving the Lord when he was young.

I released my burden on the one new man and the need for all Christians to see the vision of the one new man and be blended and built up as one. He appreciated the truth we have been proclaiming and I hope that one day the Lord would shepherd him fully for His testimony wherever he is. 

I gifted him, The Orthodoxy of the Church, and Shepherding Materials to his daughter.

After enjoying a time of prayer together, we took leave. May the Lord continue to work in my brother's family and fully shepherd them. 

Shepherding in Shillong: A Family

One evening in Shillong a brother and sister invited us for fellowship and for love-feast. It was a surprise to me as this family has been through tough times, as far as I know. The way the Lord shepherded them into the church is also through the shepherding of a brother who shepherded them in times of hardship especially when they lost their daughter prematurely and unexpectedly years ago.

In my previous visits, one time with a couple from the USA, they had a doubt about the teaching of the outer darkness. We did our best to reply to them, hopefully, the answer would satisfy them. The other time, they came with questions which to me were a repetition of some opposers' attack on the Lord's recovery available online. To my knowledge, we did our best to address their questions. Though the fellowship did not end on a satisfactory note, I was not disturbed at all. To me, they are my brother and sister, and they have the right to question any teaching and practice of the church-life. Though they may not be clear of all teachings and practices then, they are still precious members of the Body of Christ and my fellow brother and sister in Christ. I trust the Lord will continue to shepherd them and fully recover them and make them pillars for His testimony.

Later, I was told that this couple was not in good terms with one of the brothers entering politics. Immediately, I texted them to encourage them in the Lord and even, if possible, visit other local churches within India and also abroad to have a better view and experience of the practical church life. I requested them that I would text them ministry messages on a regular basis and continue only if they read and reply back. I did that in a way of shepherding for quite some time until I was requested to join the church WhatsApp group where I could post messages regularly for all the saints including them.

Last month they had been to China for their daughter's medical college when the sister contacted me for the saint's contact detail. Through fellowship, I did my best to contact the saints in China. A sister from the local church visited them at their hotel and invited them for the Lord's Table Meeting and fellowship in the local church there. I believe the Lord had used that as a channel for them to see and taste the church life practically. Perhaps, that too was their first contact with a local church outside their locality.

After passing through all these, I was glad to hear that they have been recovered back to the fellowship of the church there. I was glad to fellowship with them in their home and their invitation came as a surprise to me. May the Lord continue to bless my brother and sister.

With much burden for the family, I gifted them The Vision of the Age and Lessons on Prayer.

Praise the Lord for His faithfulness in shepherding the saints and the church in Shillong!

Shepherding in Shillong

The Lord in His sovereignty brought us to Shillong on 4th December Wednesday, though this time with the burden for distribution, we stay till 9th December. Still, He arranged important fellowships with a certain group of saints. Soon after we arrived at our hospitality home, a fellowship was arranged with a group of children. Many more fellowships followed thereafter. A brother and I coordinated in all the fellowships. In fact, I simply followed the burden my brother had first released. In that way, we enjoyed sweet coordination and the Lord’s burden was release one after the other.

Fellowship with Children 

We shared our testimony of salvation and encouraged the young ones to exercise calling upon the name of the Lord. Besides, we emphasized the need for reading the Bible and prayer every day. In this age, we also emphasized the need for loving the Lord above all and prayed for all of them. These are the saints' children and then we prayed that they all will turn out to be useful vessels to the Lord.

Fellowship with an Uncle's Family

An Uncle, my guardian when I was studying in Shillong invited us for a time of fellowship to his home. We shared on the need for growth in life by actively pursuing the Lord with life testimonies. The family was so impressed by the fellowship on the Lord's dealing with us through the environmental circumstances, and through such, we must actively turn to the Lord to learn the necessary spiritual lessons and gain Christ that we all may be conformed to the image of the firstborn Son of God.

Fellowship with the Saints in Nongkharah

After the distribution in Jowai, a brother invited us to visit the saints in this locality. The saints were mostly uneducated and by profession, farmers, and there were many children. They simply loved the Lord. Even their mere presence was a sight to behold, simple and pure in loving the Lord. They offered a very authentic local food which was so cherishing. Our fellowship with them was on how the fallen human life is a life of vanity of vanities. Yet, in Christ, the Lord turned it into Song of Songs. The secret to this turning from vanity to vanities to a song of songs is loving the Lord as our first and best love. We enjoyed the sweet time of singing and prayer.

Fellowship with Nepali Speaking Saints

One night we fellowshipped with the Nepali speaking saints. We were so touched by what they testified to us: "Brothers, we have been praying for you to visit us. Now the Lord has answered our prayers by bringing you here." That was very encouraging and cherishing. We shared them the practical ways to grow in life by daily coming to the Lord. These saints are brought into the church only a few years ago and they mostly are from Gentile backgrounds. Though economically weaker and all are immigrants, they have been growing in the Lord and also in numbers.

Fellowship with the Church on the Lord's Day

The church in Shillong arranged a combined Lord's Table Meeting on the 8th of December. We participated in the hymn singing and break a breaking meeting. After which a brother and I were given time to minister the word. 

The Lord led us to minister on Christ and the Church. We based our ministering on the five basic offerings in Leviticus 1-5; the burnt-offering, the meal-offering, the peace-offering, the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering. These are the types and the reality is Christ. Our portion in the New Testament is to enjoy Christ as the reality of all these offerings. The issue of enjoying Christ as such will be the corporate expression of Christ, the church. The church in life is the Body of Christ and the church in person is Christ the One New Man. The only way to express Christ corporately is by partaking of Christ as all the offerings and also by taking Christ as our person.

May the Lord continue to bless the church in Shillong!