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.