Ministry of the Word to Anantnag

 Anantnag, a city of living streams is teeming with greens and a fresh supply of living streams from the mountains. As far as we were told, there are hardly any local believers in this city. And even if there were so, they must have been secret believers due to social stigma and the fear of religious fanatics. Nevertheless, the Lord is the Lord of all and He has His secret way of saving His chosen ones. He knows best.

We were welcomed by a serving brother warmly with much brotherly love. Though his house was a simple ancient house with barely two rooms, his heart for hospitality was exemplary. He could have given excuses for not having enough facilities for hospitality but he acted on the contrary. I personally learned a very important lesson from him and his attitude; giving hospitality is of the heart not necessarily of the facilities one has.  He served us with whatever he had in his possession; a simple meal served with love. What better meal can you expect?  

During the night, we had a time of fellowship with this brother and another medical doctor, a serving brother too. As the truth concerning the Holy Spirit baptism was brought up, after listening to the testimony of a brother who himself testified of his experiences of being filled with the Holy Spirit outwardly and how his life changed since then, I also shared the two aspects of the Holy Spirit filling in John 20 and Acts 2. After sharing such truth with all Bible references, the brother who seems to echo his point on the Holy Spirit indirectly pointing us to being silent in this important truth of the Holy Spirit was comforted as he would disagree with believers who do not believe in the Holy Spirit's baptism. He then realized that the ministry has expounded all the major truths in the Bible profoundly. Then, we introduced the ministry books to them and they bought some selected books of their choice for their study. 

Our host has also been a translator of Punjabi. Therefore, we requested him to try to translate the ministry books. Perhaps, the Lord brought us to the city to prepare the ground for his move to Punjab as well. Besides, these two families have been meeting non-denominationally as "the church in Anantnag" based on the truth we shared when we first visited them a few years ago. This time, we further strengthened the truth concerning the church ground and the oneness of the Body of Christ. I do believe the seed that we have sown will bear forth fruits one day.

We also visited a brother who was serving as an administrator of a hospital. He also was interested in the ministry books which we brought. As he inquired about our next destination, he also encouraged us to visit Kargil on our way to Leh from Srinagar. Therefore, the Lord used him to guide us to a new city that we did not plan before.

These brothers have been doing their best to serve in a difficult land. The Lord has been blessing them in their professional careers and the Lord will give them visible fruits one day.

Lord, bless your testimony in Anantnag!